Saturday 27 October 2007

Sea air & others things

The Family J decided to have a trip to the coast to mark the end of Half Term & to generally get some sea air. Mr J has a cold & son & heir has got rid of his tonsillitis. Me? A quick look in my school planner says I havn't got time for as much as a sniffle until two weeks on Tuesday! Our chosen destination was Staithes, for those not familier with this part of the world it is an old fishing village some 10 miles to the north west of Whitby, noted for its fossil coast & general quaintness. A Fish n'chip opportunity in Whitby was also planned! Here are some pictures from our roving's.
Warning: This will be a photo heavy post!

The first picture shows Staithes from the beach. On a geographical/ geological note the area was once a shallow delta in a tropical paeleoenvironment where the slow moving current laid down layer after layer of the Lias sediments. These sediments contain many fossils & the coast is sometimes called the 'Dinosaur Coast'. We didn't find any Dinosaur remains but other fossils were easy to spot & not too difficult to photograph. The rocks along this coast are easily eroded & whilst we were able to walk along on
the extensive wave cut platform, the fragility of the cliffs was all too easy to see. Erosion also produces some strange shapes on the wave cut platform!
Whitby took us a little by surprise! It was 'Goth weekend' & the town was full of ....Goths! This is one of the many pictures I found when I 'googled' Goths & Whitby. It is a bi-annual affair!


The fish & chips were good & less surprising!
On the yarn front! I have completed the toe up River Rapid socks & thus my second Ravelry Sock Knitters antonymous challenge. I just get in under the wire for the September challenge & am in time to cast on for October. I am going to knit Nancy Bush's sock pattern 'Whitby' for son & heir. He seems to favour red socks for casual wear (actually that means his school rugby socks) & so I have bought some DK King Cole pure new wool in Red. I will have to have another lot of socks on the go for when he is around but will make that the November challenge. They will be another gift. Nuff said! I mentioned that I would try the Elizabeth Zimmerman's sewn cast off for the toe ups & I did. I am pretty pleased with the results. Neat, stretchy & not too wavy despite the K6, P2 rib that I finished with. The photo is pre-blocking. I will also take this opportunity to include something REALLY unusual! Something I made with the 'single stick with the hooked end' last winter. I got a bit carried away on my first chain 'row', so it winds round & round my neck but its really warm & has attracted many compliments. It was one row of single 'triples' then a second row of two 'triples' into each single triple on the previous row. The yarn was an aran weight something with lost of lovely colours in (sorry -it was pre blogging & Ravelry!).

10 comments:

Heather L. said...

Loved your pictures! We visited friends in Darlington several times and each time Whitby was on the list -- specifically for fish-n-chips, but we NEVER made it. :( I loved the seen in Straithes. I will have to show my sister your scarf!

florencemary said...

Wow! Lovely photos, lovely knits and brill geog/geology lesson!

I haven't been to Staithes yet, but it looks reminiscent of Robin Hood's Bay, with its quaintness. And having lived up and down the east coast of England most of my life, I've certainly come into contact with coastal erosion!

Hmmm, the EZ sewn cast off... will have to investigate....

Linda said...

That looks a great place. i would have loved to see all the goths, they look fab!

WJS said...

Staithes! Quite possibly the best place on earth. We have been there over Christmas a couple of times recently and once it even snowed.

I'll put a couple of pictures on my blog, which, having two jobs and working 34 (not really that many is it :/ ) hours per week means I havn't visited in a very long time.

W

Dipsy Doodle said...

Awww, amazing! Thank you so much for sharing these most beautiful pics of your trip - this is exactly the place where I'd love to go to now and spend a few days, just to relax and unwind! I also highly enjoyed the geology lesson you gave us, this is so interesting!
Beautiful knits too!

Artis-Anne said...

Oh I love Staithes and we were there last year and spent hours on the beach looking at fossiles etc , great pics and the Goths at Whitby look great fun and so atmospheric.
Must try that EZ cast off
Love the spiral but what is a stick with a hook please ;) LOL

SueJ said...

crochet hook! Sorry, too off piste as usual!

Joanne said...

Mrs. J, thank you for your thoughtful post on my blog this morning! I do think discussing the issues I addressed in your class is a great idea--if it brings up all the tensions of what it means to live in a democracy with widely varying beliefs, that would be great. (other parts of the USA would never consider aligning religion and politics quite so closely, it's part of living in KY. I'd be happy to answer questions about it or interact more with your students on it!) In good news, the governor who posted that display in the state capitol was voted out of office yesterday! Hurrah! Now I just have to wait and see if the new governor will take it down again...

Unknown said...

Goths in Whitby!? Fascinating, that must have been quite an experience.

Heather L. said...

Hello! My friends from Darlington are over here right now and came for a cup of tea last night. They were telling us about their nephew's visit and how they took him to Whitby for fish-n-chips. "What a day to visit Whitby!", they said. I said, "Oh, was it the Goth Festival?" They said, "Yes it was! How did you know that????" I had to smile and explain. :) I think they were there for the one earlier in the year. It was a funny conversation though! They were quite taken aback by my "knowledge."