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It's All About The TWIST!

31/5/2019

Janie's Friday Feature

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

The calmer vibe has continued over the two weeks since I was last here and I have settled down into some satisfying design work at last. I have said it before, but I love this time of year when the spring shows are over and there is time to sit down and concentrate on some new inspiration. I already have quite a bit to show for the last fortnight, so have my fingers crossed that the enthusiasm continues into the next few months! I have previously promised you a couple of new crochet along designs and seem to be on track for one of these at least, so I am hoping that both do make it to fruition over the next few months!

We had a lovely celebration for Summer's 21st birthday a few weeks ago and the party theme continues this week as I turned (a rather whopping) 50 years old yesterday! We celebrated by going to see the Van Gogh exhibition at The Tate and by popping into Bonhams on Bond Street to see some of the costumes from the Ballet Russes (from Firebird) that are on display to coincide with a Russian Art sale. It is school half term break so it was really busy in town, but the weather was good and the city had a great vibe, so we had a lovely day!

I will be teaching a day workshop in Norfolk tomorrow and will be at Black Sheep Wools in Warrington for 2 days next week, so I have been busy prepping some workshop kits. I am thinking of scheduling some day workshops closer to home in the future and hope to have some news of this later on in the year.

As always, if you want to get in touch please hit reply and tell us what is on your mind, but for now, grab a cuppa, put your feet up and spend 5 minutes in my company before the excitement of the weekend ahead starts.....

'When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace.'
- Jimi Hendrix -

What's New?

My crochet along style pattern book Bohemian Blooms is about to head off for a reprint. We have sold almost 3000 copies of the book, which is amazing and far beyond the number we thought we would ever print. I have been working on a new blanket layout using a different yarn brand and I have also had permission from another Stylecraft Blogstar to release her recoloured version of the design, which uses Stylecraft Special DK, as a downloadable document. The information on both of the new colour ways will be available via my web site later on in the summer.

We have just 20 copies of the Bohemian Blooms book left in stock, so if you want to grab one while we still have them you can follow this link to the shop.

I will be contacting the winners of the Delft Colouring in Competition over the next few weeks and the winning blanket designs will be revealed later on in June. We had a great response to the competition and I cannot wait to show you the lovely completed blankets. The colour swap documents for the winning entries will all be available as free downloads from my web site and stockists may well have yarn packs for you to purchase, so do look out for more information soon.

As I said in my introduction I have been working on some new CAL designs, one of which is a crochet wrap project that will be featured in Inside Crochet magazine, starting in the July issue. The crochet along will run for 4 months and I have used Stylecraft's Bellissima DK for the project, which has been inspired by the designs of a rather famous historical interior designer. I am really pleased with the design and I am really looking forward to being able to show it to you soon.

Whilst sitting in the hairdresser's last Saturday I stumbled upon a Dolce and Gabbana advert in a magazine that features the crochet bra top and skirt that I (and many of you) feel bear a strong resemblance to a few of my designs. You may remember me telling you about this a few months ago and many of you have been asking about it, so I thought I should update you.....

I was extremely lucky to be given some free legal advice by some top Fashion IP lawyers and as a result I have decided not to take this copyright infringement any further. I have been advised that Dolce and Gabbana are a huge company who have a reputation not only for copying small designers, but also of counter suing people like me who make an attempt to challenge anything! This is a bit sad and it isn't right, but I feel it is now time to draw a line under this and move on as the last thing I want is to get tangled up in a legal mess!

I have decided that rather than feel bitter and twisted about the copying I should feel flattered and wear it as a badge of approval, after all, how cool is it to see parts of my Frida's Flowers, Lily Pond and Bohemian Blooms CAL designs on the catwalk and in national magazines! Going forwards I will be making sure that all my patterns carry a good copyright notice and of course I will also be keeping a firm eye on D&G designs in the future!

Thank you to all those of you who copied Dolce and Gabbana into tweets, Instagram and Facebook messages. Your support has been incredible.

