Extreme Knitting Redhead: Crochet baby bootees and some skies

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Crochet baby bootees and some skies

Joe and Sarah, have just been blessed with a baby boy and so I wanted to make something for the new arrival. I scoured my pattern collection but couldn't find just what I wanted.

No problem as the wonders of the internet drew me to Etsy where I found a lovely crochet pattern by Lisa named Modern Crochet Bootees. So cute!

First bootee

I'd found out from Joe's boss that they'd had a little boy named Jake so I wanted a boyish pattern and this fitted the bill perfectly. It is crocheted using an aran weight yarn and I chose 2 shades of Rowan Summer Tweed.

I love this yarn as there are flecks of the contrast colour in the main colour which helps them blend together well.

Side view

The instructions are very well written and easy to follow and they were soon finished. I gave them a wash in Woolite to soften the yarn and they felt gorgeous and soft afterwards.

Joe was delighted with them when I saw him this morning and has promised to send a photo of Jake wearing them - I hope they fit!

Gravel garden

I took this photo yesterday evening to capture Berkheya purpurea 'Zulu Warrior' as it is looking fabulous. I've never grown it before and it was a bit of an experiment on our heavy clay but it seems happy at the moment.

Salvia with bee

The beautiful Salvias are like a magnet to bees and pollinating insects and I love their dusky mauve stems and purplish flowers.

Sky at 19:33

It was a really warm and sunny day yesterday which made a change from the dreary grey and rainy days we've had for the last couple of weeks. So we sat outside on the sunloungers for the first time in ages and watched the sun go down.

The first photo was taken when the sky took on tones of deep grey and we thought we might have to head inside but that soon cleared away, leaving us with a glorious Turneresque sky.

This is my penultimate month in my year of photographing our skies and it has been a very interesting exercise, yielding some exquisite images. Some of them have inspired Mike in his paintings and some of them have made me want to capture them in stitch.

Sky at 21:06

As for my running, I'm slowly getting back into it and adjusting to my breathing problems. I attended my first Asthma management clinic yesterday (now there's something that wasn't on my 'to do' list, that's for sure!!!) and I asked loads of questions and was reassured that with the right medication I will still be able to continue running marathons.

Phew!

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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.