Janie Crow - Blog

What's milk got to do with it?

26/4/2019

Janie's Friday Feature

Welcome to this week's Friday Feature Newsletter - the Janie Crow equivalent of a Sunday supplement magazine....

Because of the bank holiday Monday here in the UK this week I have spent the last few days thinking it is a day earlier than it actually is. Today feels like it should be Thursday, but of course it is Friday and here I am again with a newsletter.

We spent the bank holiday weekend in the garden and doing family things. We have an elderly neighbour to one side of our front garden who is unable to cut his trees down, so we spent a couple of days pruning those and got so carried away that we gave the pear tree in the back garden a much needed chop too! Cutting the branches made all the lovely blossom fall off though, which was a shame, but I am hoping that the tree, which hasn’t given us much fruit the last few years, will find a new vigor and give us some lovely juicy pears in the late summer time.

It was so lovely to have a full four days at home over the Easter break and I have to admit that it has made this week at the studio feel like harder work than usual, but on the whole it has been a positive few days with a couple of really exciting things cropping up that I am looking forward to telling you all about in the future.

You may have noticed that I have been taking a little bit of a break from social media. With my last phone update came a new feature that is a notification that tells me how much time I am averagely spending on my phone a day and I have to say, I was totally horrified by the results I kept being given, so I have been making an effort to put my phone down - something I am always telling my kids to do!
here to edit.

On the few occaisions that I did venture into social media platforms over the Easter weekend and especially on Monday I saw a lot of chatter about Earth Day and so I felt that this week's newsletter would be a good opportunity to revisit some of the things I have talked about in the past in regards to the yarn industry, us as knitters and crocheters and what impact our hobby has on the world around us. I would really love to hear your feedback on this peice if you have time to respond.

As I told you last week, the JANIE CROW web shop is finally up and running and you can find a link to the shop here.

The shop features paper pattern brochures for my designs, download patterns and my books and I have also added some lovely shawl pins, clasps and closures made by a company called Jul, who create beautiful accessories, bags and housewares in leather and metal. I will be adding to this range over the next month or so, so do keep an eye on it.

All that is left for me to say in this introduction is that I hope you will enjoy this week's Friday Feature Newsletter and that, as always, if you have anything you want to say, please hit reply!

'We have forgotten how to be good guests, how to walk lightly on the earth as it's other creatures do.'
- Barbara Ward -

What's Milk Got to do with it?

Over the last year or so I have been thinking a lot about the ethical use of yarn. It is a subject that I talked about a few times when I first started writing the Friday Feature newsletter and it is something that I find my mind returns to over and over and yet I still don’t know quite where I stand on this subject or what I can do within my role as a designer in the yarn industry to have a positive effect on the world around me.

In this week's piece I want to try and explain my dilemas and share with you my thoughts on making good yarn choices.

There is no denying that we should all be looking at making better choices in regards to pretty much everything in order to be kinder to our planet. Over the last couple of years I have been making some changes to the way I do things, but with many of the new choices I have made, I have then worried that the new decisions are like a drop in the ocean compared to what I could be doing and might not in fact be as positive for the environment as I think they might be.

I am going to use milk as my example of how my ‘ethical’ choices present me with new dilemmas: I know it sounds a bit strange to use milk as the example, but I am hopeful that it will illustrate my point perfectly……

A few years ago we started having the milk delivered so that we are not constantly throwing away plastic cartons. I found the left over 4 pint milk cartons from supermarket bought milk so obviously wasteful, so it seemed logical to make the switch to bottled milk. I made the choice and I have to say, having the milkman (and it is a man) deliver fresh milk to the door in glass bottles that I then wash and return to him, makes me feel happy and I hope that it is a good, environmentally friendly decision.

But then I worry…..

Is our carbon footprint in relation to our milk use now higher than it was originally because it is being delivered directly to our door? Are the milkmen being paid enough? Are the dairy farmers getting a bad deal? Are the cows being looked after properly? Should I seek an alternative to my milk delivery? Should I revert to buying supermarket milk and accept that the plastic cartons are sent to be recycled? Should I choose soya milk or almond milk instead, despite the implications that their crops use huge amounts of water and that the milk itself is massively processed and STILL comes in plastic lined cartons? Is milk ethical in the first place?

So, as you can see, with just one decision there appears to be so many other things to consider and probably each of you would be able to provide a strong argument for and against my milk choice.

For now we will continue to have the milk delivered and I think (as I have already said) that, in the end, I am happy with my choice. Cows milk uses a lot of water to produce but has the added benefit of by products such as meat and leather. We don’t have to recycle plastic waste cartons and my milk delivery, when added to all the others in my area, creates a job for someone. I think this sits well with my conscience and I am happy with my milk choice.... for now any way.

Making a change to the way we get our milk has been one of the small changes we have made, along with reverting back to using bars of soap instead of plastic containers filled with shower gels and hand wash and purchasing recycled loo roll wrapped in paper rather than plastic bags to name a few. These are all small changes that I hope will add up over the years,

But then I worry.....

At the same time as making these changes within my personal and home life, what am I doing, as a designer, to help the environment and what is my industry doing too?

On Monday (Earth Day) I saw quite a lot of posts by Indie yarn dyers in particular about the benefits of wool or natural fibres over man made alternatives, with posts suggesting that crafters using acrylic, for example, need to be more careful about their yarn choices. The conversation really got me thinking about the number of dilemas that come to surface when blanket statements like 'buy less acrylic' and 'choose natural fibres' are aired - and here is a list of the reasons why....

Fibre Content: Acrylic yarns are hugely processed and are basically made from plastic. It has been proven that acrylic fibres shed tiny filaments into the water system when washed and worn. Many 'natural' yarns, such as Bamboo, also undergo an intensive method of production. Cotton is the thirstiest crop on the planet and much of it is produced in very poor countries where workers rights are incredibly bad. And, how exactly should we feel about things like silk?

Production Process: Many wool yarns on the market are in fact sprayed with a plastic solution to prevent them from pilling. If something says 'Superwash' then the chances are that it has been sprayed within the processing method.

And then there is the dying process - another whole bunch of dilemas!

Big companies have to adhere to stringent rules in regards to the way they use and dispose of dyes and fixing agents. Are these 'rules' adhered to by Indie dyers who are busy creating beautiful colourways of yarns from home? Are these dyers all careful about how they deal with their waste water and dye? Are they using large amounts of cling film and microwave energy to fix the dye in their skeins?

Where are yarns coming from? The current trend for British Wool, for example, has led to lots of it being bought by yarn producers in other parts of the world who process it and resell it as a British product despite it's high carbon footprint and the fact that much of the processing has taken place in another country. Man made fibres are often made in Turkey and the Far East so have an equally poor carbon footprint.

Trends: Fashion plays a key role in what we all, as consumers, are made to feel we need. Indie dyed yarns are currently really popular, but come in at a high price point compared to main stream yarns. Man made fibres are cheaper and more commonly available. They are more consistent and more easily replaceable should we run out or need to make any changes to what we are working on. I guess this point also leads onto materialism, something I am going to touch on a little further down this post.

Is there a snobbery linked to yarn use? Or is that a whole other conversation?

OK, so LOADS of dilemas for all of us and I hope that some of the things I have said might help you to make your yarn choices a little more consciously, but increasingly I feel that as a designer, I have an obligation to look at these points a little deeper...

As a crochet designer I do not produce an actual commodity. I am not a yarn producer, but I am supported by quite a few; some of them are mainstrem and some of them are smaller Indie dyers. Whilst I do not create an actual item I do, via my crochet and hand knit patterns, create a reason for people to want to purchase yarn. Does my design choice in my patterns therefore mean that I am responsible for creating a ‘want’ in more people for acrylic yarns, or are people making their own choices based on my yarn suggestions? Are crocheters substituting man made mixes for wool or other natural yarns or are they sticking to my suggestions and therefore are my designs creating a desire for more and more plastic?

This is a huge dilema for me, but I can see that going forwards I have to really think about my yarn choices, and therefore the choice of anyone else who uses my patterns.

I totally understand the backlash against man made fibres, but, if people are making things to last and which they will have for a long time, does that make it ok to use them?

I find the ‘don’t buy acrylic’ comments a little difficult to digest too. We all have a budget, some have a bigger one than others and as crochet is particularly yarn hungry a big project can get expensive. The speed of crochet is a factor as well as projects take less time to complete. This is a topic that came up quite a few times in the conversation we had on my Instagram feed a few weeks ago and is another whole kettle of fish!

So, what is the answer?

To be totally honest, as usual I am undecided. In regards to my design, I fluctuate between only ever wanting to use high end natural yarns, to falling in love with a new yarn with man made fibre content! So I guess that for me, like with my decision to get the milk delivered, I am going to go for the slow and steady approach and make a few small changes over a longer period of time rather than make drastic changes that will present me with more and more dilemas.

I have considered creating generic patterns that do not favour a particular yarn, but simply state the yarn weight and give a general idea of colour. Do you think this is a good idea, or would I simply spend my life emailing people the list of yarns I used in my crocheted sample?

If you are also thinking you might want to make a few changes, then here are a couple of suggestions that might help:

If you are used to doing speedy repeated stitch blankets, for example, then you might want to consider doing something a little more complicated that will take more time and therefore use less yarn in the long run, while also pushing your skill level.

I am not going to say don’t buy acrylic, but I will suggest that you buy less of it. Actually, I am going to say buy less of EVERYTHING! We are constantly being told we need stuff when we don't, so try not to be tempted by the pressure to have more and more. The word 'stash" in regards to yarn is a new concept and is one that our Grandparents generation certainly didn't use. I am pretty sure my Grandparents never had a stash of anything in their whole lives, instead things were reused and everything was thought about before it was thrown away.

Do a bit of real stash busting! (Mystical Lanterns is the perfect choice for this!) Try to really think about your yarn stash and ask whether or not you actually need to be buying more. Look through your stash before you go out to a show or a store and use up part balls and left overs within new projects.

It might also be a good idea to mix your projects up a bit. Maybe, if you are on a tight budget you could choose to work on an acrylic project, but, while you are working on that one you could be putting some pennies away over a few weeks in order to save up for a project that will use higher end yarns next time round?

Going forwards I am definitely going to be more careful about my yarn choices, but I think that we should all be wary of feeling guilty in regards to the choices we have made, or will make again in the future. One of the reasons I have chosen to work with lots of yarn companies over the years is that I feel each project is suitable to a different yarn and I don't see why your choices as consumers should be any different.

This has been a long main piece this week and I am sure that in places I have repeated myself and waffled a little, but if any of it strikes a chord, or you want to discuss a particular part, please get in touch.

* Just a quick word in relation to the images I have used in this piece. I chose the images of yarns from various on line stores purely becuse I think they are lovely images and not for any deeper reason. If you click on the images you will be taken to the linked web store. I chose the image of the Milkman towards the top of the piece because it reminded me of my Grandad - who was a milkman!

Instagram of the Week

I found Lindell and Co on Instagram this week. Their images are so divine that I couldn't choose just one!