Instagram of the Week

My Instagram favourite this week is Bryony aka 'Tickover' whose feed you can find by following this link. Bryony is a hand stitch designer who creates embroidery pieces that are designed to make you think about ethical issues within the fashion and textile industry. This is a subject that I keep coming back to and so I was really drawn to Bryony's clever pieces, which you can find for sale in her Etsy shop.

Bryony says:
'I started Tickover to merge my enjoyment of embroidery and my frustration at hidden aspects of the fashion industry. I aim to raise awareness about issues such as human rights and environmental violations, whether the need to eradicate modern slavery or stop making clothing out of plastic.
Some profits from each piece will be donated to charities that help aid these causes such as Labour Behind the Label and Extinction Rebellion.
There is so much that we all have to learn in this field, I invite you to join the conversation, ask questions, demand transparency and take small steps to help make the world a safer place for all.'

If you are interested in Instagram feeds like Bryony's then you might also want to take a look at the feed called Fashion Revolution, which you can find here.

Tip of the Week

I am not really sure if this classifies as a tip or rather some advice.

In my last newsletter I talked about substituting yarn and it has been great to hear how the information has helped many of you. One thing I didn't touch on in my piece was the difference between the twist of yarns. This has been something that has been chatted about quite a lot recently on social media, so I thought it would be good to include a little information about this in in today's newsletter.

So, something that is actually quite important when choosing a yarn for crochet is whether your yarn of choice has been spun with an S twist or a Z twist, but what does that mean? Well, S twist yarn is one that has been spun anti-clockwise, whilst Z twist yarn has been spun in the opposite direction (ie clockwise). The image below should help you see why this is referred to as S or Z twist.

S twist is the most common yarn - in fact I would be be prepeared to say that almost every ball or skein of yarn in your collection is S twist. It is the most readily available 'craft' yarn and it has been designed to be used for knitting, by right handed knitters. Knitting with an S-Twist yarn reinforces the twist and keeps the plies coherent and the strands stable.

Sadly though it seems that the opposite happens in crochet by right handed crocheters as a loosely spun S twist yarn can actually come undone in the crochet process. You may have noticed this already and might well have yarns that you find splitty and difficult to crochet with even though they appear to work fine if knitted.

I found a great piece by Doris Chan that you can also see by following the link.

'....Because the yarn is wrapped around the crochet hook (yarn over) in the opposite direction of the knit yarn over, and because crochet stitches have height and may contain multiple yarn overs each time, crochet tends to un-twist the S-Twist. Eventually, if this continues throughout the length of a skein (exacerbated by the act of fixing mistakes, frogging and re-crocheting) then that S-Twist yarn will become seriously untwisted, splitty, lose coherence and begin to fall apart. When the yarn is a loosely S-Twist product to begin with, crocheting it can result in disaster.'

Doris explains about adding twist as you work. This may be negligible in most cases, but if you find a yarn is opening up or splitting as you work, then it might be an idea to draw it from a different end of the ball. I tend to delve into my balls of yarn to find the end from the middle of the ball, rather than drawing from the outside end. I have always done this to prevent the ball from jumping about as I crochet and have never really thought about it in regards to the yarn twist, but I have heard that some yarns advise specifically whether to draw from one end of a ball or the other.

Linda Skuja, the fab crochet designer behind Eleven Handmade talked about S and Z twist yarns a few months ago on her Instagram feed. This is part of what she has said:

'I've seen people saying - there is no difference between knitting and crochet yarns. When in fact - THERE IS! And that difference is called YARN TWIST....
Z-Twisted yarns are more suited for crochet with the right hand because the crochet process itself is Z-twisting the yarn a little bit (but it can make a big difference on larger items). Your crochet piece will simply look better if you choose Z-twisted yarn. However - if you're a lefty - S-twist will be your friend. BUT the problem is - the majority of yarns are S-twisted and are produced with knitting in mind. I rarely see a Z-twisted yarn and what I would love to see is not only more Z-twisted yarns, but also labels that say "This yarn is Z-twisted'.

