So here we are in April, with Easter just around the corner! The weather has been bright and sunny, if not a little chilly still, and the garden is full of beautiful tulips and a few remaining daffodils, so I am happy!
 
I have had a busy couple of weeks again, with a lovely workshop trip to Switzerland in the mix and lots of exercise and fresh air, plus a good dose of yarny fun too! I hope that you have been having a lovely time lately too and that life is treating you well. I also hope that you have a few minutes to catch up with this month's news from Janie Crow! 

We have partnered with the fantastic team at Wool Warehouse to create a yarn kit for my Marrakesh version of Persian Tiles using their gorgeous YARNSMITHS Merino DK Superwash yarn. You can find the kit here.
 
To celebrate the release of this fabulous kit, which contains all the yarn and the printed yarn substitution document, you can currently get 40% off the price and save yourself more than £60! 
 
As the colour palette in the YARNSMITHS Merino DK Superwash is so large (with 120 colours to choose from) this version of the blanket is pretty much identical to my original version, which was made using Stylecraft Yarns - you can find a link to the original kit lower down this email. 
 
The new kits, that use the Merino DK yarn, have been selling really fast, so if they are out of stock by the time you head over to the Wool Warehouse website, be sure to register your interest by clicking on the Wish List icon.

The Marrakesh version of Persian Tiles was inspired by a trip I made there a couple of years ago, when I was lucky enough to visit the stunning gardens that surround the Yves Saint Laurent Museum. I was blown away by the incredible colours, shapes and patterns contained within its walls.
 
Le Jardin Marjorelle was created by French artist Jacques Marjorelle over the course of almost four decades from 1923 and was later purchased by Yves Saint Laurent and his partner Pierre Bergé who restored and maintained it to create the incredible location it is today.

The Marrakesh blanket also features on some new tins within the Emma Ball range, you can find them by following this link.
 
This week we have also added a new bone china mug and a draw string bag design to the range. They both feature my pretty beaded flowers and decorations and I am really happy with how they have turned out! 

I found an abundance of inspirational surface pattern, including the Giacometti murals in the entrance hall of the police station, stained glass windows by Marc Chagall and some made using agate designed by Sigmar Polka in the Grossmünster. We also saw lots of murals painted on buildings and pretty spring flowers – the weather was fabulous too! ​

Andy has recently discovered an app called ReciMe that allows you to import recipe videos from platforms such as Instagram and then gives you a break down of the ingredients and method used. It is a great way of keeping track of recipes we see online and we have already made quite a few of those we have saved over the last couple of weeks.
 
A particularly nice one is this Spinach and Feta Lentil bread, by Thyme 4 Cooking, which Andy has now made a couple of times. He used a light Feta and didn't add any oil and it was still delicious hot or cold.

​We have been posting images on social media as part of our Decade of Design celebrations and it has been so lovely to see all your positive responses to some of my older designs. 
 
I posted images of Frida's Flowers last week and will be focusing on the Mexican Diamonds and Delft blankets next week. These designs still seem relatively new to me, so it is amazing to think that they are almost a decade old, with both of them released in 2016! 

Andy and I are over the half way mark on our eight week exercise and diet programme. With just three weeks left now, we have really started to see some changes and it has been a really great way to reset and look at the areas of our lives that may have been a little out of control. I really thought I would miss sugar and hard cheeses like cheddar more than I have. That said, I am really looking forward to the first week in May when we can start having a few treats again! Especially as I brought literally kilos of chocolate back from Switzerland! 
 
We are really looking forward to exhibiting at the Wonderwool yarn show in Wales in a fortnight's time. There are still tickets available for the show, so if you fancy coming along to say hi, you can find them here. 
 
I have six weeks at home now (apart from going to Wonderwool) so I am really looking forward to some settled time and getting back to my crochet projects. I hope that wherever you are and whatever you have going on, that life is treating you well and that you are also looking forward to a lovely weekend.
 
I will be back in a fortnight's time, when I hope that we will have all the components of our Zero to Granny project ready to share, so until then, keep safe and have fun with your yarn! 

Hello, Gemma here, bringing you the April temperature recording chart (you can find a link to it below) and confessing to have fallen behind with my blanket! Something had to give over the last month and prioritising my Bohemian Blooms blanket after having neglected it for quite a while seemed like the right thing to do. My poor old hands can't crochet for hours on end these days. The school holidays are approaching though, so I'm hoping for lots of extra time to work on my squares. 

You can download the April temperature chart here.

We've had some crazy fluctuations in temperature this month here in North London, reaching the dizzying heights of 17 degrees celcius back in the second week of March, before dropping back to 7 degrees a few days later.  I'm a couple of weeks behind now on my squares but have been diligently recording the daily temperatures. There's definitely going to be an interesting 'blip' in the colours on the blanket, showing that unusually warm week in the early part of the month. 

If you have been doing the join as you go method with your squares you should now be getting a sense of how large the blanket is going to be as you will be well along your second strip of motifs now (assuming of course, you are keeping up, unlike me!). Here are a couple of progress pics of my blanket so far. I'm a couple of weeks behind, although that only translates into two squares, so when I look at it like that, it's not really a big deal is it?

It's a glorious day today, I have washing blowing on the line outside. It's slightly too windy to be comfortable for working in the garden but the sky is clear and blue, just lovely. I wonder if Emma has her washing out... She mentioned she was looking forward to that in last month's blog. I feel very middle-aged saying it but there's nothing quite like washing that's had a good blow on the line! I think April is one of my favourite months.

Do share pics of your progress on our social media channels and don't forget to use the hashtag #janiecrowtempblanket25 so we can easily find your posts. 

Until next month, happy hooking! 

It has been a pleasure to sit down with my crochet hook this week and try out a new and exciting yarn range that will be coming from West Yorkshire Spinners in the autumn. The British yarn is just lovely and the colour palette is divine, so I have lost quite a few hours playing with it! I had forgotten how fast time flies by when I am crocheting and so I have found myself chasing my tail on a few other projects this week!
 
