Irish Crochet

I have a lovely French friend C., who comes round most Friday evenings for a chat.  I did A level back in the dark ages so we mostly chat in French until my brain begins to fry.  Then she talks French and I reply in English.... it's great fun!  Anyway, we were chatting a few weeks ago about crochet and my faltering beginner steps.  Since then - while I've been plodding round my granny squares - C. has rediscovered her passion for crochet too. 

At the moment each Friday session starts with a crochet 'show and tell'.... C. politely compliments me on the fact that I'm still going round in squares, then produces the most beautiful pieces of work from her bag.  She is currently working on 0.8mm and 0.5mm hooks with ultra fine silks and cottons.  She's creating amazingly delicate flower motifs.  They are stunning.

She explained last night that she intends to work some Irish Crochet.  Apparently she will have to work loads of these tiny flowers then pin them onto a piece of frabric.  After that she will crochet them together using chains and other simple stitches.  Once she has finished the linking work, she can remove the material and the effect will be somewhere between lace and a free-style crochet picture.  I've had a look at some examples on the internet and added a couple of my favourites to this post.  I think it's absolutely gorgeous.

I think I'm a very long way from being able to follow in my clever friend's footsteps - but I now have a crocheting goal.  I would love to be able to be able to produce something like this!