Tempus fugit

Tempus fugit is a Latin expression meaning Time flees and boy hasn't the last few months gone quick! I hadn't realised how long it has been since I wrote my last Blog entry. There has been some good times and some that have been tinged with sadness. I have been looking at the photos on my computer and trying to work out a time line to work from but that is proving a little elusive to my middle aged brain, so I am going to use the photos and tell you a little about them. I will try to start with the oldest and work forward but I am not promising to stick to it. Unfortunately the oldest I want to Blog about is also the hardest and takes us back a little further than I had first intended with this Blog. However it is now time to share what could not be shared when it was still fresh back in April to July of this year.

A Blanket for Jason

When I first started knitting just over a year ago I joined a group called Men who Knit and was amazed by the warm community of guys on the site who took the pleasure and time to share with others what they enjoyed most about knitting. This was a while before I found Ravelry. If you were looking for advice the guys would share their knowledge and point you in the right direction if you needed help. Well anyway I thought it was a wonderful place and just what I needed at the time when I was starting out.




One or two members of MHK stood out due to either their skills with the old sticks and string and others due to their kindness and generosity. One guy who stood out was Jason a young man who was very creative in many ways. Jason was musical and funny and made us all laugh. He would post things that made people smile and brought a shine to peoples days when they needed that ray of sunshine. I personally was just in awe of his knitting and the speed with which he could create a finished item. Often when finished, the item would wing it's way to a member of the group that Jason thought would appreciate it the most.

Imagine the groups horror when after a few week silence Jason posted to tell us that he had Testicular Cancer. Naturally our thoughts were with him and many members sent him their prayers and best hopes and wishes for a speedy recovery. A few members knitted him Chemo caps and asked that he keep us informed about his recovery.

What we as a group were not prepared for though was a new post a few months later to let us know that the cancer had now spread to the rest of his body and that at 30 his life was coming to a close. As a group it was as if we had been poleaxed. But in our frustration we knew we wanted to do something to show Jason our love in his short time left with us. One of the guys on MHK called Kyle put forward the suggestion that together we all knit Jason a comfort blanket.




Yarn of a suitable nature and colourway was chosen and we were asked to knit 72 squares to be posted to the USA for the blanket to be sewn together and sent to Jason in Holland as soon as possible. Each square was to be 8"x8" and made using the range of just four colours.

Squares were sent to America from all over the world and Kyle received over 200 squares in a matter of a three week period. Squares were chosen and each person who sent in squares was represented in the final blanket. I made four squares using techniques that I had never tried before. Jason's knitting had been inspirational to me in my early days of learning to knit and I wanted my contribution to be living up to that ethos and stretching me as a knitter too.

When I saw the blanket finished I was pleased to be able to spot two of my squares.
Kyle has blogged about the blanket and a little about Jason too. I am sure he would love you to read what he had to say.



RIP Jason, November 24th 1978 - July 4th 2009