My Granny was amazing at crocheting: she made doilies of the size of bedlinens out of thin thread one could barely see, before her eyesight failed her. It was her never-ending sorrow that I could never get the hang of it, but I'm simply not made for crocheting. My hands start to sweat, and then the whole thing gets black and disgusting...

I'm not much good at knitting, either. All I ever produced were crooked scarves. Mum did a lot of knitting when she was younger, though. We were fairly poor, and she made me lovely jackets, filled with whatever leftover textiles she could find.