So I began working on a Viking hood prior to Pennsic, the assumption being that it would get a bunch of use because everyone was going on the assumption that it was going to be a wet and generally miserable Pennsic in terms of weather. It ended up being one of the driest Pennsic’s in thirty years. I had no need for my new hood which is just as well since it was not finished.
Hood rough finished, blanket stitching on bottom edge in progress.
I’ve taken a picture of the hood finished with the edging in progress. I began with a 20/2 wool yarn in a forest green. I completed the blanket stitching and, being me, I was not satisfied. The edging didn’t really stand out. The yellow is very bright and my green yarn was being swallowed by the hood itself. I decided to bulk it up a bit. Whether or not it is period I certainly like it. I’ve posted the picture below with the side by side comparison. (Sorry for the large picture but it’s the only way to see the detail.) You can see the twist on the right side. While it’s not a huge difference I find it lends more weight and more decoration to the hem. It’s just a simple thing to do to and I figured I may as well do it right the first time while I’m working on it right? I’m planning to do the same treatment to the hood opening. What I have found is that I’ve spaced the blanket stitches about 1/4″ apart and naturally the distance varies somewhat. This affects the twists I found. In some of the stitches one twist is enough and in others it needs two to make the twist look even. Also the wool yarn really likes to keep the twist so I have to manually un-twist the yarn before it begins to curl up on itself.
Left side single blanket stitch. Right side blanket stitch bulked up with twists of green and rust yarn.
I wish I had time to tablet weave the edges but this is a close second. I’m planning to also do a seam treatment of some variety. I’m not sure which stitch I’ll use yet but probably some herringbone or fish tail variation. I’ve also found the image that I want to embroider on the front panel. It’s the two ravens from Norse mythology, Huginn and Muninn. I probably should have embroidered it first but oh well! I really want to embroider the image below either in blue or black. Probably black and a combination of back stitch and something else… 
More pictures of the hood as work progresses!!