I will be heading off to tutor a workshop trip to Switzerland next week, so I have been putting the final touches to the project and sorting out yarn packs for the participants. My crochet has had to take a bit of a back seat for a few days as a result, but I will be packing it all away in my suitcase to accompany me on my trip.
 
I have a few things to tell you about this week and Gemma has also been busing adding some interesting items to this Quick Catch Up email, so I hope you have a few minutes to catch up with all things Janie Crow!  

I often get emails and messages from companies who would like me to promote their goods, but I don't like the idea of clogging up my social media platforms with third party posts and I also don't want to be associated with paid for promotions, so, as a general rule, I don't get involved. About a month ago, however, a company who make the most beautiful crochet hooks contacted me asking If I would consider collaborating, and once I saw the beauty of the items they are making, I was totally sold on promoting their fabulous work - fee free of course! 
 
The company are called Letto Workshop and their products are hand made by artisans in Ukraine. You can find their Instagram profile here and their website here.
 
Letto have kindly sent me a couple of hooks to try out, but I thought it would be great to run a giveaway instead to give you guys a chance to win one of them. If you would like to try winning a hook, head across to our Instagram feed for more information. Please note that you need to be in the UK (sorry to those of you elsewhere) to be in with a chance of winning.

We released the pattern for the Catalina Pouch in the autumn and at the time we made the decision not to create a kit for the project as the high end yarn I used from the Rowan range works out very expensive for such a small project. However, the bag is a great stash busting project and is great for using up small left over bits of yarn and I think it would look great made using lots of alternative colour palettes.
 
To line my crochet pouch I used a pre made bag from the Clever Baggers, company, but we found out recently that they charge a high postage cost to anywhere outside of the UK, so Andy has added some of the bags to our store so that you can get them through us. You can find the patterns and the pre-made bags by following this link.

We have some new items in stock from the Emma Ball range. They include some new tins that feature the Marrakesh version of Persian Tiles, Mexican Diamonds and some of my crochet flowers. You can find the new tins by following this link.
 
We also have a new tote bag that features the Mexican Diamonds pattern. You can find it by following this link.

At the beginning of the month Emma chose this lovely image of temperature blanket squares that she found on Instagram to let everybody know that the new chart for recording March's daily temperatures was available to download over on the blog. Thank you to @crafts_r_us for sharing her lovely pic! ​

2025 marks 10 years since the release of the Lily Pond crochet along blanket design and we have started a series of posts on both Facebook and Instagram celebrating, one by one, all the designs that have been released by Janie Crow over the past decade. 
 
The patterns for the Lily Pond CAL are still available to download for free via the Stylecraft website here.

Thank you to all of you who have taken the time to share your project photos with us. We love seeing your work. ​

​There was an interesting article published in the Guardian back in January this year focusing on how younger people are starting to take up hobbies like knitting as an alternative to constant screen time. 
 
The individuals featured in the article had different reasons and motivations for taking up a new hobby and some interesting points were made around the culture of ‘fast fashion’ and over-consumption within the programme, with many of the new crafters realising how much time and effort is involved in making your own garment.
 
You can read more here or click on the image below. 

We will be exhibiting at Wonderwool Wales in just over four weeks time. We will be in our usual position on stand W1 in Hall 3. 
 
Tickets for the show are still available and you can find them by following this link. Sarah, Paul, Andy and myself love being at this show and it would be fabulous to see you there! 

Production began this month of the new Channel 4 show ‘Game of Wool’, which will be hosted by the lovely Tom Daley. The competition will be set against the picturesque countryside of rural Scotland, and each episode will see the contestants set two challenges: a group project, where they’ll be working together in teams, as well as an individual one where they’ll take on briefs that will really test their capabilities and skill level.
 
Each week, the competitors must create a whole host of unique makes and larger than life sculptural pieces – all made from yarn. These include clothing, jewellery, home accessories, furniture, sculptures and possibly even a spot of ‘yarn bombing’. 
 
It will be interesting to see how well the arts of knitting and crochet translate to the screen when the programme is aired in the winter. You can read more about the show by clicking on the image above and you can follow Game of Wool on Instagram by following this link.

Gemma took a brief pause from her hard work on the Bohemian Blooms blanket to knock up a warm hat for her daughter which she found in the book ‘Crochet Messy Bun Hats’ by Kristi Simpson. Hats are a great stash-busting project and can also be very motivating because they work up pretty quickly. You can have a read of Gemma's review of the book over on the blog here. 
 
If you like the look of the book and want your own copy, you can get a 20% discount and free postage by using the code DD88 at checkout on the Search Press website here. 

It feels like an awfully long time since I've been updating you with my progress on Bohemian Blooms. In fact, I've just had a quick look back at the blog and it was actually the end of November! 
 
Well, I hear you say, surely you've finished it by now…..​

I haven't finished, but good progress has been made, with all of the Virginia motifs completed, another Fitzroy done, and two more on a production line and almost finished. Last time I had added the Trinity and Omega motifs to the central nine squares, which really helped the project start to feel like it was coming together.
 
I've now made up three of the four sides and added those to that central panel. I quite like interspersing the making up tasks with the crocheting as it keeps things interesting for me and I'm less likely to get bored and wander off to do something else, like start a new project instead! 

Of course, in my rush to get panels joined, I made a bit of an error. I wonder if anyone can spot my (not so) deliberate mistake? I decided to run with it and leave it as it is, as I wasn't prepared to take the panels apart again and I don't think it detracts too much from the overall appearance, but I did give myself a stern talking to! I'll reveal all next month, when hopefully the fourth side should have been added and the remaining two Bloomsbury motifs completed. 
 
One final observation is that I am incredibly happy at this point in time that I have been sewing in my ends as I've gone along! Although there are a few remaining from the joining that has been done, all the ends on the motifs that have been joined have been sewn in and that feels good! 

