Studied Fashion Design and Illustration in Epsom in the early eighties and then went on to work for Which? magazine. After a spell as the Editorial Assistant on the Good Food Guide I joined a design agency and trained on the job as a graphic designer. I was a freelance graphic/web designer for 15 years, then I did my PGCE at Goldsmiths and taught Design and Technology at a secondary school for three years.

During that period I taught myself to crochet, and quickly became passionate about it. I joined Flickr originally to share my work and be involved in an online community of crocheters. I began teaching it in 2010 in shops in East Dulwich and Sydenham, and went on to become a tutor at Denman, the college of the WI, where I now offer residential courses in Beginners, Improvers, Tunisian and Broomstick lace, as well as focused sessions o crocheted, felted bags, storage tubs, Christmas Decorations and flowers. I will also soon be offering Loom Knitting.

I made a How To video for a craft workshops website and have also written a book for Quarto Publishing, due out November 2016.

Having served my tough 'apprenticeship' in teaching in secondary school, I moved into the Higher Education sector, and have worked at the University of East London as an online learning developer since June 2009. From time to time I also teach Subject Knowledge Enhancement sessions to PGCE students training to be Design Technology teachers.

My son Gabriel was born in 2002, nine weeks premature and weighing 1lb 3oz. His shaky start has left him with a few extra learning challenges and he was diagnosed with autism in 2007. He attends a Special Needs school and has gone from strength to strength.