heartily lemony happy

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 Such a happy day! Woke up yesterday morning to our very first ripened lemon that had fallen off the 'tree'! 2 of our first lemons had been turning yellow for a few weeks now.

Below is a variation shared by Margaret Davies, of the Eye Spy Heart #2 from Endrucks' pattern #37 I had shared recently. (https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2022/07/heart-pattern.html) I had tatted it the night before.

The upper 3 lemons are store-bought about 8-10 days old. And look at the size of our home-grown fruit! It has taken EIGHT months from flower to ripened fruit! Wow.

At one time we had 12 fruits on the tree, but gradually they fell off and only 5 remained. Now, with a 3rd blossoming, we see 4 more, if they don't drop off.

Haven't gotten around to slicing it.... One half is yellower than the other because of exposure to the sun.

So, remember how I was trying to improve the proportion of the heart and finally shared the pattern as is due to paucity of time for further trials? Well, Margaret took up the challenge and increased the height so cleverly with a simple addition of rings! https://margaretsdesignercards.blogspot.com/2022/07/endrucks-1920-tatting-project.html

  

I would much rather prefer the middle pair of chains to be more arched as in the left one and it can probably be accomplished by making the center pair of rings a wee bit smaller and the chains a wee bit longer. But that's for another day.

This is taken fresh off the shuttles the night before, without any damp shaping.

And then I blocked the heart and love how well it has turned out. My slight tweak to Margaret's is that I increased the top chain lengths by 3ds on each side, and the tiny ring at the tip is 6ds instead of 4. 

I will share the pattern, with diagram ....

In perle size 8, it measures 4.5 cms tall and 5 cms wide.

It was a happy end to the day and a great start to a new day!

Watch out for Margaret's blog. She has converted the heart into an angel!!!!

Many many thanks, Margaret, you are a sport!

forgotten

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 Forgotten, not in the 'out of sight out of mind' way. Quite the contrary! It is the 'right in front of my eyes but no longer visible' kind of way.

The photographs tell me it was 19th June. After that things got so busy that I had to keep this project aside. However, I kept it in the middle shelf of my bedside unit, in plain sight! And yet it wouldn't register and I forgot to post and share. Such a disconnect!

3 sides done, and the ball of size 20 Red Heart gives an idea of the dimensions.

 

4th motif attached.

 If I were to tat this again (no way!) I'd make the picot at the tip much longer. Or, do a swirl join. 

I used a square bottle to try and block it - not quite successful. Nothing like a rolling pin to flatten out the bumps, LOL.

5th motif joined! There is space between the motifs as is visible in the above pic. One can add a ring as I had done for the mat. 

Instead what I have in mind is to make a box from transparency sheet to fit inside this. It will act as a proper container, give the lace shape and sturdiness, too. Yet, after more than a month on the shelf, it hasn't lost it's shape!

This project will remain stalled for a while, with lots of stuff taking precedence.

So, dear readers and bloggers, I hope you haven't forgotten me in the 'out of sight' way? 

I have kept abreast of blogs, quickly browsing or reading without leaving a comment. Yet the time was well spent and satisfying. 

Our EP doc (Endrucks 1920 Project document) is now all laid out and every section is covered. Some day I will get around to polishing the text, too. Last evening I sent in the 2nd of 3 articles on Endrucks to the IOLI Bulletin, phew! Many ticks against several task boxes,  with a huge sense of accomplishment.

Related Posts - 

For past posts in the journey of this box -

https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2022/06/3d-multi-use-ornament.html 

https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2022/06/bag-gift.html

and for flat arrangements (and pattern for the motif) -

https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2020/11/arranging-motifs.html

https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2022/05/single-motif-bonanza.html

heart pattern

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There is no way play will be abandoned when there are hearts around! You see my fun arrangements for possible patterns in the collage below.

Several tatters liked the maroon heart - https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2022/07/spying-again.html. I wanted to tweak it a bit and did. 

But it did not seem to make much difference. Any further experiments will be way into the future.

Hence here is the temporary pattern with count and sequence. Eventually I will add a diagram and convert into a proper pdf. For now, enjoy and play with it all you want. Do share your versions and experiments.

💖 happy tatting 💖

happy beaded tatting

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Happy with my newfound progress on beading! 

The gold bead was used in place of the tatted ring between motifs. However a single gold bead was smaller than the required distance and I shredded my first attempt with 4 motifs. 

Kept wondering what to do when I visualized having 2 seed beads on either side of the gold. Could it be done? Yay, yes I did it!!!! 

I am getting good at solving my own beading problems ;-P

This is the only WIP pic I will post. I am hoping my final piece will be a bit of a TaDaa moment since there is a story in there.

spying again

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 I have been spending all my tatting time in front of a computer screen, writing, updating, coordinating, ..... Too much 'intellectual' activity without dirtying one's hands is not the way to have fun!  So I took a little time off last night and did a trial of this heart.

If you remember it is the 3rd hearts that I outlined in Endrucks' doily #37 here - https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2021/12/cupping-hearts.html. [pattern for the '2nd' one has already been shared here - https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2022/01/a-hearty-meal-of-tinies.html 

Tatted in Anchor size 20, the size is perfect for earrings or pendant. Or a brooch or charm.

This was a quick trial to get a feel of the shape, etc. Worked continuously in one pass.

A few things that need tweaking -

1. Proportion - it should be taller!

2. The side ring on the left bottom needs to face in opposite direction for symmetry. Also, the joining picot there was a bit too long, hence the untidy effect.

3. The side rings can be asymmetrical in order to achieve a better overall shape and height.

4. Make the topmost chains longer and also join them above the center.

5. Decorative picots/beads

What else do you think needs improvement?

I have this idea to add long picots in one pair of negative spaces, and join the chains above to these --- like a filling. But it will be in the faraway future unless somebody gets in on the game ;-D