I hope this information has helped you understand why you might find some yarns more suitable for crochet than others and, if you have come across any Z twist yarns that are commonly available then I would love to have that information to share here for everyone another time, so do get in touch. In the mean time, if you are in the process of choosing an alternative yarn for a project and have a ball of yarn ready to work a tension piece, then it might be a good idea to work a small sample from both ends of the ball so that you can see if there is a difference in the look of the yarn once crocheted and in the feel of it as you work.

It's nearly the weekend!

As I have said already, I am teaching a workshop in Norfolk tomorrow, so I am keeping my fingers crossed for a smooth drive there and some good weather. I think the forecast is pretty good for the whole weekend, so hopefully Sunday will include some time in the garden - the grass is looking like it is in need of a cut yet again!

I will be back on June 14th with the first of my monthly newsletters, but if I have any exciting things to tell you about before then I may well send you a cheeky little email one of the Friday's between now and then, so do keep an eye on your inbox.

I hope that whatever you have planned that you have a fabulous weekend.

How To Substitute One Yarn For Another

17/5/2019

Janie's Friday Feature

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

I have returned from the lovely trip to Ireland last week with a slightly slower frame of mind and so have spent the week pootling around at home and at the studio in a far more leisurely way than usual. It has been really good to take things a tad slower and appreciate more of the things around me.

It is another week with a big birthday in it as our daughter Summer Rose turns 21 today - she shares her birthday with my Dad (who is 85 today) so it is a double celebration. With all that we have planned for the weekend I think my calm frame of mind will be short lived, but who doesn't love an excuse to party?

I spent the first few days of this week looking through and replying to the email responses to the Friday Feature that we have received over the last few weeks. Sarah and myself have now replied to all of them, so if you have been expecting a response and have not seen anything it might be an idea to check in your spam folder in case our emails have landed there - this does happen from time to time.

We had a lot of feedback about the 'What's Milk Got to do with it?' piece from a few weeks ago, with many of you agreeing that small, continuous steps to change our habits have got to be the way forward in regards to helping our environment recover from the abuse mankind has given it.

One of the things that the article raised was a point about making your own decisions about what yarns you want to use in a project and it prompted a few emails from people asking how to substitute yarns within patterns, so I have decided to make this topic the focus for this week's main article, which you will also find further down this email, along with the usual features, such as Instagram favourite of the week.

As always, if you want to get in touch please hit reply and tell us what is on your mind, but for now, grab a cuppa, put your feet up and spend 5 minutes in my company before the excitement of the weekend ahead starts.....

'Tortoises can tell you more about the road that hares.'
- Khalil Gibran -

Making Yarn Substitutions

I talked a few weeks ago about the importance of making yarn choices based on your own views and made the point that I am continuing to think a little more about the yarns I choose to use in my future designs. This prompted a flurry of emails that asked about how to make yarn substitutions when working from a pattern, so I hope that some of you will find the following information useful. I have written the piece in general terms so it does not specifically link to any of my designs and can be used for most projects (knit or crochet) that you come across....

Yarn Length: If you are substituting yarn it is important that you find an alternative that achieves the correct tension and has enough total length of yarn for the project.

The first rule is to not assume that every ball of yarn has the same length even if it weighs the same amount.

Yarn Weight (thickness): Most yarns on the market fall into set categories according to their thickness. In the UK we have the following standard weights:

1, 2, 3 & 4ply, Double Knitting (DK), Aran and Chunky.

In the US yarn weights differ so you might find this chart helpful, although I would be a little cautious of the information it gives on hook size and guage in regards to crochet.

The second rule is to source a yarn as close to the right weight as possible.

Tension (Guage): Yarns within each weight category should conform to the same standards, one of which is the suggested knitted or crocheted tension. Most ball bands will show you the suggested tension for knitting which is 22 stitches and 30 rows measured over 10cm [4in].

