I finally finished one of my competition entries and I'm so relieved!

I'm keeping it under wraps for the moment so instead here's a photo of a piece of knitting I started immediately afterwards.
I'm an absolutely hopeless knitter- it just doesn't feel natural in my hands at all. But I'm experimenting with different ways of holding it and working and hoping to finally finish a piece of knitting- which would be a first since I first learnt to knit 28 years ago!

Although I have lots of beading to get on with I found this piece so painful to bead I couldn't bear to do any more just yet.

This piece has definitely been a learning experience and I have struggled throughout its completion. Some of the things I learnt are:
- Beading with a time pressure isn't good for me!
As it's so rare for me to have time to bead recently- especially with being away from home working so much- I was constantly away of the time pressure. This definitely led me to panic and rather than let the idea develop and evolve over a few months I had to run with the first idea I had- thank god it was a good one!
But I would have liked to do my usual thing of playing around with the idea and seeing what happened and felt I couldn't or I wouldn't get it done in time.

- Not being able to play with colours means I don't enjoy beading a piece
Because I decided right from the start to use the new size 15 Delicas and a certain type of crystal I was very limited in colour options as to what's actually made and available here in the UK and what would go together. This meant I didn't get to do my usualy thing of playing around and experimenting with colours and I really missed the opportunity.
Although I like the finished result I would much prefer it in different colours- so hope I get to rebead it soon- just need them to manufacture new colours of beads!

- Pressure and unhappiness= slow and bad beading!
The time and colour things mean I was never really happy whilst beading it and always wishing I was working in different colours or a different way.
This slowed me down greatly and also meant I made a shocking number of mistakes.
It's not rare for me to make the odd mistake when beading but for this piece I made one at least every half an hour or so.
Often they were very big mistakes which I didn't spot for a few rows and the size and fragility of the beads meant I couldn't simply undo the work but had to start again.
I must have beaded the whole thing 5 times over in the course of beading it once.

- Some beads are very, very fragile
I love the new size 15 Delicas but boy are they fragile.
The shiny ones were bad enough but the matte ones were a real pain.
Because of what I was beading I often had to go through them multiple times and keep a tight tension- this definitely didn't help.
I must have cracked between 10 and 25% of them depending on what component I was beading- I soon became an expert at stiching on new beads over spaces- not the easiest thing in peyote stitch.

- I hate fine needles
Okm, I already knew this but usually I get to avoid them. ut the size and fragility of the beads in this project meant I had to use them.
Because of their fine size they are a lot harder to hold and get a good grip on. This not only hurts and tires your hand but also really slows you down in your work.
I have lost count of the number of people in my classes who struggle with beading quickly or without their hand getting tired and then I discover they're using fine needles. Simple swapping to a thicker one makes an incredible different- try it.
If you can get hold of gold-plated needles they make an extra difference. The texture of them is sligthly rough (not that you'd feel it) so you can get a much better grip on them instead of the usual shiny needles.
I just have never found any where the coating lasts long enough before chipping off.

- How much I love designing and beading!
in the past 6 months to a year I have got very little beading done and almost all I have done has been for the new book or magazine projects.
I have not been able to play around and have fun with beading and I really missed it.
Doing this project has got me inspired and invigorated again and I can't wait to get some experimenting done!

Now all I have to do is work on writing up the instructions for this piece!
It actually comprises of 3 different components- some of them instantly recognisable as my work but with a new, sparkly twist.
In the course of beading this I have figured out lots of ways to work with the tiny beads so will ensure all of that goes in there as well.

Expect the instructions to appear over the next few months and if you want to be amongst the first to know when they're available, make sure you sign up to my newsletter.