Colour Palette of the Week

Like my Instagram favourite I struggled to decide between palettes this week and so have posted 2 below. Both images come from a store called Ian Snow.

If anyone fancies getting me the settee (or indeed any of the other items of brightly coloured furniture this store has in stock) then I would be a very grateful recipient!!!!

Tip of the Week

I realise I have been a bit lax in regards to tips and had completely forgotten that my aim had been to include a tip a week in the newsletter. I think I deleted the boxes one week when I didn’t have a tip and completely forgot to put it back in!

So this week I have a very quick tip for you in regards to the way you choose to work through a pattern.

Patterns are usually written in a certain order. Knitting patterns for garments, for example, start with the body, progress to the sleeves and finish with the making up instructions. My patterns tend to have the main motifs first, followed by the filler or half motifs.

Just because a pattern is written this way doesnt mean that you always have to follow the order of making.

Analyse a pattern before you start and work out which parts of it are suitable for different times. For example sleeves and easy bits of crochet would be perfect for journeys or for working on in front of the TV, whereas harder bits may need a little more concentration and therefore might be better off made at a time when you know you will not be disturbed.

I also always suggest that garments are put together as you go along, rather than all the making up happening at the end of the project. It is also a good idea to make repeated motifs for large projects like blankets in a production line fashion rather than one at a time. this way you are more likely to memorise the pattern and end up with all your motifs the same size.

It's nearly the weekend!

This afternoon we are at Bulith Wells in Wales setting up for the Wonderwool yarn show that starts tomorrow. I will be teaching a Masterclass crochet beading workshop each day and it tends to be a really busy show anyway, so I am guessing we have a lot to do. I really like Wonderwool, it has a great atmosphere and I always get to see some lovely people, so I have been really looking forward to it despite the rainy weather forecast. Thank fully all the stands are inside so there is no need for anyone to get soggy, but if you are coming it is a good idea to put some nice warm clothes and shoes on as the cold has a tendency to come up through the concrete floor!

Over the last few weeks we have had our son Charlie working with us while he has been waiting to start his new job. It has been really great having him around the studio and I am so grateful to him for helping me get the web site up and running properly and for helping with all the little quirky jobs that the rest of us don’t particularly like doing - like winding yarn off for workshop kits and manipulating spreadsheets. Charlie starts his new ‘proper’ job on Monday and so, although we are all going to miss having him around at Janie Crow, we wish him loads of luck on his new adventure.

I hope that whatever you are doing you have a fabulous weekend and I look forward to seeing you here again next Friday...

4 Days Off! Yay!

19/4/2019

JANIE'S FRIDAY FEATURE

Welcome to this week's Friday Feature Newsletter - the Janie Crow equivalent of a Sunday supplement magazine....

I am so excited to be able to tell you that the JANIE CROW web shop is finally up and running! Can you believe it? It's only taken 3 months! You can find a link to the shop here.

I am also hoping to add more third party products to the site over the forthcoming weeks. I really like the idea of project bags and lovely accessories and Julie from Tilly Flop Designs has already agreed to let me have stock of her fabulous greeting cards on the site, so I will try and get this sorted soon.

Some areas of the site are still under construction and not everything has the right links yet (if any at all) so do bear with me while these final things are sorted. Hopefully everything is on schedule to be finished by the end of the month and then I can finally stop apologising for being so behind!

We have already received lots of votes in the Delft competition and the voting is open for another week, so if you haven't had a chance to look at the finalists already, you can find more information lower down this email.

I have a new design this week too - it is a hand knit cushion cover called Streymoythat I designed for last year's cruise trip around the UK and to the Faroe Islands that I tutored for Stitchtopia. The cover is knitted in the round using the fairisle technique and the design is based on traditional Faroese designs. I am hoping that some of the Janie Crow stockists will have kits for this within the next few weeks, so I will let you know if any do in case you want to purchase a yarn pack to accompany the project.

We are really looking forward to the Easter break. The forecast here in North London is looking lovely, so I am really looking forward to the break, especially as we rarely get more than one or two days at home at a time. I am not sure what I will do with myself with a whole 4 days off!

Whatever you are planning to do I hope you all have a fabulous time and, as always, if you have anything you want to tell us about, please hit reply....

'There is nothing better than a friend, unless it is a friend with chocolate.'
- Linda Grayson -

Delft Colouring Competition

We revealed the crochet motifs made from the coloured in motifs sent in by the 5 finalists in the recent Delft Colouring Competition last week. We received more than 230 entries, so choosing just 5 was pretty tough, but we are really happy with the outcome of our choices.

You can vote for your favourite by visiting my web site and following the link to the survey - it will take less than a minute for you to record your choice.

The five finalists are as follows:

Rose Garden in Bloom - Katie Mulliner, Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire.

(The inspiration is) ‘The rose bushes we had in the garden of our childhood home – they were my Dad’s pride and joy, but he still let us pick the petals to make ‘perfume’.
Sample made in Stylecraft Bellissima DK, using 6 shades.

Autumn Berries - Miss Jen Mitchell, Wellington, Somerset.

'Autumn is my favourite season, so I chose colours of rich hedgerow berries and fruit - blackberries, plums and apples, with complimentary greens.'
Sample made in Stylecraft Special DK using 8 shades.

Bejewelled - Jackie Walker, Chandlers Ford, Hampshire.

'One of my favourite computer games is Bejewelled and I wanted to create a motif that radiated opulence, warmth and glamour. Being wrapped in these colours would make me feel beautiful and shine like a jewel. I felt I needed (one row) of white to represent diamonds'.
Sample made in Stylecraft Special DK using 7 shades.

Golden Pears and Plums - Kate Wotton, Melton Mowbray, Lincs.

‘Blue is my favourite colour, so since the Delft colour scheme is already done I had to think about what I would like. I chose orchid colours as they are so vibrant and fabulous! AND – I didn’t use any blue, which was absolutely a first for me!’
Sample made in Stylecraft Special DK using 8 shades.

As I already said, you can vote for your favourite re-coloured motif by following the link here. All you need to do is pop a tick next to your chosen colour way and submit your form. Please note that you can only enter the competition once. Voting closes 30th April.

Winners and runners up will be chosen after a public vote.

The overall winner will receive a prize of £150 and a yarn colour pack to make their blanket. The 2 runner-ups will each receive a prize of £50 plus a yarn colour pack. All finalists will have their name and wording about their colour inspiration listed on the colour substitution and will be featured in Simply Crochet Magazine. The yarn colour packs for the new colour ways will subsequently be available via Stylecraft stockists. The colour substitution documents for each new colour way will also be available as free downloads via the Janie Crow web site.

Colour Palette of the Week

I found a great web site this week simply called Color Palettes and you can find it by following this link.

If you struggle to choose your own colour palettes for personal projects, web sites like this one are ideal as they present you with ready curated palettes that accompany lovely inspiring images, like those I have posted above.

It's nearly the weekend!

As I have already said, we are really looking forward to our Easter break, but next week it will be back to 'all systems go' here as we prepare for Wonderwool Walesthe following weekend. I love this show and so I am really looking forward to it - I just hope it will be a tad warmer than last year when we (and many others stall holders) resorted to wearing our display garments as it was so cold!!

We will have quite a few new items on display at the show, including the new Janis shawl and Audrey Coat that I designed for West Yorkshire Spinners earlier on this year, so if you are coming along do make sure you come and say hello!

We are hoping to spend some time in the garden this weekend - I am sure many of you here in the UK have the same plans as the weather is set to be good, but I am also hoping to find a little bit of crochet time on the sofa! I have been a bit quiet on social media over the last few weeks, simply because we have been really busy, but hopefully I will find some time to get on Instagram and upload some pics.

I hope that whatever you are doing you have a fabulous weekend and I look forward to seeing you here again next Friday...

Dance like nobody's watching

12/4/2019

Janie's Friday Feature

Welcome to this week's Friday Feature Newsletter - the Janie Crow equivalent of a Sunday supplement magazine....

The sun has been shining here in North London this week (although it is still pretty chilly) and so we are all feeling like we have a bit of a spring in our steps, especially as we head into another lovely weekend!

I have quite a lot to tell you about this week, including the fact that you can now vote for your favourite motif from the recent Delft colouring in competition. You can find more information about this lower down in the email. I have also released some new patterns this week, so you might want to take a look at that information too - I have put it in the 'What's New' section.

I was lucky enough to get one of the last 2 tickets to see a show called 'She Persisted' at Sadlers Wells on Wednesday evening. It was pretty much a spur of the moment decision to go, which was prompted by the attraction of the first of the 3 ballets, 'Broken', which was inspired by the life of Frida Kahlo. I have to admit to going along without even looking up what the other 2 ballets on the programme where, so I was really excited when I realised I was going to get to see the Rite of Spring - the music for which was composed by Stravinsky in 1913. The ballet I saw was the 1975 version danced on earth and it was pretty amazing!

I have been planning to include a piece about the Ballets Russes for ages, so it is perhaps serendipitous that the ballet on Wednesday, which was first performed by the Russian ballet company, was the push I needed to make myself settle down and write it. Because of time limitations it is not a huge piece, just the bones of it really, but I hope it will inspire you to go and take a look for more information about the spectacle of the ballets at the turn of the last Century. I think that the costume designs by Leon Bakst alone are enough to get the creative juices going..

As always, I cannot believe that yet another week has flown by and that we are on the brink of the weekend once more. Whatever you are planning to do I hope you all have a fabulous time and, as always, if you have anything you want to tell us about, please hit reply....

'Let us read and let us dance - two amusements that will never do any harm to the world ''
- Voltaire -

The Ballets Russes

At the turn of the last Century Paris was the place to be seen - it was where all the cool people were and where all the cool things happened. I am a big fan of the city and love walking around imagining what it must have been like 100 years ago when all the excitement that surrounded new artists, dancers and musicians was at it's height.

The Ballets Russes came to Paris in 1909 and caused a total sensation! The ballet company were brought to Paris from Russia by impresario Serge Diaghilev who had become frustrated by the extreme conservatism in his native country and wanted to break away. In 1906 Diaghilev wowed the people of Paris with his groundbreaking Exhibition of Russian Art at the Petit Palais, which was the first major showing of Russian art in the West and so, with this success under his belt, he consolidated the people's fascination with Russia by bringing the ballet company to town...

The Ballets Russes is widely regarded as one of the most influential companies of the 20th Century, not only because of the ground breaking choreography, but also because of all the other components that Diaghilev involved in his productions - the sets, the posters and art work, the costumes and the famous dancers, composers and influential artists and designers he employed.

Visually, the first Ballets Russes seasons were marked by the exotic designs of the Russian-born artist Léon Bakst. His bejewelled colours, swirling Art Nouveau elements and sense of the erotic re-envisioned dance productions as total works of art and as I said further up, even his costume sketches are incredible...

The images above are of costumes designed for the famous dancer Vaslav Nijinsky. The virtuosity and charisma of whom were such that no one who saw him perform, it was claimed, ever forgot him. He transformed himself for each role he danced and became as famous as the ballets themselves.

