bookmark_borderDelayed Baronial Regalia

Normally, I try to hand over these things by Agincourt, but with Baronial Investiture just weeks later I wound up holding off on presenting these until I could present them to the new Baronage.

First is this set of six silk braids I completed in September. These are all 8-strand marudai braids done in silk.

Second is this set of 8-strand marudai braids I completed in October. Some of these are done in silk, and some of them are done in this super-soft silk/alpaca blend yarn we bought back in January. I wanted to experiment and compare 3 ends of silk/alpaca yarn per strand to the 8 ends of lace-weight silk yarn per strand that I normally use.

Finally is this set of eight machine-embroidered belt favors for the Baronial Comet awards. These apparently came in handy, as I saw several of them handed out later in the day.

bookmark_borderMillrind

On Saturday, at the Baronial Investiture event of our local group, I was inducted into the Kingdom‘s Order of the Millrind. This is a grant-level order for service. It was entirely unexpected, and I am thrilled that my service is considered to be at the level of the other members of this order. Previously, I have received two local service awards (Order of the Gold Comet, Order of Copernicus) and the Kingdom AoA-level award (Order of the Keystone), but did not imagine that my service was so appreciated. Here is my awesome scroll:

Composition, calligraphy, and illumination by The Honorable Lady Lisabetta de Rossi; translation by Mouri Tsubakie-dono and the Teahouse; with thanks to Morikawa-dono Rei for advice and design of hanko seals.

Twelve years ago, when I was inducted into the grant-level order for arts and research, I don’t think I understood how big a deal these Kingdom polling orders really are. I do now, and I am honored.