Tough Times Ahead At Hand Wash Towers...

Hello all.

I'm not one for baring my soul. The past few months have been full of ups and downs. I like to keep most things to myself, and wrap myself in the "Duvet of Blue" when times get tough.

It's not about me this time, or mice, or knitting. It's about my darling Studley.

We took off on a trip recently, to Paris. It will be the last time we go away together this year.

Studley has a brother in need of help. He's young, married with a beautiful child and another on the way. All was lovely, and then his kidney started to pack up for no discernible reason. He's not a drinker or smoker, and leads a clean life. Now he needs a kidney.

Studley stepped up to the plate, before he was even asked. He's donating a kidney to his bro. After going through a barrage of tests, and with one more major one to go, a date has been set for the operation. It's really going to happen.

I have never been prouder of my wonderful man. Or more scared of what is to come next. We have put off planning our wedding, which is why we were so evasive when people asked for a date to pencil into their calendar. I did go looking at dresses, but frankly right now my heart just isn't in it. Now you know why I get so frustrated about all the cleaning - Studley will need about 3 months of proper care at home after the operation. I need to make sure that Hand Wash Towers is spotless, germ and mouse free. It's up to me to do everything I can to facilitate a healthy recovery. I have to have it done NOW, so that I can devote time to care for him when - for the first time - he really needs me.

For the past few months I've done nothing but worry. I want everything to go well. I want both Studley and his bro to be properly cared for, so they can both get up and happily get on with their lives with the people who love them. I worry that Studley's mum is worrying more than me - and quite frankly, she doesn't need the stress.

Now that a date has been set, it all seems so real and happening so fast - but of course it's taken months of discussions, meetings and tests to get to this point. Lots of information has been flying towards us, so we are clear about what's going to happen next, what's to be expected from us, from the hospital. So much information, I won't go into it. I'll just cry. Again.

I apologise if my postings have been so few and so far between. I tend to post on Twitter from time to time, and maybe on Ravelry when I get a chance.

Thanks to you who follow me patiently, even though it may seem sometimes that I have fallen off the face of the earth. Those of you who've been waiting for photographs and news and knitting and cake, and stuff - I will try to get on it. I'll check in once in a while, but don't expect me to talk much about this. I'm finding it all so very scary.

And Studley, if you are reading this (even though you claim you don't), know that you are best part of my world. I take my responsibility to take care of you very seriously. I love you so very much, and will do everything to get you safely up and about again after the op. Just don't take the piss, alright? I'm not going to feed you your body weight in cake, burritos are limited, and I'm not going to come running every time you ring that blasted bell. ; )

An Announcement: Just The Facts

Who: Me and Studley.

What: Got engaged.

When: 14 years (yes, really) to the day that we met.

Where: Front pew of the Pantheon, Rome, Italy.

Why: Now, there's a question that's hard to answer. Studley had been planning this for a year, apparently. Let's see...

Maybe it was the engagement chicken recipe I cooked a few months ago. I did it as a joke, but maybe it really worked.

Or perhaps he decided to lift the dreaded Sweater Curse. I had refused to knit him a sweater for years, citing the curse as a reason. In truth, he's not had a sweater before now because I'm actually a lazy, selfish knitter, and would rather give him a hat or a pair of socks. Far quicker, and more likely to fit.

Or could it be (and I'm going out on a limb here) that the man loves the very bones of me, and decided after 14 long years of looking after his every need, that I deserved a bit more than a box of chocolates and a peck on the cheek, and because I love him so very much that I am prepared to put up with the sort of stuff that would drive any other sane woman completely around the bend?

Well whatever the reason, it's done. We're officially engaged, and that there is a picture of my ring. Don't expect the Bridezilla act just yet - I'm not prepared to even contemplate the stress of planning a wedding at the moment.

I hope everyone had as wonderful a Christmas and as happy a holiday season as we did. I wish you all a brilliant new year.

Time Flies.

Time flies indeed.

The last two months have simply whizzed by, so many good things have happened, alongside things so bad that to relate them here will send me back into a tailspin of depression so deep it has taken this long to climb out of. Sometimes when bad things happen, I merely shrug my shoulders and move on. Whatever is, is. Other things I may never get over, and will have to live with for the rest of my life.

Still, Crappy Temp Job allowed me the opportunity to forget recent troubles and concentrate on something so mind-numbingly boring that it was a welcome relief. or it would have been, had they remembered to pay me. They've booked me for one more week, so hopefully they will have sorted out the problem, before I feel the need to peer at the Line Manager over my glasses and give him the kind of talking-to that could peel the skin off his blazing red cheeks.

Studley, as ever, has been wonderful, trying to find ways to keep my spirits up, even while away working in Finland. When he returned, he displayed the kind of knitter-enabling behaviour that should be cloned by scientists and distributed throughout the members of Ravelry. Thanks to him, I am also the new owner of a iPod Touch.

The other night -when I returned from Knit Nation, actually - I got home to find him in playful mood. He had been to a charity shop, and spied some books he thought I might be interested in.

"I couldn't get you on your phone to find out which books you had, so I rescued them all for you," he said, as he sat me down.

Are you ready for this? Deep breath, then:

Scandinavian Knitwear by Alice Starmore

Designer Collection by Jean Moss

Glorious Knitting by Kaffe Fassett

Family Album, by Kaffe Fassett & Zoe Hunt

The Handknitter's Design Book by Alison Ellen

Knit Design by Betty Barnden & Gabi Tubbs

New Directions in Fair Isle Knitting, by Patty Knox

In all, he had found 12, some of which I already had, but - what a haul! I was already tearing my hair out over where to put my stuff. HW Towers has been undergoing a serious re-organisation of storage space.

More importantly, 12 knitting books - and only one was a paperback - are really heavy! The man went above and beyond the call of duty. This has seriously racked up his Brownie Points.

"I love you, Studley." I could feel myself welling up. "You are mine, and I shall keep you forever."

His eyes twinkled. "That's the plan, Babe".

Thank You!

My 13th Anniversary took me out and away on a lovely train journey to meet up with Studley for a long leisurely lunch, after which we took a little walk around a pleasant town with a charity shop selling these:

"The Complete Book of Traditional Knitting" Rae Compton

"The Complete Book of Traditional Aran Knitting" Shelagh Hollingsworth

"The Complete Book of Traditional Fair Isle Knitting" Sheila McGregor

"Traditional Knitting in the British Isles" Gwyn Morgan

Chuck in "Knitting in Vogue", volumes 1 & 2, plus a copy of "Mary Thomas's Knitting Patterns", all in pristine condition I might add, and I happily passed just under £25 to the salesperson. To heck with the fact that I already own three of the seven books.

And then I thought, "Oh, no, more books. He'll tell me off. He'll make me give them back!"

But I can't possibly. I rescued them. They're mine.

I struggled to Studley's side with my haul. I goo-goo eyed him. I told him the price.

"Babe," he said, with a twinkle in his eyes, "you've got some bargains there. Would you like me to help you carry them?"

What a treasure.