Yarns sit within the categories to make it easier to ensure that things come up the right size. This is especially handy when substituting yarn, as, in theory, a DK weight yarn should achieve more or less the same tension regardless of brand or fibre content. The ball band on the yarn should give you the suggested tension and also a needle or hook size that this tension is to be achieved on. For a standard weight DK this is usually a 4mm (US G/6) knitting needle or crochet hook.

If you have time to play about with a few yarn alternatives then it is a good idea to make a tension piece to see whether your new yarn can closely match the tension of the original yarn - it might be worth using different hook or needle size to do this. If you do not have time to do any sampling then you will have to rely on the information given on the ball band.

The third rule is check the tension.

Think about how yarn behaves: When looking for a substitute yarn it is worth taking a bit of time to analyse the yarn used in the original pattern. For example, if you have chosen a pattern that shows something made up in a mohair (hairy) yarn, it could look quite different made up in a smoother yarn and visa versa. Similarly, if you have chosen a pattern because the item in question looks light and drapey then it could look totally different made up in a heavier feeling yarn.

The fourth rule is to analyse the fibre content.

These four steps lead us into....

The Maths

but don't worry - it isn't scary!
Once you have taken all the steps above and have chosen your yarn it is time to do some simple maths, but you can only do this if you know the length of the yarn used in the original pattern. If the yarn length is not listed in the pattern then try to find the information on line or at your local yarn shop.

Step One: work out the total length of yarn used in the original design. You can do this in either metres or yards depending on what the pattern and ball band for the yarn is written for. (If you need to do a conversion from metres to yards or visa versa you can use the information on how to do this that is written at the end of this piece)

So, let's say that the yarn listed in the pattern comes in 100g balls that are 298 metres long and that you need 12 balls.

Multiply the length (298) by the number of balls (12)

298 x 12 = 3576

This is a total yarn length of 3,576 metres needed to complete the project.

Step Two: Divide this number by the length of your substitute yarn.

Let's say the new yarn comes in 50g balls that are each 125 metres long.

The total yarn length (3,576) divided by the substitute yarn length per ball (125)

2576 divided by 125 = 28.60

This means the yarn usage is between 28 and 29 balls.
(it is always worth over estimating and rounding to higher amounts rather than lower in case you run out)

So that's it - having followed the first four rules and then taken the next two steps you can work out how to successfully substitute one yarn for another. In my example, for a pattern that uses 12 x 100g yarn at 298 meters length, you would need 28 or 29 50g balls of yarn that is 125 meters.

Swapping metres to yards and visa versa
Metres are approximatlely a tenth longer than a yard, so in turn a yard is approxinately a tenth shorter than a metre, but to do the maths properly the magic number you need to remember is

1.09

To get metres to yards you need to multiply by this number and to get yards to metres you need to divide by this number.

So, if you have a pattern that quotes yarn amounts in yards multiply the amount by 1.09 to find the meterage:

eg: 200 yards of yarn divided by 1.09 = 183.4 meters

If, on the other hand you have a pattern that requires 100 metres of yarn, but your yarn label quotes yards, divide the amount by 1.09 to find the yards:

eg: 100 meters of yarn x 1.09 = 109 yards

Instagram of the Week

I have featured Lizzie Montgomery as my Instagram favourite of the week before. I love her artistic and inspirational feed and I adore the fact that she is an avid crocheter, so I don't really know how I have not stumbled across another of her accounts before this week - especially as the feed is already followed by Sarah!

The feed in question is called Fashion Textile Gallery and you can find it by following this link. I am in love.....

Tip of the Week

The email below was sent to us by Jenny Stanistreet in response to our recent newsletter pieces about the sustainability of our yarn choices. I felt that Jenny's email made some valid points about using up your stash and so I asked her if it would be ok for me to share it - and she agreed:

'In your Friday feature (26 Apr) you talked about the modern-day phenomenon of 'stash'. Yes, we're all guilty. Maybe a way of easing the conscience (and storage angst) is to use some up in aid of charitable organisations.

