Welcome to my blog. I live, knit, crochet, spin and craft near the Northumbrian Coast (but not too near – the waves won't be splashing my yarn!).There's a story in every stitch, every grain of sand, every blade of grass. I thought I'd blog about it…
Today was the monthly Knit an Natter Group at The Amble Pincushion – and a bit of a Christmas party, with crackers, gifts and mince pies. In the picture you can see today’s work in progress – Clockwise from top right: moss stitch baby jumper (aren’t the colours beautiful); shawl in shades of blue: picot edged baby jacket (for a new baby granddaughter), stripy socks, a Christmas elf and the start of a twiddle mitt.
Here’s a close up of the elf – Anne knitted this and was wearing him as a brooch.
This was today’s raffle prize: a kit to make a group of Christmas decorations.
One of the group had brought sweets for everyone and group leader Anne gave us each some needles and a pincushion she’d made.
That’s the last Knit and Natter of the year. We’ll be back at The Amble Pincushion 10am-12, on the third Friday in January, for more knitting, nattering, expert advice as needed, tea/coffee and biscuits, a raffle and 10% off in the shop. All this for £4.50! Such a lovely group!
Have you received any knitting/craft related Christmas gifts yet?
Scone of the Week is back! Today Mum and I needed to do a spot of Christmas Shopping at Dobbies near Morpeth, so we had our Thursday cheese scones in the coffee shop there. It’s a Costa.
The scones were OK, though a bit heavy and had a decent cheesy crust. The butter, in foil-wrapped pats was at room temperature and easy to spread. I had a Black Forest hot chocolate (made with a shot of black cherry syrup) with whipped cream and it was yummy.
As next Thursday is Boxing Day there won’t be a Scone of the Week post – we’ll be eating leftover Christmas goose. K is a brilliant cook and he’s making Christmas Dinner – he’s not a fan of turkey so he’s cooking a goose. Not long now!
Every year, around this time, I think how great it would be to knit my own Christmas jumper. Of course, by mid-December it’s far too late! I thought about this a lot tonight. We’ve been to a Christmas party and the dress code suggested Christmas Jumpers. I do own one, but it’s cheaply mass-produced and not great so I decided against wearing it tonight. There were some real crackers though (and I’m not talking about noisy cardboard receptacles for paper hats, bad jokes and plastic toys, though there were some of those too). I decided to photograph some of them to share with you.
Now of course some people don’t really like Christmas, but there are even jumpers suitable for them.
Others enjoy the festivities, the parties, the alcohol…..and the sequins!
This year I’ve noticed quite a few that come with their own lights. The one on the left was so dazzling that you couldn’t make out the picture (a penguin in a Santa suit) – the other just has a single light – Santa’s nose.
Some people opted for other Christmas themed clothing. This is a gents jacket, photo taken from the back (it actually looked ok from the front).
Then there was this Hawaiian -style shirt, printed with surfing Santas. Hilarious.
This is a dress
This was one of the cutest, with all those little penguins.
This is probably my favourite (but then I love that film and all the music)
I don’t think there were any hand knitted jumpers there tonight, but there were some that really made me smile. Maybe I should start knitting one in January before I forget until next December!
Have you ever knitted a Christmas jumper? What was it like?
I went to Newcastle today for the last choir session of the year. We all brought contributions for a shared table and it turned into quite a feast, with mountains of delicious quiche, salad, sausage rolls, cheese, shortbread, cakes and biscuits. We finished off by singing the Geordie version of “The Twelve Days of Christmas”. One of our choir members has written these lyrics , and she’s kindly given me permission to share it here. I’ve added a glossary to help those of you who aren’t familiar with our dialect. Enjoy!
The Geordie 12 Days of Christmas
On the forst day of Christmas me truelove sent to me a geet white pigeon cree
On the second day of Christmas me truelove sent to me two ferret leads……
On the thord day of Christmas me truelove sent to me three fast whippets…..
On the forth day of Christmas me truelove sent to me four Freemen…..
On the fifth day of Christmas me truelove sent to me five songs of Sting’s…
On the sixth day of Christmas me truelove sent to me six Keelmen rowin’…
On the seventh day of Christmas me truelove sent to me seven lasses plodgin’….
On the eighth day of Christmas me truelove sent to me eight singin’hinnies….
On the ninth day of Christmas me truelove sent to me nine Northumbrian Pipers….
On the tenth day of Christmas me truelove sent to me ten lads-a-leapin’….
On the eleventh day of Christmas me truelove sent to me eleven Greggs stotties…
On the twelfth day of Christmas me truelove sent to me twelve piggies rollin’…
Glossary
Greet (or geet) – great or big.
