As I mentioned on a previous post I have been taking part in the 100 Day Project and have been working towards completing an asymmetrical blanket for one of the projects towards Part II of the International Diploma.

I’ve not written a blog post during this time, however, I have been posting daily pictures of my progress on my Instagram account.  Some days I’ve made very little progress and so had very little to blog about from one week to the next. I’ve even learned that I needed glasses for close up work (and reading in general).  I’ve learned a lot about Irish crochet during this process and yesterday was probably my greatest learning to date.   What I had been slowly and painstakingly working towards wasn’t going to work as I had imagined in my head.  After I had completed the motifs I needed and laid them all out, it became apparent that they were not going to connect the way that I wanted and that it was probably best to stop where I was and take time to re-think my plans.

Whilst this was hugely disappointing it has taught me so much, in particular, the need to take time and plan my work more thoroughly.  I tend to be a think and go sort of person and don’t usually take time to plan my projects.  It has also taught me about the construction of Irish Crochet and that it is incredibly difficult to achieve the stunning pieces that you see.  It’s taught me to start small. I think that the size of this project for my first attempt at Irish Crochet was a step too far.  It’s also taught me to listen to Pauline Turner – who has told me multiple times not to over complicate matters – and with each passing disappointment I am learning that less is more!  It has also reconfirmed my love of working with thread, the pieces that were created were beautiful and so very delicate.  Whilst this project in particular has been put on the back burner for now, I have stored the motifs away and will be back to make another smaller project with them in the future.  One key thing that it did also highlight is that this type of crochet is not commercially viable.  Whilst I thoroughly enjoy working with thread myself it is very time consuming and it’s easy to understand why people don’t undertake such projects.

It’s not been all doom and gloom though.  It was very difficult to make the motifs and they don’t really make for relaxing crochet.  There have been instances over the past 37 days where I have needed to do something different.  So whilst on some days I had made seemingly little progress, other things had been going on in the background.

I have completed my first sock and I’m thrilled with it.  Learning to use 5 knitting needles has been a bit of a challenge – I am assured that with time you learn to work with it – but at the moment I always seem to have a needle in the wrong place at the wrong time.  I’d like to say I enjoyed it, but I’m not sure that is correct, however, having started on the second sock I can already see how it is going to be the first.  I’m slightly dreading working on the heel though – the first sock took four attempts to get that part correct, but hopefully the second time will be a dream!

I’ve also been enjoying some sewing and have made a skirt.  I’ve made several versions of this skirt – but they are so useful – particularly in Portugal where the temperature can vary so much throughout the day.  They aren’t as short as shorts when it’s still chilly in the morning, but still keep me cool in the warmest part of the day.

In a way I won’t be too disappointed to see the end of the Irish crochet motifs and am looking forward to trialling different lace patterns in different weights of yarn to see where the next part of this project takes me.  I still have 62 days of the 100 Day Project to go – more than enough time to finish a shawl!