I made a decision way back in the spring that I would spend December doing festive things as I’m usually horribly organised and the lead up to the big day goes by in a flash. I’ve got my wreath on the door and the tree and all the twinkly lights are up, but I am already feeling like my To Do list is getting inexplicably longer - could it be that the more time you dedicate to preparing for Christmas, the more and more things you find to do? I had planned to spend this week making lovely decorations out of saved, and therefore recycled, paper and card and also had it in mind to do some little jobs in the house that have been crying out for attention all year, such as properly hemming the living room curtains and pulling the peeling paint off the bathroom ceiling! Once again, however, the week has run away with me and only one big job (sorting out all the old Christmas decorations in the loft) has been scrubbed off the list- Ugh! Never mind - all first world problems and hopefully next week will prove more productive! Anyhoo - I have a few things to tell you about this week so I hope you have a spare five minutes or so to catch up with all things Janie Crow. Last week Emma came up with the brilliant idea of using one of the tins from the Emma Ball and Janie Crow collection as the 'wrapping' for a festive gift and this got us thinking about how many of the items in the collection would make great gifts. This thought process ultimately led to Andy spending time making up some bundle options on the web site, which you can see by following this link. We think that the large Sandalwood tin would be perfect to hold a handmade gift for a friend. All you need to do is pop the gift inside, shut the lid and tie a ribbon around it and you have created a no waste present! Or maybe you fancy more than a tin and would like to take a look at some of the bundles in stock - all the bundles include a discount of around 15% compared to the price of the items bought individually. We now have the amazing 'Seams' hand cream back in stock. This luxury cream is specifically aimed at those of us who work with textiles and yarn and therefore suffer with ultra dry fingers and nails. It is non greasy and gets absorbed quickly, with 10 natural ingredients to help mend, moisturise, nourish, soften, & soothe hands and condition nails, fast! We stock it in 2 sizes so that you can chose a smaller trial size tube if you haven't tried it before. Click on the image below for more information. We had such a fabulous workshop weekend in Bournemouth a couple of weeks ago when Debbie Abrahams and I tutored our annual festive workshop. We both designed a pair of beaded mitts so that participants could choose whether they wanted to knit or crochet. My mitts included a beaded pine tree and a glitzy snowflake design. It was fabulous to see so many of our participants heading home with completed, or near finished projects. I will be working on the pattern over the next couple of months so that it includes a couple of sizes and a less complicated beading option, so keep an eye out for the pattern in Autumn 24. Yesterday was Christmas Jumper Day here in the UK and as the festive movies are in full swing here the Janie Crow team had a chat about the lovely knitwear that pops up in them, often causing us to focus so much on pattern and 'could I make that?' that the storyline of the film becomes secondary! We discussed our favourite knitwear from the big screen and here’s what we came up with: Jane: 'My favourite sweater from a film is the cable sweater that Amanda (Cameron Diaz) wears in The Holiday. I love cream cable sweaters and one of the very first garments I ever hand knitted for myself was a cable sweater from Rowan Magazine 19 in 1995. I wore it over and over and still have it packed away somewhere. I love it when movies have definite wardrobe themes - The Holiday is all cream, brown and black and grey - for all characters - have you ever noticed that? No bright colours and lots of snowy scenes. I love it even though I am a real fan of colour.' Emma: 'Ok, so while we are on the theme of cables, can we stretch that to traditional Aran sweaters and look at the lovely example worn by Chris Evans in Knives Out. NOT just an excuse to look at Chris Evans as is evidenced by the fact that we’ve also discussed Steve McQueen wearing an Aran sweater in 'The Thomas Crown Affair'. Emma also felt it was important that we included Colin Firth's iconic Rudolph sweater from Bridget Jones's Diary. Sarah's favourite is the knitwear in Heroes of Telemark: 'I used to knit little versions of this for my brother’s Action Man!' Gemma is still open to persuasion on this subject, so we thought a couple of good strong women would be appropriate for inclusion in our list - we have added the jumper that launched a thousand copies, worn by Sarah Lund in The Killing, and that glorious creation worn by Katniss Everdean in the Hunger Games. We would love to know which film or TV knitwear you covet most, so do get in touch or join in the conversation over on our Instagram feed here. I am really excited to have been nominated in two different categories in the Yarn Industry awards for 2023! I am really proud that my name appears in the Best Independent Designer section and within the Best Online Personality category. I am up against some true giants of the yarn world, many of them with many more followers than me, so I am flattered simply to have been nominated, but if you do want to vote for me, or any of the other fabulous nominees, please click the link here. Thank you to all of you who have supported and nominated me - I am delighted! There's still time to make some stash busting festive crochet decorations and we have lots of patterns to choose from! You can find them here. If you're a knitter rather than a crocheter how about some of our cushion designs - perfect for adding a touch of cosy to your sofa over the winter months. Just a reminder that I will be participating in the Wool in Garden City Festival which will take place in January. The event is a week long pop-up yarn show in Welwyn Garden City. A few exhibitors, including myself, have already been revealed and there will be workshops and other yarn related events you can attend. The pop up is free to visit, but if you would like to come to the preview evening on Friday 19th January, you can purchase a ticket for £10. You can find more information by following this link. On Instagram this week we took a look back over the Spirit of Flora Crochet Along, which has been running in Inside Crochet magazine over the last year. How time has flown! We have followed your progress through the Marlborough, Gillow and Evelyn motifs, as well as Double Carnations, Sunflower and Pair of Roses, amongst others. The latest issue of the magazine included cushion patterns and along the way there was the Dana bag too. Over on Facebook we celebrated the joy of a cosy blanket when the temperature drops. Of course it's a great time of year to be making a blanket too, because it keeps you warm at the same time! Here are some of your favourites that you shared: Bliss Butler's growing blanket pile! Jancey Glynn's first Janie Crow project in the shape of Persian Tiles is coming in handy during a cold snap! Tricia Badley made this gorgeous Imogen blanket, which now resides in the Philippines. Isn't it gorgeous! This time last year saw the release of the Glad Tidings Wrap, a design just perfect for using those gorgeous little Advent calendar mini skeins. It's a lovely project for the festive period, with a repeat that can be picked up quickly, making it a relaxing and mindful make. The pattern could also work well with leftovers from other projects, as a stash-busting exercise or with a colour changing yarn such as the Scheepjes Whirl. It does work up quite quickly, so could make a great Christmas gift too. Click on any of the images above for more information. This week's recipe is a warming sweet potato and lentil bake from the Riverford website. Gemma tried this out on her family this week, expecting mixed reviews with her girls not liking lentils and sweet potato respectively, but it apparently went down really well. Gemma didn't have tinned lentils in her store at home, so used dried red lentils and a couple of variations on the vegetables, but everyone asked that it be made again, so it sounds like a real success. If you'd like to give it a try you can find the recipe by clicking on the image above. It's this time of year that Christmas post box toppers start appearing around the UK, so we did a quick Instagram search on #christmasyarnbombing and here are a few of our favourites. Hertford/Ware Faversham West Sussex Thirsk As we head into December, the Crisis at Christmas services have started to open and the frontline staff are working hard across the country to support as many people as they can this winter. Right now, things are urgent. Over 250,000 families and individuals in the UK are experiencing the worst forms of homelessness. People are forced onto the streets, into sofa surfing, or temporary accommodation. This can and must end. There’s still time to make this someone’s last Christmas without a home. Donate now by following this link. We are looking forward to meeting my brother and his wife in town this evening. Andy and I went to see the London festive lights last Wednesday and had such a lovely time, so are hoping for nice dry weather again today in order to see all the decorations at their best. The Advent calendar at Fortnum and Mason was fabulous, as were all the window and store front displays in the high end stores on Bond Street. I love London at Christmas, but don't usually get time to visit, so I am trying to make the most of it this year. We are hoping to spend the weekend doing some Christmas prep. We have 13 coming for dinner on Boxing Day, so will cook a few things that can go in the freezer for a couple of weeks. Vegetarian cooking can be particularly time consuming thanks to all the chopping involved, so it is always good to get an early start! I am still working on the new Marrakesh colourway of Persian Tiles, which should be ready in the new year. I am making the Granny Squares at the moment and finding them a particularly mindful make - the perfect accompaniment to Christmas movies! Janie x
The most recent crochet design to feature in Inside Crochet Magazine as part of the Spirit of Flora CAL is called 'Double Carnations'. It is another motif to feature two flowers sitting at opposite corners of the square motifs and it has been great to see them popping up 'out in the wild' over the last week or so. It amazes me how quickly some of you get them made! As you know, this project was inspired by the Arts and Crafts Movement and the work of ceramicist William De Morgan in particular. Botanical symbolism was widely adopted by members of the movement in their art work, and plants were often used as metaphors for virtue and vice. William used the carnation flower frequently in his designs and it was often depicted as a symbol of love. Spirit of Flora is drawing to a close now with the final block due to be released in December. It doesn't seem possible! The project was a HUGE undertaking - 13 individual block designs, 3 blanket layouts, a bag and shawl pattern, as well as 2 cushion design options and 3 borders - this was never going to be a small undertaking! From the outset we wanted the CAL to be a project where crocheters forged their own paths, either by making the motifs using yarns from their stashes, or by choosing completely different colour palettes. We also hoped that some of you would choose to make things other than a blanket and so have shown a bag design, a shawl, and most recently a pair of cushions. The team at Inside Crochet always create such lovely images of my projects and we have come to expect a really high level of styling and photography from the dream team who are Claire Montgomerie and Leanne Jade. When I first saw the images of the cushions this week they really blew me away, so I am sharing a few here as they are just so stunning! This month's Inside Crochet Magazine also features a supplement pattern for my beaded Glitzy Festive Stockings shown below: When we were children my brother and I would place hessian sacks at the end of our beds for Father Christmas to fill with gifts overnight. The sacks felt huge back then and I remember how we would drag them into our parent’s room, probably at some ridiculously early hour, on Christmas Day to rummage through them, always finding satsumas and nuts at the bottom. These decorative crochet stockings are not large enough to hold lots of presents, but they would make the perfect addition to the fireplace none the less and are definitely large enough to fit a few small gifts in or would make a lovely gift in themselves. The sight of a festive stocking hanging ready by the fireplace for Santa to fill epitomises all things festive don’t you think? To me they symbolise the expectation of gifts and people arriving to celebrate with us, as well as creating a lovely decoration. Don't forget that we now have kits for a new version of my Bohemian Blooms Crochet Along Style project. The original pattern is written for yarns from the Rowan range, but