Trained in the Russian Imperial Ballet, he was an instant success on the Parisian stage from the Ballets Russes' first season in 1909. Audiences had not seen an equivalent male dancer for more than two decades. As a choreographer, he created unusually varied productions, whose style of movement differed radically from one another and from what the academic ballet audiences were used to seeing.

Both Picasso and Coco Chanel got involved with the Ballet Russes too; Picasso designed stage sets and costumes in his cubist style for the performance entitled 'Parade' in 1917 and in 1924 Chanel designed the costumes for 'Le Train Bleu', a ballet that brought together a mix of tennis players, golf champions and sun bathers seeking adventure.“a ballet combining acrobatics, satire of the period, and pantomime.” (Chanel and Her World, Edmounde Charles -Roux, p. 206)

The V&A mounted a brilliant exhibition of the costumes and posters that detailed the stories of the Ballet Russes a few years ago and, like every exhibition of high standard I have ever been to, I so wish that I had been able to visit over and over. To see the costumes, with their incredible vibrant fabrics and the amazing attentions to detail, up close and personal was incredible and I hope that one day the opportunity to see some of the items 'in the flesh' will arise again.

I hope that my 2 minute taster piece has whetted your appetite to find out more about all the amazing personalities who were involved in what must have been the most incredible performances of the Ballets Russes. There are loads of images, facts and stories that surround the ballets on the internet and there are some really fabulous books of posters and drawings. I have one that includes the costume sketches by Leon Bakst and I really hope that one day I will be able to use some of the ideas in a design.....

What's New?

I am really excited to be able to show you the crochet motifs made from the coloured in motifs sent in by the 5 finalists in the recent Delft Colouring Competition. We received more than 230 entries, so choosing just 5 was pretty tough, but we are really happy with the outcome of our choices.

You can vote for your favourite by visiting my web site and following the link to the survey - it will take less than a minute for you to record your choice.

The five finalists are as follows:

Rose Garden in Bloom - Katie Mulliner, Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire.

Autumn Berries - Miss Jen Mitchell, Wellington, Somerset.

Bejewelled - Jackie Walker, Chandlers Ford, Hampshire.

One of my favourite computer games is Bejewelled and I wanted to create a motif that radiated opulence, warmth and glamour. Being wrapped in these colours would make me feel beautiful and shine like a jewel. I felt I needed (one row) of white to represent diamonds'.
Sample made in Stylecraft Special DK using 7 shades.

Golden Pears and Plums - Kate Wotton, Melton Mowbray, Lincs.

I also used favourite china for my inspiration – a tea towel of my Grandmother’s decorated with gold and green squares and finely painted pears and plums.’
Sample made in Stylecraft Special DK using 8 shades.

Fiore - Debby Gould, London NW10

This week I have released the patterns for my Summer Palace blanket and the wrap version - all shown above. You can find the brochure style paper patterns via Stylecraft stockists and I will have them for sale via my web shop, which will launch properly (finally!) next week, so do look out for them.

The blanket pattern includes 2 colour ways and is written for Stylecraft Life DK, but you could choose to use any DK weight of yarn so long as you achieve the same crochet tension and have the equivalent length to my yarn amounts. The wrap version is written for Baa Ram Ewe PIP Colourwork 4ply.

Many of the Janie Crow listed stockists will have the yarn and the patterns and you can find a link to them here.

Colour Palette of the Week

My palette of the week is another one that I stumbled across on social media this week and is one that I have (again) not had to make any big decisions about in regards to colour picking. The beautiful image comes from Our Maker Life.

I absolutely love the taste of rhubarb, but I do think it is a shame that it's wonderful bright pink colouring diminishes greatly when it is cooked. I love the vibrancy of this image and the contrast of the pink with the bright green.

It's nearly the weekend!

Last Saturday I was invited to be the afternoon speaker at The East Sussex Guild of WI's annual Craft Day. As I told you, I was a little nervous as I had to speak to more than 200 WI members about my work, but I am pleased to say it went OK and that (hopefully) I was able to enlighten a few of the attendees about the delights of crochet!

This weekend is set to be a bit quieter and I have a full 2 days on the bounce at home - something that rarely happens! Andy and I made a pact at Christmas that we would spend more of our time and effort looking after our little house, so this weekend I am planning on having a good old sort out and maybe getting the paint out again.

I have popped an image of my newly painted hall walls above - it may have taken me almost 3 months to finish 3 coats of paint on a tiny hallway, but I am rather proud and love my new 'Jaipuresque' colour scheme.

I hope you all have a smashing weekend...

It's cool to Crochet - again......

5/4/2019

Janie's Friday Feature

Welcome to this week's Friday Feature Newsletter - the Janie Crow equivalent of a Sunday supplement magazine....

If you have been receiving the Friday Feature for a while then I imagine that you are able to predict that week after week I will start off by saying what an incredibly busy week it has been here at Janie Crow. I do feel this is becoming a bit of a predictable starter, so seriously, if any of you know a way of creating more hours in a day and more days in a week, please let me know!

I have been busy getting a new design ready to be tested by a crocheter this week. I like writing my own patterns and the process of taking the step-by-step images, but I do tend to misjudge how long this can take, so once again I am here with a speedy hello, rather than a full size Friday Feature.

Last weekend, as promised, I did manage to kick start a really interesting discussion thread in regards to the reputation of crochet vs knitting on my Instagram feed. Many great points were raised and discussed, so if you are interested please head over to my IG feed and take a look. Thank you too to all those of you who took the time to email us on this subject too.

I have left the 'Poor Cousin' and the 'What's New' features from last week's newsletter in place this week. I know it is a bit of a cop out, but hopefully there might be items from last week that you missed or that you want to read again! We have started adding past newsletters onto to the new web site, so you might want to revisit some of these too. You can find them here.

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend, whatever you have planned.....

'Soon I will be old and I've done precious little in this world for lack of time. I am always afraid I'll become senile before I've finished what I've undertaken ''
- Paul Gauguin -

(a cheery one for you this week!!!!!)

The Poor Cousin?

When we exhibit as Janie Crow at yarn shows we tend to get a mixed bag of reactions as people come onto the stand. There are those who come striding on to the stand, confident that their skills are up to scratch and keen to chat all things crochet. These are the die hard crocheters who have already discovered the joy of the craft and who have already made it one of their favourite pass times. We also meet the relatively new crocheters - those who want to move on to the next steps and learn new techniques to push themselves creatively. I love seeing these people on the stand - we share a common joy in our craft and it is easy to chat and share our passion.

I also really enjoy meeting another group of crafters - the knitters who never imagined that 'crochet could look that good'. We get comments like '...at first I thought it was knitted, but then realised it was crochet....', comments like these are often followed by reminiscent stories of Grandmothers crocheting blankets by the fire, or dabbling with making Granny Squares as a 'phase' back in the 70's! I love the fact that seeing my crochet designs has sparked a reaction in these people and I am always extra happy when they say they have been inspired to go home and pick up a hook again.

And then, there is another group......

Those who walk past the stand and say, 'Ew! it's crochet!' or that say (after close inspection of one of my crochet designs) 'oh yes I can see how she's done that' and carry on walking, noses slightly turned into the air.

I used to get really offended and defensive of my craft and I have always disliked the fact that as a crocheter my skills appear to be considered inferior to those of a knitter, but more recently I think the reactions have actually made me a more resilient designer and more determined to show people what a creative and beautiful craft it could be. That aside, I cannot tell you how chuffed I was to see that someone finally voiced the apparent division between the kudos of being a knitter vs a crocheter - her name is Gaye Gillespie and she is my hero!

Gaye (aka GGmadeit) has been at the very centre of the recent important discussions on the subject of diversity within the fibre community and if you haven't come across her before then I urge you to take a look at her podcasts on YouTube and follow her on Instagram.

Last weekend GG posted a piece on Instagram that has sparked the conversation of how crocheters feel within the yarn world. Many crocheters told her that they felt that yarn store owners and vendors at shows made assumptions about spending power, yarn choices ('they only use acrylic') and skill levels when faced with a crocheting potential customer. GG made a point about there rarely being crochet samples on display to show how yarn looks when worked in different stitches and talked about how yarn labels rarely indicate hook size or tension for crocheters.

Take a look at GG's video here to listen to Gaye's thoughts and make sure you also watch her other videos about diversity.

Here is Gaye's Instagram post from the weekend:

'...Can we talk? Something has been on my heart for a while. You guys know I'm bistitchual right? Knit AND crochet. I knit more but you get my point. As we chip away at this inclusion/diversity ice are we leaving out those that don't knit? I have a large group of friends that only crochet and I often hear how they feel left out or ignored. I have heard horror stories about yarn shop visits or experiences with other knitters. Please check my stories today and join the conversation. We are a powerful community and we are making change, let's not leave anyone out.'

Gaye's comments got me thinking about WHY crochet might be viewed in the way it seems to be. I wondered if it was because a lot (and I mean A LOT) of design harks back to traditional projects - the granny square being the obvious one, and lacy doily type work being another. And then I wondered whether it was to do with the relative speed of producing large projects and the fact that crochet is yarn hungry....

I don't have any answers, but what I do think is that we have to make a point of challenging the preconceived idea that crocheting is less skilful than knitting and that we need to be really proactive in challenging the negativity that surrounds our craft.

My recent inclusion on the Fruity Knitting podcast has been really interesting in terms of people's reaction to me. At Edinburgh Yarn show last weekend it was particularly clear that people had been surprised by the historical part crochet has played (within the UK anyway) and that by me also talking about the mathematical side of the craft many knitters had a new found admiration for crochet. Of course I am not saying that one appearance on a podcast can change the way crochet is viewed worldwide, but I am so pleased to have seen these comments aired in many open forums over the last week.

The issue of diversity in terms of race and colour within the fibre community is something that we all need to be up to speed on and it's importance should in no way be hijacked by a discussion about crochet, BUT if a second (but massively less important) sub discussion is that the importance of crochet within the fibre world is also recognised then how cool is that?

What's New?

I am a really big fan of West Yorkshire Spinners - not only are they a lovely bunch of people, but they are also continuously busy creating products that I really love - one of which is the new Colour Lab DK yarn, a beautifully bouncy 100% British Wool made in Yorkshire. The yarn comes in a fabulous range of shades and as soon as I saw them I knew I wanted to make something using the range - how fortuitous then that they asked me to contribute some new crochet designs to their brand new range of patterns!

I have wanted to design a 'proper' garment for a while and have carried the idea of a swing jacket around in my mind for ages. The design brief from WYS gave me the perfect opportunity to test my design and I am really really pleased with the way this project - Audrey - turned out. I think it would look really lovely worn over an evening gown or summer dress on a chilly evening - the yoke has a beaded detail to give an extra bit of sparkle.

The Janis shawl, shown above, is an example of me once again playing with tessellating shapes and I love how the motifs combine to make different patterns when joined. The design uses 4 shades, but I think it would look amazing multicoloured too!

I know that Just Knots have stock of the yarn and the patterns, but I am sure many other stockists have them too!

Colour Palette of the Week

My palette of the week is not shades taken from an image, but instead it is the lovely new yarn colours that Caerthan of Triskelion Yarns has shared this week.

