Author: Jackie B

I live in Northumberland, within sight of the sea and spend my time knitting, crocheting, sewing and trying my hand at different crafts. There's usually a story to share about the things I make.
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Knit-A-Long Baby Blanket: Week 2

Posted on by Jackie B

All of us at our Knit and Natter Group are really enjoying the KAL designed by Yvonne. Part of the fun is the anticipation of waiting for her next set of instructions. Welcome to blog follower Liz and everyone else who is joining us for the KAL.

We all got off to a great start with Week One – the garter stitch border, which should look like this.

I’ve chosen white yarn for the border, as did Yvonne for her prototype blanket pictured at the top of the post. It looks great in a colour too – L chose this lovely pink.

As Yvonne explained last week, the blanket should look good whether it is knitted in one colour or you change colour for each instalment of 10 rows. She broke us in gently with Week One, but the next instalment requires a little more concentration.You will end up with diagonal stripes of double moss stitch.

Week 2 Instructions

Yvonne writes, “We have already done our bottom edge and as we go we will do the side edges also.
From now on the first and last 8 stitches will be in garter stitch throughout the rest of the blanket and we will have different patterns in the middle of the blanket.”

So here we go.

The abbreviations for this are: K=knit, P=purl, sts= stitches 

Row 1. Knit the first 8 stitches and begin this week’s pattern, K3 *P1, K1, P1, K4 repeat from * to last 3 stitches K to end.
Row 2. After the garter stitch of 8 stitches continue as follows, P3, *P4, K1, P1, K1 repeat from *to last 3 stitches P3 and garter stitch last 8.
Row 3. K3 *(K1, P1) twice, K3 repeat from * to last 3 sts K3
Row 4. P3 *P3, (K1, P1) twice rep from * to last 3 sts P3
Row 5. K5, P1, K1, P1, *K4, P1, K1, P1 rep from * to last 5 sts K to end
Row 6. P5, K1, P1, K1, *P4, K1, P1, K1 rep from * to last 5 sts P to end 
Row 7. K6, P1, K1, P1, *K4, P1, K1, P1 rep from * to last 4 sts K to end
Row 8. P3, (P1, K1) twice, *P4, K1, P1, K1 rep from * to last 6 sts P to end
Row 9. K3, *K4, P1, K1, P1 rep from * to last 3 sts K to end
Row 10. P3, *K1, P1, K1, P4 rep from * to last 3 sts P to end

This is a vertical zigzag moss st 
Hope you enjoy this pattern and happy knitting until next week.

Yvonne

The garter stitch border carries on up each side so you could continue the 8 stitch border up the sides in the same colour and you did week one – that’s what I’ve decided to do.

You’ll need a separate ball of wood for each side border plus one for the coloured central pattern if you decide to do that. Remember to twist the strands of yarn together at the colour change before and after the 8 stitches of garter stitch to avoid getting a hole.

Enjoy Week Two. I’d love hear how you are getting on with your blanket..

Posted in knitting

Knit and Natter Update: Yvonne’s Baby Blanket – Our First Knit-A-Long

Posted on by Jackie B

Our little Online Knit and Natter Group still meets every week on Zoom for a chat and to look at what we are all busy making.

Recently some of us were inspired to put down the knitting needles, pick up a crochet hook and make the Seaside Stash-Busting Blanket on the Coastal Crochet Blog.

We’ve all thoroughly enjoyed making this (with some of us up to our third blanket and trying out more of Eleonora’s designs) The pattern was originally released as a Crochet Along project and the anticipation of looking up each new instalment was great fun.

I loved the challenge of learning some new stitches too. I think the basket stitch and bobbles were my favourites.

We were discussing our blankets at Knit and Natter a little while ago and thought it would be good to do our own Knit Along (KAL). Yvonne has risen to the challenge and produced a pattern for a baby blanket, which she is releasing in weekly instalments over the coming weeks.

Yvonne writes, “Here it is. Welcome to the Mystery Knit and Natter Knit Along Blanket.It is knitted in any dk wool with 4mm needles.
It can be done in a solid colour or you can add different colours as we go and you will need approximately 160g to complete the project.Happy knitting guys!”

Week 1

Cast on 141 stitches and work 10 rows in garter stitch (knit every row).

I’ll post the next bit next weekend. Meanwhile here’s my completed Week 1 knitting.

Please join in and let me know how you get on…feel free to send photos too. Enjoy!

