I live in the foggy city of St. John’s — Newfoundland & Labrador, have lived for several years each in Victoria, Toronto and Munich, and grew up in North Saanich and Swartz Bay on Vancouver Island. In my pre-kid life, I was an atmospheric scientist obsessed with the Need to Know about everything atmospheric physics, fog in particular. I have a Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science, an M.Sc. in Physical Oceanography, and a B.Sc. in Physics (with a minor in mathematics). Things change and I change with them, and now after our son was born, I’ve been creating knitting patterns since 2018.
In 2025, I developed tendonitis in both elbows — and went to a great physiotherapist! — and it changed my knitting. The tendonitis returns if I use certain yarns and do certain things, but as long as I stick to what doesn’t hurt, I can keep on keeping on with it. I’ve fallen in love all over again with knitting and enjoy rounds up rounds of speckled stockinette free of pain. Every knitter finds that certain fabric that they love to make.
We have a great knitting time in my knitjbeale Designs Ravelry group and if you’re on Instagram, you can find me as @knitjbeale
My Background & Designs
My husband used to be an Experimental Particle Physicist and we eloped in 2010 in our flip flops on a dock after 7.5 months of “dating”
I love purling, but after developing tendonitis from a combination of camping and cable knitting in 2025, I have to be really careful with the type of yarn I use for purling and beyond…the smoother, the better!
Steve and I love to hike and camp for days on end. We used to bushwhack our way through Algonguin when we lived in Ontario and then when we moved here to Newfoundland, before Basil was born, we attempted to hike the East Coast Trail from Cappahayden to our home in St. John’s in 1 week…we got from Cappahayden to Cape Broyle in 3 days (93 km / 58 mi) but then the drenching drizzle-covered and densely packed pine trees between Cape Broyle and Cape Broyle Head defeated us (it was pretty intense!…train maintenance has probably - hopefully - trimmed that back now:)
Knitting and non-knitting fun facts
