Extreme Knitting Redhead: Back to normal?

Monday, November 11, 2013

Back to normal?

Oh I do hope so!

Our broadband connection has been repaired and after a few days of cutting out intermittently it seems to have settled down.

So it's time for an update on life apart from dementia and fund-raising.

Running

The day of reckoning is drawing near - the Brighton 10k on Sunday 17th November. Ever since my surprise 10k triumph on my birthday I've been doing a variety of speedwork sessions each week to try and get faster.

My target is to finish in 53 minutes or less and my training suggests that that is achievable. But of course there are the variables - asthma, the weather (it can be windy down on the coast), how I feel on the day etc etc.

It would be wonderful to set a new personal best (pb) time there as I established a new marathon pb there earlier in the year. Fingers crossed anyway.

Sorting

The weather is definitely getting cooler so it was time to put away the summer clothes and bring out the woolies. As I sorted through my knitwear Mike commented that I don't wear this cardigan much:

It's the Oregon cardigan, designed by Alice Starmore and I've knit it twice; once for me and then for a friend. My friend loves hers and whenever I wear mine I get "oohs" and "aahs" from everyone. Over on Ravelry everyone who's made it loves theirs.

So it got me thinking why I don't wear it more often. The colours are glorious and it took ages to knit but I don't like the shape of it as I think it's a bit old-fashioned (I expect fans of Alice Starmore will be screaming at me for that!). The other thing I don't like much is the bulkiness of the steek stitches along the buttonband and I wish that I'd created a steek-sandwich as used by Kate which gives a sturdier finish.

I shall however try to wear it more often and learn to love it as it really is a beautiful stitch pattern and it's lovely and warm.

My only other large item of Fair Isle knitting is the Autumn Rose pullover by Eunny Yang and I love it to bits. I love the colours, the pattern and more importantly the fit of it. The only thing that's a bit off is the neckline which tends to curl but I much prefer this modern take on Fair Isle.

My favourite small Fair Isle project is this pair of seahorse mittens designed by Torirot. A lovely design based on the traditional Selbu work of Norway.

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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.