I work as a freelance artist and textile designer. My Fellowship was to research and investigate the origin of Aran knitting, to try to discover more about its history, as information at the time was obscure. I was a textile lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University and little was known about this subject. Handknitting was considered unfashionable at this time and I wanted to learn more to teach my design students.

Since returning from Ireland and Norway, where I discovered unique knowledge about Aran's knitting history, I wrote and illustrated Irish Knitting (published by A & C Black), which sold internationally and became a classic textbook. I travelled extensively, giving media interviews and presentations about the Fellowship to community groups such as the Women's Institute. Later I worked for Age UK in East Cheshire, establishing arts and craft groups for the public and at Macclesfield Hospital. My own work as an artist and designer has developed considerably as the result of my Fellowship.