The yarn shades are from the brand new Maritime Colourway Collection that Caerthan will be releasing soon. I love the Triskelion range of yarns, which are known for their depth of colour and high end yarn composition and I think these new softer shades are just gorgeous!

Instagram Favourite

My Instagram favourite this week is textile designer Jose Dammers. I am a big fan of Jose's work, which mostly concentrates on crochet portraiture. Jose is incredibly clever with her colours and her stitching and creates some amazing pieces of work.

Be sure to check out Jose's portraits of Van Gogh, Frida Kahlo and David Bowie, to name just a few!

It's nearly the weekend!

I am looking forward to being the afternoon speaker at The East Sussex Guild of WI's annual Craft Day tomorrow afternoon. I am a little apprehensive as it is likely to be the biggest audience I have ever stood up and spoken in front of and I have to admit at times this week I have been more than a little distracted by the prospect of talking to somewhere in the region of 200 people. I will let you know next week how I get on!

Sunday is shaping up to be a home day. I finally managed to get the decorating in the hall way at home finished last weekend and have sorted some intricate little paintings that I bought in India a few years ago into some new frames, so it would be good to get those hung up. I have really neglected my little house lately and I find that more and more it is the place I want to be the most, so I am hoping that Sunday will be a day for homey things, a glass or two of wine and (of course) some crochet!

I hope you all have a smashing weekend...

It's Cool To Crochet

29/3/2019

Janie's Friday Feature

Welcome to this week's Friday Feature Newsletter - the Janie Crow equivalent of a Sunday supplement magazine....

Hello! Here I am at last with a Friday Feature newsletter. It is two weeks since I sent the last one, but it feels like an age! As usual we have been silly busy - this time mostly because of the Edinburgh Yarn Festival, which took place last weekend. We had an amazing time and it was so great to see so many of you on the stand.

It is so nice to be back to the calm surroundings of the studio after a week away. Sue has taken 4 days off to visit her Mum (and probably also to get over the fact that she was left all alone in the office last week while we went to Scotland) and so it has been pretty quiet round here - which definitely makes a change!

I love this time of year when the weather is starting to get brighter, the days are longer and there is a promise of Spring around the corner. The blossom is in full bloom in the garden and the surrounding streets and some lovely sweet smells are filling the air. I always feel really inspired to design at this time of year and have already started work on a CAL project that will be released in collaboration with a magazine later on in the summer - I will be able to talk more about that in June and can't wait to show you....

I found the image above on Instagram this week. It was linked with the hashtag #janiecrow and shows a beautiful version of Persian Tiles in a colour way close to that chosen by Lucia Dunn for her Eastern Jewels version. The blanket and the image are from @nelebe54 who has some other really lovely images on her feed, so do take a look.

I am hoping to be able to dedicate the next month to getting the new web site up and running properly. It was never our intention to have it unfinished for so long, but circumstances have meant that many items still have not made it on to the site. Thank you so much for your patience with this! We know that the web site is seeing a lot of traffic, so we really will make this our mission over the next few weeks.

This week's newsletter has the usual features such as the Colour Palette of the week and my Instagram favourite. My main feature was not pre planned, but has come from an on going discussion on social media this week - the subject is linked to the recent diversity debate in relation to the yarn community, but is focused more on the reputation that crochet has within the fibre world. I am hoping to start a discussion thread on this subject on my social media platforms over the weekend and would love to hear what you have to say, but if you would rather respond directly to this email then please do so by clicking on reply. I hope you will enjoy the piece and I look forward to hearing from you...

'Spring is nature's way of saying, 'Let's Party!''
- Robin Williams -

The Poor Cousin?

I also really enjoy meeting another group of crafters - the knitters who never imagined that 'crochet could look that good'. We get comments like '...at first I thought it was knitted, but then realised it was crochet....', comments like these are often followed by reminiscant stories of Grandmothers crocheting blankets by the fire, or dabbling with making Granny Squares as a 'phase' back in the 70s! I love the fact that seeing my crochet designs has sparked a reaction in these people and I am always extra happy when they say they have been inspired to go home and pick up a hook again.

And then, there is another group......

Those who walk past the stand and say, 'Ew! it's crochet!' or that say (after close inspection of one of my crochet designs) 'oh yes I can see how she's done that' and carry on walking, noses slightly turned into the air.

I used to get really offended and defensive of my craft and I have always disliked the fact that as a crocheter my skills appear to be considered inferior to those of a knitter, but more recently I think the reactions have actually made me a more resilient designer and more determined to show people what a creative and beautiful craft it could be. That aside, I cannot tell you how chuffed I was to see that someone finally voiced the apparent division between the kudos of being a knitter vs a crocheter - her name is Gaye Gillespie and she is my hero!

Gaye (aka GGmadeit) has been at the very centre of the recent important discussions on the subject of diversity within the fibre community and if you haven't come across her before then I urge you to take a look at her podcasts on Youtube and follow her on Instagram.

Last weekend GG posted a piece on Instagram that has sparked the conversation of how crocheters feel within the yarn world. Many crocheters told her that they felt that yarn store owners and vendors at shows made assumptions about spending power, yarn choices ('they only use acrylic') and skill levels when faced with a crocheting potential customer. GG made a point about there rarely being crochet samples on display to show how yarn looks when worked in different stitches and talked about how yarn labels rarely indicate hook size or tension for crocheters.

Take a look at GG's video here to listen to Gaye's thoughts and make sure you also watch her other videos about diversity.

Here is Gaye's Instagram post from the weekend:

'...Can we talk? Something has been on my heart for a while. You guys know I'm bistitchual right? Knit AND crochet. I knit more but you get my point. As we chip away at this inclusion/diversity ice are we leaving out those that don't knit? I have a large group of friends that only crochet and I often hear how they feel left out or ignored. I have heard horror stories about yarn shop visits or experiences with other knitters. Please check my stories today and join the conversation. We are a powerful community and we are making change, let's not leave anyone out.'

Gaye's comments got me thinking about WHY crochet might be viewed in the way it seems to be. I wondered if it was because a lot (and I mean A LOT) of design harks back to traditional projects - the granny square being the obvious one, and lacy doily type work being another. And then I wondered whether it was to do with the relative speed of producing large projects and the fact that crochet is yarn hungry....

I don't have any answers, but what I do think is that we have to make a point of challenging the preconceived idea that crocheting is less skillful than knitting and that we need to be really proactive in challenging the negativity that surrounds our craft.

My recent inclusion on the Fruity Knitting podcast has been really interesting in terms of people's reaction to me. At Edinburgh Yarn show last weekend it was particularly clear that people had been surprised by the historical part crochet has played (within the UK anyway) and that by me also talking about the mathematical side of the craft many knitters had a new found admiration for crochet. Of course I am not saying that one appearance on a podcast can change the way crochet is viewed worldwide, but I am so pleased to have seen these comments aired in many open forums over the last week.

The issue of diversity in terms of race and colour within the fibre community is something that we all need to be up to speed on and it's importance should in no way be hijacked by a discussion about crochet, BUT if a second (but massively less important) sub discussion is that the importance of crochet within the fibre world is also recognised then how cool is that?

What's New?

Colour Palette of the Week

The new Van Gogh in Britain exhibition opens at The Tate Gallery in London this week and I am really looking forward to visiting the show, especially as there will be quite a few works within it that I haven't seen before.

I recently found some books that focus on Van Gogh's love of nature and in particular the way he painted flowers. Within one of the books I found the series of paintings of blossoming orchards - mostly of peach trees and almond branches and I decided that the painting below (Pink Peach Trees) would make the perfect image for this week's colour palette.

Flowering orchards is a series of paintings Van Gogh executed in Arles in Southern France in 1888. Van Gogh arrived in Arles in February 1888 in a snowstorm (he painted this too) but within 2 weeks of his arrival the weather changed and the fruit trees were in blossom.

'Appreciating the symbolism of rebirth, Vincent worked with optimism and zeal on about 14 paintings of flowering trees in early spring.'

Instagram Favourite(s)

I have a few this week - all related to the discussions about the reputation of crochet within the fibre world....

The first one is pretty obvious - it is the wonderful @GGmadeit Go and check out her brilliant discussions and her fabulously orange feed!

The second is the very talented crochet designer Linda Skuja @elevenhandmade, who not only designs the most beautiful and wearable crochet garments, but is also a great authority on yarns and techniques. Linda has been at the forefront of discussions about crochet this week, so I urge you to take a look at her lovely IG account.

And finally, my third choice is Louisa Sheward of @thefibrelounge - make sure to look at her feed and her podcasts. She is little yarn shop owner with a BIG crochet passion - another strong voice in the discussions about crochet.

Five Day Retreat in Rural France

Fancy a bit of TLC and a cheeky little bit of me time in the company of crocheters and Alpacas? Sounds amazing doesn't it! Sarah Lally sent me the information on what sounds like a really lovely little break in rural France:

Relax and crochet, enjoy the pool and Jacuzzi, drink wine (or tea) and enjoy the peace and quiet from June 3rd to 7th at the Alpaca bed and breakfast near Limoges, France.

The stay includes collection from and return to Limoges, or Bergerac; en-suite accommodation; meals - using locally sourced organic products where available; Jacuzzi and swimming pool; instruction on a project - materials (courtesy of the alpacas! ) included; meeting the alpacas; an evening at a local restaurant before you leave (meals payable at local restaurant).

There is no local transport (train station 3kms) so if you prefer to be a bit more independent and include a bit more exploring you may want to pick up a rental car at the airport for your stay.

Prices are really reasonable, but can differ depending on room or single occupant. Go to the B&B website for more info, booking etc.

It's nearly the weekend!

I am so excited by the prospect of a weekend at home. I worked out that over the last 6 weeks I have only had 5 days off, so I am really feeling in need of a bit if me time! I also appear to be on the edge of the post Edinburgh Yarn Festival lurgy, so I think a couple of good lay ins will do me the world of good!!!

We will be doing all things mumsy on Sunday and will have my Mum, my Mother in Law and my Sister in law, plus significant others all coming over for lunch, so I have my fingers crossed for good weather - the sun is shining beautifully outside at the moment, so I am hoping it will stay that way! If you are sharing Sunday with your mum too, then I hope you have a lovely day. I know that Mother's day can be hard for lots of people too, so if you are one of them, please be sure to take care of yourself and maybe make your own special arrangements for the day....

I hope that wherever you are and whatever you are doing you stay happy, well and warm - if you want to let us know what you are up to then please hit reply and let us know - we do love hearing from you!

Sending crochet love and yarny kisses.

It's Show Time!

15/3/2019

Janie's Friday Feature

Welcome to this week's Friday Feature Newsletter - the Janie Crow equivalent of a Sunday supplement magazine....

It has been a really busy week here at Janie Crow as we prepare for next week's Edinburgh Yarn Festival. I have also been crocheting the matching samples for the Delft competition finalist entries so that we can get an idea of what the 5 chosen samples could look like made up into a blanket. This is something I have enjoyed immensely, as it has involved playing around with colour combinations, but it has taken up far more time that I thought it would. Which brings me to this....

