Lace completed!
I have completed two new lace pieces, just in time for the competition I’m entering tomorrow.
Queen’s Prize Tourney, in the Outlands, is being held on Sunday, Feb 17. The rules are that anybody who does not have a Grant Level award or higher (Flower of the Outlands, Laurel) or who is not a Lady of the Rose, may enter one A&S item. The entrant has to be sponsored by an above mentioned award holder.
As I have not been honored yet with any of the above awards, I am entering a piece of lace. Yes, I know, you are all shocked to find out I’m entering some lace.
This lace is made with 35/2 linen. It is one motif from a pattern from a German Needle Lace Pattern book, from 1597. I still have to sew the lace onto some fabric and make a small pouch out of it, but that won’t take me very long to do.
At Queen’s Prize, there’s a competition that’s being sponsored by the Ladies of the Rose. This competition is for “A Rose in Any Medium.” So, of course, I made a lace rose. Again, I’m sure you are all surprised.
This was made with DMC tatting thread, and the pattern was a modern pattern of a Tudor Rose. Where the wrapped bars are in the pink and rose areas, I wish I’d put needle weaving instead. I think it would have made it look nicer. However, I’m pleased with the overall look of the lace.
Unicorn
After I finished the pink piece I just posted about, I decided to tackle a much more difficult, and more SCA Period, pattern.
The pattern came from Les Singuliers Et Nouveaux Pourtraicts 1587 by Frederico de Vinciolo.
I started out with the intent to do all the beautiful lace around the arch as well, but ran out of time (and patience) with it. This was another learning piece. One of the most important things I learned on this one was that while using a 50/2 thread (2 strands of thread at a 50 gauge) it was too big. I lost a lot of detail in the inner scallops.
I ordered a finer thread (90/3) and was able to have the detail in the saddle before I finished this piece.
As you can see, I lost detail in the front leg, and wasn’t able to put any of the picots or the arches on half lozenges hanging on the inside of the arch.
The more I make lace, the more I’m learning about it!
Trying to make a go of this again
I know it’s been a long time since I did any posting here. Life became difficult for a while.
I think I’m back now.
While I haven’t been posting, I have done a few lace items I want to upload here.
This was my first attempt at doing “Punto in Aria” lace. I took the inspiration from a plate I bought at the grocery store:
I learned a lot in that piece, and there are things I would definitely do differently. But it was a good learning piece.
New lace, 3/4 completed
Needle lace Owl
This is a project I’ve been working on for about 3 months now. It’s about 3/4 completed.
Next project will be a pattern that is from the 1500′s.
Eggnog Cupcakes
Ready for our close up!
I have been searching for a good recipe for egg nog cupcakes for a couple of months, ever since eggnog hit the stores in October. Each time I’d make them, the cupcakes would crater in the middle,
Ugh.
So, yesterday, after trying and failing with yet another recipe I came across, I decided to create my own recipe. As you can see from the picture, the cupcakes rose beautifully, with no cratering or gummy middles.
Eggnog cupcakes, with eggnog buttercream frosting, and just a little nutmeg sprinkled on top. How can you resist that?
So, here’s the recipe:
Eggnog Cupcakes
1 stick salted butter*, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
2/3 cup eggnog
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1.5 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg (you may omit the cinnamon and nutmeg if you wish to do so)
Preheat oven to 350* Line 12 hole pan with cupcake liners
Sift flour, baking powder, and baking soda together in a bowl. Set aside. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time. Beat in the vanilla. Beat in the eggnog. Add the flour mixture, and beat until it’s all incorporated.
Fill the liners 2/3 full with batter. Bake for 17 to 20 minutes (until tester comes out clean) at 350*F.
Allow to cool completely, and frost with eggnog frosting, lightly dust with nutmeg or cinnamon.
Eggnog Frosting**:
1 stick salted butter, room temperature
1.5 cups powder sugar
5 Tablespoons eggnog
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg or cinnamon (to dust frosting with)
Beat butter for 5 to 7 minutes (until it becomes extremely pale, almost white). Once it’s beaten, add the powder sugar gradually (in at least 3 installments). Beat until it’s all incorporated, and then add the egg nog. Beat until light and fluffy, then frost the cupcakes with them. After frosting the cupcakes, lightly sprinkle either nutmeg or cinnamon (or be wild and use both!) on top of the frosting.
*Please use butter and not margarine. The butter gives a much better crumb, and makes the cake taste richer, and just satisfies better. Also, since I never use margarine on or in anything, I can’t guarantee how the cupcakes will turn out if you don’t use butter.
**This recipe will JUST cover the cupcakes above, if you use a pastry bag and large tip to frost the cupcakes with. If you wish for more frosting, or you are making a double batch, just increase the ingredients to 2 sticks butter, 3 cups power sugar, and 8-10 tablespoons eggnog (checking taste at 8 tablespoons to see if it has enough eggnog flavor).
Enjoy!
New Lace
People are encouraging me to enter some lace into the State Fair. I’ve decided I’m going to attempt it. I have a little while before I have to commit to it. If the lace turns out bad, then I just won’t enter!
I’ve decided I’m going to use this owl graphic.
I have it all printed out. Tomorrow, I will cover the cardboard in clear contact paper, and start sewing the couching threads for the outsides. Hopefully, by the time I have the cordonette couched down, I’ll have decided what to do with the big owl shape.
Hopefully, it’ll turn out well!
