The end of a chapter

We've known for the last two weeks that these were her last days. She was having repeated chest infections, and had lost a lot of weight.


The vet had told us that she thought there was 'something sinister' going on, and set out our options, which were quite limited due to her already precarious state of health. She had pancreatitis, and her kidneys were failing. Even if chemotherapy was theoretically possible, the likelihood was that Lucy would not be strong enough to cope with it.

Of course, there was really no decision to make - we did not want her to be in pain. So we chose not to have investigations done - no more tests, no x-rays - but to simply make her as comfortable as possible, even though effective pain relief would probably accelerate the kidney failure.


So the pain relief was started, and immediately she was happier. She slept a lot of the time, but when she was awake, she could be tempted to eat now, and for a while we thought that she might make it through to the New Year.


But in the small hours of Tuesday morning things took a turn for the worse, and even tramadol no longer helped.

By the time the morning came, it was clear that she wasn't going to be with us much longer. At that point, we knew that the only thing we could do for her was to make sure that she didn't have to go through another such episode of pain and distress.

So we took her to the vet, and her passing was easy and pain-free. We stayed with her, holding her and talking quietly to her until we knew she was gone.




Life goes on, of course.

We miss her at unexpected moments all through the day, and there are echoes of her everywhere.

Last night, I thought I heard her sigh in her sleep, as she used to. This morning my husband, sitting on the sofa with his cup of coffee, puts his hand down to where her head used to be as she lay by his side, and finds nothing there.....

Tuesday

Today is a sad day in this house.

This morning we lost our little Lucy. It was a hard decision to make, but nowhere near as hard as it was to see her in distress.

She's been in my life for exactly 10 years, that's all.

I don't think I can write any more for a bit.

The turn of the year

The solstice is past - 17:47 today.

This always has meaning for me. Tomorrow, the light will last for longer, and the night will be shorter.

Also, it is snowing outside. I cannot remember when I last saw a white Christmas, but it is looking more and more likely this year.

This afternoon we've been putting up our tree, and later in the week, family will be arriving. It feels really quite festive in a seasonal sort of way.

And that's good.

Sunday evening

I had to miss the Guild meeting yesterday.

My father-in-law has been taken ill, which kind of took priority. He's doing well, and we hope he'll be home for Christmas.

Anyway - the Guild meeting. This is the Wiltshire Guild of Weavers, Spinners & Dyers, and I've been a member since we moved down here two and a bit years ago. We've been meeting in Rode village hall for a while - Rode is actually in Somerset, which I've only just realised.

For a couple of months now, the Guild has been considering a move to some permanent premises in Steeple Ashton, and on Saturday this was finally put to the vote - and it has been agreed!

I think this is a very exciting move. Our permanent base will now be the former St Mary's School in Steeple Ashton - this is a listed building, and the rooms are lovely, with lots of natural light and plenty of space for looms, spinning wheels, and anything else we might want.




Downstairs at the front of the building is the village shop, but we've got all the upstairs, together with some more rooms behind.

We'll be able to have a knitting group, and there will be spinning groups, with courses for all levels - and weaving, and dyeing..... the only limit is our imagination - and, of course, lots of hard work!

We'll even be able to have a dyer's garden. There are so many possibilities!

I am sorry to have missed the meeting, of course, but fortunately my vote (or rather, the lack thereof) was not crucial.


Still no snow here, but it is getting even colder, and there is lots of ice underfoot. Good weather for staying indoors and knitting, if you ask me.

Friday lunchtime

I finished Lilly a couple of days ago, and today the sun came out, so we can have some pictures.

To recap - this is Lilly, from Rowan's Colourscape Folk Collection. The pattern is by Sarah Hatton, and I made size L.


The pattern says four skeins of yarn for this size, I used three. I've encountered this before with Colourscape patterns, I believe that extra yarn is allowed so that we can play around with the arrangement of the colours, should we wish to. I just knit it as it came along, and I like the result.


The colours are actually quite subdued - shades of grey through to charcoal, with deep greenish teal and greenish duck egg - and very nice they are too.

