Sarah Richards - A truly special lady

Yesterday was such a sad day. I learned that Sarah Richards had lost her battle with breast cancer.

Sarah was a founder member of the Knitting Noras and will be sadly missed. She had such a joie de vivre that was infectious to all who crossed her path. She brought such joy to all who knew her.

Although I have known her a shorter time than most of the Knitting Noras I can remember vividly the first time I tentatively went to my first Knit Out which was then at the Cafe Nero in Bolton. Not knowing what to expect I hovered on the doorstep to be called over by this very jolly lady saying you must be Jan - come on over and get a chair and sit down. I couldn't have been made more welcome.I used to jokingly call her "The bag lady" after this as my first impression was of a lady knitting surrounded by lots of carrier bags from which she produced at regular intervals balls of wool, magazines and needles for knitting club arrivals to view.

My overall memories of Sarah are always associated with laughter. Whenever she was at a meeting it was usually a noisy one filled with her witty chatter. Even when she was diagnosed with breast cancer her humour did not desert her and I have several of her newsy cancer update letters stored on my PC. She made fun of the fact she had lost her hair. Likening herself to Tank Girl and Beetle Juice and including photos of herself. Anyone who had the pleasure of meeting Sarah will remember her for the warmth, the love and the humour that she took with her through life.

The photos on here are "borrowed" from Flickr from Eadaoin and Sarah's photos. Some are from Larmer Tree festival where Sarah and some of the Knitting Noras had a great time, some from knit outs and the last photo is when Sarah was presented with Big Pink. That was a blanket made up of squares, with love, by the members of the Knitting Noras and christened Big Pink by Eadaoin as a code name when it was an undercover hush hush operation. I wasn't there at the presentation but I believe Sarah was very touched by it.

Lisa has dedicated the Knitted Landscape Garden, that I have mentioned in previous posts, to Sarah and that is on view from today at the Turnpike Gallery in Leigh. These are the words Lisa wrote prior to yesterday's sad news

"Our founder Sarah Richards was recently diagnosed with cancer, and is currently undergoing treatment. All her friends from The Knitting Noras pulled together and made a blanket for her from individually knitted pink squares. Every stitch was filled with love and we hope the blanket has kept her warm and given her some comfort at this difficult time. Sarah is not well enough at the moment to visit this latest exhibition of the Knitted Landscape, and we dedicate it to her.

The Knitting Noras’ latest project is to produce a Naked Knitting Calender for 2010 – and to donate proceeds to Christies Hospital, Manchester."

For those of you who never knew Sarah you missed the opportunity to meet a really genuine lady. She will be very sadly missed by those of us who did have the pleasure of her company. One of my last memories of her is her sitting at Vicky's house perched on a huge bean bag knitting a premature baby blanket for Bliss charity.She was entertaining us with her funny tales and I remember just hearing her laughing. Lisa has written some words about Sarah on our Naked Calendar web site which can be viewed by clicking on this blog title.

Farewell Sarah - you will be missed so much by us all.

Congratulations to Ambermoggie

Congratulations to Ambermoggie for being featured on Simply Knitting for her blog going pink to draw attention to Breast Cancer awareness. Click on the underlined page title to see the article and her accolade.

The link to her blog is on the right hand side in my links.

Well done Amber. Anyone who reads her blogs knows of her dedication to knitting for charity - especially her legendary sock knitting for the hospice.

I have almost finished fringing the granny square shawl which is part of my contribution to the raffle for Breast Cancer Awareness month and I will post photos tomorrow.

Most of the holly tree has now gone to the tip courtesy of my son and I have advertised the logs on Freecycle for anyone with a log burning stove.

The weather today is abysmal and I am freezing so the heating has gone on. I have to keep my fingers warm enough to crochet!

Spending my money at Bury Market yet again!

I went up to Bury today to the Wool Shop get another ball of the white that I have run out of for the granny square shawl. I decided to buy 2 balls so that I could use the white again possibly for another shawl. I must be a glutton for punishment as I absolutely HATE sewing in all the tails of wool. I spend most of last night sewing up and still have only darned about half of them in. SIGH!

I also picked up 2 crochet hooks as I must scatter hooks around whenever I go anywhere. I start off with 2 or 3 of each size and manage to lose them over the course of a few months. It's a good job that I don't really like the expensive hooks isn't it? I also picked up 2 rings of glass headed pins to use with my blocking boards.

On the way back to the tram my feet took me towards the market. I had to buy some meat and the fish and meat market just happens to be right next to the wool stall so of course I had to take a peek. I managed to get 2 bargain bags of double knit in 2 shades of pink that will no doubt finish up for the Breast Cancer raffle.

I picked up 2 balls of James C Brett Marble Chunky ( I absolutely LOVE this yarn) The pink one will probably finish up at the raffle but I am going to make a hat for a friend who has Breast Cancer and is about to undergo a course of chemo and so possibly lose her hair. This wool is lovely and soft so would not irritate if her scalp was tender. I know that she likes autumnal colours so I hope that she will like the colour I have chosen.

I also called in the newsagents in Bury as my local shop has closed down and bought a copy of Woman's Weekly Knitting and Crochet special. I had seen a copy at the Noras Knit Out on Sunday that Sylvia had bought and decided to buy one. There are a couple of patterns in there that I think I will make. There is a knitted chunky cabled cardigan in it that might be what my niece is looking for. Also a nice crochet blanket and cardigan plus a cute baby set with a motif edging.

