Extreme Knitting Redhead: January 2007

Monday, January 29, 2007

Cast Off at the London Marathon

I've just had a really nice email from Rachael Matthews, founder of the Cast Off Knitting Club in London. I'd been trying to get hold of her having read about her knitting club in Simply Knitting magazine. The site is well worth a look and you really should check out her photo album where you'll find her knitted wedding. Yes, I did mean to type 'knitted wedding'! From Rachael's dress & the groom's hat down to the sandwiches and cake, everything was knitted. What great fun. Here are some photos that Rachael has kindly allowed me to use to whet your appetite.

Anyway, the reason I contacted Rachael was to ask if she would like to come along to the marathon and organise a knit-in at the finish (the Cast-Off knitting club has been known to knit on the tube and was asked to leave the Savoy lounge because the click of their knitting pins!). Imagine my delight when Rachael said that she'd love to be involved and suggested that they could knit me a silver blanket for when I finish. Could it get any better?!!!!!! Well, yes it could actually as Rachael has very kindly offered to write about what I'm doing in her monthly column for Simply Knitting.

What I want more than anything is to raise awareness of the splendid work done by the Alzheimer's Research Trust and I think this should get lots of publicity. Michelle, from the ART is finding out where the knit-in could take place (as it's quite congested at the finish) and I'm sure she'll provide everyone with an ART tee shirt so there will be a mass of purple (my favourite colour) to greet me as I stagger across the finish line.

Sunday, January 28, 2007

Taper time at last!

Hoorah, today I completed my last 20 miler before the Draycote 35 mile ultra marathon. Now I've got 3 weeks to taper and get myself thoroughly rested before the big day. It will also give me a chance to get in some more knitting and running practice. Here's a photo my husband took the other morning as I set off on a knitting run!

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Wild, wet and windy

What a dreadful 2 weeks we've had - gale-force winds and rain, rain, rain! Running has been dreary as apart from getting blown all over the place I've been soaked to the skin time and time again. Grumble, grumble, grumble. No chance of knitting/running practice at all. Surely the weather has to get better soon?

Mum's Story

In 1997 my mother, then aged 81, had a series of minor strokes. Shortly after that we started to notice behavioural changes notably memory loss and confusion over everyday items. We thought it was just old age finally catching up with her. Then she started wandering and had violent mood swings. Although she already lived with us it became obvious that she couldn't be left alone for long and so I left my job to care for her. The next few years saw a gradual decline into the blackness that is 'vascular dementia'. My normally placid mum became violent and aggressive. She had psychotic incidents where she would see imaginary people (children hiding in her wardrobe, Russians sitting on the stairs, women stealing her clothes) and she would shout at them and sometimes throw things too. She was so convincing that we used to go and check that there wasn't anyone there! When my sister died mum did not know who Judy was or that she was her daughter. There came a point when I suddenly realised she no longer knew that I was her daughter and this was a terrible time for me. In the last 2 years that she lived with us, life for us all became almost unbearable as she needed 24 hour care - she couldn't be left alone at all because she would either wander off or hurt herself, she never slept for more than 30 minutes at a time during the night, she became incontinent and incapable of doing anything for herself. Finally my husband and I realised that we could no longer provide her with the care that she needed and she went to live in a special care home where the team did a splendid job caring for her in the last few months of her life. There she lived a zombified existence unaware of who she was, what she was or where she was. It was heartbreaking. She died in March 2005, the day after her 89th birthday.

Thank you for taking the time to read mum's story and I hope you'll dig deep and sponsor me using the link below to help find a way of beating this destructive disease.