As I have completely run out of spare time today, I have decided to share a newsletter from last year that focuses on how to read a crochet chart instead of the piece about the Ballet Russes that I had promised you. We are asked about charts a lot and, as we are busy trying to get lots of our patterns updated to chart form, I feel this is quite relevant. Charts really are far easier to follow than you might think, especially once you understand the basic symbols. I urge you to read my piece when you are feeling calm and open to the idea of learning, otherwise it might still seem like gobbledegook! We had a lots of positive feedback on this piece when it was first published a year or so ago, so I am hoping you will enjoy it.

As we will be away in Edinburgh next week, there will be no Friday Feature newsletter, but I hope to have one for you the following week, so do look out for it. If you are coming to EYF, please drop by the stand to say hello - our stand is next to the fabulous Eden Cottage Yarns, so hopefully you won't be able to miss us!

'Time is a game played beautifully by children.'
- Heraclitus -

Reading a Crochet Chart

OK, take a deep calming breath and read on slowly but surely......

The terminology for chain (ch) and slip-stitch (ss) are the same in UK and US, so we are going to start with the symbol for a chain stitch. The symbol is an oval shape. If you look at your crochet, you will see that a chain stitch looks like a little grain of wheat or barley maybe, or even like a tiny egg shape, so the oval symbol is totally logical.

The symbol for a slip-stitch (which is almost always worked after a series of chain at the beginning of a motif worked in the round) is a little filled in circle like a full stop (period).

So, if we look at the Leilani Flower chart above, or visualise patterns worked in the round, we can see that at the centre of the circular motif there are symbols for chain stitches and one symbol for a slip stitch, so this tells us to work a series of chain stitches followed by a slip-stitch to join.

OK – hopefully you are with me so far.

I am going to deviate from the Leilani chart for a bit here and leave the explanation of the shorter stitches until a little later on in the piece, because I want to talk about treble (US double) crochet first, as it is the stitch which I think best illustrates how logical chart symbols are in relation to the physical make up of the stitch.

I am sure you realise that all stitches (apart from slip-stitch) create height to our crochet. If we look at our stitches we can see that all stitches are made up of a (vertical) post of the stitch, which creates this height, and a (horizontal) chain that runs along the top.

The symbol for a treble (US double) crochet is a vertical line with a horizontal line across the top, like a T, but it also has a line part way down, which is sometimes shown straight and other times at a slight angle.

The vertical line represents the post of your stitch.

The horizontal line at the top of the vertical line represents the chain that runs along the top of your stitch

The slanted or straight line part way down represents the number of times the yarn is wrapped around the hook at the very beginning of the stitch – in this case once.

Now, if you also look at your physical treble (US double) crochet stitches in relation to this chart symbol you will see that a treble (US double) crochet stitch has a vertical post, a horizontal chain that run along the top AND a slightly angled yarn that has wrapped itself across the front of the vertical post.

So, the chart symbol is not just a little drawing picked out of someone’s imagination, it is giving you instructions, not only how the stitch should look, but also how to make it!

Light Bulb Moment?

If not, lets think about this again in relation to the symbol for a double treble (US treble) crochet stitch:

The physical crochet stitch has a post, which creates height – so the symbol has a vertical line.

The stitch has a horizontal chain at the top – so the symbol has a horizontal line at the top.

To make the stitch we wrap the yarn around the hook twice at the very beginning and the physical stitch has 2 slightly angled yarns that have wrapped themselves across the front of the vertical post – so the symbol has 2 angled strikes across the vertical line.

So, we have established that the symbols for stitches from treble crochet (US double crochet) upwards in post height, give you instructions on how to make the stitch and a representation of how your stitches will look once you have completed them, but, the symbols that don’t conform to this explanation are double (US single) crochet and half treble (US half double) crochet.
Both stitches have a post (vertical line), but the symbol for a double (US single) crochet has a horizontal line half way down and not one at the top, so it looks like a cross + or an X and the half treble (US half double) crochet has the horizontal line at the top so it looks like a T.

The symbols for both these stitches don’t actually tell us how make the stitch, but when looking at a chart they will give us an idea of stitch height. Double (US single) crochet has the shortest post height, so will be the shortest symbol on the chart, followed by half treble (US half double) crochet, which sits in size between a double (US single) crochet and a treble (US double) crochet on the chart.

Note: charts need to be read in the direction of the crochet and will assume that the crocheter is right handed! If reading a chart for a pattern worked in the round you need to follow it anti clockwise and for charted patterns worked in rows you need to read the first row and subsequent right side rows from right to left and the second and subsequent wrong side rows from left to right.

That's it! A speedy guide to reading charts!

Hopefully the information above has gone some way to demystify charts for you and that you feel you might have a better idea of what stitches chart symbols represent. It is worth saying at this point that charts alone cannot always tell us every single thing we need to know about a pattern and at times it is helpful to also have an image or the written pattern to understand the intricacies of the pattern.

I think the most wonderful thing about understanding how to read charts is that it opens up a huge wealth of patterns. The Japanese, for example, are particularly keen on charts and I think it is fabulous to think that although many of us in the Western world don’t speak Japanese and sadly can’t read their beautiful writing, we can understand their crochet charts!

You can find a free downloadable technique sheet for reading charts by following this link.

Pillow Talk

8/3/2019

Janie's Friday FeaturE

Welcome to this week's Friday Feature Newsletter - the Janie Crow equivalent of a Sunday supplement magazine....

I hope this email finds you well. There has been a flurry of new sign ups to the mailing list this week, so I would like to extend a warm welcome to all those of you who have not been here before. I hope you will enjoy this week's newsletter and that you will join me here again over the forthcoming weeks and months.

It has, as always been another busy week here at Janie Crow. I am continuing to add new items to the web site in a rather slow and methodical way! This week sees the addition of the Sunshine and Showers PDF patterns, which I mention in more detail further down this email and I have also added a stockist list.

We have been having really slow internet connection here this week, so I have been crocheting alternative colour way motifs for the Delft competition while I patiently (!) wait for pages to load on the web site as I build them. There will be more news on the competition finalists soon and I will be sending out emails to inform the 5 finalists that they have been shortlisted early next week - so if you have sent in an entry, make sure you check your in box!

This week's newsletter focusses on the humble cushion! I love cushions, maybe not quite as much as I love blankets, but they are still one of my favourite things within the house. I love the decorative effect they have and of course the fact that they envoke comfort, but I also really like designing them as they are small and neat and can have lots of design elements squeezed into them. I have a new cushion design coming very soon, hopefully in time for the Edinburgh Yarn Festival. As soon as it is ready I will let you know.

It is a pretty dull and dismal afternoon here in North London, despite a promising bright start this morning. If it is similar weather where you are, then it might just be the perfect time to settle down with a cuppa and a cheeky biscuit, while you read this week's newsletter. Why not make yourself extra comfy and grab a cushion or two?

'Last night I dreamt I ate a ten pound marshmallow. When I woke up the pillow was gone!'
- Tommy Cooper -

Cushion Crazy!

Cushions and pillows are now considered an integral part of interior decor and we don't really give them much thought other than to decide whether or not we like the design element of them. Historically, however, the humble cushion has been a really key item in regards to showcasing wealth and social standing.

It is believed that the earliest example of the existence of cushions as we know them comes from Mesopotania around about 7000 BC. There are no physical remains of them, but carved decorative friezes from around this time depict the use of pillows. At this time it is believed that cushions and pillows were luxury items associated with wealth. This idea is absolutely logical as the poor would not have been able to afford even the most simple of clothes, as fabric was an expensive and hard to come by commodity and so fancy items like a cushion or bedding was very much out of their reach economically.

We can see from the items found in tombs that the Egyptians also had ideas as to what use a cushion or pillow should have. There are examples of simple wooden framed beds that would probably have had mattresses and pillows made of wool or straw, but the items that often fascinate us - and which have a link to cushions and pillows in regards to word derivation any way - are the stone or wooden head rests, such as the one taken from the tomb of Tutankhamun shown below:

These headrests were used to support the heads of the dead. The Egyptians considered the head of a human to be the essence of life and therefore sacred, so it was important to them that bodies, and especially heads, were well cared for within the process of burial. This may explain why the Latin word for pillow or cushion 'Pulvinis' shares its origin with the word pulpit, meaning a platform or raised structure.

In ancient Europe the Greek and Roman civilisations also used cushions and, once again, they were considered as works of art that reflected the taste and wealth of the owner. In China, however, the tradition of hard platform style 'pillows' continued. These possibly had some form of fabric cover and padding, but we cannot be sure this is the case.

Floor cushions and mattresses as we know them today seem to have originated in Japan and by the mid 19th Century the Industrial Revolution meant that many things, previously unobtainable by the majority of people, became more affordable and thus more common place.

Advances in dying and weaving meant that more people could afford fabric and thus cushions. The Victorian middle classes had a habit of doing everything to an extreme and so the OTT style of their home decor often included an abundance of flouncy cushions! These may have been purchased, but were also often hand made by the ladies within the home and may well have featured hand embroidery and home made lace - no doubt crochet would also have been included as trims and focal points too.

Widespread travel in the 20th Century has meant that many more types of cushions, such as bean bags and floor cushions, have become a common feature of home decorating, but this mass production has in turn meant that there are fewer points of difference between one cushion and another. Perhaps this is why the last couple of decades has seen a trend in crafters wanting to create their own from scratch.

Over the years I have designed lots of cushion covers and you will find both hand knitted and crocheted versions in my books Kaleidoscope and Homespun Vintage. I am hoping to get these onto the web site next week along with my brochure pattern for the Norwegian Wood cushion, which is a hand knit pattern, shown above. It is taking me longer than expected to get the new web site up to speed, but as I said in my introduction this week, I am getting there slowly. I also have a new cushion design on the cards, so do look out for more info soon.

Tip of the week

We were really lucky to have some 'homegrown' help on our stand at VKLive New York back in January in the shape of the lovely Robin Schogol. I first met Robin last summer when she popped into the studio while she was visiting the UK and it was a lovely surprise when she offered to come and help up on the stand.

Robin has been going through a really big house move (from the US to the UK) and so we have been talking via email about the stress of moving and I was really touched to hear about Robin's method of relaxing in relation to my Mystical Lanterns design and I thought it you might like to hear about it this week. Robin says:

'When I have trouble sleeping in the middle of the night, or if I feel stress during the day, I just imagine some of the lanterns from the pattern, and the shapes and colours soothe me and I calm down. If it's in the night, I can fall back asleep!'

I taught a Mystical Lanterns workshop at the Unravel show a fortnight ago and this week one of the participants, Sonia, sent me an image of her completed shawl (just 9 days later!). I know that Sonia is a light sleeper and often crochets during the night, so (with her permission) I have shared the image of her shawl as it ties in with Robin's meditation tip. Sonia's lovely shawl - shown above - was made using Jamieson's Spindrift, Noro and Kauni yarns.

Many Janie Crow stockists carry yarn packs for my original Mystical Lanterns designs, which includes a blanket, a shawl and a scarf. You can find the stockist list on the web site.

