It's still raining here in Pontyclun -- I really hope that none of our local customers have been caught up in the flooding in neighbouring areas.  Miserable rainy days are just the time to batten down the hatches and stay indoors with whatever you are working on but if you need a project, we are open and will can help you find a project to cheer you up on this dreadfully dull day.  

I've just had a quick trawl through Ravelry and found some apt ideas (pictured below).  There is Waiting for Rain by Sylvia McFadden, Dodging Raindrops Cowl by Vanessa Ewing, After the Rain by Tricots & Clie and by favourite, Rain, Rain Go Away by Laura Reinbach.  

I think I'll start looking for sunshine patterns now to tide me through the bad weather.

You might remember that we promoted Giselle's crochet retreat last year for which she designed the From Sea to Land throw.  We now offer the kit in two colourways, Atlantic and Pacific (pictured below) and Giselle will be leading a workshop on 4th April to show how to make the blanket and learn the specific stitches used.

You can find book the course   Crochet Workshops

From Sea to Land Crochet Workshop  Saturday 4 April 2020 10 am till 1 pm  £50.00 including yarn pack

Don't forget that we run weekly drop-in in the shop on Tuesday mornings 10 till 12 and then again in the evening 6.30 till 8.30.  No need to book, just drop-in with whatever project you are working on and enjoy lively chat and a cuppa.  The morning session is free while the evening is £1.00 to cover lighting and heating.

We also offer monthly 'Sew-Up-Saturdays'.   We know that finishing off our projects can take longer than making the parts as we are so keen to start the next one so come along on a Saturday morning and we'll chivvy  you along! 

Dates for the next few Sew up Saturdays are 8 February, 14 March and  4 April (more dates are listed on our website).  As with our drop-ins, you don't have to book.  Entry is £3.00 to include gentle encouragement and advice together with refreshments and usually cake!

It's that time of year when we take stock and plan for the coming months.  Our next workshop is just the thing to help with taking stock as we begin February with a 'Make do and Mend' Workshop. 
Last year we ran a Sustainable Swaps session for our Fibonacci Members 
https://www.ammoniteyarns.co.uk/store/p422/fibonaccifibreclub.html#/ which was really successful and this new workshop is a logical follow-on.  Open to all-comers we will look at mending and re-purposing garment that might otherwise be thrown away.   Making a virtue out of necessity we will teach techniques like decorative darning together with basic darning and we will show how to take back the cuffs on knitted garments to lengthen, shorten or just replace where worn out.  The workshop is on Saturday 01 February from 10 am till 1 pm and costs £25.00.  You can book on our website here:  Saturday Workshops

It didn't take long to knit up the alliterative Criss Cross Cardigan -- just over a week in spite of having to take down an inch or so as I'd picked up the wrong colour!  I planned to knit the cardigan in colour 10 (grey) and picked up a full bag of that colour and took four balls off the shelf.  Unfortunately I didn't check them and had picked up three of colour 15 (denim) and one of grey.  When I started knitting I picked the spare balls rather than the full bag and blithely started in denim.  Three balls worth of knitting later and in daylight rather than electric light, I noticed that the third ball was a different colour to the rest of the knitting so there was a quick change of plan for the colour!
The pattern is by Isabel Kraemer and I bought it from Ravelry.  As with all of her patterns, it is very clearly written but there are many pages most of which aren't needed as they are for different sizes.  Probably best to download the pattern and read it before starting and then only print out the relevant bits.  
The yarn (Filanda Caldolino) feels a bit rough in the ball but is very easy to work with and once knitted up and washed is a lovely texture.  I would advise blocking before wearing as the i-cord cast-off on the button bands needs a bit of a stretch out and the lace on the back will show up better.  The yarn did lose some dye when I washed it and was also quite dusty (probably because of the linen) so really benefited from washing.  I hand-washed it using Method washing liquid (from Tesco), spun it in the machine and patted it into shape before drying it over our banister!
The cardigan has worked up slightly bigger than the pattern measurements but the proportions are fine on it and it would still be a size medium.   Overall it is very wearable and I love the pattern on the back which also broke up the stocking stitch making it more interesting to knit. 
The pictures show the garment before it was washed a blocked and then blocked and on show in the shop.  The colour is closer to the picture on the mannequin than the others.  The cardigan just went into the 14th ball but as the sleeves go well beyond the wrists they could be shortened and the quantity would go down to go down to 12 or 13.  
Overall a nice, easy knit for New Year.
 Filanda Caldolino (Adriafil Woli)