A web search can bring up many charities etc that welcome knitted/crocheted goods. I crochet basic beanies and scarves for Knit for Peace (thanks to publicity you handed round at a Black Sheep Wools workshop a few years ago). They're quick and relaxing to do; they use up small balls; and I've found that box-loads are reasonably low-cost to send via Hermes.

For really tiny oddments, the I nnocent Smoothie Big Knit 'hats' can be great fun; there are crochet versions, too. Age UK charity shops take them, or I think you can post them to Innocent.

Just a thought!' - Jenny Stanistreet

Marina Kelly - Crochet Necklaces

I am always on the look out for talented crocheters to become part of my team of 'home makers' to produce my sample blankets and shawls. I am really lucky to have some really expert crocheters who always send me the most beautifully executed work and who I know I can rely on to produce absolute top quality pieces. Without the help of these expert crocheters I would never be able to create my designs in the time scales I do and to the same quality, so I am incredibly grateful to all of them for their help.

Marina Kelly is one of my team. Her work is always incredibly neat and beautifully presented and so I was really excited when she told me that she wanted to show me some of her own design work. We finally had the chance to meet up at Edinburgh Yarn Festival in March where I was totally blown away by what she had brought to show me.

I am now incredibly proud to have some of Marina's amazing crocheted necklaceson sale on the web site. Each of the beautiful designs is a one off piece and they are all made using incredibly fine threads and traditional methods to create fabulous contemporary pieces.

Marina is very modest about her work and in my view she has priced these pieces too low given the amount of time she has spent designing and making them. Other crochet necklaces like these can cost closer to the £150 mark and will most likely have been made outside of the UK, so I think anyone who manages to nab one of these five stunning one-off pieces would be incredibly lucky to get their hands on such a fine piece of craftsmanship.

Do you like 'Making Up'?

We are looking for someone to help one of our customers, Lally, put together some crochet motifs in order to make a garment. Finishing is one thing that a lot of crocheters dislike as it is common that people find the process of making the crochet motifs pleasurable and not the sewing up or crocheting together.

If you like this process and would like to help another crocheter get a professional finish on her garment then please let me know so that I can forward your details directly to Lally.

It's nearly the weekend!

Over the last 18 months I have sent out more than 70 Friday Feature Newsletters. The Friday Feature is really important to me. I have thoroughly enjoyed writing them and especially love getting your feedback, but I have decided it is time to make a few changes. The next newsletter will drop into your inbox in a fortnight's time and then, from mid June onward, the Friday Feature will be sent monthly instead of weekly. Smaller, more specifically focused emails will also be sent to you when I have new releases or special events to tell you about. These will also arrive on a Friday afternoon, so do continue to check your inbox as you head into future weekends.

The weather forecast is looking a little dismal for the weekend here in North London, but I hope that wherever you are and whatever you have planned you do have a great time.

A Gem Of A Trip To The Emerald Isle

10/5/2019

Janie's Friday Feature

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

Yesterday my parents celebrated their Wedding Anniversary - they have been married for 55 years, which means that it was their Emerald Anniversary, so it has been a real coincidence that I have spent this week in Ireland - the Emerald Isle - on a fabulous trip with a group of knitters. We have had a really great time away in the West of Ireland and you can read more about our trip lower down this email.

Thank you for all your feedback on last week's newsletter where I re-featured the piece entitled 'What's Milk Got to do with it?' After our blip with our full mail box the week before it was a relief to hear from so many of you and I promise I will be replying to your emails once I am back from Ireland next week.

I hope that you have all had a good week and that you are looking forward to another great weekend....

'Love is an emerald,its brilliant light wards off
dragons on this treacherous path.'
- Rumi -

Knitting in the West of Ireland

One of the first Rowan garments I ever made was an intricately cabled tunic in cream hand knit cotton. I wore the sweater for years and still have it tucked away somewhere. I suppose I knitted it around twenty years ago and so trends have changed a lot over the years, with cable knitting coming in an out of fashion every now and again. The trend more recently seems to be for colour work and hand dyed, interesting yarns rather than intricate cable work, but there are a handful of designers still championing cable knitwear.