What's New?

This week I have added the PDF patterns for the Sunshine and Showers Crochet Along project to the web site. Patterns for the project are available for free on my archived blog, which you can find by following this link, but the PDF patterns can be purchased for 95p each by following this link.

The Sunshine and Showers CAL was first published in Crochet Now magazine over the course of a year in 2016/17. The inspiration for the design was the great British weather (!) and each month saw a different theme, for example, in July and August the design was based on sunny skies and pretty flowers, whereas in January the focus was grey snowy weather, represented by a series of puff stitches. There are a total of 12 patterns.

Like all my crochet along projects I tried to design this one in a way that made it progressively harder so that crocheters could build up their skills. All patterns include step-by-step images and detailed written instructions throughout. The patterns are written in UK terminology.

Someone shared this cute video by Pixar Sparkshorts on a Facebook group that I belong to this week. I thought you might like it too! The video is called Purl and there are some great yarny puns throughout the clip. My favourite:

Question: Why do Spider's weave webs?

Answer: Because they don't know how to crochet!'

Colour Palette of the Week

This week's palette of colours is a 'ready made' one that I found on Instagram on a feed called Luneandluxe.

I follow #cushions on Instagram and had planned to include an image of an Indian style embroidered cushion group this week, but when I stumbled across this image I couldnt resist using it for this week's palette.

I think there is something really appealing about velvet cushions. I am not sure if my love for them is down to my 1970s childhood or whether it is to do with the luxurious nature of the cloth that just makes the colours seem so appealing. Either way I am smitten with this lovely palette.

Instagram Favourite

You don't have to know me all that well to realise that I am a real sucker for puppies! Actually, not just puppies - I am a total canine freak! I follow lots of dog related feeds on Instagram and my daughter and I regularly exchange images and short videos of our four legged friends - I swear there isn't a day goes by when I don't receive or send a dog or puppy related alert. And so, can you imagine my sheer delight when Emma Boyles from The Little Grey Sheep shared the fact that her shepherdess Susie Parish has a pair of new sheep dog puppies....

I have been smitten by these two all week! They are called Bruce and Wren and if you want to get to know them a little better, along with Susie's other dazzling dogs, then take a look at her Instagram feed by following this link.

If you're not a dog fan, don't be put off of following Susie - there are lots of other really interesting posts on her feed, most of which surround her love of the countryside, animals and (of course) wool!

It's nearly the weekend!

I will be teaching a crochet design workshop at Missenden School of Creative Arts this weekend. I am really looking forward to it as I love the excitement and creativity of design based classes. I will do my best to get some images onto social media so you can see what the group come up with.

It is continuing to scare me just how fast the weeks are going by and I never feel like I quite do the Friday Feature newsletter justice as it always seems like a bit of a rush to cram it into the schedule, so if you have anything you would like to contribute then please do get in touch. Whether you have a neat knitting or crochet tip, or even if you want to write something more in depth or show case your own work, then I would love to hear from you.

I hope you all have a lovely weekend whatever it is that you have planned and I look forward to welcoming you to another newsletter next Friday when I hope to include a piece about the legacy of the famous Ballet Russes. Until then I send crochet love and yarny kisses

'Till Needle, Thread and Fabric Meet

1/3/2019

Janie's Friday Feature

Welcome to this week's Friday Feature Newsletter - the Janie Crow equivalent of a Sunday supplement magazine....

Here I am again with another newsletter and this week Sarah and I have focussed on sewing and embroidery as a theme. As you may well know, Sarah is a very accomplished stitcher who has produced some really fabulous pieces of sewn art work and so this week she has written the main feature, which is all about an exciting forthcoming exhibition she will be involved in. Sadly my sewing skills don't even begin to compare to Sarah's, but I am a really big fan of all things stitched and often use embroideries and tapestries as the inspiration for my designs, so I have tried to add pieces into this week's newsletter that fit the theme well.

This week's newsletter also includes the usual tip of the week and palette of the week and my 'what's new' feature. I hope that whatever you have going on in your life today you will be able to settle down for 5 minutes or so to relax in our company.....

'I cannot think my day complete 'til needle, thread and fabric meet.'
- Author Unknown -

Nordiska Exhibition

Hi! It’s Sarah here with a feature that is really very close to my heart!

If you are already a fan of embroidery and the whole mid-century aesthetic then I hope that the following will be of interest to you – if not, then I hope that you will be inspired to visit a brand new exhibition in Birmingham later this month, as well as pick up a needle and thread.

Eighteen months ago I visited the Festival of Quilts exhibition at the NEC in Birmingham. I have visited this show on and off over the years, but 2017 was special. I had arranged to meet up with indigo enthusiast Lindsay Roberts. We had chatted away on Instagram, but never met – the exhibition provided the perfect opportunity and we spent a fabulous day revelling in fabric and threads! The highlight of the day was being introduced to Tanja Malo , the owner and founder of www.linladan.com.

Roughly translated, the Swedish ‘linladan’ means flax barn. The Swedish tradition of using flax or linen as both a fabric and a thread in embroidery is one that Tanja is not only keen to preserve, but also to promote within a modern context. As we become increasingly concerned about working with sustainable fibres, linen is a go to resource. It uses less water to produce and remains strong seemingly forever! I have recently been working with fabric and threads that are over 50 years old and it is as if they were made yesterday.

The chances are that if you have visited any of the Knitting and Stitiching shows, Selvedge fairs or Festival of Quilts exhibitions over the last few years you may have dropped across Linladan. I cannot imagine anyone being able to pass the glorious riot of colour that is created from little boxes of vintage linens, flower threads and silks, but Linladan is more than just finding lovely old stuff to sell! There is an ethos behind the business that encompasses provenance, fair pay and working conditions, sustainability, respect for all that is handmade and attribution for the original designers and artists and I have no doubt that the exhibition will reflect all of these qualities.

It is only through sheer hard work and determination that the Nordiska exhibition has come into being. Years of research have led Tanja to discovering not only the Nordiska archive itself, but also some of the people who were originally involved back in the 50s, 60s and 70s. This has enabled her to produce kits from the original designs with a percentage going to the original designers in recognition of their contribution and legacy.

The exhibition will include original paintings and embroideries as well as the hand drawn charts that were used to produce kits.

Tanja has been able to speak and work with those artists who are still alive and members of other families who worked at the Nordiska factory. This has enabled her to not only learn more about their practise and inspiration, but also to find out which designs were among their favourites. Many families and artists have lent Tanja examples from their own personal collections, like Kaisa Edstroms hand embroidered wedding dress from 1963 and Ingrid-Dahlman’s Sagoslottet Fairytale Castle.

It has often been difficult to find the original instructions for a design which has made reproducing the kits as exact replicas quite tricky. Linladan is now onto its second print run of kits. More instructions have been found and suitable linen has been sourced. Every effort has been made to add threads in colours as close to the originals as possible.

Moving forward, Tanja would like to continue working with the archive and encourage embroiderers to use their own palette of colours when stitching. In the 60s all prints would have been made on the same colour background. Now it is possible to make smaller print runs in different colours so that embroiderers are free to interpret the designs in their own way – using more or less colours than the original, using pastels, neutrals or even neons instead of a more traditional palette.

Next week I will be joining Tanja to help set up the exhibition. This will be the first time that much of this work will be on show to the public, so I am incredibly excited! I am also going to be teaching one hour workshops each day where participants will have the opportunity to practise some of the most popular stitches of mid-century Swedish embroidery. We will be using linen threads on linen fabric, with patterns from the Nordiska archive.

I am always amazed by how the simplest of stitches are able to convey so much.

The exhibition will run as part of the Fashion and Embroidery Show and tickets also include entrance to Sewing for Pleasure and Creative Craft Show. Full details can be found via this link and details of the workshop 'A Thread Through Time' can be found here.

My thanks to Tanja at Linladan for letting me join in the fun and to Claudia Brookes, for the use of these fabulous images.

If you do get chance to come along, please say hello so that we can share more inspiration with you!

Tip of the week

Sarah has suggested a couple of tips this week - both are sewing related:

Sarah says she hates it when thread starts to tangle or turn back on itself. To stop it doing this Sarah suggests running the thread through bees wax to make the twist on the thread stronger and tangle free. You can find Hancock's beeswax blocks on the Beyond Measure web site by clicking on the image below.

Sarah's second tip is to use quilters tape as a guide if you struggle to sew in a straight line. You can find the tape by following this link to the Cotton Patch web site.

If you have any life hacks or craft related tips you would like to share within this section of the Friday Feature Newsletter in the future, then do hit reply and let us know.

What's New

I have added a few new pages onto the new web site this week including a workshop page that lists my dates for 2019. You can find the page by following this link.

My next workshop will be at the lovely Missenden Abbey School of Creative Arts in Buckinghamshire on the 9th and 10th March. This is a crochet motif design workshop, which is aimed at people who want to have a little play with their crochet in order to change or adapt existing motifs or possibly design their very own motifs from scratch - something that is in fact far easier than most people think and which can come quite easily once a little bit of basic information about how crochet designing 'works' alongside a pinch of encouragement is given! You can find more information on this workshop by following this link.

I am hoping to have more time to work on the web site next week and will let you know what pages I manage to put live in next week's newsletter. The shop area on the web site is still not up and running, so if you are interested in any patterns or kits, then you might like to take a look on the Just Knots web site or on Black Sheep Wools as both these stores carry good stock of my designs.

As I have told you already, about six weeks ago Andrew and Andrea from the Fruity Knitting Podcast dropped into the studio so that I could take part in an interview with them. The resulting video is on their Youtube feed, so I would love it if you would take a look! If you are a Fruity Knitting Patron you can still make use of a 10% discount on the 3 CAL projects I talk about in the episode - follow this link for more information.

Colour Palette of the Week

Last weekend saw unusually warm, bright weather here in the UK, but the last few days have been much greyer and are far more usual for this time of year and so I have chosen a palette this week that reflects this!

The image used for this week's palette has been saved on my phone for a while as I was attracted to the sophisticated choices made with colour and surface pattern on this embroidery. This kind of mixture of greys and yellows has been a really strong trend for the last few years and I am still itching to use it in one of my designs - perhaps Mystical Lanterns would look great in this tight palette? What do you think?

The image is from an account called Handmade.Embroidery on Instagram.

Instagram Favourite

I have always been a huge fan of the fashion house Alexander McQueen. You may remember me recommending that you all go to see the documentary film about Lee Alexander McQueen last year - it is an amazing insight into the vision of the incredible designer that he was, but it is also unbelievably moving and sad.

In the wake of Lee's death in February 2010 it was Sarah Burton who took the reigns at the brand and I think she has done an incredible job harnessing the legacy of Lee's vision and she continues to design simply amazing things. If you think you may not have seen one of Sarah's designs, then think again - she designed the Duchess of Cambridge's iconic wedding dress in 2011.

I am a huge fan of the Alexander McQueen Instagram account. The pictures on there are fantastic and the range of close up images in particular are really great. The images often come with the written story of the how the clothes were made and it is clear that the skill of the crafts people involved, whether they be seamstresses, leather workers, embroiderers or painters, is a really key part of how Sarah Burton makes this such an inspirational brand.