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Retail Therapy at the Racecourse

Posted on by Jackie B

I had a lovely day yesterday. I went to the first ever ~North East Wool Show with two friends who are also keen knit/crochet/sew/crafty people. The event was held over two days at Newcastle’s Gosforth Park Racecourse. The main building is full accessible. I’ve been to events there before so I had no worries about getting round on my disability scooter.

Inside the building we found dozens of stalls, full of yarn, spinning fibre and all sorts of woolly paraphernalia .and spent several very pleasant hours, browsing and buying, with pauses for refreshment. As we went on the Sunday (Saturday sold out) we missed the sale of sheep fleeces, but it was not hard to guess this has been held in the tunnel at the back of the building that retained a distinct sheepy odour…..suspicions were confirmed as a stray wisp of white fluff wafted by!

I came home with quite a haul, though I think I was quite restrained when you consider all the lovely items on sale….and it was all so colourful, with all those gorgeous skeins of wool on display, There were also kits of every type (knitting, needle felting, hookwork, embroidery….you name it) and some beautiful knitted, woven and crocheted garments and softs furnishings.

We all end up with magazines and books we no longer need or want and a rather nice idea was the book swap table – people had donated their unwanted knitting/crochet reading matter – items could be taken in return for a donation to a local hospice. I donated to get this book about Fair Isle knitting – it’s full of information, pattern and design ideas, and even full instructions on methods of steeking -when knitting in the round you have a continuous pattern, but steeking enables you to cut into the finished knitting to create an opening – at the front of a cardigan for example – The idea of it has always sounded terrifying to me but this could give me the confidence to try.

My next purchase was this natural dye starter kit from Blotz Natural Dyes– something I’ve wanted to try for ages – it includes small quantities of three dye plants and three mordants along with protective gloves and a mask and items to measure out the materials . While I was buying this the loud reversing beep on my scooter may have drowned out a tiny bit of the stallholders’ interview on local radio. Sorry Blotz!

There were several stalls selling fibre for spinning in all sorts of sumptuous and soft blends and colours. It was a very difficult decision but I ended up with these:

  • From Adelaide Walker A Merin0/Shetland/Corridale blend in shades of green and teal with sari silk adding little pops of red – This colourway is named “Rainforest”
  • From Wooltops some undyed Corriedale roving – I’ve never spun sheep from this breed before but hear good things about it. I had an interesting chat with the stallholder about the lineage of the breed, which includes Merino for softness and Lincoln Longwool for lustre and staple length.
  • From Tine and Floyd, two braids , one is in a merino/suri alpaca blend, in shades of pink and purple, the other is merino and bamboo, in vivid pinks with streaks of shimmery white. There were some little thank you gifts in the bag too – herbal tea and a lavender bag.

I enjoyed a lovely long chat with Tine from Tine and Floyd. That’s one of the things I love about events like this – you get to meet the traders and ask questions, handle the wool and fibre – it’s essential with something so tactile. Online shopping is really convenient but nowhere near as much fun.

I also bought some knitting accessories – a short circular sock needle and some stitch markers – you can never have too may stitch markers – both were bought from Knitting for Fun

Finally, I couldn’t resist this. It’s a set of markers on a shawl pin – very pretty, and useful too, purchased from The Cocoon Tree.

I bumped into several friends from my knitting and spinning groups too so it became quite the social occasion.

With a sellout first day and great comments from the traders about how successful it has been, we’ll all be keeping our fingers crossed that the event will be back again next year.

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Off the Needles and on the Hook

Posted on by Jackie B

Over the last week I’ve finished one project and started another.

I completed the Jacob Jumper, using the Lata Sweater pattern and Jacob Sheep wool that I handspun from fleece I was given a while back, I sorted the black and white fibre and spun it separately and used the two colours to make this houndstooth check design sweater,

I’ve been wearing it ever since. It’s warm and comfortable with room to wear layers underneath – I’m really pleased with the result.

I was thinking that I hadn’t done a crochet project for ages. I’ve also been meaning to use up some of my ridiculously large yarn stash. Recent projects have all been handspun which a project in mind. I’ve been following the Coastal Crochet blog for a while. Eleonora has designed a number of beautiful colourful crochet blankets, originally released on the blog as crochet along projects. I decided to work on the Seaside Stash Busting Blanket, which was first published in 35 weekly parts.

I pulled a variety of colours of dk yarn from the stash….

…and got started. I really can’t put it down! I’ll never get bored with this one as the pattern changes every few rows. It’s exciting to open the next post to find out what the next pattern is and it’s fun to work out the next colour to use.