as 3 of the shades are now discontinued we decided it was time to give the project a revamp. Our new kits include yarns from the Stylecraft range and we have chosen shades that almost exactly match those used in the original project. The tension of the new yarn palette crochets up the same as the original, but we decided that the new version would not include beads so that crocheters can see what it looks like without them and have the choice of whether or not they want to add them - not everyone is a fan of bling like me! We have created a quick video that shows the two versions of the blanket and you can find over on our Instagram feed. We have made a yarn substitution document, which also suggests alternative yarns for the discontinued yarns in the Rowan version should you wish to source yarns from their range. You can find it by following this link. With a multitude of cut-price offers bombarding our in-boxes care of Black Friday this week, it is good to know that a growing number of consumers are opting to support smaller retailers over the big discounts and the start of the heavily promotional Christmas season, which can appear all consuming. At Janie Crow we are rarely able to offer bargain prices on our kits, but instead choose to do offers on patterns from time to time. This week however, we do have a sale offer for you in the shape of the Crimson Dreams yarn kits, which are discounted by 20%. We only have limited stock available in our 'Crimson Friday' deal, so you might need to be quick! Kits are reduced from £74.50 to £59.60 - they will not be restocked at this price once our current stock has sold through. This blanket project was originally designed in a blue colourway and you can find more information by following this link. I am really excited to reveal that I have been nominated in two different categories in the Yarn Industry awards for 2023. I am really proud that my name appears in the 'Best Independent Designer' section and within the 'Best Online Personality' category. I am up against some true giants of the yarn world, many of them with many more followers than me, so I am flattered simply to have been nominated, but if you do want to vote for me, or any of the other fabulous nominees, please follow this link. I love projects that use up left overs or small amounts of yarn and I really adore adding beads to crochet stitches, so I am really excited that the pattern for the beaded pouches are available for all you eager crocheters who love stash busting projects and a bit of bling too - they would make a particularly nice accessory for a festive outfit! You can find the patterns available as downloads on Etsy and Ravelry and as paper copies (UK terms only for this one I'm afraid) by following this link to the Janie Crow store. If you fancy a bit of stash-busting in the lead up to Christmas, and also want to make something to decorate your home, why not take a look at our festive patterns. We have mini stockings, bunting and hanging decorations. Here at Janie Crow we all love the Mystical Lanterns pelmet/bunting that I first saw at Folklore Yarns in Belfast. It’s a lovely way to interpret the pattern and add mirrors to the centre of the motifs to add some extra sparkle! I am really looking forward to taking part in the Wool in Garden City event in January. I will be taking part in a 'meet the designer' session on Saturday 20th and will also be at the Preview Evening event on Friday 19th. Both These events are ticketed -the preview tickets are £10 and are available now. A full list of workshops and events will be published soon. Click here for more information. If you are looking for some little gifts that are perfect for popping in Advent Calendars or giving to a yarny friend as a Secret Santa present, how about checking out our Janie Crow & Emma Ball Collection. The little tins, stitch markers and notebooks are incredibly popular and make ideal small gifts. For the festive season we have bauble cards that feature images of my crochet designs. The baubles detach from the cards and can be hung on the tree. We also have jigsaws and there are still some calendars left in stock if you want to get organised for 2024. You can find a little reel I made yesterday of the bauble cards and the jigsaws on our Instagram account. This is a 'ta dah' moment as I want to show you the two self-seeded butternut squash that we have harvested from the garden. Aren't they fabulous! And utterly free! We will definitely be growing them again in 2024 and next time we will let them all grow rather than mistaking them for courgettes and eating them far too early!!! Despite being big butternut squash fans, we haven't cooked either of the homegrown pair yet, but last week I did buy another squash and make the soup recipe that Emma found a few weeks ago. It was totally delicious so I really recommend it. I popped all the veg in to roast while I was cooking something else in the oven at the same time and even managed to make some focaccia bread to go with it. My pics don't do it justice as it was really yummy! You can find the recipe by following this link. We are in Bournemouth this weekend for our Festive Inspired Minds workshop. The hotel is beautifully decorated for Christmas already and Debbie and I have designed a festive project for our workshop group to make over the weekend - I will reveal the design on my social media platforms next week. The weather forecast is good for the whole weekend so we are hoping to squeeze in some beach walks while we are away and maybe a little bit of Christmas shopping. I hope that you are also looking forward to a nice couple of days whatever you have planned. Janie x
It has been a fortnight of pretty much incessant rain here in North London. I have to admit that I have found the transition from summer to autumn to winter a bit tricky this year so I am particularly pleased to have my crochet to focus on now the clocks have changed and I can settle down on the settee in the evenings for a bit of 'me' time. I have a few things to tell you about this week so I hope you can spare 5 minutes to catch up with all things Janie Crow... Last Friday I spent the evening with Gemma at a charity fundraising event where I gave a talk about my design history and process. I think many of the audience members were surprised to hear just how many stages a design goes through and how long winded the process can be. As we near the end of the Spirit of Flora CAL in Inside Crochet magazine I thought you might also be interested to read about my process and see some 'behind the scenes' images so, with help from my fabulous assistant Emma, I have published a post about it on my blog. You can find it here. I want to remind you about our new yarn kits for the Bohemian Blooms blanket project which I showcased a few weeks ago. The Stylecraft yarn shades in the new kits are almost identical in colour to the original Rowan branded yarns, but they come in at a more affordable retail price. The patterns are written in a crochet along style in UK terms and feature in the dedicated pattern book. You can find more information by following this link. Mary Maxim have recently released a yam pack for my Summer Palace blanket in the Blue/Pink colourway. The pack includes their Mellowspun yarn and is particularly cost effective for those of you in the US and Canada. You can find more information here. Many people probably feel that it is still too early to start using the word 'Festive' or any others linked to Christmas, but it is fair to say that us yarny folk need to start planning our holiday makes relatively early. I am hoping to create an Advent calendar using my Mini Festive Stockings pattern. I had planned to make a stocking pretty much every day for the duration of November, but so far I have only to managed to finish one, despite the fact that I have already bought all the chocolate treats to pop inside! At this rate I will be crocheting them right up until Christmas day! Perhaps you can be more organised than me and have yours ready for December 1st? I am using a palette of mint, yellow and green shades to match our living room and would love to see them in more colourways, so do share your makes using #Janiecrow on social media platforms. I have cut right back on teaching commitments for next year, in order to concentrate on my design work, but I am really looking forward to the Arena Travel, Stitchtopia trip to Peru in July. Textile expert Karin Hellaby is currently accompanying a group on a similar tour there, so if you're interested in seeing her images of the trip, which include pics of some super cute alpacas and some lovely squishy yarn, then head over to her Facebook page. There are still some spaces left on this incredible textile holiday, so if you are interested in finding out more take a look at The Arena Travel website here. I will be participating in the Wool in Garden City Festival which will take place in January. The event is a week long pop-up yarn show in Welwyn Garden City. A few exhibitors, including myself have already been revealed and there will be workshops and other yarn related events you can attend. The pop up is free to visit, but if you would like to come to the preview evening on Friday 19th January, you can purchase a ticket for £10. You can find more information by following this link. I launched my first crochet along project in 2011 after I was inspired by Debbie Abrahams's Mystery Blanket Club which she has been running for well over a decade. Debbie was instrumental in encouraging my crochet designs and she has been an incredible support to me over the years. Debbie has recently started the application process for her 2024 (knitted) Mystery Blanket Club and it has already nearly sold out. If you're interested in Debbie's club follow this link for more information. Have you visited the Janie Crow YouTube channel lately? We are regularly adding new videos to help with basic techniques through to videos to support you with specific projects, such as Sunshine & Showers and Indigo Dreams. You can see some examples below. Click on any of the images to be taken through to the video on the YouTube channel and if you subscribe to the channel you'll be notified when new videos are added. If you're struggling with a particular section of any of our projects please let us know. If lots of you are finding the same thing tricky we will add it to our list of topics for future videos. Over on Facebook we reminded our followers of three crochet along projects for which the patterns remain free to download from the Stylecraft Yarns website here. Those projects are Lily Pond, Frida's Flowers and, of course, The Fruit Garden. Some of you shared photos of your projects with us: Here's Betsy Fruhling with her Lily Pond blanket: Carol Baker also made Lily Pond but in the Cherry Blossom colourway - we don't see this one so often so it's lovely to see such a beautiful example. Here's Joanna Whymark's Frida's Flowers in the Primavera colourway. Just gorgeous! Thanks, as always, for sharing. We love a good show and tell! Have you ever tried making pesto using parsley? Faced with a large bunch in the grocery box this week Gemma decided to give it a try and was pleasantly surprised with the results. It has a fresher, lighter taste than pesto made with basil, but was equally delicious stirred through a bowl of gnocchi! There are plenty of recipes available, but you can find the one Gemma used by clicking on the image above. Alzheimer's Research UK are currently running a fundraiser in which they are challenging those taking part to knit, sew or crochet every day in November to raise £100 for vital dementia research. If this is something you would be interested in taking part in you can find out more by clicking on this link or on the image below: In the village of Stanley Common in Derbyshire a local crafter, Jilly Crofts, known locally as the 'Crochet Queen', has spent over 200 hours crocheting a life size World War 1 soldier to be ready in time for Remembrance Day. Isn't it incredible? You can read more about why Jilly decided to make the soldier here. We have a quiet weekend planned after meeting some friends in London today for a walking tour. The forecast is for rain again, so I am sure to be snuggled on the sofa with my crochet hook at some point. I am still working on my granny hexagon cardigan and it is shaping up really nicely! I have been sent a book called 'The Lost Flock', by Jane Cooper and hope to find some time to start reading it over the next few days. It's described as a 'windswept love letter to Scotland's heritage sheep and to the Orkney farming community too!' and is all about the authors life as she cares for the UK's last remaining flock of Boreray sheep. If you would like to read it after me, reply to this email, quoting your address (UK only I'm afraid) and I will pick one of you to send it to - so long as you promise to pass it along to another reader once you're done. With big thanks to Chelsea Green Publishing for sending me the book. I will be back in your inbox in a fortnight's time with the November Newsletter. Don't forget that we love hearing from you and seeing your makes out in the wild, so do get in touch or tag us on social media so that we can see what you're up to. Janie x