This really is working up into a beautiful blanket and I'm so glad I decided to make it. It feels luxurious and special and although it is perhaps taking longer to make than I had intended, it feels like all time spent on it is part of the investment it represents. See you next month. ​

For this week's recipe Gemma has chosen a savoury dish that always goes down well in her house: a mushroom quiche. For the shortcrust pastry Gemma always uses a half and half mixture of wholemeal and white plain flour, just to tweak the healthiness factor up a notch, and a couple of different mushrooms, usually chestnut mushrooms and one other variety. 
 
Gemma says that it's always surprisingly quick to knock up a quiche, particularly if you use a food processor to make the pastry and it works just as well as part of a more traditional meal with potatoes and veg, as it does with a lovely salad on the side. 
 
Here's a link to the James Martin recipe that Gemma uses, or you can click on the image below. Looks delicious doesn't it! 

Summer and Chris's puppy Stoick (pronounced Stowick not Stoyck) is growing so fast and is a real whirlwind at times. He has had all his jabs so can run his zoomies around the garden rather than around the house, which is a bit of a relief for everyone! We pup-sit most weeks and so I make that at time when I look at emails and social media, as getting my yarn and hook out isn't worth the risk of being mugged! 
 
We are looking forward to seeing Stoick and his Mum and Dad tomorrow.

As I said already, I am off to Zurich next week, so I will be spending some time over the next few days sorting out my clothes and lining up my luggage. The trip to Switzerland is with Stitchtopia holidays so we have a packed itinerary, which not only includes workshops and city tours, but also entry to the Swiss Yarn Festival and a guided tour of the Lindt chocolate factory. I am really looking forward to meeting the group on Tuesday and I am sure we will all have a fabulous time. If you fancy joining a similar trip in the future, you can find details of all the craft holidays on the Stitchtopia website here.

Well, that's pretty much it form me for another couple of weeks. Don't forget that the clocks go forward by an hour on Saturday night/Sunday morning here in the UK and so we will get an hour less in bed. Longer days are the reward though, so it's totally worth losing a little sleep!
 
Until next time, stay safe and enjoy your knitting and crochet! 

Whilst we have had some lovely weather this month there have still been some chilly snaps, with hats and gloves needed for going out. I love making hats as they can be worked up pretty quickly and can be very motivating when you are also working on a longer-term project at the same time. I've been enjoying getting on with my Bohemian Blooms blanket this month but when that doesn't quite suit the mood, a quick project such as a hat or pair of mitts, always provides an interesting and speedy distraction. On that basis the book I chose for this month is 'Crochet Messy Bun Hats' by Kristi Simpson (Stackpole Books 2024, ISBN 978-0-8117-7469-7).

I liked the idea of making something a little bit different this time and as my 17 year old daughter often wears her hair in a bun or ponytail a hat with a hole in the top seemed like a great idea. The other reason I quite like making hats/mitts is that they are good for using a small amount of yarn and when you have one or two balls left over from a previous project it's always particularly satisfying to find a use for them. I had a couple of balls of Rico Design Fashion Diayamondo in my stash. It's a lovely sparkly yarn with a 30% wool content so should provide the warmth needed in a hat and it works well as a substitute for the aran (medium, worsted) weight yarn used in most of the patterns in the book. I think it's discontinued now so there wouldn't be an option to get more to make a bigger item so ideal for this use. 

There are twelve patterns in the book, all with a difficulty rating of easy or intermediate, so most of them should definitely be achievable for  crocheters with limited experience, although I wouldn't say they were ideal for complete beginners. I decided to make 'Juniper', a top down make, with only basic stitches used and no ribbing. The patterns are clearly written, in a font size that is clear and comfortable to read. US terms are used throughout. 

I worked on the hat over a couple of evenings so it was just a few hours work in total and then roped Olivia in to model it for me. I'm rather pleased with the end result! 

​What kind of makes do you reach for when you need a break from a bigger project? Let me know in the comments if there are any particular things you would like me to feature when choosing my book of the month for review. 

'Crochet Messy Bun Hats' is available widely online but but if you are in the UK you can purchase this book, and others, through Search Press with a 20% discount and free delivery, by using the discount code DD88.

I'll be back in April with another book choice and hopefully by then Spring will have 'sprung' in earnest! 

March has brought some wonderful weather and it has been so good to finally feel the sunshine on our faces! The last couple of days have been a touch colder again, and there is a bit of rain around here in North London, but there is blossom on the tress and the light has much improved, so I am a happy bunny!  
 
It has been a really busy couple of weeks since I was last here and I will admit to being a little tired after a trip to Cologne at the weekend and a back to back jaunt to Scotland from Monday to late evening on Wednesday. I am hoping to have a good bit of rest at the weekend so that I can catch up with my sleep a little, but it is exciting to have so much going on. I hope you can spare a few minutes to catch up with all my news in this month's newsletter.

This year marks ten years since I released the Lily Pond CAL design in association with Stylecraft Yarns, so over the next few months we will be celebrating a decade of design by posting images of my back catalogue of projects in release date order on our social media channels.
 
We will be kicking off by featuring the Imogen blanket, which was one of my first stand alone crochet patterns, and then we will work right through to present day, hopefully in time to coincide with the release of new projects for the autumn. I could not have ever imagined the amazing response that my designs would create and I am so grateful for all your incredible support ever since.
 
I am hoping there will be a new CAL design this year, and some stand alone project patterns, including a those for a few garments, but the crazy thing is that as my business has grown, I seem to be getting less and less time to crochet. Hopefully 2025 will be another year of great designs though, so long as I can get myself in gear! 

Andy and I headed off to Cologne on the train last Friday to visit the H+H textile and handicrafts trade show. We had originally decided that we wouldn’t visit this year as we were there last year, but then we found out that crochet designer, Shelley Husband, aka Spin Cushions, was planning to be there and Emma Ball also took on a stand in order to showcase all her lovely products, including those from the Janie Crow brand, so we decided we just had to go! 
 
Travelling by train is one of my favourite things and living in London means that it is easy for us to use the Eurostar. We were lucky to miss the disruption at Paris on Friday, which was caused by an unexploded WW2 bomb and arrived in Cologne early evening after a train change in Brussels, which meant we managed to grab a refreshing pint of beer and buy some Belgian chocolate in the supermarket between trains!
 