The images I have included here show pieces from the newest collection and I love how much embroidery has been used.

I want to draw your attention in particular to the black jacket with what looks like splashed red paint across it from the most recent men's wear collection - shown below.

On closer inspection the detail on this jacket it intricately stitched - isn't it incredible! When I saw this close up image I was totally blown away, and I am sure that you will be too!

There is a really good interview with Sarah Burton on the Vogue web site, within which she talks about the importance of the heritage of traditional crafts. You can find the interview by following this link.

It's nearly the weekend!

We had a fabulous time at the Unravel Yarn Festival last weekend and I would like to say a big THANK YOU to all those of you who came along to say hello! We had a new stand layout, which included our new piece of IKEA furniture that we finally managed to go out and get (!) and I was really happy with the way the blankets and throws looked on the display.

My Magic Circles blanket was particularly popular at Unravel. It is funny - we can never predict which blanket will be the star of the show, it changes every single time! I know some people were disappointed that we ran out of both the printed pattern and the kits, so I include a link here for you to easily find them. Magic Circles is shown in the image above behind Fields of Gold and Lily Pond.

Alongside all the fabulous exhibitors, Unravel also featured talks and presentations and I was really excited to finally meet and see the work of fellow crochet designer Katie Jones, which was on display in the gallery.

We are looking forward to a quiet weekend at home. With a bit of luck I might actually finally get the last coat of paint on the hall walls! The house is in major need of a spring clean, so the wet, colder weather might well provide the perfect opportinity for us to do it, although I suspect I am more likely to sit on the settee with a box set of movies to watch on the TV and a lap full of crochet. I am trying to catch up with The Victorian House of Arts and Crafts on BBC Iplayer, so this will be a wonderful distraction from painting!!!

I would, as always, love to hear what you have planned for your weekend and hope that whatever it is you are set for a fabulous couple of days of rest and recouperation.

Sending crochet love and yarny kisses

Show Season

22/2/2019

Janie's Friday Feature

Welcome to this week's Friday Feature Newsletter - the Janie Crow equivalent of a Sunday supplement magazine....

It is a slightly reduced newsletter this week as we are currently away at the Unravel Yarn show in Farnham. This newsletter contains most of the usual features, such as palette of the week and Instagram favourite, but I have not had a chance to work on the main piece, which I had planned would talk about the current trend for all things denim. I promise (again) that this will make it into a newsletter in the future....

In this week's newsletter I have included some information on 2 forthcoming workshops that might be of interest to you. One is a crochet design based weekend workshop that I will be teaching at Missenden Abbey in a few weeks time and the other is some news in regards to the next Knit For Peace workshop in Mysore, India. Do read on further down the email for more information on both of these.

It has been a busy week at Janie Crow, which has included the first phase of the colouring in competition judging and lots of yarn kit making ready for the show this weekend. I have also started work on a new shawl design that will be released in a magazine in the autumn and so far it is really nice to be back designing again after what feels like a long gap between design projects. I am hoping that more ideas will follow, so watch this space......

Happy Friday!

'You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have'
- Maya Angelou -

What's New?

As mentioned in my introduction this week I have news of 2 new workshops that you might be interested in.

I have been lucky enough to teach on the Knit For Peace workshop holiday in Mysore, India twice before and had been in discussion with the charity about tutoring in Jaipur in 2020, however, due to unforeseen circumstances, I will now be replacing Gillian Ely and Debbie Bliss as tutor on the January trip to Mysore once again. The dates of the trip are the 18th to the 31st January and you can register your interest by contacting the charity. More information will be on their web site soon.

I will also be tutoring a weekend workshop at the lovely Missenden Abbey School of Creative Arts in Buckinghamshire on the 9th and 10th March. This is a crochet motif design workshop, which is aimed at people who want to have a little play with their crochet in order to change or adapt existing motifs or possibly design their very own motifs from scratch - something that is in fact far easier than most people think and which can come quite easily once a little bit of basic information about how crochet designing 'works' alongside a pinch of encouragement is given! You can find more information on this workshop by following this link.

Colour Palette of the Week

This week I have taken my palette of colours from a picture I took of my Dad's incredible camelia bush in his garden. The bush is currently full to bursting with these beautiful flowers and I just love it!

We have tried to grow camelias in our own garden, but have never had any luck keeping them, so I am very envious of this one that gives my Mum and Dad such a wonderful display each February.

I have to admit that the palette I have taken from this image surprised me a little as I would have predicted that the flowers were more yellowy pink than bluey pink, but I guess it might be that the shade of the trees in the garden creates different light on the flowers.

Colouring Competition

We have done our first round of judging on the Delft colouring competition this week. We received over 230 entries, which is amazing and it was really hard to make choices between the entries as the quality was so high.

We have chosen our 7 favourite colour palettes and will be crocheting the samples over the next week, so that we can reveal them to you in their crochet form early next month.

The image above shows the selection process and features graphic designer Luise Roberts, myself and Sara Huntington, editor of Simply Crochet magazine. The two other judges were Stylecraft's Brand Manager Annabelle Hill and Juliet Bernard. Please note that images above do not necessarily feature colour palettes of the selected finalists.

I want to send a big THANK YOU to those of you who took the time to send in an entry.

Instagram Favourite

My Instagram favourites to date have been based on feeds that I find attractive visually. I have featured knitters, crocheters, embroiderers and interior designers, all of whom provide bright interesting images of their work or inspiration, which in turn create a reaction in me.

This week my Instagram Favourite ticks all the boxes mentioned above, but more recently Jeanette Sloan has also become one of the leading voices within a very important discussion on social media. If you haven't checked out Jeanette's feed already, then you can find the link here and by clicking on the image above.

It's nearly the weekend!

I told you last week that we were heading off to the NEC in Birmingham to the Stitches trade show and had been invited to the British Crafts Awards ceremony. Well, we had a lovely day at the show and at the event in the evening where I was really thrilled to come runner up, behind the wonderful Dedri Uys of Look at What I Made, in the crochet designer of the year category. Dedri has been in the running for the award many times so it is really great that she finally won. The image below is of Dedri with Anita Mundt from Scheepjes.

As I already said, this weekend we are at the Unravel Yarn show in Farnham. We are really happy with the stand - we did make it to IKEA at last and have a new 'open wardrobe' as part of our stand layout. I think the new piece of furniture shows all the blankets off really nicely and so I will put some images on my Instagram feed. If you are coming along to the show please drop by the stand to say hello - we are in the Great Hall.

If you have been visiting the new Janie Crow web site you probably won't have noticed much of a change since you last visited, so next week it is my intention to get some more new pages on there, so do keep looking out for new things.

Whatever you are up to I hope you have a lovely weekend. If you want to get in touch simply hit reply and let me know what is on your mind.

Sending yarny love and crochet kisses

Healthy Habits

15/2/2019

Janie's Friday Feature

Welcome to this week's Friday Feature Newsletter - the Janie Crow equivalent of a Sunday supplement magazine....

As always I cannot believe just how fast the last week has flown by - the older I get the quicker my time seems to go - it can be a bit scary at times!

This week Sarah and I have been looking at ways of putting healthy habits into practice or keeping in line with those you may have already created. As I have said many times before I found myself in a situation where I needed to reboot my habits and routine a year or so ago, when I felt that everything had got a little bit out of control and when my work in particular was taking over too large a chunk of my time. By working through some very simple exercises over the course of a few months I managed to rearrange my life a little to make room for the things I felt I was missing out on.

It is really easy to loose sight of your goals, be they personal or work related, and get caught up doing things you may no longer enjoy. I have a series of 'post it' notes on the wall in the studio that say things like 'Gym', 'Family', 'Delegate' and 'Prioritise' on them to help me stay in control. I have recently also started using a timer on my phone - I set it to go off at hourly intervals so that I can judge how much time things are taking me, as I do have a habit of spending too much time on small things that are not massively important and so leave too little time for all the other things that need to be done.

Last year one of the things I was really guilty of was filling my spare time with work - I think when you are self employed this is an easy thing to do, so over the past year I have tried to create some new pass times and hobbies. My sourdough bread making, for example, has become a good distraction and (although my waistline has possibly suffered a negative effect as a result) I feel the process of making the bread 3 or 4 times a week provides me with some really good therapy!

The other thing I have started to do again is walk and Sarah mentions the positive effects of walking within her piece further down. When I had my beloved dog I walked over the woods with her every day, but since loosing her 18 months or so ago the walking habit died too! Sarah has some tips for keeping up with healthy habits and has written a great piece for this week's newsletter, so do scroll down to take a look.

As usual this week's newsletter features both a palette and a tip of the week alongside a few other bits and bobs that I hope you will find of interest. As always, if you have anything you want to say to us, simply hit reply and send us an email.

Happy Friday!

'There are always flowers for those who want to see them.'
- Henri Matisse -

Keeping Healthy Habits

Sarah here!

I am really pleased to be joining you again for the Friday Feature and hope that you are all feeling the benefit of any changes you might have made to improve your sense of wellbeing. If like me you started off full of good intentions at the beginning of January and have managed to wander slightly off piste, take heart, you are not on your own. This can be a tricky time of the year to navigate. The festive season is well and truly behind us, but the weather is still unpredictable and although there are the odd signs of spring, there isn’t quite that ‘smell’ in the air yet. However, this could be the best time to check in on the benefits of a healthier lifestyle without all the pressure of the “New Year, New Me” stuff. A few daffodils and twinkly lights is a good way to remind yourself that lighter, warmer days are on their way.

Coming out of your comfort zone at the darkest, coldest and bleakest time of the year, can feel like a bit of an ask. I wonder if this is because we associate healthy habits and regimes with notions of giving things up. How can we help ourselves to stay on track and keep the glass half full? When that sense of overwhelm starts to build up, one of the best things we can do is to simply stop and give ourselves time to reflect and re-assess what we are trying to achieve. What are the building blocks we need to put in place to keep up our momentum? When I started to research this piece there were several simple and obvious ways to help keep us on track – ironically these are always the easiest to lose sight of when life gets busy. So here is a gentle reminder:

A good night’s sleep is one of the most restorative, mood and energy boosting treats you can give yourself – and it is the quality, rather than the quantity of the sleep that matters. I recognize that this may be really irritating to read for those who struggle to sleep as I guess you will have tried all of the following. however, it may help someone and it certainly got me thinking about how I approach the end of the day.

Make sure your bedroom is dark, quiet and well ventilated.
Try to go to bed and get up at the same time – trickier at the weekends I know, but changes in this routine can often lead to migraine.
Avoid screens, (even the TV) an hour before you intend to go to sleep.
Exercise regularly.
If you do wake up you could try reading or do something else relaxing until you feel tired again – do not be tempted to check your devices!

I often watch the TV before going to bed and, although I read once in bed, this checklist has made me think about when I watch some of my favourite programmes. Rather than staying up late to catch something, I am going to try recording it and watching it at a better time. It’s a small change, but if it improves the quality of my sleep then it’s a bonus.
Healthy eating has never been easier, but it can still be a struggle some days. I grew up in a house where homemade cakes and biscuits were always available and no dinner was complete without pudding! I still punctuate the day and reward myself with sweet things. Deep down I know this is not good for me.

