The family of a late Aberdeen knitwear creator have hosted a sale of her designs to raise funds for charity.
Louise Lindsay devoted much of her life to creating knitted jerseys, hats and scarves which she sold from home and at fairs under the label Louise Alexander.
The Gray’s School of Art graduate had ventured back to her drawing roots when she suffered from a seizure in late 2020 and was diagnosed with glioblastoma.
She died on December 3 last year at age 64.
Her husband, David Lindsay, said: “She survived 13 months having been in a coma at the hospital.
“She seemed to be doing well with the chemotherapy, but there were complications with the side effects and she couldn’t keep taking the treatment.
“Louise left behind quite a lot of unsold knitwear so we decided because the disease she had has such a grim prognosis, there is no cure for it and very little treatment available, that it would be a good thing to raise money for the Brain Tumour Charity.”
Glioblastoma is the most common high grade primary brain tumour in adults with an average survival time of 12 to 18 months.
Hosting a knitwear sale
On Saturday, her husband and sisters, Linda Yeoman and Lesley Michie, organised a knitwear sale which took place upstairs at Foodstory on Thistle Street.
Mrs Lindsay, mum to Tom and Nick Lindsay, had previously rekindled her love of drawing through classes at the cafe.
They let the family use the space free of charge and helped to promote the event on social media.
“They were really good,” Mr Lindsay said. “We’re really grateful to them for everything. Even on the day, word of mouth in the cafe brought people up to the sale.
“There were people waiting to get in at 10am, a lot of friends came and others popped in throughout the day. We had lots of information about the charity put up all over the place as well.
“Louise used to buy a lot of stuff from charity shops and donate at the same time, so she’d be pleased that her creations were going towards something worthwhile.”
Mrs Lindsay’s son, Tom, also helped out on the day alongside her nieces, Vicky Morris and Rebecca Yeoman.
“Her illness was an absolutely awful time for the family, but the sale was fantastic and a real family effort,” Mr Lindsay added.
The family managed to raise a total of £2,444 from sales and donations which will all be given to The Brain Tumour Charity.
Conversation