Regular readers may remember that I’ve participated in the 100DaysProject for the past few years.
In 2020 I created a large crochet blanket, with #100SquaresOfColour. And Mum drew a painting each day, until Day 83 when she JUST STOPPED. You can see an online exhibition of her Not Quite 100 Days here.
In 2021 I started embroidering meaningful designs on Mum’s old fisherman’s smock with #TakingSmockOfTheSituation. This continues to be a work in progress – I never reached Day 100, but when I do, I will keep going further. There is so much more to embroider, but I will only return to it when my head is in the right space to enjoy it.
In 2022 I again embroidered, this time adapting other people’s designs, with #100DayStitchUp
This year I’m both pushing myself into uncharted territory and falling back on familiar ground. For 100 Days (starting 1 June 2023) I am knitting colourwork with Shetland wool (one of my favourite crafts), but I am making up my own design, which I have never tried before. You can follow along on Instagram via #100DaysPlayingWithColour if you want. I’ll also occasionally post on here. Probably.
The colour palette I’m starting with is inspired by Carrick Shore, which is the place I go to (physically if I can, or in my mind if not) when I need rejuvenating. Carrick is balm to my soul.
Last year I used an image of Carrick Shore with words to create a collage. The poem Everything is going to be all right by Derek Mahon spoke to me at the time, though I know I could hardly say it out loud, without breaking at the line ‘There will be dying, there will be dying,…’. I imagine there will be more days to come when I cannot recite these words without breaking a wee bit.
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Mostly on this blog I write about trying to care for Mum as she developed dementia, which nearly broke me on a number of occasions. Gentle meditative stitching the Fisherman’s Smock probably saved me, giving me a focus and forcing me to carve out time when I could let everything go and just concentrate on those tiny stitches. I would really appreciate it if you could make a donation towards Alzheimer Scotland. They’re doing stuff that makes living with this more bearable for so many people. Thank you, thank you, a thousand thank yous.
And if you want to read more about my relationship with Mum and her dementia, then you could start here at Taking smock of the Situation. Or just dip in. After all, if I’ve learned anything this last few years it’s that chronology and time are less important than we might imagine.
Shewolfinthevalley 
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