The show is unlike anything we see in the UK. It spans three floors of the Koelnmesse exhibition centre and there is so much yarn, fabric and accessories on display that it is really hard to decide where to start! 

We saw some great yarns, including a fabulous new range from West Yorkshire Spinners, which launches in the autumn. I can’t wait to tell you more about it soon, as the palette is just a dream and the inspiration behind it is totally my kind of thing.
 
The show is a great place to see the trends for the forthcoming seasons. There are still lots of self striping and ‘space dyed’ yarns, as well as fluffy, mohair styles and lurex appear to be making a big come back. The Lang Yarns stand had some fabulous garments on display and many of the stands focussed on crochet as well as knitting, which was great to see.

We spent a little time with Emma Ball on her stand on the Saturday afternoon of the show and it was great to hear how many people admire her work. For me, it was also a real treat to see the Janie Crow branded items on display. I am so grateful to Emma and her team for their incredible support over the last couple of years.
 
Emma has created some new items, including draw string bags, tins and mugs, that feature my crochet flowers, so I will let you know when these come into stock – the new mugs are especially fab! 
 
You can find the current collection of Emma Ball and Janie Crow goodies over on the website by following this link.
 
As well as walking the show floors we were able to catch up with some of our friends from within the industry and it was good to spend some time walking around Cologne, especially as the weather was so kind to us. 

Andy and I have taken on a bit of a challenge and have signed up to an eight-week diet and fitness programme, so we have been more aware of the ‘macro’ element of our food choices over the last couple of days. Cake, crisps, sugar and alcohol are out of the window, so I have been searching the web for food that is higher in protein and lower in carbohydrate so that we can stick to the plan.
 
Getting a good balance of protein can be harder when you’re vegetarian, so we already monitor our diet to some extent and, as we also try to avoid over processed food, I have stocked up on some veg and pulses that are naturally a higher source of protein.

I know that green peas and tofu are a both really good sources of protein and I wanted to find a recipe for a dip or that I can use as a tasty addition to a salad, but all of the recipes I found had avocado in them, something I want to avoid for a while as they are such a water thirsty crop and there is a lot of evidence to suggest that we should eat fewer of them from an environmental point of view.
 
I found this recipe on the Veggie Desserts web site but replaced the chickpeas with smoked tofu and it is really delicious! 

My lovely friend and fellow designer Debbie Abrahams is heading down to stay with me this weekend and so I am really looking forward to some, shopping and yarny chat. We haven't caught up properly for ages, other than for tutoring workshops, so I am really looking forward to seeing her. 
 
We recently launched a joint workshop with Debbie and myself, which will take place at Nunsmere Hall in Cheshire next year and there are still a couple of places left. You can find more information by following this link to the Inspired Minds website. The rooms left in stock are the Executive Twins, which are based on two people sharing, so make sure you select that from the drop down menu, otherwise you won't be able to book.
 
The next couple of weeks are looking relatively calm, so I am looking foreword to being at my desk with my hook and yarn. I hope that you can also find some time for a bit of hook or needle action! The forecast is looking a little wintery here in the UK, so the colder weather is a great excuse to curl up on the sofa with a lovely project.

 
Just blowing in, like a March wind, to say hello, ask how you’re getting on with your temperature blankets and share the March temperature chart download with you.
 
You can find it by clicking here.
 
We love to see your progress - here is a little parade of lovelies that we've collected from facebook and instagram - if you do post on social media, don't forget to tag us in with ##janiecrowtempblanket25

Aren't they just fab?  I love the colour schemes.  

I am hoping I get to use at least Apple Green more in March and maybe even Meadow!  This would mean temperatures up to 13 degrees celsius but more than that would mean I might be able to get some washing dry outside!  That's my first real notion that spring is coming!  

I haven't been very well this week and finally succumbed to the lurgy that has been busy infecting (what feels like) the whole of North London since Christmas! I don't feel completely awful, but I have lost my voice at times, which a few people around here probably count as a blessing! 
 
Thankfully we have seen the sun a little more often as we finally head into the spring. The daffodils are in flower in the garden and the tulips are getting ready to burst into bloom. I just love it when the plants, shrubs and bulbs starts to perk up at this time of year and we finally get rewarded for making it through the winter by a garden full of colour! 
 
As usual, we have been busy here at Janie Crow over the last couple of weeks, so I have a few things to tell you about. I hope you have a bit of spare time to catch up with all things JANIE CROW! 

Traditionally I have aimed my crochet designs at the intermediate to advanced skill level, but we still get lots of beginners launching themselves into my projects because their love of the design is enough to spur them on through the learning process. We know, however, that not everyone is confident enough to embark on a big project, especially if they consider themselves to have a relatively low skill level.
 
So, as a result of the large number of comments and requests for simpler designs that we receive, we have decided that it was time that we create some more free resources for absolute beginners. Yay!
 
We will be starting with how to make a Granny Square - a rite of passage for all crocheters. Our Zero to Granny course will be free to access and will include videos and downloads, which we hope to have ready for release in a few weeks time. 
 
We are very excited about this project and hope that it will encourage even more newbies to jump on board and give the wonderful craft of crochet a try. If you are interested in learning, know someone else who might be, or simply want to check that you are working in the right way, keep an eye on our social media channels for more information…..

We have had a bit of a run on kit sales and have sold out of all the CAL yarn packs, but we hope to have lots of items back very soon. We still have stock of all the kits shown below and we now have kits for the Mystical Lanterns blanket in the original colourway and in the Avice version, which is made using Stylecraft Special DK. You can find more information and purchase kits by clicking on the images below.
 
If you are looking to make a blanket using natural fibres, we have the West Yorkshire Spinner's version of Persian Tiles in the original colourway back in stock. The blanket is made using Colour Lab DK, which is a 100% British Wool yarn. You can find the kits by following this link or by clicking on the image of the blanket a little lower down.