Filanda Caldolino (also sold as Adriafil Woli) is one of our new Autumn yarns.  it is a wool/linen mix in lovely subtle tweedy shades.  I decided that over Christmas I would knit a fairly simple garment to show it off.  I chose colour 10, Jeans, which is a grey blue, intending to make a longish cardi with saddle shoulders and a bit of rib detail.  I took the pattern home only to find that the tension given for the pattern is actually chunky, not worsted/aran so it was back to the drawing board to find an alternative.  I've had a skirt pattern waiting in the wings for a while which would work really well or an aran version of the Funky Grandpa cardigan which I made a few years ago and love the shape of .... decisions, decisions.
While trying to decide on the garment to make I spent some time making tension squares.  Out of character, I know, but tedious as knitting tension squares can be, they do save a lot of time later, as my results show!
Aran yarn is generally knitted on 5mm needles but as my tension is often loose I tried 4.5mm first which gave me 22 stitches x 24 rows which is fine on rows but way out on stitches.  I then jumped to 6mm needles which gave 16 stitches x 20 rows which is way out for rows but closer for stitches.  Belatedly I tried 5mm needles and got 18 stitches x 24 rows which is perfect aran tension. 
With tension sorted out, I needed to make my mind up about the garment. 


Decision made!  Criss Cross by Isabell Kraemer (picture is from Ravelry). 

This cardigan is knitted from the top down with no seams.  The yarn suits it really well as it is slightly tweedy so gives a bit more interest to the finished garment.   I've now knitted down almost as far as the bottom of the armholes and am really pleased with it.  It gives a fairly firm fabric but is soft enough to drape.  I don't know how linen bears up to washing and wearing but the wool content means that the cardigan should keep its shape.





I'll post pictures of the finished garment later but in the meantime the pictures below are of the yarn and the cast on and neck.

​Filanda Caldolino (Adriafil Woli)

I thought I'd get in early this year and talk about holiday projects before all the online forums begin to whisper in your ears about yarn diets!
As Christmas approaches, we tend to put our knitting or crochet aside while we organise for the big day and then start to feel a bit worn around the edges without our usual stress-busting hobbies.  This year, make sure that you have a project to do in the gaps between festivities -- we've got plenty to choose from in the shop -- and keep the stress at bay. 
Now back to those yarn diets -- you can only diet if you really want to.  Your head has to be in the right place.  This is as true for yarn diets as it is for slimming diets.  The answer.  Take some time and go through your stash.  Throw away/donate anything that has been there for too long (too long depends on your point of view!) and sort what is left into possible projects.  After that you can buy for new projects with a clear head and enjoy your hobby in the New Year.

One day, while walking along a beach, a woman noticed a small girl picking something up and throwing it into the ocean.   “What are you doing?” she asked.  The child replied that she was throwing starfish back into the ocean before the tide went out so that they wouldn’t die.  “But don’t you realize there are miles of beach and thousands of starfish?  You can’t make a difference!” said the woman.
The child bent down, picked up another starfish, and threw it back into sea.
“I made a difference for that one.” she said.

The starfish effect means that if we all make small changes to live more lightly on the planet, we can collectively make a difference.
​
We’ve put together some sustainable living starter bags.  These are perfect to get you going replacing household plastics for more sustainable items.  They also make perfect Christmas presents too for someone at the beginning of their sustainable journey.
 
Kitchen Bag £25.00
Hand finished calico tote bag containing:

• Kit to make three beeswax wraps to replace cling film in the kitchen
• Yarn and pattern to knit or crochet a washcloth
• Pack of two machine-knitted dishcloths
• Three dryer balls
• Yarn and pattern link to knit or crochet a market bag
• 10% discount voucher to use in-store

Please state knit or crochet preference
 
Bathroom Bag £25.00
Hand finished calico tote bag containing:

• Yarn and pattern to knit or crochet face-pads
• Kit to make three soap socks
• Yarn and pattern to knit or crochet an exfoliating bath-time scrubby
• Yarn and pattern to knit or crochet a facecloth
• 10% discount voucher to use in-store

Please state knit or crochet preference
​
Sustainable Swaps Bags 

I thought long and hard to try and come up with a punchy heading for this post -- well at least it's a short title and in the spirit of the post doesn't waste  words!

We have been exploring re-usable ideas for household items in the shop.  Our dishcloths are knitted or crocheted cotton and in a workshop for our Fibonacci Club members back in February, we made beeswax wraps.

If you would like to have a go at being more eco-friendly then we have kits for sale in the shop to make the wraps as well as, cotton knit/crochet dishcloths and cotton knit/crochet market bags.  The beeswax wrap kits smell divine and would make lovely Christmas presents.

Why not drop in or order through our website ​https://www.ammoniteyarns.co.uk/store/p377/Beeswax_Wrap_Kit.html#/