I am really excited to let you know that we now have kits for a new version of my Bohemian Blooms Crochet Along Style project. The original pattern is written for yarns from the Rowan range, but as 3 of the shades are now discontinued we decided it was time to give the project a revamp. Our new kits include yarns from the Stylecraft range and we have chosen shades that almost exactly match those used in the original project. The tension of the new yarn palette crochets up the same as the original, but we decided that the new version would not include beads so that crocheters can see what it looks like without them and have the choice of whether or not they want to add them - not everyone is a fan of bling like me! We have created a quick video that shows the two versions of the blanket and you can find over on our Instagram feed. We have made a yarn substitution document, which also suggests alternative yarns for the discontinued yarns in the Rowan version should you wish to source yarns from their range. You can find it by following this link. After a long absence, my crochet techniques book, The Ultimate Crochet Bible, is now back in stock. You can find it by following this link. Following the success of her last book 'Head to Toe Crochet', my lovely friend Gurinder Kaur Hatchard has created another amazing new book called 'Hooked on Shakespeare'. With 15 projects featuring more than 30 step-by-step designs inspired by the works of William Shakespeare, this fabulous collection of creations ranges from the iconic Romeo and Juliet to Hamlet and the Ghost, and from the Three Witches from Macbeth to Bottom and Titania from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Not forgetting the one and only Woolliam Shakespeare himself. Each project features an introduction to the play and its characters, followed by colourful step-by-step instructions. The easy-to-make designs include fully illustrated stitch basics, perfect for beginning crocheters as well as advanced crochet enthusiasts. Why not celebrate the 400th anniversary of the publication of William Shakespeare’s First Folio, by picking up your crochet hook and creating your very own beloved characters from the plays! You can find the book and more information on Gurinder's Instagram page by following this link. Over the last few weeks I have been dipping in and out of sampling for the new ‘Marrakesh’ inspired version of my Persian Tiles blanket. I have decided on my palette and have chosen the colour sequences for my crochet octagons. The yarn for the project has been sent to my lovely test crocheter. It is unlikely that it will be complete before Christmas, but as soon as it is ready we will release a free yarn substitution document to guide you on making it too. If you fancy having a play around with my palette of colours and would like to see my inspiration images, then head over to my blog where you will find a post about it. CHARITY DONATION As October has been Breast Cancer awareness month we donated 20% of the list price of our patterns sold over a 48 hour period a couple of weeks ago to Cancer Research UK. Thank you to everyone who bought a pattern within that period and helped us raise a donation of £100. I love projects that use up left overs or small amounts of yarn and I really adore adding beads to crochet stitches, so I am really excited that the pattern for the beaded pouches are available for all you eager crocheters who love stash busting projects and a bit of bling too! The pattern includes instructions for two versions, which I have called Cafe au Lait (the brown coffee one) and French Linen (the pale flax coloured version). You can choose whether or not to add lots of beads and a pretty additional flower, which I have taken from The Fruit Garden Blanket project and revamped a little. As I am no good at sewing I have used a ready made cotton zipped pouch from The Clever Baggers (details are in the pattern) as a lining. Working around existing bags is a trick I have been using for workshop projects for the last 5 years or so and it is a great alternative for those of us unable to sew a lining - although you do need to be a tad more careful about achieving the correct tension so that everything fits together. Using a padded lining bag means that your pouch would be perfect for storing precious, more delicate items. The projects are written for Stylecraft Organic Cotton DK and use Debbie Abrahams knitting beads. Of course you can choose to use exactly the yarns I have used, or pick your own lovely palettes - I am really looking forward to what you come up with. I hope that your crochet pouch will make a great addition to your cherished bag collection just like mine has, whatever you choose to use it for. You can find the patterns available as downloads on Etsy and Ravelry and as paper copies (UK terms only for this one I'm afraid) by following this link to the Janie Crow store. Emma had a fabulous idea and revamped my Festive Decorations pattern using a fabulous Halloween inspired palette of yarns. You’ve still got plenty of time to make a few of these as they are such quick little makes and they really will put you in the Halloween spirit! If you want to REALLY go for the full experience, why not put on a little ghosty podcast? We love 'Uncanny' from Radio 4. (Available wherever you get your podcasts and it should be free). It’s hosted by Danny Robins – he wrote the fantastically spooky play, 2.22 which is touring the UK now and is definitely one for those who like a jump scare! The podcast features normal average people recounting experiences they’ve had that they can’t explain. There’s a good dose of debunking via sceptics as well so it shouldn’t scare you too much! Emma also has a few suggestions for some light scares from the literary world. The brilliant classic Dracula is of course a slow-burn gothic feast. The recently released film 'A Haunting in Venice' was from the original 'Hallowe’en Party' by Agatha Christie and we’d love to hear whether you think the book was better! Finally, a great collection of short ghost stories 'Ghost - 100 stories to read with the lights on' chosen by Louise Welsh and featuring probably every famous writer of this genre that you could think of - Ray Bradbury, H.P.Lovecraft, H.G. Wells, Edgar Allan Poe to name a few! This is a fantastic anthology and the cover alone would add beautifully to your Halloween décor! Here at Janie Crow we all love the Mystical Lanterns pelmet/bunting that I first saw at Folklore Yarns in Belfast. It’s a lovely way to interpret the pattern so I have made a new technique video to show you how to add mirrors to the centre of the motifs to add some extra sparkle. (c) William De Morgan Tudor Rose Tile It’s been fantastic to see so many of you getting along brilliantly with the newest motif from the Spirit of Flora CAL. Huge thanks to all those of you who are sharing your images on social media so that we can see them. Some of the colourways you have created are amazing and I hope that those of you who are working through the project are enjoying the journey! Just 2 more motifs to go! This Pair of Roses motif was one of the first that I designed. It’s not an easy make, but it’s good to get those little grey cells working hard every now and again, especially when you’re a crochet pro! I really love this motif and think it manages to reflect the beauty of Evelyn De Morgan’s painting of the Goddess Flora, surrounded by flowers and vines. This motif is the first one within the project that features two flowers at opposite corners. The stems are made first, then the flowers, followed by the leaves and the frame. As always, enormous thanks to @insidecrochet @clairemontyknits and @leannejadephotography for the beautiful photos taken at the Emery Walker house. A dream photo shoot! Dawn Thompson recently sent us some lovely pictures of a bag she has made using my Lily Pond design as inspiration. Dawn made it for her granddaughter whose name is Lily, so not only it it lovely to look at, but it is perfectly fitting too! Do you know that the patterns for 3 of my crochet along projects are free to download via the Stylecraft website? The Lily Pond blanket was a CAL in 2015, followed by Frida’s Flowers in 2016 and The Fruit Garden in 2020. Being able to access and download the patterns for free means that it costs you nothing except a bit of time and a few balls of stash yarn to have a go at one of my patterns. We often get people commenting that they think my designs might be beyond them in terms of skill, so the free patterns give the perfect opportunity to test out that theory! All the crochet along projects start easy and get progressively harder and will add lots of techniques and tips to your own crochet tool box. Lucy Chaplin sent in some images of her lovely Mystical Lanterns cowl, which she made using the Highland Heather yarn shades. Isn't it lovely! Lucy made half motifs along the top of the cowl, which has a triangular shape, with the half motifs folded down inside. You can find other projects made by Lucy on her Facebook page Loop De Loop Studio by following this link. Crochet retreat alert! Have you heard of Stitchtopia? If not then you may wish to look them up! They create wonderful crafting holidays and retreats for crocheters (and knitters, and quilters and textile lovers of all kinds!) with Arena Travel - a company I have worked with for the last couple of decades!!! One of their most popular retreats - The Stitchtopia Festival - is back in March 2024 and is a brilliant weekend with access to workshops from 8 different experts - including me! I shall be teaching beaded flowers and also how to achieve the perfect crochet finish. There are plenty of other workshops to choose from including knitting techniques with Anna Nikipirowicz and quilting and sewing too. It's a lovely weekend and loads of fun. You can follow this link to view the details of the weekend event, which will take place in March next year, and you can also have a look at some of the other workshop trips on offer, including a rather spectacular Knitting Traditions of Peru holiday next year! I am cutting back on workshops and events next year to make time for more design work. The remaining places on the Peru trip and those on the Stitchtopia weekend are pretty much the only dates I have on offer for next year other than the Festive Workshop I always run with Debbie Abrahams in November. We love growing vegetables in the garden through the summer and Andy is really good at planning his little vegetable patch. We didn't harvest as much this year as last, thanks to the rain and lack of warmth this summer, but we still did reasonably well with peppers and aubergines and baby tomatoes. Towards the end of the summer a large vine started to make its way across the vegetable bed and into the grass. At first we thought it was a pumpkin vine and then decided it was courgettes, but as time went on we realised it was a butternut squash vine - something that must have self seeded from seeds placed in the compost bin at some point! Unfortunately, because we weren't aware we had scrummy squash growing, we picked quite a few of them too early and ate them like courgettes in stir fry! We even gave a couple to an older friend believing them to be marrows because at that point they were covered in green and yellow stripes - who knew that they look like courgettes and then marrow before turning golden yellow? We now have 2 left and are really looking forward to harvesting them, especially since Emma sent me this amazing looking recipe for a really great roasted butternut squash soup that is accompanied by a fried cheese sandwich - sounds amazing right? I will take pics when I make it and will try to remember to share them here within the next month or so. If you are looking for a tasty supper we recently tried a macaroni cheese recipe that included sweet potato and it was really delicious! Probably the yummiest mac and cheese I have ever had. You can find a similar recipe by Nigella here. I am heading off to spend some time with my amazing daughter Summer, who is treating me to an evening pot painting session with a few glasses of bubbly thrown in! It has been ages since we spent any time together, just the two of us, so I am really looking forward to it. I haven't held a paint brush for a very long time, so the outcome of the painting (especially if there is wine involved) might not be a masterpiece, but I am sure it is going to be great fun! We don't have much else planned for the weekend, except a family lunch here on Sunday. The house is once again in need of a bit of TLC, so I imagine there will be vacuuming and dusting involved - I'm living the dream here in North London! A bit of knitting and crochet will definitely be on the cards, especially with the clocks changing on Saturday which means an extra hour in bed! Hoping you all stay well and happily hooking until next time! Janie x