Some of you may remember that Andy used to run a company called Just Knots, which was a part of Janie Crow that specialised in knitting needles, crochet hooks and accessories. We always did well with the accessories, especially at shows, but when we moved back to working from home we decided to stop selling the additional items in order to concentrate on patterns, yarn packs and kits.
 
We still replenish our crochet hook stock for workshops and events, but we no longer sell knitting needles, so Andy has decided to sell them at a discounted price over on Ebay. Some of the items say CLEARANCE in the description, others don't due to lack of space within the Ebay system. All prices are discounted compared to RRP and include the postage cost. You can find the Just Knots store by following this link.
 
Clearance items currently includes Knit Pro Symfonie, Nova and Zing and there are also some lovely Lykke wooden needles on there too. Andy is adding to the store continuously, so if you don't see what you need this time, keep checking in case it appears in the future! 

Emma has been busy over on Instagram and has made some really nice posts over the last couple of weeks, including a real beauty on Wednesday, where she focused on celestial crochet projects, including my beaded Halley Pouch pattern. You can find a link to Instagram here and a link to the Halley project (shown below) here.

Andy has put some new Emma Ball bundles together and you can find them on the website now by following this link. The items included work out cheaper when purchased in bundles than singularly, and we have a couple of new items (mostly tins) in stock now too.

I know we are barely into 2025, but if you are already thinking about what events you might like to be a part of next year, then you might be interested to know that Stitchtopia have just launched the details of their residential Festival in March 2026.
 
I won't be tutoring next year, but will be at the event on the Saturday with a pop up shop and I will be giving an evening presentation too, so it would be great to see you there! 
 
There are lots of workshops to choose from and the list of these will go live within the next couple of weeks. You can reserve your place, and get first pick of the workshops, by paying a £50 deposit. 
 
The website currently says that this is a Patchwork and Quilting event, but I can confirm that this is a typo and that the event is also open to yarn lovers too, with workshops by eight fabulous tutors, including Emma Leith, Frederica Patmore and Anna Nikipirowicz.

It is nearly Oscar time again, so Emma came up with the bright idea of launching a competition to see who can come up with the best recreation of one of the images of Justin Bieber wearing a version of the Persian Tiles blanket to an after party event in 2023. You can find more information about the competition by following this link to our Instagram feed. 

Gemma has been busy perusing crochet books over the last couple of months and you can find her reviews of them over on the blog.
 
This month she has found a really pretty book, called 'Adorable Desserts to Crochet' to focus on. The book is by Marie Clesse and it features lots of sweet (!) designs for you to get your hook into. Gemma had a go at making a really scrummy looking macaroon. 
 
If you like the look of the book and want your own copy, you can get a 20% discount and free postage by using the code DD88 at check out on the Search Press website here. 

​Jenny Demkin sent us an image of her Spirit of Flora project this week. She used the Leaf Trellis, Tudor Rose and the free Floral Plain Motif to make her lovely blanket shown below. Jenny used the Floral Tile edging pattern as her border, which is also a free pattern that you can find on the Janie Crow website here.
 
I really love the simplicity of Jenny's project and I adore how just a couple of the motifs from the Spirit of Flora collection can be combined to make a really stunning project! 

Becci (Riverknits) and Sharon (Dragon Hill Studio) are getting together to put on a series of knitting and crochet classes. They met when both exhibiting at a yarn show and soon discovered a shared love of folk music. When they're not spending time knitting or crocheting, you can find them catching up to play tunes!
 
Becci is an experienced knitter and crocheter with a love of wool. In her job as a yarn dyer and co-owner of RiverKnits, she designs knitting patterns with a focus on colourwork and good fit. She has been teaching fellow crafters how to dye yarn for several years now, some of whom have gone on to start their own yarn dyeing businesses.
 
Sharon is a freelance technical editor, yarn dyer, designer and experienced tutor. She has had several patterns published in both Knit Now and Crochet Now magazines. Specialising in crochet, she particularly enjoys teaching and passing on her love of the craft.
Classes will be held at the RiverKnits studio, in Weedon Bec, Northamptonshire.

Both the Beginner Crochet Class and Beginner Knitting Class are a comprehensive 2-day course, comprising 12 hours total teaching time. Day 2 follows a week after Day 1, giving you chance to practise and solidify your progress in between classes. Because we will have two tutors at all times, the teaching will be flexible, and you are encouraged to work at your own pace.
 
The first classes are happening on March 20th (crochet) & 21st (knitting) and there are also dates available in May. Please visit the Riverknits website for more information and to book.

We won't be exhibiting at The Stitch Festival at the Business Design Centre in London in March as it will collide with our son's 30th Birthday celebrations, however, we are able to offer you a discount code that will give you £2 off the standard adult/concessions ticket price. The code to use at checkout is as follows: 
 
JANIECROW25 
 
The code expires at midnight (or there abouts) on the 6th of March and is not valid on afternoon or Sunday ticket sales.

My first workshop trip of the year will be the Stitchtopia trip to the Swiss Yarn Festival in early April, which I have realised this week, is not actually all that long away, and so, with just over four weeks left, I have started designing the project that participants will work on while we are away.
 
The concept of the design has been in my mind for ages and I have been looking at traditional Swiss chocolate box designs as the inspiration for the colours and theme of my project. You can find my mood board for the design over on Pinterest if you fancy taking a look!

There are still a few places on the trip to Zurich, where we will visit the yarn show and tour the city. We will also be visiting the Lindt factory, so if you are a chocolate and yarn fan this might sound like a perfect trip!
 
You can find more information about the workshop by following this link.

I caught up with my cousin Amy last weekend and (of course) the conversation inevitably turned to the subject of cake and she swears that this recipe from the Hummingbird Cafe, is the best carrot cake ever!
 
The online reviews appear to agree, so I am definitely going to give this scrummy looking cake a try. The Ocado site that features the recipe has the cake and the frosting listed separately. You can find the cake recipe here, and the frosting here. Both recipes are printable.
 
