Debbie Bliss

I've known my next podcast guest, Debbie Bliss, for many years. We met last century when I was a fashion assistant stepping in for the fashion editor to style one of Debbie's knitting pattern books. The most published knitwear designer in the world has over 35 books, 20 booklets, her own range of yarns and her own knitting magazine. If you want to know anything about knitting, Debbie Bliss is your woman. After working together, we initially kept in touch but living at opposite ends of the Victoria Line came between us, so I am thrilled to have made contact with her again. She cares deeply about democratic design, carefully develops collections to complement the qualities of each yarn - and is very, very funny.In this That's Not My Age podcast episode, Debbie talks movingly about having breast cancer, which has seen her undergo a mastectomy, lymph node removal and over six months of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. 'Anyone who has ever had cancer will understand, you're never quite removed from the fear that it will come back, and you'll have to go through it all again,' she says. 'People tell people who have been diagnosed to be positive; but I think that bring realistic works better for me.'PODCAST CREDITSProducer and audio engineer: Linda Ara-TebaldiHost: Alyson WalshGuest: Patrick GrantMusic: David SchweitzerArtwork: Ayumi TakahashiDigital technician: Tom Hole at StirtingaleCoordinator: Helen Johnson