I had a great time on the Stylecraft stand at the Knitting and Stitching show here in North London last week and it was lovely to catch up with so many of you and hear your crochet stories. It is always so wonderful to know that your crochet brings you solace and so much joy and I was really humbled by the fact that so many of you took the time to come and speak to me. We showcased a few new colour ways and revamped versions of some existing blanket designs at the show and I will share the details of these with you over the next couple of weeks once we get the colour substitution documents sorted. It has been really great to be back at my desk this week and I have finally been able to settle down with my hook, which has been so fantastic after weeks of dipping in and out of design work. I always have a few projects on the go as I find my focus can drift if I spend too long on one thing and so I have been continuing to work on the new colour way of Persian Tiles and on sampling some beaded designs for our festive workshop in Bournemouth. I have a few things to tell you about this week including a new pattern release for some pretty 'stash busting' crochet pouches. I hope you can spare five minutes to catch up with all things Janie Crow! I am a huge lover of project bags and pouches to put all my bits and bobs in. I have countless make up bags and travel bags, all of which have specific uses and contain particular things. I am the same with my crochet and knit project bags. I have them in all shapes and sizes, some with zippers, others with buttons, some with extra pockets and some with dividers. I love the fact that I can identify my WIPs by the bags they are in, especially as I often find myself switching between ongoing projects. I love projects that use up left overs or small amounts of yarn and I really adore adding beads to crochet stitches, so I am really excited that the pattern for the beaded pouches (that we showed you a few weeks ago) are now available for all you eager crocheters who love stash busting projects and a bit of bling too! The pattern includes instructions for two versions, which I have called Cafe au Lait (the brown coffee one) and French Linen (the pale flax coloured version). You can choose whether or not to add lots of beads and a pretty additional flower, which I have taken from The Fruit Garden Blanket project and revamped a little. As I am no good at sewing I have used a ready made cotton zipped pouch from The Clever Baggers (details are in the pattern) as a lining. Working around existing bags is a trick I have been using for workshop projects for the last 5 years or so and it is a great alternative for those of us unable to sew a lining - although you do need to be a tad more careful about achieving the correct tension so that everything fits together. Using a padded lining bag means that your pouch would be perfect for storing precious, more delicate items. The projects are written for Stylecraft Organic Cotton DK and use Debbie Abrahams knitting beads. Of course you can choose to use exactly the yarns I have used, or pick your own lovely palettes - I am really looking forward to what you come up with. I hope that your crochet pouch will make a great addition to your cherished bag collection just like mine has, whatever you choose to use it for. You can find the patterns available as downloads on Etsy and Ravelry and as paper copies (UK terms only for this one I'm afraid) by following this link to the Janie Crow store. Don't forget that we have Janie Crow and Emma Ball calendars in stock for those of you who like to get ultra organised ahead of the new year. Andy has forgotten to take the 'EARLY BIRD' discount offer off from the last time I mentioned them, so if you want to nab yourself a 13% discount (on Friday the 13th!) then head over to the web store and pop one in your basket - they are ready to dispatch! You can find a little reel on Instagram that shows the blankets that Emma chose to feature within the calendar and don't forget to look out for some more new Emma Ball and Janie Crow items coming soon! A couple of weeks ago Emma asked members of the Janie Crow team to send her photos of our essential crochet kit and this is what we came up with! Jane: "I couldn't live without my magnetic Della Q buddy case for beading and my sewing needles. Love pouches. The embroidered one was made by my friend Juliet. HAVE TO HAVE a really sharp pencil hence the sharpener and eraser. 2 pairs of scissors as tend to loose a pair every time I settle on the settee. Usually find them down the side or they fall off my lap when I stand up!" Gemma: "This is what I take with me when I teach workshops, so I suppose these are my essentials. There are several of most things as I often end up lending bits and bobs! At home I have a similar set in my Janie Crow hook roll along with a zipped make up bag of many spare hooks in all sorts of sizes" Sarah: "The 'post -it' notes are for marking or highlighting parts of a pattern or writing a note to myself on something like a tip that someone has mentioned. Can’t live without stitch markers- use them all the time to mark corners and the beginning of a round. Bit of yarn in case I need to demo or test something. Safety pins - you never know when they might come in handy! The Seams hand cream is perfect for soothing tired hands!" Emma: "Am never this organised. Normally I am pulling hooks and most other things from down the sofa cushions! I can never ever find a tape measure even though I must have at least 20, so am delighted to have found one to photograph here. Scissors - usually more than one pair but again, they go missing a lot. I love the bent-ended darning needles for sewing in ends and the little bulb safety pins are fantastic as stitch markers. I scribble all over my patterns so always have a pen and the last thing I couldn't photograph was my phone as I always have an audiobook on the go while I crochet." Do you have anything in your kit of crochet essentials that none of us have? If you do we'd love to know what it is and why you can't do without it! Now that its October we thought we'd give our Festive Crochet Decorations a Halloween make-over. It's a lot of fun to go a bit bananas with colours we'd not usually use together. Emma has thrown everything at these: beads, mirrors, alternating yarn colours, and the good news is that we have technique videos to show you how to do all of those things. This pattern is so versatile: switch the colours to match any event or holiday and they instantly fit! Also, they're a fantastic "one-hit" project for when you need a little fix but don't have a lot of time. This little collection is a work in progress. There are plans afoot to make it into a.....no, no, we'll keep that a secret and show you soon! For now, if you fancy making some of these lovelies for yourself, there is a link here to the pattern. Be warned though, they're VERY addictive! 🎃 👻 🎃 👻 🎃 👻 🎃 👻 🎃 👻 🎃 👻 🎃 👻 🎃 👻 🎃 👻 🎃 👻 🎃 👻 🎃 Okra has a reputation for being a bit slimy and not very appealing when cooked, but this super simple recipe for Garlic Roasted Okra that Gemma tried out after coming across a bag of fresh okra in a groceries box won everyone in the family over. The pointy ends of the okra were particularly crispy and delicious! Gemma has been trying out the 'Too Good to Go' app over the last few months, where local cafes, restaurants, shops and supermarkets offer leftover food at vastly reduced prices at the end of the day to help combat food waste. Gemma says: "Every Saturday after our swimming club we pick up a Too Good to Go box from our local Morrisons supermarket on the way home. If we're lucky there are a few bags of crisps to snack on on our way home, but we all enjoy rummaging in the box when we get back to see what's in it. It helps if you are a flexible cook and sometimes things need using up quickly, but as a result of getting the boxes we have been having more home made soups, eating lots more salad and creating some truly interesting meal variations over the week! It feels good to know that perfectly good food isn't simply going into the bin at the end of day too." It has been a busy few weeks for yarn shows with Yarndale at the end of September and the Knitting & Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace last week. We love exhibiting at shows, but also really enjoy taking a wander round them as customers. Gemma has found this really useful blog post by Being Knitterly, which has been recently updated with lots of yarn show dates from now through into 2024 - definitely time to get that 2024 calendar sorted! Like so many others we were shocked to read about the felling of the famous Sycamore Gap tree in Northumberland recently. Two women who live in a town close to the site where the tree stood felt that they needed to do something to commemorate the tree and together created a postbox topper for the town centre in Hexham. You can read more about it by clicking on the image below. Knit For Peace are delighted to announce that they will be returning to the much-loved Green Hotel in Mysore, India in January 2024. The Knit for Peace holiday to Mysore is the perfect way to discover India in comfortable surroundings and friendly company. Esteemed crochet and knitwear designer Carol Meldrum will lead daily crochet and knitting workshops and all skill levels are welcome. Guests will knit and crochet under a shaded pergola in the prize-winning historic gardens, with Carol on hand to teach and inspire. There is a coffee shop and home bakery on site for those who enjoy afternoon tea. During the afternoons and on weekends, guests have the chance to shop and sightsee local temples, palaces and wildlife, and can take the opportunity to visit charitable projects supported by the Charities Advisory Trust and The Green Hotel. The Green Hotel was set up by the Charities Advisory Trust over 25 years ago as a model of sustainable tourism, and profits are distributed to charitable and environmental projects in India. You can find more information about this wonderful trip (which I would thoroughly recommend, having been three times myself) by following this link. We are heading away to the seaside this weekend and I am so looking forward to some time with our family. I have only seen the sea once this year and, as we haven't had a holiday away from home for longer than 3 days, I am hoping it might be a weekend of rest and recuperation. I think the weather is due to cool down over the next few days after our lovely warm start to the autumn, so I will be digging out some cosy knitwear to take with me. I have started to make a Granny Hexagon cardigan (I am using pattern number 9965 from Stylecraft as the basis for it) and have really been enjoying the mindfulness of working repeated groups of treble crochet. I have raided my stash and have pulled out all my red and pink yarns that I have decent amounts of and will definitely be taking this project away with me. I found a lovely TikTok that shows a fabulous version made big and baggy in a similar colourway to what I am hoping to achieve - you can find it by following this link - I love this! I hope that whatever you have planned for this weekend that you will have lovely time. I will be back in your inbox in 2 weeks time with the October newsletter. If you fancy catching up with what we are up to in the mean time, be sure to take a look at the JANIE CROW Instagram feed or head over to our Facebook page. Sending yarny hugs! Janie x
A couple of weeks ago I spent 2 days on the Stylecraft stand at a trade show in Harrogate. It was really great to chat to yarn stockists and craft enthusiasts and to hear about what is going on out in the market place. Many people told me about the rise in the number of teenagers and young adults wanting to learn to crochet, which is just such a positive thing to hear! I think the prevalence of crochet in the fashion this summer has encouraged many young people to take to making things themselves and it seems that they are more than happy to create things without patterns or very much guidance, taking to Youtube and Instagram for video help - how cool is that! I often sit and fiddle about with yarn and hook to see what I can come up with. It’s a little bit like doodling with a pencil on paper, but using some yarn and a hook instead. It’s nice to work with no real intention or vision in my head as to what the end product is going to look like. It’s purely the enjoyment of playing around and seeing what happens. I guess this links to one of our previous posts on Instagram about the process of crochet being the thing we enjoy rather than the outcome of the crochet itself and I love the fact that every now and then a yarny doodle will throw up something incredibly exciting that shouts at me to become a ‘proper’ design. It’s been a busy couple of weeks where I have found very little time to sit and crochet, but I’m hoping that will change as we head into a new week as I am itching to get back to working on my new version of Persian Tiles, which has been inspired by my trip to Marrakesh back in early July. I love making Pinterest boards to get a feeling for a colour palette and a couple of weeks ago I made a new one based on the colours I found in Marrakesh. I had thought that I would use cream, blues and greens with a touch of gold to create a new version of #persiantilesblanket but now I’m going down a more vibrant route. I would love to know what you think. The Persian Tiles blanket draws its inspiration from the beautiful and intricate