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I am a single mum, recently left my husband of three years and came out as gay and am living with my toddler daughter, who is 2 in January. I am a Montessori nursery teacher, working with children aged 2-5 and am coming to an end to my distance learning diploma to qualify as a Montessori teacher.

My daughter loves drawing and painting and going outside, we don't have a garden, so she likes to go for walks and pushing her dolls in their pushchair. She also likes threading large beads and building with her Mega Bloks. I think she's going to be crafty like her mummy and I know she'll love gluing and sticking when I let her! She goes crazy for books and would have her whole collection read to her before bedtime given half the chance :-)

I love to knit! I love things knit-related, including notions, I like pretty things to go with my craft, so pretty stitch markers/holders, unusual needles, pins etc. I prefer natural yarns to manmade, although you do usually get an acceptable acrylic, especially if it is blended with something nice. I don't like eyelash yarns.

I like warm colours, and autumnal colours suite me best, I like browns, dark greys, russets, dark greens, jade, but also like a bright red (although not too orangy!). The only colours I don't really like are yellows, or anything neon!

I am a yarn junkie & have more stash than I know what to do with! I love unusual yarns and sock yarns, especially hand dyes. I also try to crochet from time to time, I love amigurumi dolls and would love to be able to make some, but so far I'm not doing too well with this!

I love anything rose scented, candles, flowers, rose water, soap etc. I love things to smell nice, I also love lavender as it helps me to relax and I like to use pure lavender oil in my bath. I don't like incense though as the smell is too strong and can make me ill.

I like to cook too, but am still learning but love to try new things. I like to try seasonal recepies. I have to be careful about what I eat sometimes and try to stay away from too much processed food, so like to try to make things myself. My girlfriend is a vegetarian and dairy intolerant, so I need to learn some yummy recipes that the three of us can eat together.

I have Crohn's disease, so get a little sicky sometimes, so like things that cheer me up. This is also why I have to watch what I eat sometimes. I can't eat anything too spicy, jell sweets or anything with too many colourings or too much sugar. I seem to be able to cope well with chocolate though.

I like cute Japanese things & Japanese art. I like Sanrio characters, but don't really like to have lots of toys. I like things that are practical, so bags, pens, paper etc. I have so much 'stuff' that I prefer to have things that I actually use.

I love stationary, pens, pretty notebooks, pencils, writing paper (although I don't write as many letters as I should), notecards etc.

I also like to drink tea of all kinds. Tea features a lot in my life! I like nice cups, different teas (loose & bagged), teapots etc. I particulary like Chinese styled tea sets.

I like Japanese, Thai and Chinese foods, and like pretty chopsticks and rice bowls. Sometimes when I am ill, I can eat little more than boiled rice, so it is nice to eat it out of something pretty!

I always prefer to get one or two really nice, slightly more expensive items than lots of cheap not so nice things!

I love reading. I mostly read contemporary fiction. Some of my favourite books include: His Dark Materials Trilogy, The Time Traveller's Wife, The Book Theif, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, 1984, The Inheritence of Loss, Hokkaido Highway Blues, Salem's Lot, The Stand

I also like to read biographies/auto-biographies and books about culture and anthropology. I don't like romance or crime novels.

Movies I like include: Little Miss Sunshine, Clerks, Mallrats, The Shining, Sideways, Sean of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Dot the I, The Chorus, Battle Royale, Snatch, Crash, Shrek, High Fidelity, Empire Records, Secretary, Dodge Ball, The Big Lebowski, The Ring Trilogy (in Japanese, not the remake), Audition, Harold and Maude, So I Married an Axe Murderer

I quite like independent films and am also trying to watch French films (with English subtitles!) to help me improve my French.

I knit and love it, although between looking after my daughter, work, study and a relationship, I don't have as much knitting time as I would like.

I'm always looking for new crafts that are suitable for my daughter and for the children at nursery.

I also dabble in crochet from time to time, but haven't quite got the hang of it yet!

I like all kinds of music (except for country & western). I would like to listen to more jazz and rhythm & blues, but am not quite sure where to start!

Artists/bands I like include: The Killers, Elvis Costello, The Ramones, The Pixies, Incubus, Graham Coxen, Blur, Pulp, Hole, Nirvana, Dogs Die in Hot Cars, Gnarles Berkley, Arcade Fire, The Cure, Modest Mouse, Hole, Deftones, Moldy Peaches, Antsy Pants, Noah and the Whale...

Eastenders, Embarrassing Bodies, Peep Show, Black Books, Nathan Barley, Green Wing, 15 Stories High, I am not an Animal, QI, The Apprentice, Have I Got News for You, cookery programmes, Russell Howard, Mock the Week

I don't like:

*Cheap acrylic yarn

*Eyelash yarn

*Religious things/ angels/ fairies

*Plastic knitting needles

*Jelly sweets (this is actually a lie, but I don't eat them because they can make me ill)

*Incense/joss sticks

*Coconut

*Green tea

*Licorice/ aniseed

Some things I love:

*Rag balls - inspired by Mason & Dixon Knitting, I want lots of rag balls to knit with!

*Retro prints

*Teas (but not Green)

*Japanese inspired designs (especially fabrics)

*Merino yarn

*Books

*Cooking recipes

*Unusual knitting needles & notions

*Tulips

*Orchids

*Cats

*Weimeranas

*Silk

*Pretty drop earrings (beaded & pierced)

*Socks

*Sock yarn

*Cinnamon (smell & taste)

*Ginger (smell & taste)

*Scented oils for burners

*Rats (domesticated of course!)

*Japanese culture

*Sushi