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!).

'Proper' Autumn Days

Its Half Term! Yey! ....and the weather is great! Sunny & crisp. Mr J, Moss & me took to the byeways this afternoon, taking me away from the laptop (school stuff), him from the garden & Moss from playing at 'farm dog'! We had a lovely walk around Fewston Reservoir, a local 'beauty spot' that I had never walked around. It is at least 10 minutes drive from home!

On the knitting front, The Wool Peddler Shawl is at the lace stage. The photo is a bit rubbish. Its navy blue, but the light was going when I took the photo. It may be a bit bigger than the pattern states. Depends on the yarn situation but the yarn (Jaegar extra soft merino) is snuggly soft as always. I have aquired some more in dark grey for...... something nice......for me! Cumberpatch uk are selling it at half price!!!!!!! The first of the toe up River Rapid socks is nearing completion. I am going to attempt Elizabeth Zimmerman's sown bind-off!

I have just discovered 'bloglines' which is a 'widget' that sits on the toolbar of my laptop & watches for new posts on my favorite blog reads. That should save me missing some & using up knitting time checking for ones that are not there. Google 'bloglines' & follow the instructions on the tin! I have also uploaded some 'Yahoo widgets'. They are more lesson orientated (like a stopwatch to display on my laptop & via the LCD projector to the board at the front of the classroom) but the nice little clock that sits in front of all programmes, tells me its time to cook some tea!

A breath of fresh air

The 'Geography Holiday' was good. I am a bit k*******! But thats fresh air & been on call 24/7 (& 'mum to 20 17 year olds!). We also have a Parent consultation evening for Year 11 tonight! The photo is of May Beck in the North York Moors National Park. I did a little sock knitting & after my efforts were closely inspected by one young man he declared "Miss, your really sick at knitting!" Apparently it means really good! I'll take the compliment & my 'River Rapids' are 3/4 done.

I caught up with a little blog reading last night & some bloggers were apologising for not blogging or commenting. Why? I love reading other people's blogs & really appreciate the comments that people make on my blog but if it becomes a chore not a pleasure then surely the message should be just don't worry, post a gone away message if you like & then return to blogland when it suits you. You can always cite Ravelry!

October already?

I have just realised that it is two weeks since I last made a blog entry and I have NOT been on holiday. School has been the far side of hectic. We have had Open Evenings, Data entry points, Parents evenings, PMR, I took (& passed) my mini bus test, had all the medical & paperwork stuff to do for that and ....... oh yes, and teaching to do. On Monday I am going to Robin Hoods Bay, on the east coast of Yorkshire, for three days with the Yr 12 geographers on what they are calling 'The Geography Holiday'! We are calling it a fieldcourse in which they will collect enough quality data to produce a fantastic piece of assessed coursework! But it will be great to have a holiday away from school & I am looking forward to it! We are taking 20 Year 12 students & they are a pretty good bunch. The mini bus test was a bit of a farce. I have driven mini buses all over the north of England in the days before such things as a special test were considered necessary but now need to have a Leeds certificate, requiring a medical (fair enough -really glad I passed that!) & lesson/test. The bottom line is I can drive the thing beautifully & reverse a perfect turn along as it is on one particular street in a run-down part of Leeds & they don't repair the crack in the road which he teaches you to use as a measure!!!!!! I think my other driving experiences will be more useful, especially driving a land rover discovery every day & living & driving in the country!
I will take some sock knitting, which should generate some interesting comments no doubt. I am falling behind with my Ravelry Sock Challenge. I should have started some Nancy Bush socks & I have not even chosen the pattern, although I have the books and a suitable range of stash yarn so I should manage to get started over half term, along with finishing the toe up river rapids (September challenge!). I frogged the Wool Peddler shawl. I just couldn't love it. I have just adjusted the pattern to knit two before the yarn over & its fine!!!!!????? I am about back to the point I had reached before I ripped it back!
I will post a picture of the sweatshirt sweater soon. I have worn it & its what it was meant to be. It looks OK, despite being a bit big around the shoulders & has a wide neckline so its a bit drafty. I have found a more refined pattern so I will give that a go. I love the top down process though. I have ordered some yarn (More Jaegar Merino DK) but its somewhere in the pile of yet to be delivered post!
This evening is reserved for 'Le Crunch'. There will be no French wine with dinner (a rather nice Chilean number is warming a little by the Raybun though). I did shout for the French against New Zealand & should (heaven forbid) they sneak through tonight, then I hope they strike a blow for Northern Hemisphere rugby next weekend. But my money is on England!

at 10.06 pm Sue added....... Fantastic England! Bring it on!