I did not hesitate for a second to accept the offer of accompanying a group of knitters to Ireland when Arena Travel asked if I would tutor a workshop trip there. In the lead up to the trip, which left the UK last Sunday, I thoroughly enjoyed working on a cable knitted project for the group to make while we have been away. The resulting cabled cushion cover design is shown below.

The design uses Rowan Superwash Worsted yarn, which I think is the same yarn that Rowan are about to use in their new Knit Along project that has been designed by Martin Storey and which is bound to feature some cabling.

There have been 12 knitters on the trip with me, plus Teresa, our tour representative and over the course of the last 5 days we have visited some wonderful knitting orientated places and seen some amazing countryside and stunning views. The trip has included 2 full days of workshops where the group have worked on their projects and an amazing trip to the smallest of the Aran Islands where we did some knitting with local knitter Una, who also runs a lovely cafe.

During our workshop Una showed us how to work a knitted cable design using 2 cable needles and then showed us a trick for cabling without a needle, which was a bit tricky, but fun to do! After the workshop we were taken on a wagon ride around the amazing island to see how islanders had cultivated the rocky landscape in order to survive there. The island was a real inspiration, especially the church yard where Celtic crosses such as the one below were in abundance.

On Wednesday we travelled to Galway where we went on a walking tour to learn the history of the city and then we went across country to Connemara to visit a sheep and wool centre where we were shown the traditional textile crafts of spinning, weaving and the cable knitting heritage.

Yesterday was our final day workshop with many of the participants continuing to work on their Aran inspired projects, whilst also learning how to make neat button holes and sew up their knitting using mattress stitch.

The trip has been incredibly inspirational for me and I am now itching to get back to the studio and see what I can do with crochet in relation to cable designs. We visited some great places on last year's Arena trip around the coastline of Scotland too, which also got be thinking about cabled designs, so I am hopeful that it is now time for these ideas to make it onto my hook!

If you feel inspired to knit some cable designs then I recommend you take a look at the work of the following designers:

Alice Starmore

Debbie Bliss

Martin Storey

Instagram of the Week

I have left the reference to Instagram in the title of this feature this week because if you follow the Instagram link it will lead you to the designs of Lucy Hague, who is an amazing knitted cable designer based in Edinburgh.

It is clear from Lucy's feed that she does not update her Instagram account all that often, but I am sure you will agree that the images of her work that are on the feed are more than enough temptation to lead you to her incredible designs on her web site, such as the Durrow shawl, shown above, and the Malgven shawl shown below. You can find patterns on Lucy's site by following this link here.

Colour Palette of the Week

I have taken this week's palette from an image taken at the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland. We visited them on Sunday and were treated to glorious sunshine on our visit, but I am sure it could have been very different in the rain and wind!

The cliffs are absolutely stunning, with lots of sea birds busy nesting on the cliff face and lots of lovely wild flowers growing precariously on the edges.

Tip of the Week

This week's tip is for knitters and crocheters alike as it is in regards to hand care and posture.

It goes without saying that we all love our hobbies and that as knitters and/or crocheters, we will use much of our spare time working on our projects, however, it is possible, especially as we get older, to over do it and end up with sore hands, wrists, elbows and neck/shoulder joints.

Keeping our hands and fingers moving is really good for the joints, but it is really important that we do not over do things by spending too much time knitting and crocheting - however much we love it!

Crochet design is my job, so people are often surprised to hear that I actually only crochet for about 2 or 3 hours a day and some days not at all. In fact it may well be that as a designer I crochet less than those of you who are working through my patterns as a hobby. The reason I restrict myself is mostly due to the fact that I need to slot in time for pattern writing, checking and step by step photography, but it is also because I know that I will suffer with sore hands and a sore neck if I consistently do more than this a day.