If you beat me to it and manage to make the cake over the next few weeks, do get in touch and let me know if Amy is right about it being the best carrot cake ever! 

We got a fabulous surprise a few weeks ago when our daughter Summer and her husband Chris presented us with the new addition to our family - Stoick the puppy! He is named after Hiccup's Dad, Stoick the Vast from How To Train Your Dragon. 
 
Look at that lovely face! We are so in love already and are looking forward to two days of puppy sitting next week! You can keep track of Stoick by following his Instagram account, which you can find here.

We have a busy weekend lined up with some of the family coming over to join us for some cocktails on Saturday evening. Weekly Margaritas became a habit during lockdown and we still try to enjoy a couple of drinks on a Saturday evening when we are home at the weekend, which is not all that often lately. Andy has been busy perfecting Espresso Martinis lately, so I am sure they will be on the menu too! 
 
We have some friends coming for lunch on Sunday so I am hoping the weather will be nice enough to enjoy a local walk. It has been so good to get out and about recently, so fingers crossed that can continue! 
 
Gemma has been taking a bit of a break over the last month or so, but she will be back to help me with the next Quick Catch Up in March, so don't worry if you are missing seeing her Bohemian Blooms Diary, or hearing her words from the web. Usual service is set to resume soon! 
 
Hoping you have a fabulously yarny weekend!

I find February quite a tricky month. It always seems to be cold and damp and there is a bit of a come down from the festivities at the end of the previous year. It's the month when you realise that you can't keep using the 'but it's Christmas' excuse for overindulging and that you have to get yourself back in check. Maybe that was the reason for my choice of book this month: 'Adorable Desserts to Crochet' by Marie Clesse (Dover Publications, New York, 2024, ISBN978-0-486-85343-7). I loved the look of this book as soon as I saw it!

I'm not a natural when it comes to amigurumi, although I wish I was. I find it quite hard on my hands and time consuming but I love the idea of creating an afternoon tea in crochet. There are sixteen dessert patterns in the book, from pies to tarts and  macarons to profiteroles. The photos in the book are colourful and a real feast for the eyes, if not for the taste buds!

Not being overly well endowed with time at the moment, I decided I would have a go at making one of the small macarons. The patterns are written in US terms and there isn't a UK terms conversion chart in the book so if you are a UK terms user you might need to have that info to hand before you made a start on any of the patterns. The macaron pattern only uses one stitch (UK dc) and so I didn't have any trouble with the conversion. The yarn used in the book is DMC Happy Cotton, which comes in cute 20g balls and is specially designed for small amigurumi and crochet objects. I didn't have any of this to hand so I actually used some Scheepjes Catona from my stash. This is a 4ply mercerised cotton with a lovely sheen and I had some fabulous bright colours to choose from, so I went for a candy pink shade. 

There's a really comprehensive techniques section before the patterns start, with a wealth of information on amigurumi techniques such as crocheting in a spiral and stopping the yarn invisibly. I would say it's definitely worth reading through this before starting as sometimes things are done slightly differently with amigurumi. The macaron was made in three separate sections which were then sandwiched together and joined, with a small amount of toy stuffing added for shaping. The pattern was easy to follow and the detailed construction information particularly helpful. You can see my finished macaron below. I was rather pleased with it! 

Whilst it's unlikely that I will crochet a full box of macarons, lovely as it would look, I will definitely try out some of the other patterns, the lemon tarts look particularly tempting. If you're trying to keep your sweet tooth at bay getting stuck into making some of these patterns will keep you distracted!

'Adorable Desserts to Crochet is widely available online but if you are in the UK you can purchase this book, and others, through Search Press with a 20% discount and free delivery, by using the discount code DD88.

I'm hoping that March will bring some cheerier weather. The crocuses in my front garden have appeared once again so spring is just around the corner. I'll see you next month with another book choice. In the meantime, happy crocheting. 

The weather has been so incredibly dull and dingy here over the last week that I keep finding myself scrolling through the images on my phone in search of something bright and colourful. Thankfully my yarn stash is also a good source of colour therapy and so I have been busy sorting through that too - rummaging around for the really bright, zingy shades that I am pretty sure give me a good hit of serotonin when I crochet with them. If only yarn was a source of vitamin D too, eh!
 
In an effort to cheer myself up, within the midst of what feels like a never ending winter, I have tried to pack a lot of bright, inspiring colours into this email, alongside all my news, and hope that you have a few minutes to spare to catch up with all things Janie Crow!

I was talking to another crochet designer the other day about how the workload of designers has changed so greatly over the last few years. Crochet and handknit designers traditionally worked in-house for yarn companies or were employed as freelancers and thus paid solely for their design work. The advances in technology now means that designers have many more jobs on their to do list, such as maintaining engaging social media channels, creating videos, shooting step-by-step tutorials and dealing with pattern queries, alongside all the usual stuff, such as writing and creating patterns in the first place. 
 
With the rise of forums like Tik Tok and Instagram, we are finding that many new crocheters want to create their projects solely from the use of videos and many of them do not know how to read patterns, so it is interesting to see how the needs of the craft community are constantly changing, putting even more pressure on designers and yarn companies alike to create more and more material for their audience.
 
We have had quite an odd start to the year, with quite a few hurdles along the way, and I feel like I have been chasing my tail work-wise for weeks on end, but hopefully things will be calmer towards the end of the month and I am looking forward to some sustained time with my beloved yarn and hook! It can be so frustrating not to be able to really get stuck into my work, but I feel incredibly fortunate to have a small (but totally fabulous) team who can complete many of the tasks that are now essential for running an online crochet business and who support me so well by picking up the flack when I'm not on top of my game.

The Royal Garden project was first released in 2018 and it was made using yarns from the Rowan range. A few years later I worked alongside Scheepjes to create a kit for the project using yarns from their range. This kit has recently been discontinued, so I decided it was time to create some new versions of the design using yarns from the Stylecraft range.
 
One of the new versions is made using a palette of colours from the Special DK range and the other has been made using Stylecraft's 100% recycled yarn, the lovely ReCreate DK. 
 
