a little bit about me
I was born in Bolton, Greater Manchester, England and after a science based education went onto pursue my first love of art and design (a love that was nurtured by my late father - a talented amateur artist) by studying for a degree in textile and knitwear design in Leicester. I was taught to hand knit and sew at an early age by my mother and, in my twenties, I taught myself to crochet! After leaving college with a first class honours degree, I went onto set up my own knitwear design label that sold in the US and Japan and many small retail outlets and galleries in the UK. It was during this time that I first became aware of Rowan and their beautiful range of yarns and became a fan. I was able to use Rowan yarns for hand flat machine knitting as, in the late 1980’s, Rowan sold yarn on 250g cones as well as on ball. Even though my label was successful, in 1990 I decided to return back to commercial design after meeting my then to be husband! Through the 14 years as a designer for a successful knitwear manufacturer in Leicestershire, I saw many of my designs become a part of best selling collections for many of the British high street retailers such as Next, BHS, Burton and Debenhams.