Extreme Knitting Redhead: Happy, Happy days

Monday, March 31, 2014

Happy, Happy days

Introducing Happy the Happypotamus

This is the little chap I've been making for a very special lady who I was expecting to meet up with on day 2 of my marathon weekend.

You see, my friend Ruth, who's appeared on my blog many times, ran her 300th marathon on Saturday. Yes, you did read that correctly; 300! I couldn't be there on the day she reached that amazing milestone but she was scheduled to come to the second day of the Buttons for Brathay Bells and Whistles Race Festival which was organised by my lovely running chum Kaz.

So why on earth did I choose to crochet a hippo for her?

Simple; her chosen nickname has been 'Plodding Hippo' for as long as I've known her so when I saw Heidi Bears Happypotamus I knew I had to make one for her. It is such a well written pattern with detailed instructions and lots of photos and it was a joy to make.

So here he is. He's made using small amounts of sock weight/4ply yarn and my colour choices have special meaning, but I will share them with Ruth as they are personal.

I'm a bit shy actually

Cute ears

Clever shaping

Enough of the photos, I'm out of here!

I thought he needed a tail (some people on Ravelry added them too) so I plaited him one and attached this pretty flower button rather than a ribbon

The sad thing was that on Saturday night, when she should have been travelling down to Dover for day 2 of the marathon weekend, her car packed in and she couldn't get there! So for the moment Happy will be living with us.

I really enjoyed making him and Mike and I both love him so much that I'm going to make another of Heidi's designs for us. I'm thinking about the elephant but the rhino's cute too and then there's the frog……….

I'm in a rush now so I'll just leave you with a couple of photos from the marathon weekend. I'll write about it in detail tomorrow but for now here we have me, still smiling on day 2 (which means I survived the marathon on day 1) and my 2 medals.

3 comments:

Anne said...: The hippo is very, very cute! I adore Heids designs. My friend Michelle (with whom I share the blogs) make beautiful beasties from Heidi's patterns too! I bet your friends loved her gift!

Take care,
Anne

http://crochetbetweentwoworlds.blogspot.de; April 1, 2014 at 1:04:00 AM PDT
Susie Hewer said...: Thanks Anne, he's even more cute in the flesh (so to speak!). Heidi's patterns are just perfect.; April 1, 2014 at 7:53:00 AM PDT
Idiosyncratic Eye said...: I don't crochet but I adore that pattern. Every time I see it, I wish I could have made it for my Dad. Love the button detail. :); April 26, 2014 at 4:33:00 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.

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