I finished the second Anne sock last night, and passed it on to the chief grafter, who did her usual good job for me. I 'm pleased with the result, the stripes in the yarn seemed to almost match the sections of the pattern.
That was the only good news of yesterday though. My beautiful and special horse Connie was put to sleep yesterday morning. She had been diagnosed with laminitis two and a half weeks before, and given the standard treatment, foam pads to support the soles of her feet and relieve the pain. After 2 days seemed to be making progress and the pads were removed. The vet had warned me that big horses were more at risk of serious consequences, simply because of the weight carried on the front feet. I already knew it was a serious condition, but the horses I knew of had sore feet and needed careful management. When I looked for more information, I found a study which showed that around 80% of cases made a reasonable recovery. But 20% didn't. At that time I didn't know where Connie would end up. In the worst case scenario the membranes holding the hoof to the inner structures of the foot (the laminae) die, and the hoof can actually fall off.
Anyway, a few days later she was in pain again, so I increased her dose of painkillers, then when that didn't help got the vet out again. He put the foam pads back on her feet, and she was instantly more comfortable. Another vet visit and she looked ok, but the vet felt the pads should stay on a bit longer. So after 9 or 10 days with the pads, the vet came back on Wednesday to check her out. Both the vet and myself were shocked by what we saw. Instead of the soles of her feet making a depression on each side of the frog ( the central soft structure in the foot) they were actually bulging out. This indicated that the worst had happened and the internal structures were sinking, confirmed by depressions round the top of the hoof. She put the pads back on and arranged to come back on Friday. If the condition had stabilised there was a chance to help Connie, if it had got worse there was only one option. And I don't need to tell you which way it went. When the vet examined Connie's feet the depressions had got worse, and there was a section of hoof which had started to detach from the skin. As soon as I saw that I knew what was going to happen.
The vet was brilliant with me. She explained what she would have to do, left me with Connie for a while, then did her best to make it easy for us both. The end was swift and peaceful, Connie just lay down and went to sleep. It must be the worst thing I have had to do so far.
Fee came with me, and she was fantastic too. It would have been much worse without her there, even though at first I wanted to spare this experience. She told many of her online contacts what had happened, and all of them sent virtual hugs and support. Thank you all, it is wonderful to know that all of you, whereever you are in the world, care. Even those with problems of your own. I really appreciate your concern, and send the same back to those who need it.
Finished these tonight, after starting them on Saturday after Woolfest.
We went to Woolfest! And we just about did it right. As in if you can't close the boot of the car you haven't done it right!
I bought some Regia Silk Color a while ago, but when Fee bought a plain colour to go with it, something went wrong and I ended up with a burgundy instead of a red colour. So I bought this to go with the burgundy.
This is to go with the original ball!
Something subtle to spin!
Some nice pink alpaca to knit with.
And some baby alpaca to spin and knit.
Dyed merino and silk to spin.
More to spin, this time baby camel and silk.
And more dyed alpaca to spin.
Finally non-Woolfest. This is the tussah silk from previously. Fee skeined it for me. I didn't realise at first it was mine when she gave it to me!
Last week the energetic ones cycled along the Forth and Clyde Canal, from Auchinstarry to Anniesland, at Lock 27. I was support crew, with the really hard job of driving between the 2 places to meet them for lunch. I had plenty of time to sit by the canal and knit while they cycled the 14 miles to me. After lunch in the restaurant at Lock 27 - imaginatively called Lock 27! - Fee and I drove on to Bowling, where the canal joins the River Clyde and then the sea. Allister still had the energy to cycle the 7 miles and arrived only a few minutes after us. This is Allister and me at the canal basin, a beautiful spot on a beautiful day.
As I said right at the start of this blog, I only came back to knitting in March. Before that I was doing a cross stitch picture. Didn't get very far with it as you can see, before I abandoned it for socks! Socks are easier to do in odd places. Eventually it will become the picture below. When I stop knitting socks.
I have nearly finished spinning my Tussah silk. Now I have to decide what to knit with it.
Yet another thing I have tried. This was my Father's Day gift to my Dad. I was surprised and pleased at how realistic this turned out. Apart from the left eye, which is not too good, it seems to capture Connie.
This is specially for Yorkie. She was asking earlier if Allister had finished his water feature. Yes, here it is. When it's switched on water runs down the stone. Once again he's done a lovely job.
Ready to try something different, I bought some silk fibre. This is Tussah silk in Summer Berries.
And natural mulberry silk. The plan is to blend this with the wool fibre from New Lanark Mills that I bought at Creative Stitches in Glasgow. Once the spining wheel is reassembled I'll attempt to spin them then knit something that I hope will be quite special.
I finished the second Anne sock last night, and passed it on to the chief grafter, who did her usual good job for me. I 'm pleased with the result, the stripes in the yarn seemed to almost match the sections of the pattern.
What have I done? Oh dear! More sock yarn! With a little help from a friend (Susann in Germany, thank you for doing this), I bought an Opal selection pack and minis. Fee thought these were "soooo cute"!
Once again my stash has been enhanced by the kindness of one of Fee's knitty contacts. Zanne in Michigan sent me this. Thank you Zanne, it's beautiful.
The socks I did with Sue's yarn are now finished. Fee made the hangers to show them off.
But they look better in their rightful place - on my feet! I have since worn them to work and found them comfortable and warm.
In the mean time, these are in progress, using the yarn Sue sent me and the pattern Hedera. Once these are done the Jaywalkers will be finished.
And I succumbed again! I'm waiting for a single colour to go with it. Maybe it's at the Post Office now! Or maybe the parcel that couldn't be delivered is a big box of Opal that's coming from Germany! That was a moment of madness. But it sounds like good stuff. I now have enough sock yarn for about 6 months. But can I stop buying?