I made some changes from the pattern, in that I worked this in the round rather than working flat and seaming. The only disadvantage in doing this is that the circular start is not easy to work neatly with such a soft yarn. I used the disappearing loop method, and size 5.5mm needles. I stayed with the 5.5mm needles for the first round, and only then switched to the pattern size needles.

Also, I did not cast off and then on again for the armholes. Instead I worked across the armhole stitches with waste yarn (bamboo tape worked beautifully for this as it is so smooth) not forgetting to work an increase at the right place, and then purled back across those same stitches. Then I worked across them with the project yarn, again, not forgetting an increase at the right place.

When I came to pick up the live stitches for the armhole, I was able to slide the stitches onto a 60cm circ, along one side, and then the other. Unpicking the bamboo tape was easily done, and then all that remained was to pick up some extra stitches at each end, so that the stitch count came out to an even number - because I wanted to work the armhole edging in the round as well.

Very pleased with the result.


And I've picked up Chamonix again - I finished the back yesterday.

This morning I started the first sleeve.


The back used less than 8 balls of yarn - I only broke into ball number 8 for the last few rows. I'll see how many this sleeve takes, then I'll know if I can make the body any longer - I am liking long pullovers at the moment.

Wednesday evening

The weather seems to have suddenly decided that it is winter, and ought to behave accordingly. This morning it was cold. At midday, it was exactly zero degrees. That's Centigrade, of course. Or should I say Celsius? I can never remember which one is correct.

Anyway, it is jolly chilly all of a sudden, and the weather forecasts are talking about snow. Now although it is very pretty - in fact, truly beautiful looking out over the snowy river valley behind our house - I don't much like snow. It is the possibility - or in my case, probability - of slipping that causes the dislike.

But even so, we might have a white Christmas, and I cannot remember the last time that happened.

We still haven't got our tree organised. We have an artificial one, and it lives in its box in the loft for most of the year. Real ones are much nicer, and fill the house with that lovely piney Christmas tree scent - but as the needles start to drop, they are a problem for Lucy, who gets them stuck in her little paws, and that's not nice for her at all. So we don't have a 'real' tree.

Hopefully we'll get it sorted out tomorrow, though. And maybe we'll even put up a few lights this year.

On the knitting front, Lilly is nearly finished. All that's left is the edging around the armholes, and blocking. I might even get that done tonight.

Monday afternoon

It has been a very busy weekend. And yes, the socks did fit my mother-in-law, and she is pleased with them. I shall be making some more for her.


I haven't done much more on Chamonix, but I am still working round and round with Yvonne. This is excellent travel knitting, although it is of course now growing rather slowly as the rounds get longer and longer. I am still on the first ball of yarn, and I am hoping that two balls will be enough to finish it.

Also I am wondering if I will be brave enough to wear this when it is finished. It is certainly bright and colourful. But is it too bright? I am not sure. My husband says it is lovely, and that of course I will wear it. He is usually right, I know.

Yesterday evening I cast on for something else, because somehow I felt in need of a project that could be finished quickly.


This is Lilly, which is basically a circular shrug, and looks like a sort of large hat or bag at the moment.

The pattern is by Sarah Hatton, and can be found in Rowan's Colourscape Folk Collection- I think that's the right name - and also in Issue 9 of The Knitter magazine.

The yarn, of course, is Kaffe Fassett's Colourscape Chunky, and the colourway is called Storm. It is actually quite subdued - shades of grey through to charcoal, with deep greenish teal and duck egg blue. I'm zooming round and round on a 7 mm circ here - it is growing very fast, I am nearly out to the armholes already.

I am making some changes to the pattern. The pattern says to work flat and then seam, but I can see no possible reason for a seam in such a garment. It certainly isn't needed to add stability or structure. So, one stitch less for the initial cast-on, and round and round we go.

It was certainly interesting working a tidy circular start with such a soft yarn. And having just said that I can see no possible reason for working flat and seaming - there is a reason. It really isn't easy to work such a start.

I used the disappearing loop method, for an odd number of stitches. There is a nice tutorial for this on Techknitter's blog, here. Note that the instructions discuss how to cast on an even number of stitches - there is a small but vital change needed for an odd number, and that is noted near the end.

I am pleased with the result, anyway.