Wow! You are all cheering me on!

Thank you for all the kind words as I set out on the path towards becoming a spinner. I have dipped in & here is my first yard of yarn! Hmm .....its interesting -the thickness varies, some seems to have too much twist & as for joining!!! I shall persevere, cos I am like that!

The sweatshirt sweater is coming on nicely. I have nearly finished the body & then I shall take a photo. She has got cables!

I have an issue with the wool peddler that I don't like! What do you think? The first photo shows the edge that starts with the knit all the way row & is fine. The second photo shows the edge where you k1, YO, knit & is lumpy and ugh! Is this 'normal'? I have tried knitting into the back of the stitch but that seems to make no difference. I don't think I can love it as its is!

It is officially Autumn now. I think that I have picked the last of the runner beans but the sunflowers keep smiling! Harrogate Grammar School Rugby IV clocked up their fourth victory of the season with a 0-76 win at Rishworth School, high up on the Pennine Moorland & in the sunshine. The opposition wasn't awful but the boys put on such a fantastic show of skills that they blew them away.

Inspired by Yarn Spinner's cosy dog photos Moss & I took a photo call, having a 'softy' moment. He is sat on 'his' armchair in the kitchen. He always rushes to sit on 'his' chair when some one comes in so he can have his bit of fuss. We call it his 'meet & greet' chair!He wishes to point out that that's it accentuates his 'grey' side & he really is not so old looking (He is eight) so here is a photo taken a couple of weeks ago on Brimham Moor.

Its NOT my birthday but.......

I have some new things!!!!!!! An awesome book that will stretch my skills & teach me new ones.

A thing, made by my father in law, I think its called a yarn swift & its a lot better than chair backs & more co-operative than the males in my family when yarn needs winding! I am knitting him some 'shed mitts' to say thank you. They are simple fingerless mitts to help keep his hand and finger joints warm (they ache at times) when he works in his woodwork shed.

Lastly, I have made the jump, I am going to get in touch with my ancestors, following up from encouragement by Yarn Spinner (Thanks Joanne!), I am going to learn to spin! I am going low on cost & big on historical timescale & have bought a spindle & some British breed rovings. I am still at the reading stage but I am quite excited to get going.

The top down sweater is below the armholes but the sizing suggested was way out (I did knit a swatch!) but been top down I tried it on, realised it was big enough even for a cosy sweatshirt sweater and called it time for arm and body to separate. The rugby was awful, she may get cables! I have also cast on for Wool Peddler shawl, I couldn't resist!

Watch this space for progress on a range of projects -damn it, I have classes to teach!!!!!

A sweater on the needles

For the first time, since I returned to the wonderful band who call themselves 'knitters', I have a sweater on the needles (or should it be 'needle' as it is a beloved addi bamboo circular?). I decided on 'top down' using 'Knittingfool.com' to produce a pattern. I wanted it to be a 'proper' winter sweater, in other words a cosy potential old friend for winter walks and watching rugby. I wanted a sweater that perhaps was more like a sweatshirt so I have a loose neckline knitted in alternate rows of knit and purl. It will have similar treatment for the bottom band & cuffs although they will be knitted on finer needles. It may have 'fake garter stitch' side panels like Jarad Flood's sweater in this falls 'Interweave knits'. It may grow cables but that might depend on how well the rugby world cup is progressing. If its too exciting it had better stay plain! I am totally in agreement with Sarah about the knitting creating a 'memory palace'. This is becoming my rugby world cup jumper -I hope England win! My prairie shawl, for example, is my 'Tiree' shawl (& jolly useful it is with these cool mornings & warmer days) and I may pop on my ' Les Contamines skiing socks' when I get changed! The yarn is, as I said in my previous post, Jaegar extra soft merino in an Aran weight. I am knitting it up on 5mm needles so despite 'all bits' been on the needles as I work down the yoke its growing quite quickly. I have ordered some more DK weight in this yarn for a Wool Pedlars shawl from 'Folk Shawls', whilst it is still around at bargain prices.

Mr J survived Ofsted! His quote "the most stressful 7 days in 27 years teaching". He has just returned from a five mile run & I think we are going across to the village pub for tea!