We do not currently have kits in stock for the Special DK version as we are waiting for some shades to come back into stock, but we do have the ReCreate kits in stock and you can find them by following this link.
 
The original Scheepjes kit was heavy and weighed in at over two kilos, so we were not able to send it to customers outside of the UK as the postage cost was so high, however, as the new kits are a lighter weight, we have been able to amend the postage options and can send them worldwide. 

The design was inspired by the terracotta floor tiles found in the coffee shop at the Green Hotel in Mysore, India, and the formal quilt-like layout of the former royal palace's gardens at the front of the building.
 
You can choose between two different layouts for the project and we have included colourful diagrams to show both of these in the new pattern (shown below). It also includes written and charted instructions, step-by-step images and links to a couple of free technique videos that Emma has created to guide you along the way.
 
The pattern is available in UK and US terms and we are hoping to have the Dutch language version in stock very soon. You can find more information about the project by following this link. 

I mentioned last month that we have ongoing issues with stock levels for kits. We hope to have this problem resolved by early next month as we have been advised that quite a lot of yarns will be available soon. 
 
We have stock of all the kits shown in the box below - you can click on the images for more information on each of the projects.  

We have just been able to add kits for the Climbing Rose Wrap and the Mexican Diamonds Blanket to the website. You can find them by clicking on the images below. We haven't had either of these kits in for a while, so head over to the website now if you have been patiently waiting!

Despite our relatively poor stock of kits and yarn packs, we do have a healthy stock of paper patterns, which you can find here. 
 
Download copies are always available via our Etsy and Ravelry stores within just a few clicks, so you could always use this opportunity to sort through your stash and see if you have enough yarn to at least get started if you are itching to create a new project. You can link to our Etsy and Ravelry stores by clicking on the images below.

We are in Farnham exhibiting at the Unravel Yarn Festival at the Maltings. The show is on today, tomorrow and Sunday and tickets are still available. You can find more information about this great yarn show here.

​Emma and Gemma came up with the idea of running a team Janie Crow temperature blanket crochet along project over the course of 2025 and they have been very busy creating blog posts and social media content about it since early January.
 
It has been brilliant to see how many of you have taken on the challenge of creating a project using the free motif designs from the Spirit of Flora design, which you can find by following this link. You can click on the image below to see the blog posts about the temperature blanket project.

We won't be exhibiting at The Stitch Festival at the Business Design Centre in London in March as it will collide with our son's 30th Birthday celebrations, however, we are able to offer you a discount code that will give you £2 off the standard adult/concessions ticket price. The code to use at checkout is as follows: 
 
JANIECROW25 
 
The code expires at midnight (or there abouts) on the 6th of March and is not valid on afternoon or Sunday ticket sales.
 
My friend, and fellow designer, Shannon-Jaide of The Wool Flower Co is leading three workshops at the show and there are still have places available on all of them. If you are a beginner then you might want to learn to make a Granny Square with Shannon-Jaide's help, or, if you are more experienced, you could join her to make a crochet bum-bag or some pretty crochet shell earrings. You can find all the information on these workshops by following this link and you can see Shannon-Jaide's work over on her inspirational Instagram feed here.

​My first workshop trip of the year will be the Stitchtopia trip to the Swiss Yarn Festival in early April, which I have realised this week, is not actually all that long away, and so, with just over six weeks left, I have started designing the project that participants will work on while we are away.
 
The concept of the design has been in my mind for ages and I have been looking at traditional Swiss chocolate box designs as the inspiration for the colours and theme of my project. You can find my mood board for the design over on Pinterest if you fancy taking a look!

There are still a few places on the trip to Zurich, where we will visit the yarn show and tour the city. We will also be visiting the Lindt factory, so if you are a chocolate and yarn fan this might sound like a perfect trip!
 
You can find more information about the workshop by following this link.

Andy and I were looking at the origin of our recent punnet of blueberries and wondering when we will start to get fruit and vegetables that have been grown a tad closer to home and have not racked up all those air miles. Living in the UK means that the choice of items grown here is pretty minimal, especially at this time of year, so I was really pleased to see some Yorkshire grown rhubarb for sale at the weekend.
 
Stylecraft have a beautiful shade called Pink Rhubarb in their new Made in Yorkshire range of Special DK. I didn't know until the yarn launch recently that Yorkshire is famous for rhubarb farming. If you are interested in the history of growing the crop in the 'Rhubarb Triangle', you can find out more about it via this article on Wikipedia. You can find my blog post about Stylecraft's homemade yarn here.
 
A few years ago we introduced a rhubarb plant to our garden. It has taken a while to settle, but I am hoping that this year we will start to be able to eat some of it. I certainly won't be paying the eye watering cost that the rhubarb I saw at the weekend was priced at, and will be waiting for the cost to come down (more than) a little before making a scrummy rhubarb crumble, such as the one I have featured as this month's recipe.
 
My mum is a big rhubarb fan too and has always stewed it with a wedge of ginger or slice of orange peel, so the idea of a rhubarb and ginger crumble really appeals to me, especially with a good glug of creamy yellow custard. You can find the recipe here. 

Whether you celebrate it or not, there is no getting away from the fact that today is Valentine's Day. Here at Janie Crow we tend not to focus  on 'special' days as we know they are not relevant to everyone and can cause unnecessary upset, but the reason I am mentioning it today is that I want to focus on the symbol of the day and quite literally get to the heart of the matter! (see what I did there?)
 
I am sure there must have been a time when, like me, you have sat or laid down in quiet surroundings and really focused on the rhythm of your own heart, beating away in your chest, and thought about how amazing it is. An incredible muscle that rhythmically thumps away, keeping your whole body, quite literally, ticking along day and night.
 
