We are now officially at the end of the third week of the temperature blanket: it is early days and Gemma and I have had a bit of a chat about how we’re settling into the project.  As it turns out, we have both GONE ROGUE!  What does this mean?  Well it means we’ve made some adjustments to how we are working the project and if we’ve done it we bet you have too!

Emma’s Change
 
I have decided to leave out the increases in Rounds 1, 3 and 5.  Why?  Well, I am not a neat crocheter.  Things do not come from my hook looking attractive and the more stitches I cram in, the less neat things get.  Reader, I found my wavy squares distressing.  Which is of course ridiculous since they block perfectly flat (and we have a lovely tip on blocking in a later blog post – watch this space) but well, why not?  As you know, these blocks are the plain blocks used in the Spirit of Flora project and in order for them to fit the stitch count of the beautiful floral blocks from that project, Jane designed them so that the size and stitch count were the same.  Since we are only using these blocks, we don’t have to worry about stitch count, so long as all blocks are the same, so we can quite happily leave out the increases if we want.  And I want. So that’s that!

​Gemma’s Change
 
Gemma’s is RADICAL!  She has chosen to use the Join As You Go method on her blocks!  If you’re not familiar with this, it’s exactly as the name suggests: you join your blocks together as you go along.  This means you don’t have a big pile of blocks to join together at the end of the year.  So a little bit more work along the way but not too much and no big joining exercise at the end. 

If this is a thing you’re interested in, we are going to focus on that in our next blog post.  If you’d like to continue making your blocks, just make them up to the last round:  don’t complete the final round and you’ll not need to undo anything.  If you’ve already made your blocks but also think that Join as you go is the technique for you, don’t worry, you’ll only need to make minor adjustments on the ones you’ve already made and we’ll cover that in the next post. You can fully complete block number 1 – you always start with one completed block.
 
We’ve made some videos with Join As You Go techniques on our YouTube channel here but again, we plan to make a quick video to show you the exact method Gemma is using and that will be available in a week or so.

So we’ve both made some changes already to make these projects work for us.  We found we’d also got some other little differences:
 
We live relatively close together – less than 80 miles as the crow flies – but our blocks are already different despite using the same colours for the same temperature ranges.  We discussed how we are collecting our temperatures and found those to be different:
 
Emma: using data from the week before and choosing the highest temperature for each day
 
Gemma: recording her temperature in real time at the mid-point of the day
 
The way we are making our blocks is different too: I am making my block at the end of each week.  Sitting and getting it all done in one go.  It’s lovely.

​Gemma is making a round a day – she leaves her yarn attached at the end of each day in case the following day uses the same colour too.   She explained that she likes that little hit of crochet each day as it’s her down time and is so effective in relaxing and grounding her.  So true!  We explore this theme a lot on social media actually and we know that many of us feel just like this.
 
The final thing we discussed was the temperature chart itself – compare and contrast:

​I started mine with every good intention, neatly and ordered.  I feel like this is how I approach all my resolutions.  As you can see, it very quickly went downhill, and now, only 3 weeks in it’s torn and crumpled and the writing is awful!
 
Gemma’s chart is – in her words “my oasis of calm on the chaos of my desk”. It’s truly a thing of beauty: neat and perfect and with (get this) A SPECIAL PEN.  I have such envy.

By the way, for those of you who are super organised you can find the February chart here

Finally, ends.  Now this we agreed on.  We agreed to not pass comment because we are terrible role models and should not be consulted since we have nothing good to tell you about our habits....

​We’d love to hear how you’re getting on – what changes have you made, if any?  How are you collecting your temperatures?  How many colours are you using?  Tell us everything – we are still very open to change, we’re only 3 weeks in after all!

Welcome to the first ‘new look’ JANIE CROW newsletter of 2025! I am a little later than usual because of a small technical hitch, but I hope this email finds you well and that you are settling into the new year nicely!
 
It has been a busy start to 2025 for us and we are looking forward to some exciting things over the next few months, including the release of two revamped versions of my Royal Garden blanket design, which we hope to release by the end of the month.
 
I have a few other things to tell you about this week, so I hope you can spare a few minutes to catch up with all things Janie Crow!

I will be settling myself on the sofa, in front of the TV, with my knitting at some point over the weekend. I am really enjoying working on another knitting project after completing a garter stitch waistcoat project just before Christmas. I am trying to resist starting work on the Kaleidoscope knitted butterfly hanging designed by the wonderful Phil of Twisted Thread, shown above. It is an incredibly clever pattern as the butterflies are knitted in the round. I am intrigued to see how they are made and think it will be really fun to choose my butterfly colours! 
 
I hope you have some nice plans and that you will also be able to find some time for a spot of knitting or crochet over the weekend too! ​

Welcome to our second Book of the Month. I hope you all had a peaceful, healthy festive season and the new year has started well for you. I don't tend to make New Year's Resolutions as, I don't know about you, but I find the minute I feel like I'm putting pressure on myself to do or achieve something, it takes away some of the pleasure. Having said that one of things I would really like to do more of this year is be outside in nature and I really like the idea of combining that with craft. Hence this month's book choice is 'Connecting with Nature' by Tilly Rose, a brand new publication from Search Press (ISBN 978-1-80092-191-7). 

There is an interesting introduction from the author in which she talks about her memories of her family's tiny garden at their home in Peterborough and how she watched the seasons change in the local park, noticing scorched lawns at the height of summer, the conkers falling from the mighty horse chestnut trees and tiny crocuses appearing through the snow in the winter. That last one strikes a chord with me as I'm not a huge gardener and for many years didn't appreciate the joy of bulbs but I planted some snowdrops a few years ago and seeing their small green shoots appearing without fail year after year feels strangely comforting now. 

