We know you are all disappointed that the physical Wonderwool isn't happening this year so I thought I'd give you a useful  list of how to prepare for our Virtual Wonderwool Weekend so that you wouldn't know you weren't at the real thing.

1. Budget:  You will of course have set a budget and saved up for many months beforehand.   Remember your budget, keep the numbers in front of you all the time and then spend well over what you intended because you can always eat pasta and tinned tomatoes for the rest of the year.
2. Plan your Purchases: You know that you have dozens of single hanks of gorgeous hand-dyed yarn at home in all yarn weights so this year you are going to buy yarns to complement them so that  you can make something other than socks or shawls.  You put your stash into your Ravelry notebook, make sure your Ravelry queue is up to date and think again about your budget.  Now accidentally lose your password so that you can't get on to Ravelry all weekend because if you were at Builth Wells you wouldn't get wifi very easily anyway.  
3. Enjoy it:  Now that you can't access your plans and you've forgotten your budget, you are ready to browse all of the lovely websites that you'll be able to access from the Virtual Wonderwool day.  

Have fun at Virtual Wonderwool but in order to make your virtual visit as close to the real thing as possible, don't forget to put your shoes in the freezer overnight and have a really cold bath before you log on because one of the most important things about Wonderwool is that even if we are experiencing a mini-heatwave elsewhere, it will be ice-age in the wool sheds!

This time last year we were getting ready to go to Wonderwool.  Ruth was busy packing bags and then the cars and I was making sure we had everything on our website correctly and hindering Ruth with bag packing.

This year is a bit different.  Wonderwool had to be cancelled for obvious reasons so no mad bag packing or trying to fit a quart into a pint pot when packing the cars.  Instead I've spent the morning updating the website and getting ready for Virtual Wonderwool instead.  Wonderwool Wales will be running a virtual show this weekend so make sure you check your social media feeds as there will be loads to look at.

We'll keep you up to date with our preparations and our Virtual Wonderwool web page will go live today or tomorrow.  We will be offering 15% discount on all wonderwool purchases with the coupon code Wonderwool2020 (I'll enable the code on Saturday and disable it on Sunday evening so you'll need to be on your toes to get it).

As some of you know, Ruth runs an after-school club, Fibretastic, at her daughter's school in Cardiff.  For the past 18 months the children have been learning different fibre arts skills and have really been enjoying it. 

With schools now to most pupils due to Covid-19, we have developed a range of kits to support continued learning at home, based on the  Fibretastic sessions for Key Stage 2.  As well as practical skills, the projects support other learning objectives including maths, planning and decision making along with the concentration and persistence needed to complete the task.

Crafting can help children to cope with higher stress levels at this time and offers a focused activity to do when outdoor pastimes are unavailable.  Our kits include a range of fibre crafts including sewing, knitting, crochet and felting.  

Children will require adult supervision and assistance whilst working on the projects. Many of the kits contain items such as pins and needles that should not be used without an adult present. We encourage the adult to work to complete a project alongside the child so where possible, the kits contain enough materials to make more than one item.

When writing the instructions we have assumed that the supervising adult will have some basic craft skills and online resources for some techniques are signposted within the instructions where they might be needed. If clarification or more help is needed from us, please email us at info@ammoniteyarns.co.uk and we will respond as soon as possible.

Unless otherwise stated on the kit description, you will need to have some basic equipment at home such as scissors, sewing thread and a tape measure.  Ask us about starter packs essential equipment.

We've taken some time during this dratted lockdown to sort out some real bargains for you all so why not take a look and add some gorgeous fibres to your stash to keep you knitting and crocheting while staying safe at home.

West Yorkshire Spinners Blue Faced Leicester DK and Aran are both down in price from £4.85 to £3.99  This is a beautiful, yarn -- it is 100% BFL so is very soft and warm and, as with all WYS yarn, is British yarn -- at this price, you really shouldn't miss it.  It's suitable for garments and accessories and will work perfectly for colourwork or single colour projects. 

Similarly, Filanda Caldoline Aran is reduced in price from  £5.65 to £4.65.  Caldolino is a wool, linen mix which knits up into a slightly flecked effect.   Suitable for all aran projects this is a lovely yarn to work with and thanks to the linen content, the fibre is irregular and looks very natural.  The linen gives the ball a slightly rough feel but like all linen,it softens with washing.  Filanda is the alternative brand name of Italian manufacturer Adriafil which sells Caldolino as WoLi.

Also on sale is Yarn Stories Merino DK, a 100% merino yarn which was £5.75 and is now £4.75.  Merino is such a soft yarn and suitable for all kinds of projects.  Take a look at the Yarn Stories link on Ravelry for for project ideas --  we have Yarn Stories patterns stored digitally so you can also buy them from us.

Once we've sold the stock in the shop, we won't be re-stocking so why not take a look and add some fab yarn to  your stash.

As you know, we had to postpone our Spring/Summer events and workshops but we are looking forward to Autumn and have re-scheduled the knitting dates and Sew Up Saturdays.

You can find the new workshop dates here and the Sew Up Saturdays here.

So what are we all doing under lockdown?  

Well, I'm going into the shop each day to fulfil online orders and to wait for a delivery which the delivery company has managed to mess up, trying to do some exercise  and of course,  I'm knitting and crocheting.

One of the projects I have started is the Sandrine crochet shawl designed by our crochet teacher, Gaelle.  I'm doing this as a crochet-along with lots of other crocheters on Gaelle's crochet along facebook page, Crochet with Gaelle.  So far I seem to be doing OK but  have only done two clues so there is plenty of time to go wrong yet!  I'm using a 4-ply Rico sock yarn bought from Wool in Bath about three years ago.  I bought two colours, originally to make a skirt but fell a bit out of love with the yarn.  One ball has gone to Tal to make socks and the other is making this shawl.  

I've done a crochet along before and it is a great way to learn new skills.  The previous one was a granny square blanket (now gracing Lawrence and P'ls flat in The Hague) and now this shawl.  It's great to see everybody else's progress on the group too and Gaelle is adding video tutorials too. 

Why  not have a go?   Here is the link and you can find plenty of yarn in our online shop!