I’m 48 a year old Welsh woman. I live in a small rural slate mining town in Northwest Wales, but originally come from a North Wales seaside town. Although I love the mountains, I really miss living by the sea. I’m also a: Buddhist; feminist; knitting addict; qualified holistic therapist; prolific reader; former English teacher; gardener; wife; mother; dog companion; friend; vegetarian; (some) Welsh speaker; Italian student; jam maker; bread baker; Welsh rugby supporter; yoga lover; backgammon player; wild swimmer; and full time carer for my epileptic husband
Some knitting things about me:
I first learn to knit when I was about 6 or 7 and continued until I was about 22, knitting prolifically in my late teens & early 20’s. Then I stopped knitting for quite a while, in the last 10 years only managing to knit a snowman cardigan for my daughter when she was young. I started knitting again a couple of years ago to help with depression and now just can’t stop! I’ve discovered the joy and passion in knitting all over again.
I regard knitting a holistic therapy – it calms the body, mind and spirit; helps me relax; focuses the mind; and can be a meditative experience.
My worst knitting habit is downloading lots of knitting patterns while knowing I’ll never have time to knit them all.
If money were no object I would run out and buy more knitting books and lovely non wool natural yarns.
The knitting technique I am most afraid of are complex lace patterns, I haven’t tried those yet.
My knitting heroes are Debbie Stoller (love the Stitch’n’Bitch stuff), Erika Knight (love her innovative ideas), Tara Jon Manning (Mindful Knitting and Compassionate Knitting are two of my favourite knitting books), Amy R. Singer (for her No Sheep For You), Interweave Knits magazine (great projects), and my Mum for teaching me to knit and inspiring me in life.
I knit in public whenever I can – I usually take my knitting with me wherever I go.
The thing about knitting that makes me most impatient is knitting the backloop cast on row.
I never get bored with knitting: I love the creative process; the colours and textures; the variety of things to knit; and the calming effect knitting brings.
I do most of my knitting in my living room sitting on my sofa or in my newly fitted out craft room where I have boxes filled with various yarns, and my knitting books and magazines in a bookcase nearby.
So far I’ve knitted mostly for myself and my daughter – mainly scarves, socks, fingerless gloves, bags and jewellery – but I also knit for presents for my friends and family, for several charities and for craft swaps.
My favourite things to knit are bags, gloves and socks. I love working on dpn’s.
My favourite yarns are natural ones, but not wool as I’m allergic to it, and not silk unless it's peace silk (from moths that are allowed to live).
My favourite needles are my Mum’s old plastic ones.
Other crafts I do:
I used to do quite a lot of cross-stitch, especially Celtic designs, and am starting to do more again.
I love making hand-made cards for friends and family.
I bead craft - especially stitch markers.
I'm learning to make soap making and candles.
I'm also learning to use my sewing machine more proficiently.
I'm experimenting with altered art.
Mini Quilt wall hangings.
learning to make large quilts.
I still want to learn to crochet properly!
I take part in various swaps on Ravelry and Craftster.
My reading Tastes:
As an English Graduate and former English teacher, my favourite books are classic ones, especially 18th & 19th Century women's literature, Medieval Mystery Plays, Shakespeare, Chaucer, Milton, Gothic literature, classical poetry etc
I also love modern thrillers and apocalyptic novels.
My favourite novel is Anne Bronte's The Tenant Of Wildfell Hall
Classic authors are Austen, all the Brontes, Gaskill, Radcliffe, Eliot, Dante,
My favourite plays are Shakespeare's Antony & Cleopatra and Macbeth, Rosencrantz and guildenstern are dead by Tom Stoppard, and Undermilk Wood by Dylan Thomas
Favourite poets are Sylvia Plath, RS Thomas and Ryokan
I read a lot of non-fiction, everything and anything including craft books, history books, travel books, esoteric books etc.
Other (useless) information about me:
My favourite:
colour varies with my mood but I prefer muted colours;
music is varied and includes a love of opera, as well as rock & indie
food is Indian;
soft drink is diet Doctor Pepper;
tea is Russian Caravan;
coffee is a real Italian espresso;
chocolate is Green & Blacks Mayan Gold;
jam is damson;
sandwich is hummus & roast vegetable;
salad is Greek salad;
fruit is rhubarb or gooseberry;
dessert is summer pudding;
'icecream' is blackcurrant sorbet;ben & jerry's cookie dough
Sorbet is blackcurrant
flowers are lillies and sunflowers;
cities are Cardiff & Venice;
country is Wales (then Italy);
building is the Pantheon, Rome;
bird is a jackdaw;
mammals are bats & wolves and otters;
reptile is a gecko;
holistic therapy is reflexology;
forms of forms of exercise are yoga & swimming;
spectator sport is rugby;
aromatherapy oils are patchouli, juniper, vetivert, fankincense, cedarwood and tangerine;
clothes shop is Monsoon;
comedians are Eddie Izzard and Russell Howard;
films are To Have & Have Not (Bogart & Bacall), 30 Days of Night, & Desperado (Antonio Banderas), Hero (Jet Lee), Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Maggie Yeoh), Black Hawk Down,
car is a Mini Cooper S (one day I hope to have one…)
Places I’d most like to visit: Venice again (& again); Sicily; the rest of Italy; Lhasa in Tibet; Granada & Moorish Spain; Iceland; Holland (to trace my husbands ancestors); and most of the places in the book 1000 Places To See Before You Die
Things I dislike: sexism; racism; religious intolerance; war; cruelty to animals.
