Extreme Knitting Redhead: Nellie and a mandala

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Nellie and a mandala

She's finished and she's so sweet!

Before I show the finished Nellie I need to mention her trunk. I really didn't like the way the end of the trunk was finished. I looked at all those on Ravelry, including the ones where people had chosen to turn the trunk up rather than downwards and inwards, and the more I looked the more I didn't want my Nellie to have a trunk like that.

Sorry this is out of focus but you'll get the idea. You see the end of the trunk is made using a pentagon motif which is the same size as the penultimate one. However, the 2 smaller ends are joined together which leaves a lot of bulk at the other end. The instructions said to gather it and sew it underneath which I did but I really didn't like it.

Nor did I like the bit where the 2 end pentagons joined as the join went in and then the end of the trunk inevitably flared out again and looked odd to my eye.

I spent ages trying to find the solution and in the end it was obvious - take off the end pentagon. Eureka!

So here she is in all her african flower loveliness:

Sniffing the lavender

Searching out the watering holes in the garden

I love her crinkly ears

The other thing I finished off today was the mandala idea for Yarndale. After much fiddling and undoing I finally made the border I wanted.

Not quite right yet

I wanted it to have the suggestion of bicycle wheels (to fit in with Lucy's theme for Yarndale) so the edge had to have spokes of some sort and the way I chose was to just finish it off with a bit of overlay crochet over the last few rows.

Here it is in its unblocked form. It measures 7" so is just right. I'll take another photo when it's been blocked and stiffened which will make a huge difference to its appearance.

I'm off into London again today for a meeting with DeNDRoN where we'll be getting an update on the new website we've been working on which will allow people to sign-up to take part in dementia research.

We've been working on this project for so many years that I can hardly believe it's happening. All very exciting.

Must dash, I have a train to catch!

2 comments:

Helen said...: Nellie is gorgeous!! Really stunning and so cute! and I really love the mandala design and the colours you've used :); July 15, 2014 at 11:08:00 PM PDT
Susie Hewer said...: Thanks Helen! :-); July 16, 2014 at 11:39:00 AM PDT

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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.