Coast

We've had some unseasonably warm weather this week, with the temperature getting up as high as 17 degrees Celsius! Crazy times! Yesterday morning the sky was blue and the sun was shining, so Mr JK and I headed out along the North Norfolk coast to one of our favourite beaches, Holkham. If you've ever seen the film 'Shakespeare in Love', it's Holkham beach that Gwyneth Paltrow is walking along at the end of the film.

To get to the beach, you have to walk through the pinewoods.

This is the sight that greets you once you are through the woods. Isn't it beautiful?

A steady stream of people - families with young children, dog walkers and 'twitchers' make their way across the sand towards the water's edge. The beach is backed by dunes which provide useful shelter on windy days.

Just look at the lovely patterns made by the sea.

Because the beach is so huge, you get a sense of freedom - and the glorious big Norfolk skies! 

You begin to wonder if you will ever reach the seashore .......

The wind blows the sand across the surface of the beach in a ghostly cloud ......

.....until at last you arrive at the water's edge.

Snuggled up in handknits, there's no way the cold can get in!!

Looking back from where you started, you wonder how long it will take you to get back to the car .....

....and get to the pub, where a hearty, warming lunch awaits you!

(Country beef pies, just in case you were wondering!! Mighty tasty they were too!)

I have found time to knit and spin too! I have fallen in love with some fibre. I recently joined Picperfic's fibre club, and received my first parcel of fibre a couple of weeks ago. The fibre is a beautifully blended mixture of 75% superwash merino and 25% seacell, and feels incredibly soft and silky. Marianne calls this mix of fibres 'Coast', and the club colourway is 'Cromer'.

It was an absolute delight to spin, as it drafted so easily. I split the fibre down the middle and spun each half, to get two (hopefully identical) colour repeats through the yarn.

I Navajo-plied the yarn to try to keep all the beautiful soft colours together, and ended up with a skein of a heavyish fingering weight yarn, around 270 metres. There ought to be enough to make a shawlette with it. (Sorry Flo, there's NOT enough for a blankie, despite all your efforts!!)

I loved spinning this fibre so much that when I saw some more in Marianne's shop, I snaffled it pretty quickly. On the left is the colourway 'midnight', with 'greenious' on the right. Mmmmmmm!

I have lots more to share with you, but I think that it will have to wait for another day! Pop back soon to see what's currently on the needles. In the meantime, have a good week! xxx