geometric patterns found in Persian and Islamic art and architecture. These patterns often include complex motifs and vibrant colours. I have chosen a new palette to create the detailed tile-like crochet octagons, which I hope will eventually result in a visually striking version of this favourite design. I have chosen a colour palette based on the colours I saw while I was away and have referred to the distinctive palette and visual elements associated with this incredible city. Rich, earthy tones alongside bright red, blue, green and yellow are an integral part of the city’s identity and culture. They can be seen in its architecture, textiles, pottery, and overall aesthetic. This vibrant and eclectic colour scheme is a source of inspiration for many artists, designers, and travellers who visit the city. While Morocco heals itself from the recent earthquake I am holding the people of this wonderful country in my heart along with those in Libya affected by the floods. You can donate to Unicef to help children affected by both of these natural disasters by following this link. I always find that I am at my most organised this time of year. It is almost as if the years of going back to school in September have conditioned me to sort out my paper work and stationery and I have even purchased and marked up my 2024 diary with dates for next year, so I am feeling ultra smug! Despite being organised with a new diary, I tend to think of calendars as a Christmas thing and am invariably disappointed to find that the one I had my eye on is out of stock in the shops once Christmas is over. This year, however, I don't need to worry about picking up my new calendar in time, as Emma Ball has added a Janie Crow Crochet Blanket Calendar to her fabulous range. If you fancy being ultra organised too, we have an EARLY BIRD OFFER on the calendars which will reduce the price from £10.95 each to just £9.50. The offer runs out soon, so you might need to be quick! If you're curious about which blankets Emma chose to feature on the Calendar you can find a little reel on Instagram that shows the pages. Here at Janie Crow we all love the Mystical Lanterns pelmet/bunting that I first saw at Folklore Yarns in Belfast. It’s a lovely way to interpret the pattern so I have made a new technique video to show you how to add mirrors to the centre of the motifs to add some extra sparkle. Among the other lovely projects in this month's issue of Inside Crochet Magazine is part 8 of the Spirit of Flora CAL - a glorious sunflower! William De Morgan often used sunflowers in his tile designs. I love all that sunflowers symbolise; summertime, warm weather, and sunshine, and so, from the outset, it was almost a foregone conclusion that the project would include a crochet motif based on one of William’s sunflower tiles. This motif is the first one in the CAL to feature an offset flower. It is quite a complicated piece to make, but take it slow and you'll be fine! I love this block and hope you do too. It will be a particular delight to see your photos of this one, so do remember to use the #janiecrow and #spiritofflora hashtags when you post on Instagram! As always, enormous thanks to @insidecrochet @clairemontyknits and @leannejadephotography for the beautiful photos taken at the Emery Walker house. A dream photo shoot! Crochet retreat alert! Have you heard of Stitchtopia? If not then you may wish to look them up! They create wonderful crafting holidays and retreats for crocheters (and knitters, and quilters and textile lovers of all kinds!) with Arena Travel - a company I have worked with for the last couple of decades!!! One of their most popular retreats - The Stitchtopia Festival - is back in March 2024 and is a brilliant weekend with access to workshops from 8 different experts - including me! I shall be teaching beaded flowers and also how to achieve the perfect crochet finish. There are plenty of other workshops to choose from including knitting techniques with Anna Nikipirowicz and quilting and sewing too. It's a lovely weekend and loads of fun. You can follow this link to view the details of the weekend event, which will take place in March next year, and you can also have a look at some of the other workshop trips on offer, including a rather spectacular Knitting Traditions of Peru holiday next year! I am cutting back on workshops and events next year to make time for more design work. The remaining places on the Peru trip and those on the Stitchtopia weekend are pretty much the only dates I have on offer for next year other than the Festive Workshop I always run with Debbie Abrahams in November. We cannot believe that Yarndale wool show has been and gone in a flash for another year! We really love Yarndale and had the best time there last weekend, despite it feeling like a crazy whirlwind! We were completely wiped out for a couple of days earlier on this week after driving home and unpacking, but we are back up to speed now and can focus on all the positive experiences the show brought. I was so pleased to be able to chat to lots of you about the positive effects of crochet and craft as a whole and it was really lovely to hear your stories about how crochet has helped you and how pleased you are with projects you have made - honestly it was so humbling to be able to catch up with so many of you and I am already looking forward to doing it all again in 2024! Huge thanks too to my amazing team, Andy, Paul and Sarah, who did an incredible job and make me very proud! Take a closer look at Paul's tank top for a clue to a pattern that could be coming along soon! Our son, Charlie has been away on holiday for the last couple of weeks and as he really dislikes cauliflower we had intended to eat it at every meal while he was away as Andy and I both LOVE it! In reality we have only managed it a couple of times, making roast cauliflower with garlic and fennel in the oven last Sunday and Creamy Cauliflower Korma by the Happy Foodie one mid week evening. I have a feeling I have shared the recipe for the korma before, but as it is one of my favourite veggie recipes I thought I would feature it again along with a link to the Sag Aloo Shepherds Pie recipe from One Pot, Pan, Planet by Anna Jones. Both of these recipes are delicious and the Shepherds Pie would be particularly good on a chilly autumn evening. We are home for the first weekend for a while and are looking forward to some time with friends and family. The weather has most definitely turned more autumnal this week so there are some leaves to clear up in the garden and some tidying to do. I have started to pick the pears from the tree as I was concerned that storm Agnes might knock them off so they are looking good piled up in the kitchen ripening! Next week I will be on the Stylecraft stand at The Knitting and Stitching Show here in North London, so do come along and say hello if you are visiting. The stand will be in the main hall by the theatre. Hoping you all stay well and happily hooking until next time Janie x
Well hello September! It is officially the first day of autumn according to the meteorological calendar, but we always seem to get a couple of lovely weeks of weather once the kids go back to school, so I am not packing the summer clothes away just yet and will not be using the A word until the beginning of next month once we have exhibited at Yarndale - the scenic drive back from Yorkshire always feels like the start of autumn for me! Over the last couple of weeks I have completed all the remaining work needed for the Spirit of Flora CAL so I have started on some new projects. I have had fun making some new Pinterest boards and have even cleared up my studio a little in preparation for new designs. I think this time of year is the perfect time for a bit of organising and have plans to do some decorating in the house over the next couple of weeks too! From a Janie Crow perspective I have just a few things to tell you about this week and I hope that you are all keeping well. Who doesn't love a neat pile of blankets? Definitely not me as I am a massive fan of seeing crochet and patchwork blankets folded up and ready for a chilly evening. This week over Instagram we showcased some blanket stacks with a difference! The first photo below is ours. It shows some of our favourite blankets and shawls photographed on a chair. The second image also shows a lovely stack of blankets - the vintage kind that bring back memories of childhood summer days in the garden. It is a lovely image that evokes lots of feelings for me especially as piles of blankets are just so appealing, but what is really special about this second image is that it is infact a painting rather than a photograph! Can you believe it? Image copyright Cindy Rizza Did that make you gasp? Then take a breath: this exquisite artwork has been created in oils by an incredible artist who we are HUGE fans of - Cindy Rizza. Cindy's work is exactly our childhoods: gorgeous sun-dappled blankets and deck chairs (please, please go and see the deck chairs) in glorious patterns and colours which we recognise in our imaginations from childhood days. The warmth and peace from her artwork is palpable and it is not an exaggeration to say we could gaze for as long as our busy days would allow. There are many beautiful subjects that Cindy explores through her artwork, so please do visit her page and enjoy her gorgeous work. (The sunlight through the washing on the line is just breathtaking!) We cannot of course do any justice to Cindy's background or the hours and years of developing her art here, but we hope that this tiny introduction might encourage you to visit her Instagram page and find out more. I love it when the sunflowers start to bloom in July and it always amazes me just how long they continue to look fabulous in the garden. We still have so many of them and they will continue to cheer me up for the next month or so as we head into autumn. I have been looking at colour trends for the 'A' and thought I would draw shades from my Fields of Gold blanket to put a nice colour group together, which then led me to look at other colourways shared on Instagram. Needless to say I found some beauties and hope that their makers don’t object to me sharing them here. Images via @crafts_r_for_us and @lizziemontgomerydesign Emma has recently added some great videos on the Janie Crow YouTube channel to help with some of the ‘join as you go’ areas of this design so if you’ve never done that before do take a look! I love the current trend for slipovers, tank tops and tabards, so I thought I would try to incorporate some of my motifs from the Spirit of Flora CAL into a design for something similar. I’m using an image of a fabulous garment by Toast as the basis for my layout and am so far very pleased with how it’s coming along. I’d love to know what projects you may have incorporated some of my motif designs into. I have seen a dress made using the motifs from my Fridas Flowers CAL and cardigans made from the Persian Tiles blanket in the past, alongside many more. I hope to have this top finished within the next couple of weeks so that I can wear it in the 'A'. I will show you when I’m done. I’m using Stylecraft Yarns ReCreate DK as it is one of my favourite yarns and is 100% recycled. If you are following the Spirit of flora CAL the ninth motif is due to be published next week in Inside Crochet Magazine. It is the much anticipated Sunflower motif, so do look out for it. August 15th was 'Granny Square Day', hosted by Simply Crochet Magazine, and Gemma asked our Facebook followers to share some of their favourite crochet squares. We kicked off with a photo of some of the motifs from the Love is Enough colourway of the The Fruit Garden blanket. We sneaked a rectangle in there too! There was definitely a lot of love shown for the Fruit Garden blanket in the comments. We're particularly interested in Deborah Argorake's project as she mentioned that having started on her motifs for the Night & Dark version of the blanket she's not sure whether to make them into the blanket or a dress instead. Now that we would love to see so please keep us posted Deborah! Spirit of Flora got a couple of mentions too with Antoinette Muller posting a gorgeous selection for us to see. Vicki Wheeler's particular favourite is the Marlborough motif (below). Loving the colours, Vicki. It was also good to see a Janie Crow design that doesn't appear quite so often on social media, with Lynn Lamb posting a photo of some of her favourite Bohemian Blooms motifs. Thank you for sharing Lynn, they are lovely in your colour palette. We have recently had the book for this project reprinted and are working on a Stylecraft yarns version now that they produce an organic cotton yarn. We hope to have matched the original shades pretty well, so as soon as we have a yarn listing for this we will let you know. We think you just can't beat a traditional home made hot dessert and, as the cooler evenings set in, it's even harder to resist the lure of a comforting pud! As many of us are becoming more health conscious it seems harder to allow ourselves such things, but recipes for 'lighter' versions can be found This week Gemma has been experimenting with one of her family's favourites, bread and