But here is the thing - when did you last think about your heart health? Do you imagine how your heart might look inside your chest and whether or not it is in good shape? I was thinking about how much we focus on all the things that happen on the surface of our bodies, like making sure our faces are moisturised and that our skin is smooth and wrinkle free. We all feel the pressure to create muscles and tone in place of excess fat and many of us are prepared to spend huge amounts of money looking after the parts of our body that we can see in the mirror. But what about the vital organs that sit hidden away inside our bodies? If we had transparent skin and could see what was going on inside of us, would we be more mindful of what our vital organs look like? If we had to wear our hearts on our sleeves, would we be more careful about our heart health?
 
The statistics for heart disease are shocking - one in five deaths in the US is attributed to it and there are more than 800,000 women living with the effect of coronary heart disease in the UK, which also kills more than twice as many women as breast cancer here.

I was recently sent a link to this video about heart health on the Zoe Youtube channel. It is an interesting film, where the discussion focuses on what you can do to improve your heart health. If you have an hour to spare then you may want to watch (or listen to) the whole conversation in one go, or like me, you can chunk it down into bitesize pieces and listen to bits of it at a time.
 
Whether you celebrate Valentine's Day or not, I hope that I have inspired you to give some thought to the health of your heart on this special day. If you are pretty confident that your heart is already healthy then you could always celebrate by creating a little crochet version! There are loads of patterns to choose from online but I particularly like this one by The Crochet Leaf! If you fancy making a project that includes heart shapes, check out my Indigo Dreams pattern, which you can find here.

I had a fabulous few days away with some of my yarny friends last weekend and I am still feeling buoyed up by spending time with some amazing women! This weekend we are at Unravel in Farnham and I am so enjoying spending time around yarny folk again. It is always such a joy to be in a room full of yarn and excited knitters and crocheters!
 
I keep misjudging the weather and find I am not wearing quite the right amount of clothes, so this weekend I have packed lots of warm layers in the anticipation of more chilly weather. I have finished knitting a lovely garter stitch waistcoat called Pelica and it is keeping me beautifully toasty over my cardigan! The pattern is by Rosa Pomar and you can find it here. Image below by © Agata Xavier shows the waistcoat beautifully. I didn't include buttons and followed the advice of Linda at Kettle Yarn Co and slightly felted mine to give it a slightly thicker feel. I love it!

After a few teething problems (that you may or may not have noticed) we are hopefully now up to speed with using our new email host. Making the decision to change was not taken lightly and I was worried about the technical glitches we experienced early on, but now I am really enjoying working with the new look email and hope that you like it too! If you are finding anything amiss with this new style of email, like odd text or broken links, please let us know so that we can iron out any issues.
 
We are looking forward to a quieter time next week and I am really hoping, in true British style, that the weather will afford us some brighter days. I hope that wherever you are, that you are healthy, happy and warm.
 
Until next time!

It is GLOOMY.   The light is so poor, we have lamps on all day every day and honestly: it just feels like we should all still be hibernating like sleeping bears.
 
The feeling that we need the brightness of sunshine – even if it is that wonderful low winter sunshine on a crisp and cold day – is palpable here at JC GQ.  We have photography and video projects on the go that require good light.  Yes we have ring lights and all that good stuff but the shadows are still there and nothing beats natural light streaming through a window.
 
It is another weight added to the heaviness we are feeling and which seems to be holding down our creativity.  Concentration is also in low supply at present.  In short, we have lost our collective mojo!  Is this a February thing?  We have an excuse in January because, you know, it’s January and there are as we all know 255 days in that beast.  But February?  The month of love?  Why aren’t we bouncing?
 
We are quite literally surrounded by yarn and crochet projects.  We have dedicated spaces set aside for just that and one of us is a quite good designer* And yet when we have our catch-up calls we are meandering away from the projects at hand and discussing BFF creams, resistance training and whether or not Justin Bieber made THAT blanket.

There are so many benefits of being self-employed in a creative role: the fun of it, the colour, the flexibility and the fact that no two days are really the same.  But when that spark is refusing to catch, it’s tricky.  Could it really be that there are days when we wish for an in-tray and an out-tray. Tasks which MUST be done, a boss banging on a desk demanding a report by 5pm or “I’ll have your job Perkins” (my name is not Perkins but you get the idea).  Honestly?  Yes.  Because kicking your own bum into touch requires Mojo.  And I have very much forgotten where I put mine!
 
Do you feel this?  How do you get out of it? Is it weather?  Time of year?  WHAT IS IT PLEASE?
 

​A quick search on Google yielded the AI result which made me say bad words (AI – don’t like it – do you?) so I disregarded its nonsense and decided to try my own ways to light the fire under my motivation. 
 
1: Check bank statement – self-employed means no work, no crisps.  This is quite motivating.  Bank statement confirms that crisp supply will dry up shortly if squib remains damp.  Mojo recovery score 4/10

​2: Stare Out of Window – I’ve been doing this a lot so must be important and productive yes? No.  So much no. Literally NOTHING getting done here and no flames being fanned.  All I’m really doing is watching the squirrels nicking the nuts from the neighbours’ bird feeder and bury them in my garden. Mojo recovery score  -14/10

3. Go for a walk – no.  Sorry but no.  I can’t go out in my pj bottoms and I’d need to wash my hair. I am disregarding this as an option.  Mojo recovery score: inconclusive
 
4. Eat well – see point 1.  Mojo recovery score: probably good but untested

​​5. Be compassionate to self, accept current languishing and be patient.  I didn’t make this up – this is a thing.  I am nothing BUT compassionate to myself.  I allow myself as much cake and crisps as I want, I rarely say no to increasing my credit card balance, my squirrel observations are bang up to date and really there is very little else I could gift my inner glutton.  So, I’m not buying this as an out.  Mojo recovery score: 1/10
 

 
I think this leaves “watchful waiting” which is a thing medical types do. They are much cleverer than me so I’m going with that.  I am going to waitfully watch what happens whilst being chuffed that I managed a full day without a nap. If you have ANY suggestions about how you pick up when you’ve had a dry spell creatively, please share.  I really can only watch the squirrels for another day.  Two at best.

​*Jane.  Yes I know she’s awesome.  Like, REALLY good.

Well you would dance like this if you could design like that wouldn't you?