spring magic

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 It certainly feels like it! A mere week before there were no buds, no blooms. The potted plants were just about awakening from the cold winter months. And then here we are with such beautiful vibrant flowers! Spring magic or magic springs? Let's not forget the mighty role of the sun, though!

I haven't curated my pics .... sharing all I took, though a few were not rotated back to how I had taken them. Also these are only some of the plants in my hubby's balcony garden.

Petunias -

Love the vibrant shade! It is a darker magenta/purple than what I see here, though.

Dormant throughout winter. And now it can't seem to stop growing ;-D

 

A single plant. The very first flower dropped today after five days of giving pleasure. The buds just keep emerging and opening up. I'm glad they stay a while. 

Madhukamini or Orange Jasmine - 

These are not as fragrant as the mogra, and are also quite small. It is fun to look for them among the foliage each morning!

 

There are quite a few buds springing out almost daily and it has red berry-like fruit. Cute aromatic flowers. Expecting the plant to show many more flowers as the temperature and sunlight increases.

Ajwain or Oregano -

We have two plants and both have been fairly prolific even during winter. 

 

Last week I pruned and snipped off a Lot of the leaves and they are drying out in the fridge. Within a few days the branches and leaves are growing! 
Very happy and satisfied with their growth.

Money Plant -

It was difficult to take a good pic of the entire climber. The above pic shows only the leaves at the base.

We had to let go some of the plants sadly. Cycle of life. But the remaining potted plants continue to provide pleasure and hope. The moment the French doors are opened in the morning, we are greeted with enticing fragrance from the blooms and aromatic leaves/herbs. All this is my hubby's handiwork (including the title of this post!). This time my only contribution was to spot the first buds and/or leaves every morning and give him the good news! :-D

CWJ for EP tuts

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 You might remember that I have been mentioning a resource document (EP Tutorials) from the perspective of Endrucks' original patterns and derivatives. Ninetta and I decided to restrict the technique tutorial links to our respective blogs, and the Endrucks 1920 Project, without any outside source. To that end we even created some new pictorials and/or videos - some of which are still underway. 

The Catherine wheel join (CWJ), however, is something both of us had in our folders for the last several years but hadn't shared it online. My pictorial is from 2020 which I did for my Lock Join Plus series aka Reposition Methods, while Ninetta's diagrams were also drawn many years back. Bringing the two together, we present this PDF. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UmmjBqNwwQYIb9Ms9_-T5K6dPnZENCwl/view

A few selected pics from the pictorial -

In the same 2020 folder I have the pics for working the CWJ backside, but have not presented them here. Perhaps at a future date I will work on that presentation and include it.

And Ninetta Caruso's diagram page - 

        Download the PDFs :

Catherine Wheel Join (CWJ) -  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UmmjBqNwwQYIb9Ms9_-T5K6dPnZENCwl/view

Lock Join Plus aka Reposition Options series - https://drive.google.com/file/d/17zsM3JaLO7r0ajg8VOnv5IcJ-kLNqEiU/view

And in case you want a practice pattern, here's a quick one - E28 Heart by Muskaan - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-rWqmDAd51VwxOqtt9spD-FIX5zYDAUE/view

There are already plenty of tutorials, including video demonstrations on this join, links to which you can find by clicking on the Tatting Resources tab above. I am of the opinion that there is no such thing as too many resources. Each of us learns in their own way and one never knows which tutorial will click for an individual. So, hope some of you find this helpful.

Happy tatting!

a new heart pattern

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This year our Endrucks FB group has probably felt a bit orphaned with both Ninetta and I being engaged elsewhere. We miss the interaction and games, but just cannot carve out enough time at present. So it was such a wonderful surprise to see a new heart derived from Endrucks' pattern E13 by Lella Loops! She is an excellent needle tatter and has been a participant in almost all our games and more. She sent us the diagram and I prepared the rest of the presentation for shuttle tatting.

E13 Cuore Mio (My Heart) by Lella Loops, Feb 2026 for #Endrucks1920Project ... click to download pattern PDF - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hs_J5JF1kOf7j8RE-4xqZGK4y7fcQHFw/view  derived from Eleonore Endrucks' E13 pattern from 'Die Schiffchen-Spitzen', 1920.

It is a very clever construction ... Lella 'erased' parts of the lace and brought together two motifs to create this heart, with minimal changes to the stitch count, etc.! 

I quickly tatted up my own model with shuttle and though I am not overly happy with my work, it will have to do for now. Worked in Anchor size 20 (equivalent to Lizbeth 10), it is 2" across and a bit more than 1-1/4" high. 

It is a very easy pattern with the count being 6 or a multiple of 6 for each element and all rings are worked from the front in case of directional tatting. 

The drop or inward picot is made using the node or set stitch - 2fhs, p, 2shs.

Not only does it tat up quickly and can be used to empty shuttles (it needs very little thread on 2nd shuttle) but I also love the way the two long side chains on the lower side have that little curve before tapering down. Now if only I had noticed the uneven closure of the large ring it wouldn't have tilted to the right, LOL!

Please use the hashtag (#Endrucks1920Project) and the name of the designer & pattern when you post online. Not only is it a courteous gesture to give credit, but also makes it easier for others to find the pattern. , ......

I know it is too late for today, but hey we don't need a single day or a reason to tat hearts to our heart's content, right?! Do here are some more free heart patterns - Hearts from Endrucks directory -https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MpYw9XMB8Asz8zusj1ZpHvX8A8Ww424-rEVORtxcL1w/view  and my own heart patterns -https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LpHU69wNsQspIHgvt9pihgTNhHFDRBab3I5_MDEYyNw/view  (hmm, looks like need to update it!)

💗 Many many thanks to Lella Loops for her lovely heart and all her contributions!  💗