butter pudding, and recommends this quick and simple recipe from the Baking Mad website. It looks so yummy and perfect for using up left over bread. Some time ago we touched briefly on the subject of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and how potentially it could be used to create crochet patterns. Well, along similar lines we have been seeing images of fairly extreme 'crochet' creations cropping up all over social media, elderly ladies with huge crochet cats being the particular one that springs to mind. We were curious about the origins of these and having done some digging Gemma discovered that the images have been created by Lydia Masterova and were originally posted on her Instagram account and Facebook page. If you click on either of the images above you can read more about Lydia and what led her to create these images. We can only assume that they took far less time to create than a genuine crochet project of that magnitude might take! The crochet designer Kirsten Ballering has also been experimenting with AI, asking the AI programme Midjourney to imagine her a crochet rainbow. You can see the result in the image below. It's certainly an impressive rainbow but we're not sure where we would start with writing the pattern! Click on the image to check out Kirsten's Facebook page. We are still not sure quite how we feel about the effect that AI is having on the world and whether or not it is detrimental to arts and crafts in particular, but we thought you might like to see these images so that you can make up your own minds about how you feel too. We are having a family and friends get together this weekend in honour of our son-in-laws birthday, so I have been busy getting ingredients ready for a big chocolate cake for Chris and we have been making the garden party ready with fairy lights and a bit of a tidy up. Obviously we are hoping for warmer weather so that we can make the most of being outside and we have the bug spray ready! We should have been in Peru by now as I was scheduled to tutor a Knitting Traditions trip with Arena Travel but this has now been postponed to next year. Andy and I decided not to have a proper holiday in its place but will be pottering about at home for a couple of weeks instead and we will plan some walks and trips out to make up for it. Having spent so much time away from home lately I am really looking forward to just being around in the house for the next couple of weeks. We have Yarndale on the horizon and hope that some of you might be visiting. I love Yarndale because it is more crochet orientated than other yarn shows and I really enjoy transforming a cattle pen into a Janie Crow sanctuary for a weekend! I hope that you all have a lovely weekend and that you have some nice things lined up to do. If you're anything like us you're probably already planning what you can do with hook and yarn, packing it into the spare hours as tightly as possible, squeezing out everything we can from the time! As you know, we're big fans of stash busting projects and if you can make a whole blanket out of yarn from your stash then that seems even more rewarding! However carefully we plan, there is always excess yarn isn't there? Although perhaps 'excess' is the wrong word to apply to our precious stashes of bits and bobs of leftovers as these, alongside the recent completion of a larger project, often sets us off looking for a smaller project to work on to use them up. Something to scratch the crochet itch without jumping straight back into another long-term project. Do you have a favourite go-to project type for these times? Bags? Hats? Shawls? Or smaller pieces than these? We have spoken before about the single sitting project: the thing that might be nothing but is something all by itself. The little 'in-between' bit of creativity which needed to be expressed without committing time too far in the future. Also, even if you're a 'one project at a time' person, we do feel there is validity in having 'the big one' on the go and a smaller project too. Two different types doesn't really violate that 'one thing only' rule does it? So what do you make? What smaller things make you happy when you have some spare crochet moments? We have some things in the pipeline that may fill these gaps but for now, tell us what you're making! We'd love to know. Janie x
Today is officially 'Never Give Up Day' - yes really! Today is about not just reaching our goals but working towards them. We often get messages from people who want to learn to crochet but have found it too hard so have given up. As adults there is an expectation that we will pick things up relatively quickly and in relation to crochet this is especially the case if someone already knits. Participants can book on day long ‘Learn To Crochet’ workshops in the belief that they will come away from it being able to do so, but if we wanted to learn to play the piano we would not expect to do so over the course of one day, or even just a few weeks. We would expect to spend many years practicing before we would consider ourselves a true pianist, so why is there an expectation that learning a craft should be quick and easy? When I learnt to crochet it was a slow process, one that took weeks and weeks of continuous practice, but I knew instantly that it was a craft that I could interpret my design ideas through and so I was determined to master it. Another frequent comment we get is 'I'd love to be able to do this but it's too advanced'. Again we say, go for it! Learning crochet - or taking a step into more advanced patterns - is completely safe. Mostly it's in the privacy of our own homes that we experiment with hook and yarn. Go ahead, make mistakes and make lots of them! Please don't give up on crochet! 'You'll never get bored when you try something new. There's really no limit to what you can do.' Dr Seuss The Festival of Quilts was such an inspirational and vibrant show. The quilts on display were jaw droppingly amazing and we felt very privileged to be there chatting with lots of fabulous visitors. It was so exciting to meet new crocheters and people who were unaware of my work. I spoke to so many people about the positive benefits of our beloved craft that I have spent the last couple of weeks recovering my voice and catching up with some sleep! Garden Coverlet - Marion Howard Spring 1975/6 I have been a fan of the work of legendary knitwear designers Kaffe Fassett and Brandon Mably for many years so I was incredibly flattered that they complimented my work and my use of colour when I bumped into them for a very speedy chat at the show. I often look at patchwork blankets for inspiration for my work and am aware of many traditional designs, but it was a real joy to see more contemporary art quilts at the show. Honestly the skill level was just amazing and the number of quilts on show was flabbergasting. Definitely a great show to add to your diary to visit next year! *** I have been incredibly fortunate to have been able to build my business, quite literally from the kitchen table, to the successful brand it is today. I love my job and still adore designing with crochet and I am incredibly grateful to everyone who supports me by crocheting my designs. Regardless of how my business has grown over the years, it is still incredibly upsetting when my designs are copied and used by others to make a profit. Back in 2019 Dolce and Gabbana copied motifs from both my Frida's Flowers CAL and the Lily Pond blanket and more recently two companies have been promoting cardigans that use my Mystical Lanterns blanket motif without recognition that the original design is mine. ast week I called out these companies - @tach_clothing and @w.ivana.ok over on Instagram - not for my own financial gain but for recognition of where the crochet designs came from in the first place. My designs take me a long time to create and many of you have invested in my brand by purchasing patterns, kits or by following me on social media, so why should companies who have no connection to me be able to ignore my intellectual property and create garments using my designs? Surely it’s more fun and rewarding to design your own crochet than copy that which belongs to others? I have since heard back from the team at Ivana who have apologised for the copy and have added a reference to me on their social media posts. Like many others they said they found tutorial images on Pinterest that labelled the design as 'free' but also admitted they should have been more careful to follow up on where the pattern came from in the first place. I recently did a search on YouTube for videos that show how to make Mystical Lanterns for free and immediately found more than 30 that quickly added up to a viewing figure of more than 430k. These videos (the creators of which receive a payment from YouTube per view) are also in breach of my copyright and cause a pattern to be perpetually shared as free If you are making crochet projects to sell using my designs please be kind enough to acknowledge the design as mine as failure to do so is in breach of my copyright statement. I am happy for home crafters to use the patterns to make small numbers of projects to sell, but doing so on a larger scale, like these companies have done, is not allowed. The Mystical Lanterns blanket is an incredibly popular pattern, so almost a decade after it was first released, we felt it was time to give it a bit of an update. We have created some new colourways and layouts using the Stylecraft range of yarns. We have created one version using Naturals Bamboo + Cotton that we have called Beatrix, another using Special DK named Avice, and a third using ReCreate DK and Highland Heathers DK that we have called Orcadia. You can find a free downloadable document that shows the yarn use for all 3 colourways on the website by following this link. We have kits available to order on the website with a dispatch date of next Monday, but please support your local Stylecraft stockist if you have one as many of them will also be selling the kits. You can find a list of stockists here. *** With Festival of Quilts done and dusted, our next event will be Yarndale towards the end of September. You can find more information here. The current crochet block for my Sprit of Flora CAL has been published in issue 160 of Inside Crochet Magazine and I have named the motif 'Evelyn' after William De Morgan's wife who was a revered artist in her own right. Her most famous work ‘Flora’ was based on Botticelli’s painting ‘The Birth of Venus’ which resides in the Ufizzi Gallery in Florence, where the De Morgan’s spent much of their time. Both paintings feature pink flowers and lots of green foliage, so I used these elements as inspiration for this motif. Image with thanks to the De Morgan Collection Evelyn’s art often had biblical references and her studies of the human form are really skilful, and perhaps the most beautiful is her depiction of Flora, the Roman Goddess of flowers and the season of spring. I am incredibly lucky to have had the blessing of the De Morgan Foundation to use some of their images including that of the portrait of Flora, in which I see something new every time I look at it! Zoom in and look at all the different types of flowers you can see, the birds hiding in the Loquat bush and the exquisite decoration and folds of Flora's robe. The scroll at the bottom is in Italian and the translation is as follows: I come from Florence and I am Flora. That city takes its name from flowers, Among flowers I was born and now I take a new home, In the mountains of Scotland I shall reside. Welcome me and may my treasure, Be dear to you amid the northern mists. I especially love how the spring blooms are falling from Flora's hand and are gathering all around and under her feet. There are so many different types and they are beautifully rendered by Evelyn. I love this painting so much! We did the first photoshoot for the project at The Emery Walker House in Hammersmith and I was so excited to see original De Morgan tiles in the fireplace - if you look at the image above you can see them under the mantel piece. One of the things I have enjoyed most about this CAL is seeing the various colourways people are making. For each published motif I have made a couple more in the same colour palette but have used them in alternate orders - even using the same palette they look completely different! I hope you enjoy this month's flower and that the story behind the inspiration adds a little extra food for thought. I released the Bohemian Blooms Blanket book back in 2017 and it has since been to reprint a couple of times. We have just received our newest reprint, so the book is back on the website for sale. You can find it by following this link. The inspiration for this project came from the work of artists Duncan Grant and Vanessa Bell, in particular, their murals in Berwick Church and the home they shared, Charleston Farmhouse. Grant and Bell were part of the Bloomsbury Group of influential artists, writers, philosophers and intellects who chose to work and study together in the Bloomsbury district of London in the first half of the 20th Century. Originally designed to be an heirloom piece using luxury yarns, we have already reworked