The stitch holder belonged to Bren's Nana. She was an amazing knitter/crocheter/dress maker. I tried to learn off her a few times but I couldn't quite get it. The time wasn't right for me. I still am a bit sad thought that I could never take advantage of her expertise.

I have been knitting like mad now for a week and a day and I have a horrible pain in my left shoulder blade. A similar thing happened to me last year when I learnt how to crochet.

I took my knitting to my pilates class yesterday and she taught me how to knit ergonomically.

• Sit on a straight backed chair with both your feet flat on the floor.
• Use a chair with arm rests and make sure your left (for right handers) elbow is supported on the left arm rest.
• Make sure your shoulders are down at all times.
• Try to make your hand and arm movements as big as possible.
• Make sure you get up every now and then to walk around.

Tale two:

Every morning after the big girls are at school, Miss Pepper and I bake the bread for the day. Once we have measured out the ingredients and formed the dough, she pulls off her own bread bit and kneads it. We oil the tins, we leave our breads to prove, we punch them down and form the loaves, let them rise again and then we bake them.

Then each afternoon, when she wakes up from her nap, she eats her bread for lunch. Sometimes, like today, when she extra hungry and 'growing up quickly', she'll have a slice of mine too.