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)