the layout and created a version called 'Bloomsbury Garden' using Stylecraft yarns. In addition, Emma May of @pippin_poppycock created a beautiful version which she has allowed us to share - this version is called 'Sussex Garden'. We are currently working on a new version using the original layout of the blanket using some of the newer yarns from the Stylecraft range and will publish some images and the list of the yarns used in the Autumn. The book for this blanket and accompanying (free) YouTube videos give great, clear instructions and are a fabulous way to expand your crochet skills if you're ready for more of a challenge. Crochet retreat alert! Have you heard of Stitchtopia? If not then you may wish to look them up! They create wonderful crafting holidays and retreats for crocheters (and knitters, and quilters and textile lovers of all kinds!) with Arena Travel - a company I have worked with for the last couple of decades!!! One of their most popular retreats - The Stitchtopia Festival - is back in March 2024 and is a brilliant weekend with access to workshops from 8 different experts - including me! I shall be teaching beaded flowers and also how to achieve the perfect crochet finish. There are plenty of other workshops to choose from including knitting techniques with Anna Nikipirowicz and quilting and sewing too. It's a lovely weekend and loads of fun. You can follow this link to view the details of the weekend event, which will take place in March next year, and you can also have a look at some of the other workshop trips on offer, including a rather spectacular Knitting Traditions of Peru holiday next year! I am cutting back on workshops and events next year to make time for more design work. The remaining places on the Peru trip and those on the Stitchtopia weekend are pretty much the only dates I have on offer for next year other than the Festive Workshop I alway run with Debbie Abrahams in November. We love showcasing talented textile designers on our Instagram feed and tend to focus on crochet, but last week we wanted to promote the incredible work of hand knit designer Dee Hardwicke, because we just love her use of colour and pretty style. Dee is a designer and knitter with a rich and diverse portfolio steeped in the artisan traditions of the Arts & Crafts Movement, and is inspired by her love of Britain's ever-changing landscapes, parks and cottage gardens. Dee says she loves 'translating my sketches and watercolours into gorgeous, nature-inspired knits and colourwork motifs, which can be used and treasured for years to come. She also says ‘there's something incredibly special about the way that knitting combines art, craft and practicality but most of all I love the way that knitting weaves all of us and our stories together.’ If you haven’t come across Dee’s work before then we urge you to take a look. If you are not a knitter then you might want to look at her tableware, stationery and mat designs too. We think it's impossible to look at Dee's instagram page without smiling - it is just the most glorious riot of colour and the desk photos are just delicious - you might need to set aside a full cup of tea time for a browse! This Celery and Mushroom Roast is a recipe that Sarah's lovely mum used to make for dinner back in the 1970s. The recipe has become a firm favourite in Sarah's family ever since and when Andy and I tried it a few weeks ago we instantly agreed that it was one of those deliciously easy recipes that we should all have in our repertoire, so I am really happy that Sarah agreed that I could share it with you. Sarah is not sure where her mum found the recipe as she copied the handwritten recipe into her own collection. Celery and Mushroom Roast 125g mushrooms 1 medium sized head of celery 125g cheddar cheese 50g butter 50g breadcrumbs or dried biscuit 1 egg tsp Marmite tsp sage seasoning Wash the celery and chop into small pieces. Cook in the butter in a saucepan for 20 minutes. Chop the mushrooms and add to the celery and cook for a further 15 minutes. Add the grated cheese, breadcrumbs, beaten egg, Marmite and seasoning. Place the mixture in a greased baking dish and bake in a moderate oven, (Sarah usually uses 180 degrees), for 45 mins. Leave to stand for about 10 mins before serving. Yum! I am often asked about my home. I think people imagine it is filled floor to ceiling with blankets and yarn, but in fact we only have a couple of blankets in the living room (Sandalwood & Royal Garden) and most of my crochet stuff is kept in the studio - apart from the obligatory yarn stash at the side of the sofa of course! It has been such a busy year, with so many work commitments, that I have struggled to feel connected to my home. We have become a bit lazy with food prep, housework and maintenance and so I have been feeling decidedly out of love with my little bungalow, but as the pressure of deadlines is lifting and I have a little more free time, I am beginning to feel that urge to sort out my surroundings. Here are a few shots taken in the house a few days ago. I have a version of The Spirit of Flora CAL on the settee as I have been working on it and we have a couple of the Emma Ball cushions on the bed. A few years ago I started a Janie Crow Lifestyle feed on Instagram, but have badly neglected it over the last year. As I feel my life opening up to the joys of being at home again I hope to post on it more often - you can find it by following @janiecrowlifestyle As the weather starts to become a little more autumnal I wonder if my newly found desire to sort out my home is a nesting instinct - maybe its part of getting ready for the winter when the garden becomes more of a no go area and the house becomes our sanctuary. Sarah and her husband Paul are coming to stay with us this weekend so we are really looking forward to spending some time with them. The weather looks set to be relatively fine, so we are hoping to spend some time in the garden and taking some local walks as well as popping into town to see some sights on Sunday. I hope that wherever you are, and whatever you have planned, that you will have a great weekend and that all is good in your world. Janie x
The weather here has been pretty dismal over the last few days and at times it has even seemed a little autumnal, with lots of rain. Despite the fact that the garden is grateful for the water, the lack of warmth up here in the studio has got me hoping that some brighter weather will appear over the weekend and into next week. Fingers crossed! I have a few bits to tell you about this week and you can find more information about what we have been chatting about on social media lower down this email. I have also added links to quite a few projects. We have a price increase coming at the beginning of August (that's next week!) in line with the rise in the trade prices of yarn, so now might be a good time to grab a kit or two in time for the autumn. We have good stock of quite a few of our kits including our best sellers - Sandalwood and Eastern Jewels. I hope this quick catch up email finds you well, that you are all safe and sound and that you have a few minutes spare to catch up with all things Janie Crow. Emma and I have been seeing quite a lot of posts on social media that talk about Christmas in July so we started wondering whether any of our southern hemisphere friends take part in any Christmas in July events. Emma created a post on Instagram this week that I thought I would share here - would love to know what you think: We have seen this phrase plenty of times this year, but mostly relating to lovely crafts rather than gatherings or celebrations, but we understand that lots of people arrange parties and gatherings to celebrate together in colder weather. We would love to hear about any that you might be involved in! For those of us in the northern hemisphere, when our summer gets a bit steamy, the thought of cooler months to come, and invoking that with a little dip into a festive project, might be just what you fancy, or maybe you're just a person who is wonderfully organised and likes to start Christmas prep nice and early. We know lots of lovely people like that too. So what other benefits are there to get a bit festive a wee bit early? Well, apart from anything else, many of the Christmas Decoration patterns are brilliant for using up leftovers. You could make little stockings to create an advent calendar or tree decorations - they’re a great size to pop little daily treats in! Following our recent post about the new versions of Mystical Lanterns, perhaps you love the project but don't want to commit to a full blanket: festive solution ahoy! Make a row of the motifs, fill in with half and side motifs (here is the link the blog posts to show you how), add the edging and some little bells and voila - a sumptuous and dare we say, all year round bunting! We wondered if we could get festive in the summer months and it took about 5 seconds to realise that yes, we absolutely could! Crocheting small and pretty things is completely appropriate isn't it, whatever the time of year. *** Following on from our festive post, we are still casting glances in the direction of Christmas and within Wednesdays Instagram post we wondered if any of you were planning to make and gift a larger project this year? Once summer has been packed away and autumn arrives, it seems moments before we are rushing around trying to fit in all the things we had planned during those times when we had the luxury of the long months stretching ahead of us. Christmas really does seem to hurtle towards us at lightning speed every year, mostly catching us out totally unawares! With that in mind, if you’re one of the very kind souls who have chosen to make and gift a blanket to a loved one, it might be an excellent time to start! Blankets can take many months to complete, especially since we generally have such a lot of “life” we have to take care of before we can sit down with hook and yarn. We love a Christmas Eve cast on project but imagine a “comfortably finished by Halloween” one feels just as amazing! We’ve included some of our favourite photos here to give you some inspiration and you can of course have a browse on the website. Every year we have the best intentions, perhaps this year will be the one they come to fruition! There never seems to be enough time does there? I think that is why, when we receive a handmade gift, it’s so incredibly generous and touching: the gift itself is wonderful, but it’s the time that has been gifted with it that’s so valuable and humbling. The hours of work that went into it – the maker chose to spend those hours on us. Those are the things that make handmade things so very precious. After some scorching weather in June, July has turned into a month of much more variable weather and so over on Facebook Gemma turned the spotlight on the Sunshine & Showers blanket, which was originally released as a crochet along back in 2016. This isn't a blanket that we often see different colour schemes for but we thought you might like to see Stephanie Davison's version as it's so unusual and effective in its use of fewer colours than the original. We also took a look back at another crochet along, the Climbing Rose Wrap. This originally appeared over 4 issues of Inside Crochet during 2019 and was inspired by the William Morris fabric design 'The Strawberry Thief' along with the 'Molly Blue' design by Fryetts Fabrics, which perfectly encapsulated the colour palette I wanted to use. Some of my CAL designs have taken me months to design and make, whilst others, have been quite quick. The design for the Climbing Rose Wrap was a really speedy one once I set to crocheting and I really enjoyed interpreting elements of Morris’s fabric design in my crochet. The flowers within the original design are not easy to identify exactly, so I looked at traditional Victorian garden flowers and used these as the basis for my motifs, hence the fact that they are called Day Lily, Rambling Rose and Anemone. Here's Becky Rolfe modelling her wrap. Margaret MCCauley made a square version. Thank you, as always, for sharing your photos with us. We do look at them all and so enjoy seeing your colourways and interpretations of the designs. As we're in the thick of courgette season we thought we'd show you this lovely Greek recipe combining courgettes, orzo, feta and lemon. We tested the recipe we found here out on Sarah while she was with us last week for step-by-step photography for my new book. It was really tasty, but a little gloopy thanks to the starch from the pasta, so I really recommend using a higher end brand of orzo or part cooking it to remove some of the starch before hand. If you do a search for recipes that use courgettes with pasta and feta you will find a lot! The recipe we used was really lovely and lemony but I have since found another that uses fresh thyme - something I really love, so I will definitely be giving this one a go too. You can find the recipe by following this link or by clicking on the image above. We have shared this before, but we have been reminded about it again over the last couple of weeks. This wonderful little animation on YouTube is called Lost & Found. It really had us on the edge of our seats! A crochet dinosaur is desperate to save the love of his life and makes the ultimate sacrifice! Apparently the film was shortlisted for an Oscar in 2019 and you can also watch a behind the scenes video here. After a weekend of teaching and a busy time doing step-by-step photography for my new book last week I really struggled to get out of bed most days this week and could quite happily have sneaked back to the bedroom for a quick nap! But, as usual, there have been a long list of things that needed to be done, so I am really looking forward to a little bit of downtime over the weekend. We are going away for a few days to celebrate our wedding anniversary and I am planning which crochet projects to take with me so that I can grab some of that all important crochet time. I still treasure my crochet time and see it as a bit of a reward in the evening - a way to clear my mind and mull over the events of the day. I use my crochet as a tool to look after myself. I think the maths and continuous counting helps my little grey cells and the complexity of my designs keeps my brain problem solving and concentrating. The rhythmic action of my hook helps to keep me calm and relaxed. July has been World Self Care Month. An event that promotes the importance of maintaining our own health and that of those around us. Self Care month is about empowering people to be active agents in their own healthcare and I definitely feel that my crochet plays a part in my own well being. I would love to know if your crochet helps you feel the same way and what other practices you have created to help look after your own well being. Janie x