So far the different patterns used in the blanket have included zig zags…

…waves…

…bobbles…

…granny square-style triplets…

…and shells.

I only started 3 days ago but I’m already on to week 10! I’m really enjoying making it and all those bright colours really make me smile.

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Almost Knitting With A View: St Veda’s Bay, Coldingham

Posted on by Jackie B

After two lovely sunny days when we were busy with other things, a day out together yesterday had to coincide with a break in the weather: clouds and rain all day. As it’s the Easter school holidays, the holidaymakers and day trippers have returned to the Northumbrian coast in droves. We decided to head north of the Scottish border, where the coast is still lovely, but quieter. Daughter is on holiday and we are looking after her Labrador, Wren.

Most of the year we can let the dogs off their leads to have a good run about. but when it gets busy there can be conflict with non-dog owners (especially if they have a picnic) and inexperienced dog owners who have not trained their pets how to behave off the lead. Our two are friendly, don’t jump up and have reasonably good recall (though if Buddy can smell food or something particularly stinky to roll in he doesn’t always respond!

St Veda’s Bay is pretty well deserted in winter (we were there a while back) but things are starting to wake up a little bit. We drove down to the disabled parking area overlooking the sands so I could sit and enjoy the view and do some knitting while K walked the dogs.

Alas I’d forgotten to put the current sock I’m making back in the small bag I use – the yarn, pattern and first sock of the pair were there but nothing to actually knit! There was plenty to see though. I noticed that ramped boardwalks extending on to the sand have been installed – we subsequently found out that beach wheelchairs are available to use here. They have big tyres to negotiate the soft sand. Although I can walk short distances on a firm flat surface I struggle on sand and my trusty electric scooter just digs itself into a hole. Though I hate being pushed and much prefer the independence the scooter gives me, it would be nice to get to the water’s edge and peer into some rock pools sometime.

Brightly coloured beach huts line the bay.

One of these was providing shelter for some sea swimmers to warm up after their dip. There were a few dog walkers and families about and a someone was having a surfing lesson.

A horse and rider arrived to take advantage of the quiet beach. It was the ideal place to do some schooling, following their own tracks to execute perfect circles at walk, trot and canter in both directions. They finished with a gallop along the shoreline, splashing though the shallows.

Meanwhile out at sea I spied a couple of male eider ducks. The females are probably sitting on eggs now. There were some auks on the water and feeding too (either guillemots or razorbills – too far away to tell which). We are not far from St Abbs Head here: an important site for cliff-nesting seabirds

Meanwhile, K and the dogs walked along the beach, exploring the rock pools…

…and climbing up on to the headland to see into the next bay.

Wren, loves nothing better than carrying a stick; the bigger the better. Today was no exception!Maybe I should do a “Stick Of The Day” post while she’s staying with us!

When the walkers returned we got coffee from the little beach cafe. The bay really has everything you need to spend the day there. There are picnic tables , toilets, and well maintained paths and steps connecting the bay to a coastal path extending into adjacent bays. It is also great to see efforts being made to make improve disability access.

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On the needles. The Jacob Jumper

Posted on by Jackie B

A while ago I ‘rescued’ some Jacob fleeces, that proved to be quite a challenge even before I began to card it ready for spinning – you can read about that here. I recently decided what to do with it.

I’ve been going to a couple of spinning groups and through one of these I did a day course on English Long Draw spinning. To the uninitiated this creates a fluffier airier yarn. It’s also perfect for fairly short fibres (around 1.5 inches) with some crimp. We practiced handcarding to make rolags before learning the long draw technique. The carding process opens up the locks of fleece and organises the fibres so they lie parallel across the carder, and are then rolled off the teeth into a sausage shape or rolag. We were provided with samples of wool from 4 different sheep breeds to learn with and I finished spinning and plying them at home (pictured top to bottom,Portland, Shetland, Ryland and Zwartbles).

There’s nothing like a big project to hone your skills so once I realised that the Jacob fleece was perfect for long draw I searched for a suitable pattern. I wanted to separate the black and white fibre and spin it separately to make a black and white patterned sweater, but nothing too complex. I found the Lata sweater on Ravelry – the pattern has a very simple 4 row repeat and resembled a houndstooth check …..

…..or even, as a friend reminded me, the Northumbrian tartan!

I got carding to make those rolags and soon was able to start spinning….

…and plying to make a 2ply yarn. It’s quite soft to the touch.