When working through a design I often set myself a timer on my phone to remind me to move every half hour or so and I really do suggest that you get into a habit of doing a similar thing. A kitchen timer is perfect, or if you have a Fitbit, you can set this to remind you to move too. I also do some basic stretches and hand exercises such as those that you can find here.

In the colder months I suffer with sore hands more and so have taken to wearing wrist warmers and have really noticed a difference in the severity of my joint pain as a result. Wrist warmers are really easy to make and are brilliant gifts, so it might be a great idea to start making some to match your outfits or to give as presents. You can find some free crochet patterns here.

Norwegian knitwear company Oleana do some really great ready made wristlet designs too. I bought a pair of these about 8 years ago when I first visited Norway - I mis-calculated the currency and so was really upset to find that I had spent what I thought was a fortune on a pair of tiny wrist warmers, but they have been worth every single krone!

Remember that knitting and crocheting should never hurt and wrist straps and hand supports may only mask a problem and make it worse in the long run. If you are experiencing some pain, be sure to take a break and if the pain doesn't subside, then go and see someone about it!

It's nearly the weekend!

Hopefully by the time you are reading this newsletter my journey back from Ireland will be almost over and I will be close to home. I love travelling and feel so lucky to have been away with a fabulous group of knitters this week, but it is always good to come home - hug the kids, sleep in my own bed and make a good old cup of London splosh!

Once again I think home orientated things are on the cards for the next few days. The garden was really beginning to burst into life before I left home last weekend, so I am hoping that the weather will be good enough for me to spend time out there. Andy has started work on building a retaining wall for the front garden while I have been away - we have neglected the front of the house for a long time so it is in need of quite a lot of TLC, so I am guessing sand and cement will be on the cards!

Wherever you are and whatever you have planned I hope you have a great weekend too.

Another Bank Holiday On The Horizon

3/5/2019

Janie's Friday Feature

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

I hope this week's newsletter finds you well and (if you are in the UK anyway) that you are looking forward to another bank holiday weekend. They seem to come thick and fast in the spring don't they - and then we have a big gap through until August before we get another one - it is a bit like London's buses - you wait ages for one and then they all come at once!

We had a great time at Wonderwool Wales last weekend and would like to thank those of you who braved the weather and made it to the show. We did have a really great weekend despite the drizzle and it was so nice to see so many of you. Quite a few people came on the stand to chat about last week's newsletter piece (where I talked about using yarn in a more ethical way) and so I was surprised to find that we had received no feedback to the piece in email form. We tend to get a lot of feedback from the Friday Feature every week and so it did seem a little strange for it to be so quiet. When we got back to the studio on Monday we realised that the email in box for Janie Crow had become so full that it had refused to take anymore mail from last Friday onwards, so we soon realised why it had been so quiet!

So, with this in mind, and because this week we have imported a large number of new followers to the newsletter list as a result of the Delft competition, I have decided to leave last week's main feature 'What's Milk Got to do with it?' in this week's newsletter along with all the other features, so that you can get back to us with your comments if you wish. I know that some of you received 'in box full' messages last week, but think that some of you may not have had notification of the problem at all, so please, if you did email us and not get a reply, do resend your comments.

'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?

On the occasions that I ventured into social media platforms over the Easter weekend and especially on Easter Monday I saw a lot of chatter about Earth Day and so I felt that the Friday Feature 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 piece if you have time to respond.

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 dilemmas 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 dilemmas 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 dilemmas!

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 dilemmas 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 mainstream 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 dilemma 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 dilemmas.

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 because 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 Granddad - 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!!!!

Delft Colouring Competition

Voting in the Delft colouring in competition closed this week. If you took the time to go on the web site and cast your vote - thank you very much! We received a huge number of votes and will be revealing the winners in a few weeks time, so do look out for more information soon.