Crocheted flowers are pretty much my favourite thing to make and I adore adding beads into my work too, so the Gertrude cushion project was a real joy to design and make. I wanted to create a vintage feel and chose my yarn shades accordingly. I think the little lime green beads provide a lovely pop of colour on the leaves of the dainty crochet blooms. I adored the velvet smocked cushions that my Auntie Muriel had on her bed when I was a child in the 1970s. I used to love running my fingers over the velvet pile and found the smocked stitching fascinating. The cushions were just so enticing and luxurious that I remember thinking that I would definitely have some on my bed when I was old enough! I have previously recreated the style of these cushions in a knit design I called Madeleine, which was published in my book ‘Homespun Vintage’, but I have always wanted to create a crochet version too. When working on the Muriel cushion project I decided to add pretty bobbles instead of smocked style stitching to make a simple accompaniment to my Gertrude cushion, which features pretty flowers and beads. I have always struggled with the way crochet worked in the round can look like it has a ‘scar’ running through it, so my challenge for this project was to design something that would hide the way slip stitches appear without having to fasten off yarns at the end of every round. The paper brochure copy of the Gertrude Cushion is available in UK and US terms in our store here. You can download it via Ravelry or Etsy. The pattern for the round Muriel Cushion is a free download. You can find the UK version here, and the US version here. The patterns for both the cushions were previously published in issue 147 of Inside Crochet Magazine. Thanks to the magazine and Mavric photography for the lovely images. The name of a repeated tessellating design, like the one I have used in the Mystical Lanterns blanket, is called an ‘Ogee’ pattern in Arabesque design. It took me a few weeks to get the design of these blocks right; initially I came up with lots of complicated ways to create this motif, but in the end, it was so simple – funny how sometimes a design process can take so long, and the outcome can be so easy to make! The Mystical Lanterns blanket is an incredibly popular pattern, so almost a decade after it was first released, we felt it was time to give it a bit of an update. We have created some new colourways and layouts using the Stylecraft range of yarns. We have created one version using Naturals Bamboo + Cotton that we have called Beatrix, another using Special DK named Avice, and a third using ReCreate DK and Highland Heathers DK that we have called Orcadia. Beatrix Colourway The colour palette for the Beatrix version was chosen by Stylecraft Brand Manager, Annabelle Hill, who owns a painting of the walled garden at Waterperry Gardens that inspired her choices. Annabelle once lived near the gardens and visited a couple of times a month with her children when they were small. Annabelle says it is the most magical place that was founded by two women, Beatrix Havergal and her partner Avice Sanders in the 1930s. The yarn used in this colour way is Stylecraft Naturals Bamboo + Cotton. The Avice version is very similar in colour but uses Special DK. Orcadia Colourway The colour palette for this version was chosen by me and was inspired by a visit to St Magnus’s Cathedral and the Italian Chapel in Orkney, Scotland. The Cathedral is built from rich red bricks, and it features the most incredible tiled floor within its interior with intricate patterns in shades of red, brown, and yellow. The Italian Chapel is also a real treat with a lovely interior and pretty hand painted windows, which bathe the chapel in blue, yellow and pink colours when the sun shines. You can find a free downloadable document that shows the yarn use for all 3 colourways on the website by following this link. We have kits available to order on the website with a dispatch date of next Monday, but please support your local Stylecraft stockist if you have one as many of them will also be selling the kits. You can find a list of stockists here. We have re-stocked kits for the Fiori blanket. Fiori is a collaborative project between myself and Lucia Dunn of @luciasfigtree. The original design is Fields of Gold and the new colour palette was chosen by Lucia, using a trip to her home in the Dolomites, Italy as inspiration. The original kit used a limited edition yarn, but because of this we struggled to keep up with the demand for kits for this beautiful project. This newer version uses 16 shades of Stylecraft yarn instead and is as colourful as you’d expect from a palette where Lucia is involved! The change in palette moves the project from the sunny French inspired field of sunflowers and poppies to a meadow of Italian wildflowers and flashes of glorious sunsets and cheerful window-boxes. Lucia's colour choices are always absolutely glorious: look out on our website for Primavera and Eastern Jewels, her beautiful versions of Frida's Flowers and Persian Tiles respectively. It is constantly inspiring and joyful to see you apply your own colours to my designs and to witness the change of mood your own interpretations bring. Never stop experimenting! Also, as always, this is a fantastic stash busting project too and 'scrappy' is just as beautiful as meticulously planned The kits are available on the website and include all the yarn you need for the project, the printed Fields of Gold pattern, a printed yarn substitution brochure and a Janie Crow sew in label. Lucia also has the yarn substitution document available on her website, so do go and have a visit there if you would rather not get a kit. When we were sat at Bordeaux airport waiting for our return flight from the workshop trip to France last year it occurred to us that we were very close to Morocco, so after this month's workshop we made a little detour in order to spend a few days in Marrakech before we headed home. It is an incredible city with colour and inspiration around every corner. I have hundreds of photos from our tours and am totally in love with it! There are painted doors, ceilings and panels - an abundance of inspiration in these alone, so when mixed with mosaics, carvings and textiles you can imagine what a sensory overload it is! There is surface pattern absolutely everywhere in Marrakech, even in our Riad where my crochet flowers looked so perfect left on the top of the dresser with the tiled floor below. 10 years ago, in 2013, I designed a crochet along project inspired by a series of tiles I saw on display at the V&A museum here in London. The design was only available for members of the CAL group that year but I had so many requests to release a pattern for something similar that I used a particular star style tile as the catalyst for the design. The resulting pattern was Persian Tiles which I released in 2015. When I was in Marrakech last week I saw many fabulous examples of Moroccan tile design and am already so inspired by my trip. I am considering putting together yet another colourway of the Persian Tiles design based on the shades I saw there. Let me know what you think. Can you stand to see yet another version of the design using shades inspired by Moroccan tiles? I released the Bohemian Blooms Blanket book back in 2017 and it has since been to reprint a couple of times. We have just received our newest reprint, so the book is back on the website for sale. You can find it by following this link. How are you enjoying the Spirit of Flora CAL? We are absolutely loving the growing numbers of posts at the #spiritofflora tag on Instagram. It's incredible to see the groups of blocks together as well - they look magnificent and because the team here at Janie Crow are slightly weird and a little bit nerdy, we have been wondering how many cumulative hours of work and metres of yarn have been used so far on this project. If only there was a way to know for sure! For now we'll make the educated guess of a gazillion of each! We have had quite a lot of people asking about how to access the cal patterns. You can find subscription offers via Inside Crochet Magazine and you can also purchase back copies. The CAL runs in magazine numbers 154 to 164 so we are only half way through - plenty of time left to get involved! I would love it if you are able to do a bit of stash diving to create your project but we have starter packs, which contains a ball of each of the shades I have used for my blanket, back in stock. Working crochet in a freeform way - with no pattern or technical guidance from anyone else - is a really freeing way of creating a fabulously unique crochet fabric. It is incredibly mindful and great fun to do and (as usual with a crochet technique) it is totally addictive. I first came across this crochet artfrom via the work of Prudence Mapstone @freeformprudence and I follow quite a few freeform artists here on Instagram these days with one of my favourites being José Dammers @Josedammers who creates the most beautiful crochet pieces. José’s work focusses on the human face, sometimes abstracted and often decorated with flowers and crochet scrumbles, and always photographed in such an inspiring way. If you have never worked in a freeform way before and want some more information or tutorials you can find lots of information and videos on line. Do take a look at José’s feed on Instagram and follow the link to her online courses. Her work is a total joy! Being away in France and then in Morocco means that we have been treated to some really lovely meals over the last few weeks. If I am honest it has been a bit of a trial having to think about food preparation this week, so I don't have a definitive recipe to offer to you. That said, we have been having quite a lot of salad based meals - always extra nice when the weather is good. One of our favourite combinations, which we discovered a few years ago, is a salad made of water melon, feta cheese and mint. It really is delicious. I am not sure you really need a recipe for this - but you will get the idea by following this link. Another great salad is the pairing of creamy blue cheese with pears and we love the rustic Italian salad (great for using up left over bread) called Panzanella - you can find a recipe here. We will be exhibiting at The Festival of Quilts in August. We are really looking forward to the show, especially as it is one we have not done before. We hope to see you there - you can find tickets and information by following this link. The weather has turned a bit cold and wet today and I am feeling a little chilly here in the summer house, which is a bit of a shock after the last few weeks of warm weather. I am heading off to the coast with a group of my girlfriends this weekend, so I might need to replace the sun tops and suncream I have packed in my bag with a brolly and some more sensible shoes! Next week is set to be ultra busy here, with a step-by-step photo shoot for my new book taking place on Wednesday and Thursday. Sarah is coming to stay for a few days to help me, so I am really looking forward to that. I will try to remember to post some images on Instagram, so keep a look out. I hope that wherever you are, and whatever you have planned that you will have a great weekend and that you stay safe. Janie x
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AuthorWelcome to my blog. Here you will find my email newsletter archive alongside any other general musings or information about events or new pattern releases that I wish to share with you! Archives
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