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The Finale! A Heart In Bloom - By Cory U of CUExperiments

Blog Update - #100DaysofCreativeExperiments for #The100DayProject - Day 100

It took 8 balls of yarn, over 150 crocheted blooms, 93+ hours of work, & 100 days to complete the experiment that you see before you. Adding my own spin to the increasingly popular #The100DayProject, I decided to make my project grow day by day. Starting with one bloom, each day I crocheted a little more. The blooms developed over time as I got feedback from others & became more comfortable with the concept myself. It travelled with me on weekends away & each night before I went to bed I made sure that a new piece was always added to the puzzle. No pattern was set out from the start & only rough doodles helped me keep track of my favourite flowers as time went on. It tested my commitment, endurance, creativity & logic; it was the ultimate experiment for me so far.

This experiment ended a month ago on July 14, 2015, but I wanted to take some time to breathe, let the project sink in, & let myself really process what I loved, didn’t, & will miss most from such an experience. Here’s some things that I’ve thought about:

- Growing up, I was never one to completely finish a personal project. I’d get super close & leave just a little bit more for a day that would never come. A lot has changed since then, but I didn’t know how I’d react working on one thing for 100 days straight. Thankfully, my determination kicked in & I kept up the work even when I had friends tell me to just skip it for a night & go straight to bed. (Mind you, these were times when it was already 2am.) Once I got going I didn’t skip a night, even if that meant crocheting after a night on the town or after an evening of hang-outs with friends. I crocheted on trains, in beds, at dinner tables & in front of movies every single night.

Holding my weapon of choice; a golden crochet hook. 

- I LOVED not knowing what I was doing. From start to finish I let the yarn & my crochet hook do the talking. It wasn’t until the last few days that I noticed it took on a shape of it’s own & became a heart. It was meant to be; A Heart in Bloom.

Holding A Heart in Bloom. Sized at 22.5″/57cm tall & 29″/74cm wide.

- I couldn’t focus on other crochet designs. Having one project take up almost an hour each day for 100 days took a lot of creative mental power out of me. I tried to create more new experiments at the time, but I didn’t want to lose focus on one or the other. I stuck to working on patterns I already had written over designing two completely different experiments at the same time.

Imagining it as a wall hanging. 

- I already miss the community. There’s a few great artists I follow & chat with now because of this project on Instagram, but the collective mentality is gone. It was great motivating & having motivation from others during that time.

Made from Knit Picks Comfy Sport Yarn, durable & soft pima cotton/acrylic fibres.

- 100 days is a long time to work on one experiment. I’m not used to pacing through 100 days. I’m used to designing something new in a weekend or few weeks at full force. I like my natural speed of go-go-go much more than the pace of 100 days.

If it was bigger, it’d be a blanket... It would also be another 100+ days of work.

- I’m keeping it! For a while I went back & forth debating what I’d do with it once it was done. At one point I even thought about auctioning it off. Nope. This experiment represents a very strange transitional time in my life & I’m going to keep it to remind myself of that time. Even through the strangest days, there was always a bloom to look forward to creating & a heart to be fulfilled in the end. xo

Thinking: ‘There’s still a whole other set of this yarn leftover in my yarn stash...’

I truly enjoyed participating & learning about myself through this very creative project. If you’re looking for something challenging to work on, I completely recommend trying something as enduring as this yourself. It was a uniquely rewarding experience. 

On a side note: I overbought on yarn just to be on the safe side for this experiment & have debated making miniatures of A Heart in Bloom. Let me know your thoughts/if you’d be interested in something like that.

-Cory U

Read More: Joining #The100DayProject - Day 1 & Update on #100DaysofCreativeExperiments for #The100DayProject - Day 13 & In Full Bloom: Blog Update - Day 40 - 9 Feeds to Follow From #The100DayProject: Day 50 - It’s Heart-Shaped! - Day 88

Hey BFF! There's Free Shipping over at CUExperiments on etsy until December 2nd, 2014. Just use coupon code " BFF2014 " during checkout. 

Snail Mail is so much nicer to get when you don't pay for delivery, eh?

-Cory U