Tatting-25 Motif Challenge

A Scalloped Edging, from Weldon's Practical Teneriffe Lace and Irish Tatting. The original is pre-WWI.

I have Ivarose's reproduction of this booklet, and she does nice work. The motif is needle-tatted in vintage Clark's Boilfast Cotton, size 30.

One Dog Night

(We live in an old house. The air conditioner is never turned on for the simple reason that it does not work).

Sewing-Pattern for a Swinging 60's Skirt

This flower power-era skirt is from one of the Creative Hands books that I blogged about last winter. Originally published by Fratelli Fabri, Milan, in 1965, after five or so reprintings the series went out of print in 1975. So far as I have been able to discover, no current edition exists.

The pattern for the eight skirt panels and the instructions for drafting and making them are here. I'd gladly publish a photo if any brave, slim soul wants to sew one up!

From Millie

Please visit Millie's photostream on Flickr and take a look at the book of 1950's fashion drawing techniques she's scanned. Peachy.

Vintage Magazines-Woman and Home, 1955

'Stravagance!

This little 30's promo cookbook exists only to encourage the use of Clabber Girl Baking Powder (Leaves No Bitter Taste). This particular recipe is listed as Applesauce Cake - 4 Eggs while the recipe below it, rather apologetically, is Apricot Cake - 1 Egg.

Now, applesauce cake was originally developed by some smart woman as a thrifty solution to the problem of leftover applesauce. A four-egg cake, particularly during the Depression, would have been saved for special occasions such as Father Riley stopping by for coffee on Sunday evening. This one has cocoa as an ingredient, either for color, or to temper the sweetness of the applesauce?

Apple Sauce Cake - 4 Eggs

2/3 cup butter
2 cups sugar
4 egg yolks
3/4 cup cold thick unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup milk
2 1/2 cups cake flour
3 teaspoons CLABBER GIRL BAKING POWDER
1 teaspoon grd. cloves
1 teaspoon grd. cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon grd. nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon grd. allspice
4 tablespoons cocoa
1 teaspoon vanilla
2/3 cup raisins
1/2 cup nut meats
4 egg whites


"Cream the butter; add the sugar, beat until well blended; add egg yolks and applesauce and beat until the mixture is smooth; then add the milk alternately with the cake flour, which should be sifted four or five times with the baking powder and spices; add vanilla, raisins and nuts, fold in the beaten egg whites; turn into greased layer cake tins, and bake in a moderate oven (325 degrees-350 degrees F.) about 40 minutes."

There are no suggestions offered on icing; I think caramel would be perfect.

Vintage Needlework Books Online-Handbook of Wool Knitting and Crochet

This little charmer from 1918 is available free at Project Gutenberg.

Caturday!

(Picture courtesy of the LOLCATS).

Quote of the Day

“Man fängt keinen Krieg an, oder man sollte vernünftigerweise keinen anfangen, ohne sich zu sagen, was man mit und was man in demselben erreichen will, das erstere ist der Zweck, das andere das Ziel.” Carl von Clausewitz

Ya don't see that in New York City or Chicago, by crackey!

As I drove to work this morning, I passed a neighbor out on his front lawn, facing off against a very large, pink, and smug-looking pig.

Bragging Rights

You see before you our dinner. Beans (from our garden), potatoes (from our garden), cucumbers and baby tomatoes (from our garden), with homemade bread.

The butter is store-bought.

A Dillar, A Dollar

I received an interesting piece of SPAM in my inbox at work today; one of those fly-by-night diploma mills was offering online degrees for a very nominal fee ("we turn no one down! Call 24 hours/day!")

They mis-spelled bachelor's, master's and doctorate.

For the Table-a 20's Embroidered Tea-Cloth

I recently purchased on eBay an envelope of 100-some cuttings from various women's magazines, dating from the teens through WWII. This embroidery pattern was one of many I will be posting over the next several months. It is from the Pictorial Review and judging by the fashions in the ad on the back, dates from 1925-1926.

(Larger copy on my Flickr account, here.)

Vintage Book Covers- All Around the Year

Too Pooped to Participate

I have just returned from a three day corporate retreat. I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard, even at my niece's wedding.

I am absolutely wiped out and will not be posting the usual recipe today. I should have realized this would happen and gotten one ready in advance; please accept my apologies.

This one's for GDad

Quote of the Day

"The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary." James D. Nicoll

Walking Wounded

Some time last month, a feline or felines unknown sunk a set of very sharp fangs into Reserve Cat’s, um…nether regions. Right where his tail meets his left leg, in fact. I administered first aid and it appeared to be healing on its own as these things do, generally speaking.

Over the weekend I noticed a sticky patch on his fur (if you are eating or drinking something, you might want to stop reading now). I separated the matted hairs on his flank and gave the spot a gentle squeeze, and was rewarded by a spurt of pus and an anguished “mwrrorrrow!”

Luckily, the spousal unit already had an appointment yesterday morning with Dr Tinyvet for the dogs. Dr Tinyvet has a wonderful policy of only charging for a single office call even if you bring in multiple animals, so yesterday he loaded all three of them into the pickup truck and drove to her office. Since we have two dog crates, a cat carrier, and a doggie seatbelt, size XL, I’m confident it was done in an appropriate and safe manner.

I was really hoping she’d clean out the wound, give the darn cat a shot, and send him home to recuperate. Unfortunately she decided to go the oral antibiotics route and we now get to give him half a pill every twelve hours for the next ten days.

Oh, goody.

Knitting-Pattern for a Blouse and Stole, 1954

From Modern Needlecraft, #21, Spring-Summer 1954, "An airy, openwork stole to provide cover for arms bared by the matching sleeveless blouse." Instructions are here.

Happy Bastille Day and Joyeux Anniversaire, Reine de Drama, Cherie

"Thank you very much. Now go away."