About

Hi there! 
Thank you so much for dropping by my blog, and a huge thanks for wanting to know about me :-)

My name is Lorraine, but for as long as I can remember I've been called Ellie.
The "raine" part I use came from not being able to just use "Ellie" on Social Network sites, it's also the latter part of my name so I combined the two together.

I learnt to knit around the age of 7 from watching my mum & Aunt knit & crochet, But it wasn''t until I was expecting my first child that I took it more seriously.
I knitted layettes for my friends and families expected babies and the addiction grew from there.

I did stop again for a fair few years when the girls got older and working beckoned.
I spent many years in the hosiery trade, learning every aspect of the knitwear trade, from cutting fabric to overlocking, lockstitching, to pressing & packing.
So really although working I was still "feeding" my crafty side ;-)
I even stitched lace to the cuffs of little white socks when the girls were small, using a machine in my kitchen, while the girls were asleep.
I think I was paid around £1 for every 2 dozen socks I stitched lace too!

Eventually the hosiery trade died here in Leicester and I had to change careers.
I decided to train as a Teaching Assistant so I could work when the girls were at school & be home when they were.
Once I was training I came across a lot of children in mainstream school that needed that extra bit of help. So I extended my training to cover helping with children who had Social, Emotional and Behavioural difficulties.
Especially working with children in Autistic spectrum & children of travellers.
I found it both rewarding and frustrating at times but loved every minute.
I officially became a Special Needs Learning Mentor, working with children in class and on a one to one basis.

Unfortunately due to ill health in 2009 I had to finish work and although my body was tired my brain just needed that little something to keep active, so once again I picked up the needles.

Besides knitting and crocheting, I love to sew by hand ( when my hands let me ) and using my sewing machine. I have also cross stitched.
I have always been able to crochet a granny square, but after seeing so many beautiful crocheted creations I have decided to learn to crochet in more depth.

And this is where my blog was born.

I hope I haven't bored you too much, I have tried to keep this short and not too much of a life story lol!