I just love my crochet patterns, Anyone who knows me well knows this and points me in the general direction of any new ones. I do like knitting books but get really excited with anything that has crochet in it.

I am off now to darn in a few more ends - sigh - and then use the white wool to finish off the shawl.

Pumpkins for the knitted garden

Some time ago I mentioned that the Knitty Noras had made a knitted garden. This has been on display in various venues since it has been finished and more items have been added to it since. Lisa asked if we would make some pumpkins to make the garden seasonal. My little pumpkins are crocheted but I don't suppose it matters. They look a little sad at the moment as I only had enough filling for one small pumpkin. I will take them with me to the Knit Out on Sunday and hope that someone will finish stuffing them as it will be a little late by the next Knit Out. I would have gone up to Bury for a bag of filling but my knee is still swollen and painful. It has now started clicking when I walk which is alarming me somewhat. I have had to disregard the hospital's advice not to strap it up as I cannot put any weight on it without support.

The tree is still languishing in the garden. My son has cut the larger branches and trunk into logs for his friend who has a log burning stove. He has not had time to come back to move it for me and is working this weekend although he has promised to try and come tomorrow to take it to the tip. The problem is that my local tip just around the corner has a barrier and my son has one of these 4 x 4 vehicles and it won't fit under the barrier.

I still haven't decided what to make with the pale pink wool but have started some crochet granny squares using various shades of pinks, maroons and white which will turn into either a shawl or a pram blanket depending on how many I can make before the colours run out. I have until October 24th to make other things for the Breast Cancer raffle so may feel up to visiting Bury market to see what pink bargains they have on offer at the wool stall.

I must finish off Vicky J's shawl but as my knee is so crock I haven't been able to crochet around the shawl. I have pinned the squares into the right colour sequence on my blocking boards but I usually sit on the floor to crochet them together in strips and then put them back on the board in the right order so I can then crochet the strips together. Maybe I could do it if I place the boards on top of the bed.

I am washing bedding at the moment but finding it a little difficult to peg it out on the washing line due to the tree branches taking over my garden. The sunshine streaming through into the garden and house is worth all the mess on the lawn. This room is no longer dull and gloomy. I used to have to switch on the light many times during the daytime to see what I was typing! I have to limp up to the village to get a bit of shopping next. I need to have my flutter on the Lottery. I rarely win but I still believe that one day I will win the big one. I have to have some dreams and illusions in my life. I know the odds are stacked against me but as my Dad used to say "You have to be in it to win it"

I wish I had made this pattern first

When I first started crocheting from the Everyday Crochet Book I should have started with this pattern. The instructions are beautifully clear and easy to understand and I have only gone Huh! once on this pattern and that was only because I had misread the row.Stitch markers are an absolute must for this pattern though as it is hard to distinguish the lace shaping from the normal lace. I think it is working up well and as I am only on my second ball I think there will be enough cotton for it to be a similar length to the pattern.

I had two pieces of sad news yesterday. I bumped into a friend walking her dog who I haven't seen in a long time and discovered that her husband passed away in January. She doesn't live that far from me but as I no longer work I haven't walked past her house in a long time. We were close friends back in the days when Ian and her children were all small but drifted apart as I started working full time. Sad news. he was only 64,

My other sad news was concerning my neighbour Julie, Buddy the lawn visitor's mum, who I also met whilst walking Buster. She told me that her chemotherapy treatment had not worked. What do you say to someone in those circumstances. I found it very hard. I have previously tried to keep her upbeat about her hair loss and sickness saying it was temporary and things like that but when she said it had all been in vain I just didn't know what to say. She has elected to have surgery to try to remove the last lump (They found 6 lumps on her organs but only removed 5) but the outcome is very uncertain. She is such a lovely young woman. I am trying to stay positive for her. Things like this make my problems fade into insignificance.

Today I have woken up to the sound of rain and it looks like it has set in for the day. I have the feeling that I am going to get very wet on my way to the shops this morning and walking Buster this afternoon. Thank goodness I have a couple of waterproof jackets.

Here is my 4 legged friend

This is the main reason I don't get to my blog every day. He is full of beans and wants at least 2 walks per day plus lots of attention in between. What with the walks and tending to my baby plants I haven't had much time to write.

The black crochet silk shawl is now about 20" long. It really has been a labour of love with the slithery yarn and the very small hook. It is for my niece so I don't mind all the hours it has taken so far. I will be looking forward to something with a bigger hook next time. I am still finishing the sleeve of my niece's sweater from the Happy Hooker so hopefully will have both finished by the end of the weekend.

I have been chatting to a lovely old man by the allotments today and picking his brains about my baby plants and what to do next with my broad beans. I have subscribed to the newsletter from the UK Garden programme but they talk about plots of land whereas I only have a few pots. Ah well I am learning stuff every day. It's all very hit and miss at the moment although I must say that I have been cutting a few outside leaves from my baby lettuce for my sandwiches and they do taste delicious if I say so myself.

Yesterday I went for my routine mammogram and for a nice change the lady was quite gentle. I didn't come out with my boobs flattened to within an inch of their lives and feeling like I had a run in with a road roller! I know all of this is necessary as a check for breast cancer but slightly worrying that they say " You will have the results in 4 - 6 weeks!" If anyone was diagnosed with cancer I am sure that this is a long time to go untreated. How can it take that long to see whether there is any cancer present?