Mum happily knitting

[mitz]

So good to see ...

While looking after my Mum I am knitting a colourful bedspread.

Yesterday she asked if she could do a couple of rows for me. So far she hasn't given it back to me! It's fantastic!

Before alzheimers Mum was an avid reader and loved history and reading about amazing people and science ... she was never without a book. Sadly though she can no longer read and there was nothing really to replace it.

She's really enjoying the knitting and she's looking happy and engaged and its something for us to exchange ideas about ... the change in colours etc. And she's helping grow the blanket (its for a double bed so a bit ambitious) so that's a bonus.

So if your pwd hasn't knitted for a while and you think they are still able, it might be time to get the needles out!

 

[canary]

Cherish these times and your mums ability.

My mum used to be an accomplished knitter, but when I cleared out her bungalow after she went into a care home home I found her knitting basket. She had been knitting squares, but they got progressively less well knitted. The last piece of knitting that she ever did was still on the needles; the tension was dreadful - some stitches really, really big and loose, others pulled tight and far, far too small; several stitches had been dropped, others split; she had turned the work round halfway through a row in a couple of places and the wool had gone right round underneath the knitting in another place. It was a mess and I burst into tears just seeing it. It seemed to accurately reflect the chaos in her mind.

 

[mitz]

Aw I'm sorry to hear about your heartsore on seeing your Mum's knitting. I will, as you say, treasure this time. And I'll always have the blanket.

I can imagine how you must have felt. With my Mum its the reading that's gone. She was never without a book. We'd joke that as children she'd "neglect" (joke) us, because she'd say: "ssshush! I'm reading!" Now and again when we go to a charity shop she buys a book but I know she can't really read it. That is what breaks my heart. Why did it have to be reading ... my Mum's first love? Cruel.

I guess dementia affects different skils in different people. So I'm glad to see Mum can still knit (maybe for now).

I hope you might be able to find happier memories of how your mum loved to knit and the things she made.

X

 

[Grannie G]

Yes make the most of it @mitz

My mother was a brilliant knitter. She knitted suits, dresses, coats and beautiful beaded tops. When our son was born he had a layette of hand knitted which were second to none.

When our first granddaughter was expected , she needed help from carers at the day centre to knit the most simple of matinee coats. Her skill had been almost completely lost.

 

[yak55]

So good to see ...

While looking after my Mum I am knitting a colourful bedspread.

Yesterday she asked if she could do a couple of rows for me. So far she hasn't given it back to me! It's fantastic!

Before alzheimers Mum was an avid reader and loved history and reading about amazing people and science ... she was never without a book. Sadly though she can no longer read and there was nothing really to replace it.

She's really enjoying the knitting and she's looking happy and engaged and its something for us to exchange ideas about ... the change in colours etc. And she's helping grow the blanket (its for a double bed so a bit ambitious) so that's a bonus.

So if your pwd hasn't knitted for a while and you think they are still able, it might be time to get the needles out!

That's great mitz. My mum was an avid knitter but stopped due to hand problems which now seem to have resolved themselves so she knits and then undoes it all, makes a ball of wall and starts again
She also colours like mad and is just lost in the moment. It helps her anxiety and therefore mine too

 

[SnowWhite]

So pleased your Mum is knitting again!

I keep my Mum knitting and crocheting as it was her passion. She can't motivate herself to start a project and the yarn just sits there so I go in and cast on with some lovely yarn and away she goes. She can't follow patterns anymore so we don't try. We make simple shapes and THEN turn them into something useful like a dolls blanket, a baby blanket, a little purse or bag. She enjoys doing it and likes people taking an interest in her work.

 

[Duggies-girl]

Cherish these times and your mums ability.

It was a mess and I burst into tears just seeing it. It seemed to accurately reflect the chaos in her mind.

It's so sad, brings to mind how I felt when I was searching dads wardrobe for some jogging bottoms to wear to his scan a few weeks ago. I came across his beautiful suits that he used to take on his cruising holidays with mum. They were all hanging neatly in there zipped covers. I wanted to burst into tears and sob my heart out but instead I just carried on until I found what I was looking for.

This is what I find so hard about caring, the constant reminders of what used to be. I feel like I have been punched hard every time.

 

[Onmyown]

My mum is busy knitting too...... Always amazes

 

[Onmyown]

My mum is busy knitting too...... Always amazes

she's making that throw on TV by creative craft. So yes it's all squares. I must check actually look at the stitches. I will always have the fantastic jumpers she's made for me in the past. She was also an avid reader and is sadly hiding the fact that she is taking ages to read a book. When asked if she's finished it "oh its rubbish I'll give it back to the library". So sad as she would read a book a night. I buy her daily papers but I see her reading them over and over but anything that stimulates what little brain she has left.

 

[SnowWhite]

she's making that throw on TV by creative craft. So yes it's all squares. I must check actually look at the stitches. I will always have the fantastic jumpers she's made for me in the past. She was also an avid reader and is sadly hiding the fact that she is taking ages to read a book. When asked if she's finished it "oh its rubbish I'll give it back to the library". So sad as she would read a book a night. I buy her daily papers but I see her reading them over and over but anything that stimulates what little brain she has left.

I noticed that about the reading with my Mum before she was diagnosed a year ago. She always read the local daily paper cover to cover every day for all of her life. Maybe 18 months ago I used to see the paper on the side and it didn't look opened. I used to ask her if she had seen a certain article and she used to say "oh I must have missed that" but I knew she was forgetting to even read it. I take her in magazines but I see her flicking through the pages rather than reading them.

 

[Rageddy Anne]

A lady in my husband's care home would knit happily for ages, even though she was normally agitating to go home. The knitting would settle her.

Yes, those beautifully cared for suits can be quite upsetting when you stumble on them...