Banwy

I have just found a new yarn supplier, though working out who they actually are has been quite tricky. A couple of weeks ago, I popped into the Deco Shop in Machynlleth in order to buy some new art supplies. That's when I found some lambswool in beautiful muted colours, called Gwlân Banwy Welsh Lambs' Wool - I bought six balls in pink and cream, which I'm working up into a scarf.

Now, it says on the label that Gwlân Banwy is based in Llanfair Caereinion (Powys), but I can find no reference to them on the web. I think that they might actually be Colinette Yarns, and, having just looked at their website, I covet this and this. Sigh. No. Must be strong. Must finish and sell my work in progress first.

Decorated gingham hearts

Decorated gingham hearts
Originally uploaded by ziedu_mate

I made about 20 of these in 2005, but have given them all away! More Christmas decorations, this time made out of red gingham, with sequinned decorations on the front (I have some with embroidery instead of sequins).

Large sequinned hearts

Large sequinned hearts
Originally uploaded by ziedu_mate

I made these in June 2007 from offcuts of white felt, ribbon and glass beads. Prototypes for Christmas decorations - though in the future I may use scented filling (using essential oils) or dried lavender rather than ordinary wadding.

All the brooches

All the brooches
Originally uploaded by ziedu_mate

I was messing around with some felt offcuts and came up with this little lot! The colours are a little strange, but felt is so difficult to buy, for some reason.

Tiny heart brooches

Tiny heart brooches
Originally uploaded by ziedu_mate

I'm not sure about these; for one thing, the thread I used to sew the glass beads to the felt was far too thick. These were trial pieces; smaller versions of the felt decorations, with brooch fastenings. I don't think I stuffed them firmly enough.

Scarf

Scarf
Originally uploaded by jombolom

Being on a roll the following week, I thought I'd give it another go, and after two evenings' work, I had a finished scarf.

I'm quite proud of this, if only because it proves that no material has beaten me yet!

Incredibly tricky yarn

Incredibly tricky yarn
Originally uploaded by jombolom

I bought this yarn at the tail-end of 2006, and attempted to use it straight away. About 10 rows in, and I'd had enough. I unravelled the lot. As you can see from the picture, every couple of centimetres or so has a twist of 5 different coloured threads woven in to the main thread; this made it really tricky to see the stitches on the needle. The test piece that I was knitting was a complete disaster, and the unravelled yarn was destined to languish in the drawer.