Pigeon cree – a pigeon loft or small outbuilding to house racing pigeons (pigeon racing is a popular local pastime)
Ferret – a domesticated creature resembling a polecat, used for hunting rabbits or racing
Whippet – a breed of dog resembling a small greyhound. Whippet racing is a popular local pastime
Freemen – those holding an ancient title, which confers certain rights, such as that to graze cattle on the Town Moor.
Sting – a local musician of some renown
Keelmen – historically the men who transported coal from the banks of the river Tyne to ships, using flat bottomed keelboats.
Plodgin – paddling or walking in the shallows
Singing Hinnies – a kind of girdle scone and local delicacy
Northumbrian pipes – an local traditional musical instrument (similar to the Scottish bagpipes, but more subtle)
Greggs – a locally based chain of bakeries
Stotty or stotty cake – a local variety of bread.
Liggies – marbles – a children’s game.
After that I went into town to do a bit of shopping. The Christmas Market has expanded from the usual site by Greys Monument up along Northumberland Street, so it’s particularly crowded up there. I’m not particularly impressed to be honest. Most of the stalls are selling fast food and tat. I bet the traders on Northumberland Street aren’t too pleased either!
Fenwicks Window is a bit of a Christmas Institution, with its animated figures and elaborate sets illustrating a story – this year’s offering from the department store is Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Not exactly Christmassy, but entertaining. Today I was able to stand back and take a photo. When it is first unveiled the windows are lined with people, all jostling to get a better view and pushing their children to the front.
Fenwicks Window
The stalls by the Monument weren’t taking up as much room as the street is wider there.
Still mainly fast food though.
I battled through the crowds to finish my shopping and was quite glad to get home for a quiet evening in.
My blog is now a month old! Thanks to everyone who has followed, visited and commented. I thought I’d mark the occasion with a little tutorial…nothing complicated (I haven’t written a tutorial before), but thought you might like to see how to use the pompom maker I used to complete the hat featured in yesterday’s post.
I can’t remember where I bought mine, but remember that they were very cheap and came in a pack of three in different sizes (2.5, 3 and 4 inches diameter)
Each one consists of two hinged rings, which both open out, once you’ve flipped the latch,
The two opened rings are placed on top of each other – there’s only one way they’ll sit together.
Then start winding the wool, securing the end as you go.
Continue until winding firmly around one half until it’s full and plump, then wind the yarn round the other half.
Keep winding until both sides are full, then cut the yarn.
Close the two halves together and flip the latch on both sides to hold the rings closed.
Pushing the scissor blade into the groove that runs between the two rings, snip the yarn, all the way round.
When you have cut all the way round it should look like this.
Cut a piece of yarn about 12 inches long, wind it twice round the central groove, pull tight and tie securely in a double knot (you’ll have left long enough tails to sew the pompom on to your garment).
Undo both latches and carefully open the rings to release the pompom.
And that’s all there is to it – just fluff up the pompom and snip away any longer pieces of yarn that are sticking out other than the tails you are using to attach it to your garment.
I used a chunky yarn on the small (2.5inch) pompom maker here but I much prefer the hat pompom I made yesterday using DK and the large (4 inch) maker. I think the chunkier the yarn, the bigger the pompom maker should be.
So…..much easier than cardboard discs, reusable, inexpensive and very quick to do.
Do you have a favourite gadget for your knitting and crafting?
Today I’ve been busy writing Christmas cards and finishing off a bobble hat for a friend’s little girl. I always seem to get very close to last posting date, especially for the cards that are going to family and friends abroad, but, with a little help from K this evening, managed to get everything written, addressed and with letters and photographs included for the people I’m not in touch with on social media. Just need to get them stamped and posted tomorrow now.
I also finished off this bobble hat.
I always knit (or crochet) something when anyone I know has a baby and somehow I missed this one, so when I saw L and her baby girl the other week I asked what she would like and this is what she was after – a warm bobble hat in a dark grey, to go with a pink and grey snowsuit. I used this free Cabled Baby Hat pattern by Marianna Mel that I found on Ravelry and used a really soft washable DK – Women’s Institute premium acrylic from Hobbycraft in grey.
I added a pompom made using one of these.
It works the same as two cardboard discs but as the plastic rings are hinged and fold out to two semicircles it’s much easier and quicker to wind the yarn round. I used the largest in a pack of three pompom makers and it produced a lovely fat, even pompom that barely needed any trimming – I just needed to snip a couple of stray pieces of yarn off.
It’s very stretchy, so I hope it’s not too big for L’s baby, but it’ll certainly be lovely and cosy.
