Friday 29 July 2022

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!

10 comments:

  1. Oh, wonderful to have a lemon from your own tree! Our lemon tree looks to have died. Jack will plant another in a better spot. Well done to Margaret, thumbs up. Great to have others take up the baton.

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    1. Yesterday the gardener/farmer came and was quite miffed that we had pruned a couple of branches of the lemon tree! Said we should've at least asked him ;-P Well, one of the branches was growing too high and posing a problem when hanging out clothes to dry.
      I hope your new lemon tree will survive and thrive. 😍
      Truly thankful to Margaret for this solution and improvement! There is just so much we can learn from one another. 💕

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  2. Beautiful big lemon fruit! How nice to have grown your own.
    The tatted heart is lovely!

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    1. Truly, Marilee, it is such a spectacular feeling picking flowers and fruit/veggies from one's own 'garden'! Or even making little vase arrangements with foliage ;-P Doing it all again after so many years! 💕🦋

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  3. Your lemons are brilliant, even better taste than brought ones, I am so jealous, I grow a lemon from a pip and got nothing, I think I must try again.
    It was my pleasure to play with the pattern and I enjoyed tatting your heart. thank you for letting me play

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    1. We bought the plant, Margaret, and thankfully it has prospered in our balcony. Today the 2nd lemon fell off, too. However it is a bit smaller than our first.
      We're looking forward to your participation (once you feel better) in our Game of the Month, too! 💕🍋💕

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  4. Isn't it fun to enjoy things you grow? We inherited 10 or so citrus trees when we bought this house. Some haven't survived our sporadic gardening talents...or lack there-of. We've learned to leave "ripe" looking fruit on one tree for 6 months or so as that variety NEEDS to tree ripen THAT long. It's so hard NOT to pick the fruit! But, it's super sweet if we do let it ripen naturally.

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    1. I agree, Mel, it is so tempting to watch the fruit on the tree and yet not be able to do anything except enjoy it's slow slow growth 😁 I've never had this burst of aroma simply by slicing a lemon in half! 💕🍋 Enjoy your trees and birds and fruits

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  5. Love the hearts!!! :)
    ~Sue(Tatting Lace in Grace)

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