I am not talking about my numerous and expanding collection of knitted hats. Well, I am going to mention them later, but this is about the back story to my non literal, numerous and expanding collection of career hats. Currently, I own a nursery, growing all manner of plants but specialising in Lavender. I teach two art classes a week. I have a little gallery of my own work. I also have a campsite on the nursery. Plus, of course, the knitting design work. How has this happened? That’s a question I frequently ask myself.
In brief; I studied Fine art at Uni, straight into a lecturing job whilst also studying garden design and horticulture. A friend ran past a derelict nursery for sale one day and in my naïve ignorance, I thought this would be a good thing to take on, so ended up with eight acres of wilderness. Fast forward to more recent years and a bad back injury led to months of being able to do nothing but lay on my back and knit, triggering that addiction. I then converted a shed into a classroom/ gallery with a view to teaching, painting and knitting instead of the physical demands of horticulture. Except I somehow
didn’t give up the horticulture, I just added the teaching, painting and knitting and then the campsite. This I did on a whim when the Tour de France came to Yorkshire, never expecting it to become so popular.
So, an average day always starts with knitting, then maybe a few hundred Lavender cuttings, then cleaning the campsite toilets and showers, a bit more knitting or pattern writing, teach a class, check on the nursery then more knitting.
I hope this makes sense of my latest E-book in the making… Horticultural Hats. Already knitted and on the shortlist are the daffodil hat, daisy hat and recently finished twining vine hat. Also on the to do list are Dahlias, Passionflower, Lavenders (of course), Fuchsias, Violas and Roses.
Watch this space for updates!