When I first started designing it was mainly knitwear. In fact this weekend I am returning to where it all started. My adventure in design began when I came second in a design competition for Knitting Magazine. I travelled down to London at the famous Ally Pally to the  to receive my prize, with my very small son, my husband and my mother-in-law in tow. It was a fun weekend in London and we have so many treasured memories of spending time together in Regents Park. The show itself seemed to pass by in a blur. The huge exhibition hall wasn’t much fun for a toddler or indeed for his Daddy valiently keeping tabs on him amongst the crowd. This weekend I will return to catch up with gorgeous friends, yarn companies and knitting shops. I am looking forward to it so much. Sensibly my boys will be very satisfactorily entertained at home.

After a number of years designing knitting patterns I began to experiment with crochet. My crochet adventure really began when I wanted to replicate the vintage blankets made by my husband’s Grandma. I also wanted to make small toys to entertain Little B. It is these gifts of love which continue to thrill me. Over the years many of the small amigurumi designs have been inspired by real little people. In the last few weeks I made a cute little dachshund for one of my favourite 8 year olds. When I handed over ‘Sizzles’ the huge delight and love on her face thrilled me right to the bottom of my heart. It is the making for ‘love’ that constantly inspires me. As we get older I think we lose the real meaning of gifts. I think kids get it. They see through the pounds and dollars and see the heart of the giver. I am busy with lots of projects at the moment, but if I can I want to return to making cheeky wee things for my son – to make him laugh and giggle, just before he grows too old for such things. However if we raise him well…he will never lose the thrill of someone creating something special and unique, be it a dinner, a card or a crochet toy.

I am delighted that Sizzles has found fame on the gorgeous Dotcom Gift Shop – my blog is featured on their 10 creative needlecraft blogs – thanks guys, I am very honoured.