Do you make pompoms like this or use the old-fashioned cardboard discs or another method?
We visited our favourite pop-up bar this afternoon. Not far away, at Acklington Park Farm is the Rigg and Furrow Brewery. One of the barns on the farm has been converted into a bar, which opens about once a month and every December Saturday up to Christmas.
I got my favourite seat by the wood burning stove and toasted myself nicely (it was bitterly cold outside) while sipping a gin and tonic. K is the beer drinker, so he had a pint of his favourite Run Hop Run ale.
The Christmas tree is up and the lights and foliage over the bar give the place a lovely festive feel (along with the elves on the beer pumps).
There’s always a great atmosphere and I’m told the beer is excellent, though they serve gin, wine and fizz too. K has ordered a mini keg of Run Hop Run for over the holidays.
We ordered some rosemary salt fries to snack on (very tasty, nicely salted with a dollop of mayo) from Adventures in Aude, who are usually there with Audrey – a vintage Citroen truck which houses a mobile kitchen- they make the most delicious Mediterranean style flatbreads – my favourite is the chicken zatar.
Buddy the Lab loves it here – it’s very dog-friendly, with water bowl and dog biscuits available. Today he made friends with two greyhounds, an Irish Setter and another lab, as well as lots of humans, especially the people who had food!
In summer the lawn by the bar is covered in rugs and benches for people to sit out and enjoy the sunshine. Next to that is a paddock occupied by a Highland cow and her calf – we watched him get bigger every month over the summer.
Do you have a favourite place to eat or drink that’s a bit our of the ordinary?
More lovely baby tops and hats were produced this week by members of the Knit and Natter Group at Alnwick Medical Group
We were given a lovely Christmas treat by Julie, one of the practice nurses who looks after the group. She’d made us this beautiful gingerbread house.
Julie has made 32 of these (she donates them to charities) and says that her kitchen is covered in edible glitter! In the end she had to open it because none of us could bear to break it up – it’s so pretty. She’d even personalised it with K+N for Knit and Natter.
It was absolutely delicious!
The group has now finished for Christmas and reconvenes at 2.30pm on Friday 10th January. I’m going to miss it over the next few weeks.
No “Scone of the Week” post today – my fellow scone eater had a prior engagement so I made a big pan of broccoli and stilton soup and had some of that instead. Then I had a think about some of my past projects and decided to share this one on the blog.
Here in Northumberland, throughout the summer, there are agricultural shows held most weekends. We go to quite a few and there’s always a lot to see. Immaculately groomed livestock are judged; horses and ponies compete in showing and jumping classes; talented crafters bring their work to exhibit and try to win a prize; gardeners show their fruit, flowers and unfeasibly large vegetables! Barnacre Alpacas attend many of these events, bringing some of their cute alpacas and selling alpaca yarn and hand knitted items.
A couple of years back I bought some of their alpaca yarn, in a creamy beige colour – I couldn’t resist any longer! It is sooooo soft! I didn’t have a project in mind at the time, but decided it would make a wonderful warm hat for the winter, so I had a look for a pattern on line.
I love knitting cable, and when I found the 14 Cable Hat pattern I couldn’t wait to get started – it is the busiest cable hat I’ve ever seen, with 14 different cable designs running up the hat. It’s the perfect one to knit if you are a cable fan. It’s a free pattern and includes a very colourful chart. Some of the featured designs I’d never seen before and are quite complex. It made for a really interesting project. I used double pointed needles, which wasn’t great – I’d definitely use circulars next time.
I bought a furry pompom to go on the top – it is attached with a press stud to remove for washing (or changing on to other hats). I wear it often during the winter months – it is delightfully warm and cosy.
I mentioned in my post My Knitting Inheritance that I sorted out my large collection of knitting needles recently. I’d been storing them on a cardboard cylinder – a gift box that came with a bottle of bubbly in it, but everything was jumbled up and there were duplicate sizes so it took forever to find anything – even worse for the double pointed needles and having to to get the needle gauge out every time I wanted to use them.
I decided that it was time to make a storage roll, so I dug out a couple of pieces of cotton fabric, , bias binding, ribbon and a sheet of foam (previously some packaging – I do like to repurpose things.) I sort of made it up as I went along. Initially, the needles fell out the top, so I added an extra pocket along the top to tuck the needle ends in.
I’m so pleased with it! On the principle that everything is easier the second time, and because there was enough fabric left over, I made another smaller version to store my double pointed needles. I put strips of paper with the size on in each pocket (this will save a lot of time in the future!)
To complete the set, I made a wallet to hold all my circular needles,
I’m feeling super-organised now (well as far as my knitting needles go anyway!
Stitches by the Sea 