OLYMPIC Gold medallist Laura Trott eat your heart out!

A challenging 800-mile odyssey round Scotland gave Dalmellington grandmother-of-three Janet Renouf-Miller the inspiration for a fascinating exhibition which was showeased at Carnegie Library last week.

Knit 1 Bike 1 opened at the Ayr venue from March 31, and will finish this Thursday. It and also has an accompanying book.

Textile artist Janet said: "I had written a previous book on how to spin and wanted to write a book with wider appeal. I had a 10-week window and because I liked cycling I decided to combine the two. I cycled round Scotland doing 21 knitting and crochet workshops in exchange for a bed for the night, I camped as well and stayed with people.

"I knitted and crocheted what I saw on the way which is how the exhibition came about and I was writing a book while I went along as well. I met hundreds of people, I couldn't have done it without them as it would have been prohibitively expensive. It was nicer than just cycling because you could see people. I was just so glad South Ayrshire could give me a venue because it was hard to find a venue which was suitable."

The journey took 69 days - she would cycle 30 miles a day then staying two nights and doing a workshop on the day in between and exploring, so she could get inspiration to do the art work. I would average between 10 and 35 miles a day because I was sketching and photographing. If you were cycling 60 or 70 miles a day that would be all you were doing."

She cycled up as far north as Dingwall and as far south as Langholm with one of the workshops at the Burns Centre in Alloway.

Members of local groups she met during her travels contributed to the exhibition as well as members of Dalmellington Knit and Blether in Dalmellington.

Among the highlights of the exhibition are a Brompton folding bicycle, a strawberry sponge cake, inspired by a selection of cakes in Mallaig, an RBS mobile bank and a mobile library, made after she saw them in Arran. There was also a road, a tent, complete with midges, worms and caterpillars.

But the centrepiece is undoubtedly her interpretation of The Glenfinnan Viaduct, a railway viaduct on the West Highland Line in Inverness-shire which is used in the Harry Potter movies.

"I am a fan of the Harry Potter books and had an opportunity to see the viaduct from the train. The Glenfinnan Viaduct has 21 arches, it took six and seven kilos of yarn, working out how to do it and getting it to stand up were a challenge. I started doing it when I was away on the bike and sent some of it home while I was going along. It's great to be able to do something you enjoy," she said.

The exhibition will now go to Stair Community Centre on Saturday, May 6 and Sunday, May 7, Tel 01292-286385 for more details.