We had a slow start this year, but the time has come once again for my people to go crazy over cherry blossoms!
They usually come to full bloom within a week of starting to bloom. But we had some wintry weather after the official notification by the cherry blossom authorities on March 21st that they have begun to bloom in my town, so we had to wait nearly two weeks to see them bloom fully this year.
And because we had to wait so long, the cherry blossoms are surrounded by people everywhere! I thought I would take some pretty pictures of them to share with you, but I could not get anywhere near them to get even a half-decent shot… so, I thought I would show you some that I have been growing at my place:
Sorry if I led you to think that I was growing a real cherry tree! (The pale mint-coloured blossoms do exist in real life. I have seen them blooming at the Mint Bureau of my homeland. I wonder if pun was intended??) But, I really have been “growing” these cherry blossoms.
If anyone finds them to be familiar somehow, you have great memory – these blossoms are the five-leaf version of these Celtic knot shamrocks. While I was tatting them on St. Patrick’s Day, I got the idea that if I added a fifth leaf and tatted in flowery colours, maybe they could become cherry blossoms. And since International Tatting Day was coming up soon, I decided to give this idea a go.
Mind you, I am still a novice tatter, so tweaking a pattern is a tall order. Add to that the fact that I have not fully mastered the Celtic knot, and growing cherry blossoms out of shamrocks seemed to be a paramount task. The situation did not look too good… but I was still happily tatting away, because I was living in a cherry blossom fool’s paradise!
There were many blossoms that did not bloom, but I kept at it. And I am glad I did, because I absolutely love the way they turned out! I love its heart-shaped petals on the outside, and I love how the Celtic knot looks like a blossom within a blossom. I went so crazy over them, I could not stop growing them.
Okay, so maybe I have ventured too far with colours and some do not look like cherry blossoms any more… but the light-hearted and uplifting nature of the real cherry blossoms that my people go crazy over is still present, don’t you think? As I tatted more of them, the project became more than a challenge I took on for International Tatting Day – I wanted to send these light-hearted and uplifting flowers, and the fool’s paradise they grow in, to my people affected by the big earthquakes last April.
As the one-year mark approaches, maybe they are growing impatient about having to wait indefinitely for their hometowns to recover and rebuild fully. But maybe like the real cherry blossoms, there will eventually come a time when they will see their hometowns come to full bloom once again. Maybe the situation does not look too good right now, but I do not want them to lose hope and remain unhappy. Then, maybe cherry blossom fool’s paradise is a good place for them to take shelter before going into the second year of recovery and rebuilding.
Maybe you can join me in sending a fool’s paradise to take shelter in to my people?
As with all but one previous get well messages which started with sending flower power, you need not do anything special or extraordinary. Only that, if you have something you go crazy over that makes you forget tough times and be happy and hopeful for no reason, you would kindly share them with my people.
Maybe you can tell me about it in the comments below?
Once again, please do not go out of your way – just out of your mind. (haha!)
Thank you to all old and new visitors passing by to read through my post(s). I would be a fool if I was not grateful for all your views and likes and comments! You give me many many reasons to be happy and hopeful being here. I wish I could give even half as much back, but it is such a paramount task…
Maybe I need to stay in the cherry blossom fool’s paradise a while longer. What do you think of these colours for the next batch of tatted cherry blossoms – Yes? No? Maybe?
Anyhow, happy April fools’ day to everyone, and happy International Tatting Day to tatters everywhere!
Water flowing, flower floating 
Lovely blossoms!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, notewords – I’m so relieved they materialized! Now you know which special day I was practicing Celtic tatting for! And I’ve got a further plan for these blossoms… I’ll keep you posted. Happy International Tatting Day 😀 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Pattern: “Celtic 4 leaf Clover” by R.P., arranged to have a fifth leaf
Thread: [first batch, from left to right] Daruma Home Thread by Yokota (cotton hand sewing thread, size #30, colours white, #42 – pale salmon pink, #16 – pale mint green); [second batch, in the middle] Lizbeth by Handy Hands (cotton lace thread, size #80, colour #157 “Raspberry Frappe” – variegated medium raspberry pink, dark boysenberry, medium and light magenta); [second batch, outer pieces, from left and clockwise] Lizbeth by Handy Hands (cotton lace thread, size #80, colours #176 “Pink Blossoms” – variegated medium to very light azalea pink; #132 “Tropical Punch” – variegated medium autumn orange, light yellow, light geranium pink, medium azalea, #166 “Pink Cocoa” – variegated dark to light mocha brown, azalea pink to light, #104 “Summer Fun” – medium lilac, medium seagreen, medium pink, light turquoise, and white between colours, #134 “Mountain Breeze” – variegated light and dark mocha brown, light avocado green, and medium salmon), Sulky Cotton by Gütermann (cotton embroidery thread, size #30, colour #4103 – variegated white, pink, purple, green, and yellow) – doubled for tatting
Size: all about 2.5 centimetres or roughly 1 inch, except the Gütermann piece, which is about 3 centimetres or slightly less than 1 1/4 inches
LikeLike