When we chose the finalists we made the decision to have all five versions made into blankets as we really liked all of them and obviously couldn't predict which one of my recoloured Delft Blanket designs would be the ultimate winner. I have to say that ALL the finalist's blankets look lovely and I am really looking forward to revealing them to you properly soon - for now you will have to make do with the teaser image above!

The three winning entries will be included in an updated version of my brochure pattern from the summer time onwards and the colour ways for all 5 finalists will be available as downloads from my web site then too.

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 doesn't 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!

I will be heading out to the West of Ireland on Sunday to accompany a group on an Arena Stitchtopia tour. I am really looking forward to the 6 day trip and have been busy brushing up on my knitting skills in preparation. It has been a really long time since I worked a knitted cable design and so I really enjoyed doing some knitting for a change, even if at times it was a little challenging holding two needles instead of one hook!

The project from last year's Stitchtopia trip to Scotland and the Faroe Islands, the Streymoy cushion cover, is now available as a pattern from my on line store and Just Knots has yarn kits available for this project with the pattern included for free. The pattern is available at retail and trade so you might well find it at your local stockist too or you could take a look at our stockist list to find one near to you.

I am always saying about how quickly time speeds past us. The weeks and months do fly by and I guess that is a sign that we are all busy and happy, but nonetheless it is a bit of a shock when big birthdays seem to appear out of nowhere. The fabulous Mr C turned 50 on Tuesday and so this week has been a bit of an on going celebration of the fact that he made it this far!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANDY!

I hope that whatever you are doing you have a fabulous weekend and I look forward to seeing you here again next Friday when I will be sharing some images from my trip.

It's All About The TWIST!

Janie's Friday Feature

'When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace.'
- Jimi Hendrix -

What's New?

Instagram of the Week

Tip of the Week

It's nearly the weekend!

How To Substitute One Yarn For Another

Janie's Friday Feature

'Tortoises can tell you more about the road that hares.'
- Khalil Gibran -

Making Yarn Substitutions

Instagram of the Week

Tip of the Week

Marina Kelly - Crochet Necklaces

Do you like 'Making Up'?

It's nearly the weekend!

A Gem Of A Trip To The Emerald Isle

Janie's Friday Feature

'Love is an emerald,its brilliant light wards off
dragons on this treacherous path.'
- Rumi -

Knitting in the West of Ireland

Instagram of the Week

Colour Palette of the Week

Tip of the Week

It's nearly the weekend!

Another Bank Holiday On The Horizon

'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

Delft Colouring Competition

Tip of the Week

It's nearly the weekend!

Author

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It's All About The TWIST!

Janie's Friday Feature​

'When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace.'- Jimi Hendrix -

What's New?

Instagram of the Week

Tip of the Week​

It's nearly the weekend!​

How To Substitute One Yarn For Another

Janie's Friday Feature​

'Tortoises can tell you more about the road that hares.'- Khalil Gibran -

Making Yarn Substitutions​

Instagram of the Week​

Tip of the Week

Marina Kelly - Crochet Necklaces​

Do you like 'Making Up'?​

It's nearly the weekend!​

A Gem Of A Trip To The Emerald Isle

Janie's Friday Feature​

'Love is an emerald,its brilliant light wards offdragons on this treacherous path.'- Rumi -

Knitting in the West of Ireland

Instagram of the Week

Colour Palette of the Week

Tip of the Week

It's nearly the weekend!

Another Bank Holiday On The Horizon

'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​

Delft Colouring Competition

Tip of the Week

It's nearly the weekend!

Author

Archives

Categories

Services

Contact us

Support

Janie's Friday Feature

'When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace.'
- Jimi Hendrix -

Tip of the Week

It's nearly the weekend!

Janie's Friday Feature

'Tortoises can tell you more about the road that hares.'
- Khalil Gibran -

Making Yarn Substitutions

Instagram of the Week

Marina Kelly - Crochet Necklaces

Do you like 'Making Up'?

It's nearly the weekend!

Janie's Friday Feature

'Love is an emerald,its brilliant light wards off
dragons on this treacherous path.'
- Rumi -

'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