About Me

I like making things. Lots of different things.

Knitting, sewing, designing patterns, spinning, jam… I love researching and writing about textiles too and I’m passionate about getting the word out to other people, so they can share the history, and how it is passed on. I make things every day and couldn’t imagine not doing this. I find inspiration everywhere: in the little things that happen, in objects passed on from others, in people and their relationships and in my family  homeland, the Isle of Wight.

After a stint in nursing, I went back to uni in my mid twenties to take BA  in Textile Art and stayed on for an MA in Museums and Galleries, with a specialism on the History of Textiles and Dress from the Textile Conservation Centre in Winchester. It was at Winchester School of Art that I found my love of working collaboratively when we held a group exhibition with work in pairs. This has gone from strenth to strength with my latest collaboration across Twitter: #plateaknit.

My ethos can be summed up in the three words: Pass it On. I’m really interested in the ways people learn, learning between the generations and how craft skills are passed on. I’ve written and talked about it a whole lot too. Most of the work that I make is inspired by things that are in my family’s history, using skills that were passed on from other people, or using materials or instructions passed on from others for further interpretation. Some of it is on sale here, on Folksy.

About a third of my time is spent working freelance for Arbour House Publishing as minister without portfolio for the lovely Susan Crawford, and as assistant editor at knitonthenet.com. The other two thirds is spent writing, making, teaching and generally passing the message on. You can also find me writing for the knitonthenet blog and over at Historic Crafts. I’m part of the online performance group, @platea and love working collaboratively. If you’d like to work with me, please let me know!

I work  and make from my home, in a country village in Hampshire, England where I live with my lovely photographer chap, Giles and our two cats.