Arans

I remember watching my mother knit Aran sweaters, natural, cream colored wool, complex patterns, always for pay, except 1 jumper she knit for my sister Roberta. From her face you could tell she enjoyed the knitting, talking with her, she talked about the patterns, and she taught me to cable, to read the patterns and translate that code into knitting.
She never knit herself an Aran, although she loved them. I never understood that, she knit herself other sweaters, she sewed herself clothes she liked but she didn't knit Arans for her children or grand children and she didn't knit them for herself, other than that 1 Jumper when Roberta was 5 or6.
Now I am knitting a red Aran from a pattern designed by Alice Starmore, I've done some changing to it so that it should fit my smaller frame. I'm knitting it from a red blend that is soft and won't have the same stitch defination that Arans are normally knit in but it will be a sweater I can wear over bare skin or with a turtle neck under it for a bit more warmth.
I designed and knit an Aran from hand spun wool for Ben when he was small, and I've knit several others over the years. Now I am knitting me sweaters and tweaking other designers patterns to make them fit me better or to please my own eye.
And while I knit I work on sorting out the tangled mess my life seems to have become because of this accident.
This red sweater won't be done before I am back at Cargill and working but I hope it will be done before I have my settlement from this accident. And that I am still working at Cargill, that my foot and ankle will tolerate the job duties.
Complex patterns, twists and braids and traveling stitches, textures and repeats, some of this makes up my life, the simple, dull routine I had, the well laid out road map for my life that I thought was solid and going to be my future has now become a complex and complicated mess of paperwork, doctor appointments, visits to an insurance office, waiting to heal, trying to get though long and pain filled days.
The detailed accident report is another part of that complex paperwork and mess that my life now contains. But it also gave me some answers to why the accident happened. A man who was cheating on his wife, a 'discussion' about that affair with his wife before leaving for work, a 911 call about suicide concerns by that wife when her husband didn't call her to let her know he was at work. It's in that detailed report, and also that report clearly shows he made no attempt to slow down or avoid the accident, not even apply his brakes.
He didn't care what happened, call it killing himself and not caring who he might have taken with him, call it not caring 1 way or another, but it adds up to the same. His cheating, her finding out, their 'talk' all put me in the hospital and my life changed, and my foot and ankle permanently damaged.
Gee, Mrs. Young doesn't end up with a messy divorce or have to wonder who her husband is sleeping with and I give up running and walking smootly, high heel shoes and roller skates. I don't wish her any ill but wish she had decided to talk about that affair with her husband some other day.
Now I will work on finishing my Aran sweater, getting back to work and finding out if my foot will tolerate the work load and then move on to the insurance settlement. And with the detailed crash report I can be sure I will get a large settlement that can be invested to help pay for future surgeries and help support me and compensate me for all that I have lost and all the pain I have to endure.