I follow quite a few knitting forums and the knotty subject of yarn stashes comes up regularly.  Some crafters have amazing stashes and some crafters have stashes similar to my own.  Mine is not amazing.  I can divide my yarn stash into two -- the ugly bit which is made up of small balls of left-overs (too numerous to count) and the lovely bit which is specific yarns to make several jumpers and about a dozen lace items. 
My lovely stash is not an issue.  I'm happy to have the yarn.  Some of the laceweight is much prettier in hanks so it may never be knitted but I like how it looks.  The jumpers quantities will get knitted.
My problem is the ugly stash.  A yarn diet won't cure it because I don't like the odds and ends so I won't knit them.  I'm not a lover of stashbuster blankets (although our customers have made some gorgeious ones) -- my left-overs are too bitty to create anything beautiful.
The answer is -- bin them! 
I hear a collective gasp across the yarn community. 
These bits, which I have held on to for years, just take up space and block creativity because I feel that I can't buy more yarn to add to my lovely yarn stash as I have old yarn which night work and could be used.
 It won't work and it won't be used.
It prevents me using my lovely stash because I should use the ugly stash.
 I need to spring-clean!
So my advice (which I may or may not follow) is to clear out your stash of any yarn that is just sitting there because you had half a ball left over from another project and you really don't want to use again.  There might be some in there which could be useful for mending but darning doesn't take much yarn.  Take it to a community group or charity shop and leave it there.  Once the ugly yarn is out of your stash, you feel able to tackle the lovely stuff.  You might decide to buy more yarn or use up the stash you've got but you won't feel suffocated by the bits that you don't want.
If you need any further persuasion just think about some lucky person wandering into the charity shop or community group who will find exactly what they want because,  like beauty, ugly is in the eye of the beholder.

It's actually a while since our holidays -- Ruth got back from the states in August and Greg and I visited Devon and then Venice last month.

These are some of the things I learned:
Invest in a brolly -- best 5 euros spent in Venice as it insured us against rain.
Check websites for opening times but then phone them up as well as the two yarny places we visited in Devon were both closed in spite of aforesaid website information.
Don't wear a beaded jumper to go through security at the airport (the last time I wore it to go away airport scanners weren't as sophisticated!
You cannot do an infinite amount of knitting or crochet in a finite amount of holiday so leave space in your packing for clothes as well.
And finally, It doesn't matter where you go, it's who you go with that makes the holiday!

Last week was a week of planning for 2020.  A looming advertising deadline prompted Ruth and me to plan our workshop and courses schedule and then together with Michelle from Woolly Wumpkins we put together our registration for Wonderwool Wales.  All of this planning proved quite problematic for those of us who haven't even realised that Halloween is next week and Christmas is a-coming!

Our workshops for the rest of 2019 are already on the website and we will be adding some pre-Christmas crochet dates too.  Next years plans will be added this week with some new ideas as well as some old favourites.  Our first full day workshop of the year will be 'A Bit of Brioche' on 18 January -- keep an eye on our website for details of our other knitting, crochet and spinning dates.

We always enjoy Sew-up-Saturday here at the shop and the next one is coming up this week.  I'm always amazed at how quickly they come round!

Join us and finish off one of those irritating ufos (unfinished objects) hidden away waiting for attention.  We're both here to give any help and encouragement if needed together with refreshments and cake of course!

Saturday 12 October 10 till 1 £3.00 each 

September, like New Year, is a time when we look to the future and think about learning new skills or improving those we already have. 

The Autumn term at Ammonite Yarns sees new knitting and crochet courses beginning as well as knitting project workshops which will teach (or refresh) skills and give guidance on a new project. 

Project days are not for absolute novices as they require basic skills and a little confidence (for Beginners, take a look at our Learn the Basics Knitting Courses).

The knitting project days launch on 5 October with Toe-Up Socks.  In this day, you will learn how to cast on to knit from the toe up and then make socks in the round by making a mini-sock.  Yarn, needles and pattern are all included for the day, together with refreshments and lunch.  We will start at 10 am and finish by 3.30 pm.

Places are limited so make sure you book early – the day costs £60.00 and can be booked online or in the shop either with a deposit in full if preferred Saturday Workshops.

Yarn shop owners must be some of the few people in the UK who prefer wet and miserable summers to amazing heatwaves!  Even the most committed yarntwisters get a bit overheated if the temperature goes over 25 so we much prefer the cool.  Having said that, even we have had enough rain for a while (and having lived in Wales for 22 years my tolerance of wet weather is very high!).

