Extreme Knitting Redhead: A bit of light stitching

Tuesday, September 19, 2017

A bit of light stitching

I realise that I haven't updated my eyesight issues so in brief; I had a follow-up visit which resulted in much angst because the man I saw didn't speak very good English, couldn't see one of the laser spots (in my good eye!!!), disappeared without explaining what he was doing (which resulted in Mike getting very worried as he was sitting outside the room watching as the man hunted around to find a Consultant to get a second opinion), couldn't find anyone, told me the laser treatment hadn't been done properly and referred me for another 'emergency' appointment. Great!

Went back a week later and saw the lovely lady who did the laser treatment who confirmed that everything was tickety-boo and the man I'd seen hadn't been looking in the right place. That really inspired confidence! I've now got a follow-up appointment with her in a few weeks time and then if all's still OK then I'll go back onto my usual 6 monthly check-ups for my pressures, cataracts and glaucoma.

All this mullarky made me think long and hard about my eyesight issues and how its decline will affect my numerous crafts, especially embroidery which used to be one of my favourite pastimes. I virtually stopped doing it when my career took off in my early 20s as I always need good light to be able to do it and work got in the way somewhat. I promised myself that when I left to have babies then I'd have more opportunities to do it. But then we found out we couldn't have children so that threw a spanner in the works and embroidery became associated with a sad time.

Enough of that thank you very much, time to get on with it again!

As I'm a tad rusty in my stitching skills I thought I'd start on something where I could just play around and refresh my memory. I remembered this lovely tea towel designed by Sarah Young I'd bought in Rye ages ago which fitted the bill perfectly. They are designed to be cut out, stuffed and used as doorstops but to me they screamed "embroider me before you stuff me!"

May I present Hester the hare.

I may embroider both sides. I'll see how it goes.

I just started doodling and played around with different stitches, long-ago forgotten. It's great fun looking back through my embroidery books for ideas.

I added beads on top of some French Knots

Oh my goodness, I need to practice my French Knots a bit more!!!

I do, of course, have a little helper at times:

See, I'm no trouble at all...........

.....until you want to choose some more thread!!!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...: I love it!
I really feel for your eye problems. I can no longer knit anything other than plain stocking stitch while watching tv. I have various projects started for doing with or w/out tv!
Life just never quite goes how you planned it does it?
Julie; September 19, 2017 at 4:56:00 AM PDT
Susie Hewer said...: Awwh, thanks Julie. Same here re TV knitting etc and I always have to have the main lights on rather than just lamps. Getting old sucks but we mustn't grumble too much as not everyone experiences it (which has been brought into sharp focus this year with the number of friends having heart attacks, cancer etc). Carpe diem xxx; September 19, 2017 at 7:33:00 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.

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.