My Knitting History

I have been knitting for over 35 years, starting as a very small child. I was taught by my mum and grandma who where both passionate knitters, and was lucky that there was always wool, patterns and needles available for me to experiment with.

I started by making clothes for toys and this went on to making toys from scratch. I still have my first book of Jean Greenhowe toy knitting patterns which I still knit to this day. As I became a teenager I moved into making my own clothes. This allowed me to make clothes that fitted and in the colour and style that I loved.

Over the years and two children later, I have developed my skills further, so I can knit garments both flat and in the round as well as top-down knitting . I love to make socks (these are a personal luxury that I knit for myself!), knitting in lace and with cables. I am at the point where my choice of project is chosen on whether I love it and not whether I am able to do it.

My personal stash of yarn is called “The Wool Mountain” by my children. I never like to admit to others about the sheer size of my pattern library, just lets say that they I probably have more than I could physically knit in a life time (oops!).

I adapt and write patterns for my own personal use (I do not have a standard body shape), a couple of which are available on Ravelry. This has helped me develop a deeper understanding of knitting patterns.

I am an active member of several knitting groups, which gives me an opportunity to share my love of all things yarn with some other amazing knitters and we are always learning from each other.

If you want to see some of the projects that have made recently then take a look at my profile on Ravelry which is KnittingHippo from Wakefield, U.K https://www.ravelry.com/people/knittinghippo

My History

I have a Food and Agricultural Degree from University of Nottingham. This involved both the writing of complex methods but also a strong foundation of Maths. Even at school I loved Maths and studied it all the way up to A-levels. I then went on to train as a Food Technology teacher at Secondary level (this used to be a Home Economics back in the day).

I worked my way up to the Deputy Head in Design and Technology. As a teacher (especially one which has a large amount of coursework) I had to mark work providing constructive feedback and ensuring that all coursework was done in a clear and accurate way, so students could reach there full potential. I also had to moderate other subjects across the department that meant that the focus on the detail is a skill that I developed.

Being a teacher also helped me develop my computer skills. I was in the lucky position that when i had my two children that I was able to take a career break and focus on looking after them. This also gave me the time and space to develop my knitting skills and join knitting groups.