The next section of the book, Creative approaches, looks at the idea of foraging, including the 'rules of kindness' which should be considered when taking keepsakes from nature; not being greedy, not trampling wildflowers or vegetation to reach something and if you're walking on an SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) not to take anything at all. There is also advice on how to store your collected treasures to prevent mould or mildew and how to press and dry flowers and herbs. 

You can see in the images above examples of the kind of things the author suggests you might find in different habitats.

The following chapter explores how to experiment with eco-dyeing (a form of natural dyeing where colours extracted from plants and vegetables are transferred on to paper or cloth by steaming or boiling) and how to create your own watercolour paints. I really like the idea of having a try at the eco-dyeing and there's a lovely example of some cotton lace being dyed with red cabbage, showing how the colour changed depending on how long the lace was left in the the dye pan. In our house we make blackberry vinegar every year and use muslin cloths to strain the blackberries after steeping in cider vinegar. The colour of the muslin cloths at the end of the process is a great example of a really intense dye, straight from nature. 

The book then looks at making botanical journals and chapbooks (a historical term for small pamphlets sold by pedlars, that contained poems, ballads, short stories etc. ), methods of weaving, slow stitching and textile collage making. These aren't in-depth explanations but provide enough information, without overwhelming, to encourage the reader to give these techniques a try.  

The next, and largest, section of the book is a selection of projects that call on the techniques that have been introduced in the preceding chapters and include making a memory stick (or even a calendar of sticks!), a nature mandala and a mini flower press. One particular project, involving leaf printing on to fabric, to make an artist's brush wrap, would also double perfectly as a crochet hook holder so that one is definitely on my list to try! 

I really liked this book. It encourages you to notice things when you're out and about in nature and, in a time when we are all being encouraged to practice mindfulness in our lives, this is exactly the sort of thing we can all do without any real effort at all. Noticing tiny flowers in grass verges, sparkling spider webs covered in morning dew, these things can be right outside our own front doors. 

The technique sections are not overwhelming in the amount of information given and there isn't the sense that you need to rush out to buy all sorts of equipment (which can sometimes be the case when starting a new hobby or interest). The author suggests ways of using small scraps of fabric, glass jars or bottles that you may have at home and encourages you to use what you have rather than go out and buy. The projects themselves feel achievable and give the sense that you can take your time over them, that they will become a kind of memory recording of time spent outdoors. 

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

I'll be back next month with another review but in the meantime stay warm and I hope you get lots of time to craft! 

Over the festive period we watched the movie 'Red One' on the TV. It was good fun to watch a very Christmassy film before the big day, when our excitement was high and the thought of Santa hurtling through the skies with his reindeer was thrilling! The movie was all about a boy who didn't believe in the magic of Father Christmas and I was struck by two sayings quoted in the film, so much so that I have written them down on post-it-notes and have stuck them on the pin board in my office:

1: Every day, every decision is an opportunity.

2: We choose everyday who we want to be.
 
I did a search online and found a YouTube video on the Jim Rohn channel called 'learn to act as if each new day is an opportunity'. You can find it here.  It is quite a long video (20 minutes or so) but I think it is a very positive watch/listen if you want to head into the New Year feeling like you are in control of your ship!

Happy New Year! ​

​Happy New Year! Welcome to 2025 and the very first day of the Janie Crow Temperature Blanket project. Lots of you have said you will be joining in with us so we thought we'd pop a quick reminder of what you'll need to begin your own, unique blanket.

Next, you'll need to start recording the daily temperatures for where you are in the world. It doesn't matter particularly how you do this but doing it the same way every day is the main thing. We are using the weather app on our phones to check what the maximum temperature will be for the day. You can log these temperatures any way you prefer but we will be creating a temperature recording chart for each month if you'd like to use it: you can find January's ​here. 

Once you have your yarn organised and your first temperature recorded you are ready to start crocheting! You'll need your 4mm hook (unless the yarn you are using isn't DK, in which case you'll need to use the most appropriate size for your yarn choice) and the patterns, of course!  

We used the free plain motif patterns that were released as part of the Spirit of Flora crochet along and you can find them over on the main Spirit of Flora page on the website here. You'll need to scroll about halfway down the page and you'll find the links for the written patterns under the photos of the third set of Spirit of Flora motifs. The patterns are in UK terms only but there are charts available too, with the key in both UK and US terms. 

​For the weekly blocks we used the pattern for the completely plain square and made the Foundation Round and Round 1 on Day 1 and then worked a single further round on each of the following 6 days.

​The (monthly) floral blocks were made using Saffron for the centre and the petals were made using the yarn shades that represented the lowest and highest temperatures for the month. The rest of the square was made in the colour representing the average monthly temperature. See the image below for guidance:

You might choose to record a week's temperatures and then make your block in one go, or you may decide to work a round every day. It is all about completing the project in a way that works for you! Remember to work out the highest and lowest and average temperatures at the end of the month as you will need these for your floral squares. You'll also need to label your squares as you make them, so you can keep them in the order in which they are made. Small pieces of paper attached to the squares with a safety pin would do the job just fine! 

Later in the year we'll share more on our suggested layout and possible joining methods but in the meantime we hope you'll enjoy making a start on your blanket. Do share your progress on social media using the hashtag #janiecrowtempblanket25 and if you have any questions just ask, we'll be more than happy to help! 

Now all that remains is for you to get started! 
​
Bye for now! 
​
Emma & Gemma xx