To cheer you up and help you to look forward to dryer weather, we have had some new deliveries from King Cole and Stylecraft.  We've got a few new colours and patterns in Batik Swirl form Stylecraft with their two new colours, Spring Garden and Winter Woodland taking pride of place.  King Cole has released Glitz ready for Christmas (!) and a new line called Subtle Drifter.  The latter is a lovely cotton/wool/acrylic mix which complements Drifter DK (which we also have a few colours in).  Pattern support is lovely and even includes that rarest of beasts, a man's jumper design!

So if you fancy braving the elements, why not drop in and take a look (it's all on the floor at the moment but should make it to the shelves later today!).

Have you got past the bouncy castle party stage and want something a bit more sophisticated for the next party with not quite so many kids?  We can help!

Ruth has spent the last year running fibre-crafts based after-school club at her daughter's school.  This has given us loads of ideas for fibre-based parties.  It sounds a bit dull calling it fibre-based so our Fibretastic Parties are now launched.  

Parties are split into three groups, 7+, Teen and parties for adults (because we don't think the kids should have all the fun!),  You can choose from tie-dying to braiding, felting to making a dreamcatcher -- all the parties will be tailored to the age-group and we can design bespoke parties too.

Nip over to our Fibretastic page on to take a look and then contact us to book a party that's just a little bit different.
Fibretastic Parties and Craft Club

Working in a yarn shop is a lovely job and we really enjoy helping our customers to choose yarn and inspiring them with new ideas.  We also love to see the finished projects.  Here are a few that you might like.  

Bev recreated the Honeycomb Blanket using Silver Lining instead of Toasted Almond and Gina used Bashful Blue instead of Mellow Yellow.   Considering each blanket only makes one change from the specified Stylecraft Bellissima colours, they look so different -- The original is shown as well which uses Single Cream, Toasted Almond and Mellow Yellow.

We'd love to see more of finished projects, so why not pop over to our Yarnmanglers facebook page and add some of  your own.
Honeycomb Blanket Pack with exclusive, hand finished bag and stitch marker  

On a hot, sticky day like today, when you don't feel like working on your projects, what else can you do.  Why not take the opportunity to find out about the online community that calls itself Ravelry.

We love Ravelry and use it constantly as a resource both for ourselves and for the shop but lots of our customers have never heard of it.  If you are one of the uninitiated, here is a beginner's guide.

• To use their own word, 'Ravelry is a place for knitters, crocheters, designers, spinners, weavers and dyers to keep track of their yarn, tools, project and pattern information, and look to others for ideas and inspiration.'
• So how do you access this feast of fibre-ey goodness?  Just join!  To do this you go onto the website and click on 'create an account' at the top right of the screen.  Choose a username and password and you are in! 
• That's all you have to do!

So now you are a member, what next?

• Don't worry about spam -- we've never received any on our personal accounts or the shop's and our details have been secure.
• Fill in your profile details and friend other Ravellers  (the shop's username is AmmoniteYarns, so send us a friend request first!)
• Use your notebook (accessed at top right of screen).  Here you can keep records of your projects, your stash and  your library of patterns.  You can create a queue of projects you would like to make and keep notes about yarns you would like to make them with.
• Trawl the pattern database.**  There are almost 400,000 patterns available as Ravelry downloads, many of them free, so you can find almost anything you would like to make.  When you find a pattern, you can check the projects already made for the design and see how it turns out on different shaped people and in different yarns to the specified ones.
• If you have a pattern but can't get the yarn, you can look it up in the yarn database and find all the details so that you can substitute.
• Go on to the Forums and find out what other Ravellers are interested in.
• Add your own designs to Ravelry so if you are a budding (or experienced) designer, you have a platform for your sales.
• There's loads more you can do but you'll need to join to find out!

We always have Ravelry up on the shop computer and on the tablets so you can browse patterns here and as many of them are available to buy in-store so you can you pay us for the pattern, give us your Rav details, and let us do the rest.


** warning --  you can get 'lost' on Ravelry for hours and may spend more time online than crafting!

I'm sure you all remember our Honeycomb blanket pack which we launched at Wonderwool this year.  We've crocheted up some sample honeycombs in different colours and sewn them together in sets of nine to show different colourways.  At the moment they sitting in our window making a lovely summer display together with some crocheted bees just for fun.  Later we will make seat pads for the chairs in the shop from the samples but in the meantime why not come over and take a look.  The pattern and yarn packs are always available but we have a limited number of bags and stitch markers so pop over to our store page and grab a pack before we run out! 
Honeycomb Blanket Pack with exclusive, hand finished bag and stitch marker