Other places to visit

Order Form

Woolly Thoughts Home

The World of Illusion Knitting

©Woolly Thoughts 2019          Contact Us          

PICKING UP THREADS

This was written in
2007
so is now very dated

November 2005 brought a sudden decision. All of the family would be arriving for Christmas. We decided to get married in the period between Christmas and New Year so that they could all stay over for the wedding!

This came as a great surprise to many of our friends who assumed we had been married for years. Most were also very amused to hear that my ex-husband would be on hand to give me away. He came highly recommended in the role as, 30 years earlier, he had given my mother away when she remarried. It’s not everyone who gets to give away both their mother-in-law and wife!

Nothing here is ever straightforward. A couple of weeks before this decision was made, I had seen a plastic surgeon who had decided I needed an urgent operation on my hand, which would be done in less than two weeks. This operation was to be done under local anaesthetic, as a day-case in Preston Royal Hospital.

Five weeks later I got the appointment. We sat and waited from midday until after 5.30 when the ward sister arrived to say the operation had been cancelled and that the surgeon was on his way to explain. I was distraught. I am usually a very patient patient – I have had a lot of practise – but this was five weeks from the wedding. The surgeon was very apologetic. The reason for the cancellation was that there had been complications in an earlier case and everything was running late. The surgeon was prepared to stay to do the operation but had been unable to secure a theatre team.

There had been a clerical error and my case, the most urgent of the day, had been struck off because that vital information had not been passed on. The ward sister and surgeon were keen for me to make an official complaint that the Health Service had failed to meet a stated target. I have always had wonderful treatment from the Health Service so didn’t really want to complain but neither did I want to have this operation so close to the wedding. I insisted that I would not have it done before Christmas. Steve was equally adamant that it should be done as soon as possible regardless of our other plans. This was a Friday so nothing could be done until office staff were back on Monday.

By 9.30 on Monday morning I had received several phone calls apologising and rearranging the operation for ten days hence, leaving three and a half weeks before the wedding.

I spent the intervening days making as many preparations as possible, knowing that one hand  would be out of use for some time and I would be able to do very little. Foremost in my thoughts was finding something to wear while I was still able to try things on. Every other task could be farmed out to someone else but this I had to do myself. It was no easy task, in the height of the party season, when I need to be completely covered and everything in the shops is sleeveless, backless, shoulderless or incredibly boring.

We scoured the shops in every shopping centre within driving distance and eventually found something in a shop two miles from home! It was definitely a party outfit rather than traditional wedding attire but it did everything I needed. The gold roll neck top was sleeveless but had a matching jacket, with long sleeves, to cover my arms. The trousers were in my favourite fabric – a satin finish that shimmered in shades of gold, bronze, green or brown as the light reflected off it. It obviously wouldn’t be warm enough for a cold December day so I bought a full-length (imitation) fur coat, from the same shop, to wear over the top.

All that remained was the problem of what to wear on my hands. I have got used to needing to wear gloves all day every day but there were added complications for this day. On any other day I would have worn one of the many pairs of fine suede-look gloves I had amassed since the trip to Italy but these had to be sufficient to cover the dressings on my hand and allow access for the ring. I sought advice from my many internet friends and, as usual, suggestions came thick and fast. Many interesting knit and crochet patterns were recommended and I bought a large variety of fancy yarns but nothing seemed to fit the bill. However glitzy the yarns, I still felt better equipped for snowballing than for a glamorous occasion. For once, knitting was not the answer. After a rethink and a massive search through long-buried treasures in the cellar, I found some black stretch lace, about six inches wide, with pretty scalloped edges. I drew round my hand, cut the shape from the lace and overlocked the pieces together. Job done!

27a. TYING THE KNOT