Graciete is an adult learner taking Embroidery and IT courses with Merton Adult Education.
Graciete says: "Since retiring, I've been an Embroidery student for several years and more recently started taking IT courses as well. I really enjoy attending my current Embroidery course in College as I always learn new stitches, such as 'scattered stitches',and I gain new ideas in class.
Bonita, my tutor, always challenges us to be more creative and I find I learn a lot more from her than when I was trying to study from books. I have particularly learned a lot about the use of different colours in my designs and created many new styles of work.
I've been making lots of different projects from the new ideas and I sell my work to raise funds for several charities I have supported for years. I regularly sell my work from a stall at the Nelson Hospital and make all kinds of embroidery creations for sale, such as drawstring bags in appliqué, lavender bags, pin cushions, needle books and a lot more. Recently I also sold my creations at the college Festive Makers Market, also raising funds for charity.
In addition to the Embroidery course, I've also been taking IT for Beginners and IT for Seniors courses and have learned to use many new tools and functions in Word, instead of just the basic typing I could do before. My tutor is very patient and recaps the learning at each session so I don’t forget what I have learned and am ready to learn more. It's important that I keep practising my IT skills so I'm planning to continue taking IT courses with Merton Adult Learning.
I am really happy that Merton College Adult Learning have supported me in being creative and innovative in both my crafts and computing skills."