In a previous Friday Feature you may remember I mentioned that I was going meat free during January. Well, I have stayed meat free and am still really enjoying exploring new recipes, tastes and textures. I am more conscious of the importance of cooking from scratch and how batch cooking can prevent relapsing into bad habits. I have eaten out a couple of times and given in to dessert, but the important thing is that as a family we are making more conscious decisions about what we eat. Preparing food for and sharing new dishes with friends is a habit we have no trouble maintaining!

My attitude to exercise is probably worse than my passion for cakes and puddings! P.E. lessons terrified me at school, but I was very good at ballet, so I do appreciate the importance of exercise and the tremendous boost it can give to our wellbeing. I guess it is another case of finding what works for the individual. I love walking and take my dogs for a run twice a day, so not a complete couch potato! I think walking is a great way to exercise and allows you to make discoveries along the way. Who would have thought that this photo was taken in the heart of Birmingham!

Despite my treks with the dogs I could definitely do more and so recently we have started walking to the local supermarket instead of taking the car. I often leave things upstairs so that I have to make several trips – sounds crazy, but every little helps. I have also discovered a five minute morning yoga routine that I am going to try. I know that lots of you run, cycle, work out and do yoga, so I hope you are not too appalled by my less than energetic ways. Finding the time to exercise can often be a constraint, but anything is better than nothing, so that will be my starting point!

And finally – STRESS!

We need a small amount of stress to function and to keep motivated but too much is detrimental to both our physical and mental health. It is something we will all face at different points in our life and the triggers will be different for all of us. However, we can develop habits or strategies to alleviate this pressure when we are often at our most vulnerable. Not a day goes by without some report about the negative impact of technology (and often specifically social media) on our health and wellbeing. I have been as guilty as the next person on the number of times I check my phone and counting the number of likes a post gets on Instagram. Apparently, every time you get a like on Facebook or Instagram you get a little hit of dopamine, every time you see something new you get another hit – that is why it is so addictive. The dangers are well documented – constant connections to our phones leads to lack of focus and concentration and creativity, poor sleep and probably most harmful of all – endless comparison with the apparent success, luck and gorgeousness of other people. This is not intended as a rant against the use of social media, just a gentle reminder that it is OK to take a break!
Chances are that if you are reading this feature it is because you crochet, knit or stitch, possibly all three. Working with our hands and engaging with calm, rhythmical and repetitive action leads to a state of flow, similar to meditation. Our focus and concentration improves and our self esteem improves. It helps us to feel grounded in an ever virtual world. These are great habits and certainly the ones I feel most easy to maintain.

Everyone’s circumstances are different and it is so easy to forget to take care of ourselves. Without some level of self care, both our physical and mental health is likely to suffer. Self care is not a hedonistic concept it is about developing a calmer, balanced and healthier lifestyle, often through tiny changes. Two books that I refer to all the time are Self-care for the Real World and Rituals for Every Day. They are written by two sisters, Nadia Narain and Katia Narain Phillipsand published by Penguin Random House. The emphasis is on suggesting ways to look after yourself and boost your sense of well being, rather than dictating a regime. They are realistic and recognize the curve balls that life throws at us.

I hope you have a great weekend and that you are able to eat something nutritious, get outside and breathe some fresh air, but also find time to rest and relax with your current project.

Tip of the week

The new Janie Crow web site now has 14 free technique downloads and a range of helpful YouTube videos uploaded to help you on your crochet journey. You can find them by following the links.

This week I want to highlight one of the videos - 'How to make a neat ring' - as it features a great little tip on how to make sure your slip knot isn't visible in your foundation ring when working in the round. The images above show how much better the ring can look if you use this tip. You can find the video by following this link.

What's New?

The response to the new web sites has been amazing - thank you to all of you who have taken the time to comment on them and get in touch.

For those of you who don't already know, the new Just Knots web site is a retail site that replaces our original Janie Crow one and for the time being historical links from Janie Crow, such as those in past newsletters and magazine features for example, will be automatically redirected to this site. Going forwards though, anything related specifically to me and my design will be featured primarily on the new Janie Crow site.

About six weeks ago Andrew and Andrea from the Fruity Knitting Podcast dropped into the studio so that I could take part in an interview with them. The resulting video went live on Tuesday via their Youtube feed, so I would love it if you would take a look!

Colour Palette of the Week

I wanted to feature a bright and cheery palette this week. I took this image in February last year - I remember going out and getting a bunch of tulips in the hope that they would cheer up a dull and miserable couple of days. The image was taken with the lights on at home, so it isn't brilliantly clear, but I think I have managed to create a nice palette of shades from it - I really do love purple/dark red shades with bright greens.

I remember thinking that we were heading into spring this time last year and then we had all that snow! We did the Spring Knitting and Stitching show in thick snow (the worst that London has seen for years) and had snow again when we were at the Edinburgh Yarn Festival and that was mid March, so I am guessing there is still a chance that we haven't had all our winter weather just yet - it is lovely to start thinking about the spring though isn't it!

Colouring Competition

The colouring competition has been a huge success - our postman, Dave, has been kept very busy this week delivering all the entry forms! I have been incredibly restrained and have yet to open a single one of them. A small group of us will be going through the entries and picking our favourites next Wednesday and I really can't wait to start looking through them.

I want to send a big THANK YOU to those of you who have taken the time to send in an entry. We will be revealing the 5 finalists in early March - so do look out for more information on that very soon!

Instagram Favourite

I have recently started following the work of quite a few embroiderers on Instagram. I really love the detail of some of the things they are doing and have been really surprised at how innovative and exciting the craft has become.

I have been following @fistashka.art for a few months now and I just love it when her work comes up on the feed. Polina, the embroiderer behind Fistashka Art, is from Russia and has been embroidering since 2015. Recently she has been concentrating on lovely moth and butterfly brooches, but you can see from the image that she also works on mini portraits and larger pieces.

'My works are often compared to Impressionist paintings, because my embroidery recalls this style. I am inspired by the works of Van Gogh, Monet, Renoir and Russian painters.'

Freddie Fever!

Last week I featured Mark @theguywiththehook as my Instagram favourite - I hope you followed the link and liked his feed.

This week Mark has completed his tribute to the legend that was Freddie Mercury. Isn't it amazing! You can find the pattern via Mark's blog by following this link or clicking on the image above.

It's nearly the weekend!

I am looking forward to a day at home tomorrow, although we didn't make it to IKEA last weekend, so it may well be that we decide to squeeze this in at some point. On Sunday we are going to head up to the NEC in Birmingham to visit the 'CHSI Stitches' trade show. I am really looking forward to this as we are going to catch up with Sarah while we are up there and I have been invited to attend the British Craft Award ceremony in the evening.

Thinking about the event on Sunday reminded me that I was recently sent some images from the British Knitting and Crochet Awards party back in October. I thought you might like to the one above as it is not often that Lucy from Attic24, Dedri from Look at what I made and myself manage to collide at the same time. The image also features Sarah Neal, Editor of Let's Knit magazine.

Next week we will be heading off to exhibit at Unravel Farnham. The show starts on Friday and runs through to next Sunday. If you are planning to visit the show please drop by our stand to say hello - we will be in the main hall.

Next week's newsletter will focus on Denim, which is a really big trend for spring, so I hope you will join me. In the mean time I trust you will have a wonderfully creative and enjoyable week...

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JANIE'S BLOG

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'We have forgotten how to be good guests, how to walk lightly on the earth as it's other creatures do.'- Barbara Ward -

What's Milk Got to do with it?

​Instagram of the Week

​Colour Palette of the Week

Tip of the Week

It's nearly the weekend!

JANIE'S FRIDAY FEATURE

'There is nothing better than a friend, unless it is a friend with chocolate.'- Linda Grayson -

Delft Colouring Competition​

Colour Palette of the Week

It's nearly the weekend!

Janie's Friday Feature

'Let us read and let us dance - two amusements that will never do any harm to the world ''- Voltaire -

The Ballets Russes

What's New?

Rose Garden in Bloom - Katie Mulliner, Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire.

Autumn Berries - Miss Jen Mitchell, Wellington, Somerset.

Bejewelled - Jackie Walker, Chandlers Ford, Hampshire.

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Fiore - Debby Gould, London NW10

Colour Palette of the Week

It's nearly the weekend!

Janie's Friday Feature​

'Soon I will be old and I've done precious little in this world for lack of time. I am always afraid I'll become senile before I've finished what I've undertaken ''- Paul Gauguin -

The Poor Cousin?​

What's New?

Colour Palette of the Week

Instagram Favourite

It's nearly the weekend!

Janie's Friday Feature

'Spring is nature's way of saying, 'Let's Party!''- Robin Williams -

The Poor Cousin?

What's New?

Colour Palette of the Week

Instagram Favourite(s)

Five Day Retreat in Rural France

It's nearly the weekend!

Janie's Friday Feature

Reading a Crochet Chart

Janie's Friday FeaturE

'Last night I dreamt I ate a ten pound marshmallow. When I woke up the pillow was gone!'- Tommy Cooper -

Cushion Crazy!

Tip of the week​

What's New?

Colour Palette of the Week

Instagram Favourite

It's nearly the weekend!

Janie's Friday Feature

'I cannot think my day complete 'til needle, thread and fabric meet.'- Author Unknown -

Nordiska Exhibition

Tip of the week

What's New

Colour Palette of the Week

Instagram Favourite

It's nearly the weekend!

Janie's Friday Feature​

'You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have'- Maya Angelou -

What's New?

Colour Palette of the Week

Colouring Competition

Instagram Favourite

It's nearly the weekend!

Janie's Friday Feature

'There are always flowers for those who want to see them.'- Henri Matisse -​

Keeping Healthy Habits

Tip of the week

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Colour Palette of the Week​

Colouring Competition

Instagram Favourite

Freddie Fever!​

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'We have forgotten how to be good guests, how to walk lightly on the earth as it's other creatures do.'
- Barbara Ward -

Instagram of the Week

Colour Palette of the Week

'There is nothing better than a friend, unless it is a friend with chocolate.'
- Linda Grayson -

Delft Colouring Competition

'Let us read and let us dance - two amusements that will never do any harm to the world ''
- Voltaire -

Janie's Friday Feature

'Soon I will be old and I've done precious little in this world for lack of time. I am always afraid I'll become senile before I've finished what I've undertaken ''
- Paul Gauguin -

The Poor Cousin?

'Spring is nature's way of saying, 'Let's Party!''
- Robin Williams -

'Last night I dreamt I ate a ten pound marshmallow. When I woke up the pillow was gone!'
- Tommy Cooper -

Tip of the week

'I cannot think my day complete 'til needle, thread and fabric meet.'
- Author Unknown -

Janie's Friday Feature

'You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have'
- Maya Angelou -

'There are always flowers for those who want to see them.'
- Henri Matisse -

What's New?

Colour Palette of the Week

Freddie Fever!