Extreme Knitting Redhead: Leftovers

Monday, May 19, 2014

Leftovers

Having given the blankets to their new owners I still had some yarn left so I hooked these 2 squares to make into cushion covers for the chairs in the gazebo.

I had just enough yarn to make the front panels and then used bits and bobs I had in my stash to finish the backs (well, I've only completed the one for Mike's chair so far but mine will be done soon).

This is Mike's. It's just a simple wave stitch patten.

I crocheted the front and back together along 3 edges and then stuffed the cushion pad inside before finishing off. Easy-peasy.

On the reverse you can see how I kept running out of yarn from the changes in colours! I managed to find several shades of mauve in my stash of acrylic and ended up using 3 strands held together. It is rows of double crochet with the 3rd stitch of every 3rd row done as a long dc stitch down to the row below just for a bit of interest - rather like a lot of Lily Chin's patterns.

Here it is in-situ. Mike said it makes the chair really comfy and it certainly looks jolly.

This is the front of mine - it's just a big granny square through which I've woven the last remaining remnants of the chain. I thought it would be a nice reminder of the day. There are soooooo many ends to weave in as I was really down to the dregs of my yarn when I crocheted this.

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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.