The sweater is nearly complete – I am halfway through knitting the second sleeve. The cuffs, round neck and waist are worked in knit2 purl2 rib in the black yarn, which sets off the pattern perfectly. I’m really pleased with how it’s going.

Not bad for some dirty fleece that was destined for the bonfire!

Have you ever rescued something from being thrown away and made it into something nice and new?

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Knitting With A View: Newton-by-the- Sea in March

Posted on by Jackie B

Spring is in the air! The birds are singing, the daffodils are in bloom and the first of this year’s lambs are bounding about in the fields. It was a perfect day for K and Daughter, and the dogs, Buddy and Wren, to take a coastal walk and for me to indulge in a bit of scenic knitting.

We initially drove to the fishing village of Craster. I dropped them here and decided to get myself a coffee at the Piper’s Pitch – a small food kiosk in the main car park at the entrance to the village, just next to the Tourist Information Office. They were doing a brisk trade in kipper sandwiches (with the local kippers that Craster is famous for). There’s no waste with these. There’s a sign offering free kipper skins for your dog!.

It was such a nice day I decided to sit at one of the tables – I think this is the first al fresco coffee I’ve had this year.

After a quick look to see if there was anything of interest in Tourist Information I drove to Newton-by-the-Sea and parked in the disabled bay overlooking the see. I may have mentioned before on here that to access this you have to remove a heavy chain hung across the road – not very accessible for blue badge holders. Luckily however someone was walking past and kindly moved the chain for me.

The sea was pretty calm and there were lots of walkers about, Many with dogs. A group of children, sensibly clad in wetsuits and lifejackets were having great fun in the water with their makeshift raft. There was also a kayaker and some sea anglers.

Out to sea I could see the brilliant white and black male eider ducks swimming about. A whinchat was perched on a longer stem of marram grass next to the sand and every so often flitted away to catch an insect.

I got on with my current project: a black and white sweater in my handspun Jacob wool.

It wasn’t long until my human and canine companions reappeared further down the beach. They’d had a lovely long walk. We aren’t expecting much activity from the dogs this evening!

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Back To Blogging: On The Needles (1)

Posted on by Jackie B

Stitches By The Seawater is back after a bit of a break, so I thought I’d begin with current projects. I always have more than one on the go and this is the most recent cast on.

I won the raffle at a knit and natter group this week – 5 small (25g) sample balls of Stylecraft Amor – it’s an Aran weight blend of 40% super wash wool, and 60% acrylic., featuring some lovely variegated colours

The five different colourways in the pack have some colours in common so I reckoned they could all be used in the same project.

I’ve chosen to knit a simple infinity scarf in k2 p2 rib. Hopefully, if I use the colours in the right order, ithey will produce a shaded effect. I’m knitting in the round and cast on 220 stitches with my 5.5mm circular needle.

At the moment it’s quite portable (I always like a small project to carry around) but as it grows this will be the perfect knit and natter project – nothing complicated, no counting of stitches, no charts to follow, no measuring (I’ll just continue until the yarn is all used up), just round and round with the k2p2 rib!

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Sheep Show at Hadrian’s Wall

Posted on by Jackie B

We love going to country agricultural shows , whether they are big affairs like the Northumberland County Show or much smaller events, Like the Roman Wall Show at Steel Rigg, one of the most scenic parts of Hadrian’s Wall.

Although this is a spectacular location, where the Roman Wall can be seen on top of a sheer cliff, it is bleak and exposed here and usually pretty windy as it was today – though fortunately not raining!

It always amazes me how much of the wall remains, 1900 years after it was built. It just goes to show what a great feat of engineering it was, complete with protective ditches, a road so that soldiers could move easily along its length unseen from the other side and dotted with mile castles and forts this has to be one of the greatest defensive structures ever built.

This is sheep farming country and the show gives local farmer the chance to compare their stock with others competing in the sheep classes. Prizewinning sheep are sought after for breeding stock and enhance the reputation of the breeder, which could mean higher prices at stock auctions. It’s also a great social event where farming families can get together, by the sheep pens or in the beer tent.

There is also a fell race for human competitors…that’s pretty tough hilly terrain to run over. Dogs are represented too. A hound trail, where dogs race to follow a previously laid scent trail through the hills is always fascinating to watch, and there are rings with classes for terriers, hounds, retrievers and collies. Wren tried her luck in a retriever class.

What a lovely afternoon in this rugged part of Northumberland.