Meet the former Leeds medical secretary who found a crafty passion after taking early retirement

Cynthia Jones likes to think that her passion for crocheting was genetically passed down to her, but she only picked up the craft after she took early retirement from her three decades-long career in the NHS.

Cynthia grew up in a busy household with five siblings and parents who wanted to expose their children to as many different activities as possible “to see what would stick”. It was the piano lessons she began at the age of 12 that led her to become a great typist.

Cynthia said: “The career teacher said I would make a very good secretary. Whatever teachers and career teachers told us, it was almost gospel, so I went down that route.”

Cynthia spent the next 30 years as a medical secretary at the two Leeds hospitals, Leeds General Infirmary and St James’s, where she held many fond memories and made life-long friends before she took retirement.

With extra time on her hands, Cynthia turned to some of the talents she had left unexplored in her childhood. Her mum, who died in 2011 and would spend much of her time creating “beautiful rugs”, did begin to teach her crochet at a young age.

The 59-year said: “She taught me how to crochet little squares, and so there were lots of little squares dotted about the house. I got a little bit bored with that and I asked my mum to show me something else rather than just the small squares and she replied with a bit of a strange answer. She told me to ‘figure the rest out yourself’, which at the time I thought was a little bit cruel. She had the the ability. Why didn't she show me so?”

Cynthia put down her crochet needles after this – but once she picked them back up a few years ago, she could hear her mum’s voice saying ‘figure it out yourself’. Cynthia threw herself into research and began learning the difference between wools, strengths, sizes and lengths.

She said: “I learnt to recognise the connection between the wool and the needle. Not long after I realised I was able to put clothes together – whether it was cardigans, skirts, jumpers, hats, scarves or gloves.”

She also developed the ability to be able to look at people, see what size they were and create items for them to wear, as well as herself. It was then she realised what her mother had meant. Cynthia said: “What my mum had tried to put across to me, was to learn my trade and learn it in detail so that I didn't have to copy anybody else's pattern, but have my own trade, with my own understanding of the wool and the needle.”

Cynthia re-entered the workforce recently in an administrative role. She said: “I wanted to put a little bit of finance into what I was doing. I wanted to have a bit of freedom in the type of wool that I wanted to purchase and also a variety of accessories, different types of needles, etc., so it really was to feed into my passion.”

Cynthia recently presented some of her work at a fashion show hosted by Ebony Milestone and one dress in particular – a black sequined gown – caught the eye of many guests. She is now in the very early stages of setting up a formal business, as well as taking courses to arm herself with more business knowledge.

She said: “I found out that there is an appetite for crocheting and wearing because there's no such thing really as a proper crochet machine. There is a very basic crochet machine that doesn't really replicate the detailed work of the crochet needle. I like to think that I am the crochet machine.”

While it has taken her many years to find crocheting again, she calls the craft her true calling in life. She added: “I think every individual has a purpose and crocheting is where I'm at peace. It's where I'm extremely content. It's where I challenge myself and push myself, push the boundaries, push my mind, and answer all those questions, ‘What if? What if I do that? What if I close it that way? What if I use this colour? What if I use that size?’ I find it extremely exciting. I would encourage everyone to search for that purpose and search for that creativity that is inside us all."

Cynthia Jones can be contacted via her email: [email protected] for those interested in her work.