Extreme Knitting Redhead: Crochet? Knitting?

Sunday, June 15, 2014

Crochet? Knitting?

I've just started the next chair back cover using a motif from the crochet club 2013 which I wrote about here

I was taking some photos of it for Simply Crochet magazine recently and it was just before Happy the Hippo went to live with Ruth so I included him in a shot.

It reminded me that as the first one was finished nearly 12 months ago it was about time I made the second one!

Then there's the knitting project that was put on hold because of ……. well I can't remember what actually but it probably involved running and fund-raising.

So why have I been so inattentive to my crafting activities? Well it's largely because of this, the Tilly effect:

See, I can fit in here

Whenever I sit down for a bit of hooky time she watches and then just takes over!

How can I ignore such a little sweetheart who throws her arms around my neck and asks to be loved?

Resistance is futile

She's a great time waster and has Mike crawling around the floor dangling a length of yarn for her to chase.

Note the 'Hello Kitty' igloo (the label said 'iglootastic' so I was powerless to resist!)

As I type this she is sitting on my knee whilst I type with one hand.

I'm sure that eventually we'll all settle down and get into a routine of some sorts but for now it's definitely Tilly Time.

2 comments:

Kathryn Vercillo said...: Absolutely beautiful. Love the crochet work. And kitty. :); June 21, 2014 at 5:40:00 PM PDT
Susie Hewer said...: Thanks Kathryn xxx; June 21, 2014 at 9:59:00 PM 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.