Extreme Knitting Redhead: Spring is in the air (?)

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Spring is in the air (?)

Evergreen

I've been meaning to knit this cute little scarf by Jean Moss for ages. It's not a snuggly-keep-you-warm type of scarf, just a light decorative touch for your neckline. A bit of frippery.

It's name is 'Evergreen', from her book Sweet Shawlettes, and I liked its quirky dangliness (I don't care if that isn't a real word!).

I decided to use some Rowan Summer Tweed in bright, Spring-like colours to contrast with my green corduroy jacket which you can see here when I was showing off the Modern Quilt Wrap.

The green of the scarf has bright turquoise and yellow flecks in it which gave me the idea of adding some flowers to the leaves. The leaves are knitted as in her pattern but the flowers are my own very simple crocheted shape.

Today has been dreary and the light wasn't really good for taking photos but I know that if I hadn't done it today then I'd probably forget so apologies that the colours don't really zing. The leaves need a good blocking to stop them curling so I'll get Mike to take a photo of me wearing it with my jacket when it's done.

Dementia data

I forgot to put a random fact about dementia in my last post but here's another one: 1 in 3 people over the age of 65 today will have some form of dementia when they die.

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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.