Ruth and went along to our annual trade fair, Stitches, at the NEC yesterday.  We were very restrained as we wanted to spend loads but we restrained ourselves and have chosen very carefully.  It would be so easy to just splurge and then we would find that we had umpteen yarns all in the same shade!

You can look forward to the baby version of our very popular Wendy Pixile.  This new arrival uses pastel shades rather than the more vivid Pixile ones and has some lovely pattern support too.  

We were obviously taken with baby yarns as we also ordered the entire range from West Yorkshire Spinners of their Bo Peep range.  It contains Falkland Island wool and is so soft and squishy we fell in love.  There is pattern support with it in book form rather than single sheets but the books are great value.  Pictures will follow as soon as I have some!

Also coming from WYS are some more sock yarns and we are trying out their Aire Valley DK with a couple of colours.

We were also able to update our Hiya Hiya stock so that should be in by the end of next week.

The only problem with all of this is that we now need some room on our shelves, particularly as our latest delivery from Filanda/Adriafil arrived today.  To this end, we have put the Drops Cottons range on sale and have put together a lovely package of Drops Paris to make the Rainbow's End blanket.  

Drop in to the shop and find out about the new ranges and take a look at the cotton yarns on sale -- it will be worth it.

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At the beginning of the year we blogged about yarn diets or going cold sheep.  Now the very idea of a yarn diet is anathema to a yarn shop as we want to stay in business so we hosted a stashbuster session in the shop!  Our customers came in and swapped and sold yarn and generally busted their stashes, sorting it as well as adding to it so that what started as bits and pieces could become the materials for a project.  Yarn sorted, yarn buying guilt sorted  --it's good to have a successful resolution!
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​Here at Ammonite Yarns we are always amazed by the work done by our customers and drop-in ladies for charitable causes.  This ranges from twiddlemuffs and blankets to cream egg cosies for our local cancer hospital, Velindre.  Ruth and I decided to do our bit too and decided to auction a shawl.  

After putting together our Christmas gift boxes last year, we wanted to knit up a shawl to showcase the gorgeous yarn and pattern.  Jenny started the Candace shawl in November using Lotus Yarns silk and cashmere lace yarn.  Roughly 60 knitting hours later it was finished.  It is utterly luxurious, incredibly soft and silky, with amazing colour saturation.  The shawl is incredibly light – butterfly wings come to mind – but the cashmere makes it quite cosy too and is ideal over an evening dress for glamour or under a jacket for warmth.  Candace was designed by Anniken Allis and shows off the yarn beautifully.  When the shawl was finished it was so lovely that it could be the shawl to auction for charity. Now we had to decide which charity which was very difficult so we are going to share the proceeds (after costs) to support one national and one local charity.

The Charities

​There are now 2.5 million people living with cancer in the UK so we have chosen Macmillan Cancer Care as our national charity. 
 
Macmillan’s stated ambition is to reach and improve the lives of everyone affected by cancer and to let them know that they don’t have to face cancer alone.   Many of us have experienced the effects of cancer, either personally or through a friend or relative so please help us by joining our auction and helping Macmillan to maintain and extend their work.

Macmillan does a lot of work in our community but we also wanted to support a home grown charity and chose 2 Wish Upon a Star as our local cause. http://www.2wishuponastar.org

​Rhian Burke set up 2 Wish Upon a Star after suddenly losing her son George in February 2012.  George became very ill and died just after his first birthday, then soon after Rhian also lost her husband, Paul.  Her devastating loss led Rhian to set up the charity 2 Wish Upon a Star, to help support other suddenly bereaved families in Wales. The Charity aims to raise funds and awareness to improve services in Wales for suddenly bereaved families, while also offering immediate support and a professional counselling service

February 14 is Valentine’s Day and is also George’s birthday so we have decided to auction our shawl to coincide with the date in the hope that we can raise funds to help the charity as well as remember George on this day.


If you would like to support these two charities and win the shawl auction then go to our click on the button below which will take you to the auction site.  The reserve is £75.00 which will ensure that each charity receives a donation.  We would like to be able to give more so please join our auction and bid generously. and share to all your friends and colleagues so that we can raise as much as possible for these two charities.​