Welcome back to my Book of the Month blog, where I take a look at a (usually) crochet related book that has recently been published and share my thoughts. This month I'm looking at a book that focusses specifically on crochet borders: '150+ Crochet Borders - Edgings & Decorative Finishes for Every Project' by Bernadette Baldelli. (Quarto January 2026 ISBN 9780760399767).

I liked the idea of this book as I don't always like to follow a pattern's recommendation for a border. Sometimes I like to go a bit simpler, sometimes I like the idea of something a bit more decorative and whilst I have other books that include a handful of border suggestions this book introduces an impressive array of unusual designs. Some of the borders incorporate motifs that could, with a little bit of thought, be made separately from the border, such as parrot and a mini Eiffel Tower.

The book is nicely laid out with clear text, charts and photos for each of the borders featured. It's not a book for beginner crocheters and the 'Crochet Basics' double page at the beginning of the book briefly covers information that readers will need to know for completing the borders, such as how to manage colour changes in the patterns. 

The patterns themselves are all inspired by different cities around the globe, hence the names and yes, you guessed it, the border incorporating the Eiffel Tower motif is named Paris! Each pattern has a difficulty rating from 1 star to 3 stars. This isn't clarified in the book but presumably 1 star is easy, 2 stars intermediate and 3 stars the most difficult! The book uses US terms throughout and there isn't a conversion chart for those who use UK terms, which is a shame. 

I like the idea of using some of these borders as embellishments, for example along the short edges of a hand-towel, and think that would turn something quite ordinary into a lovely item for gifting on a birthday or other special occasion.

The book is widely available online but if you are in the UK you can receive a 20% discount and free delivery (on any purchases, not just this book) at the Search Press website here, with the code DD88.

Next month I'll be taking a look at a book, very recently published, on interlocking crochet so I'll be back in June to tell you all about that one. Until then I wish you lots of crafting time!

Warning! This post is not about crochet, knitting, yarn or beads. In fact, it has nothing to do with my life as a crochet designer. It does, however, have everything to do with my life in general and, as I have now been asked by quite a few people to share the details of my fifty something year old health and fitness journey, here goes! 

​May 2024 was a very special month for me. My parents celebrated their 60th Wedding Anniversary (with a letter from the King!) on the 9th and my Dad turned 90 on the 17th. On May 21st, after a conversation with Emma about the menopause and specifically the weight gain associated with it, I decided to change my life!

​I have always been relatively fit – in my opinion anyway! As a kid I was a member of the badminton squad at school and used to love charging about on my bike – like most kids who were teenagers in the 80s! I have belonged to a gym for many years (nothing fancy, just Pure Gym which is still around £20 a month) and used to swim and run regularly when my kids were younger. I think my diet was pretty good too. As a vegetarian with an aversion to processed food, I ate (and still eat) a lot of good stuff and take a few supplements to make up for the shortfalls of not eating meat or fish. The main problem, until 21st May 2024, was simply that I ate too much of certain things, and possibly not enough of others and had a bit of a crisps, dips and wine after work habit too….
 
I was always a slim child with a big appetite. Luckily for me, and probably due in part to my nervous disposition, I was able to eat heartily without much thought for many years, never really having to be careful about what I ate until I was in my late 20s when I was diagnosed with an overactive thyroid (a kind post pregnancy gift from my body!). I had my thyroid (mostly) removed in my mid 30s leading to an underactive thyroid, slower metabolism and lifelong medication. Add into this a hysterectomy at 40 and the joy of an early menopause and bingo! The weight slowly went up, the aches and pains started and everything else that goes with being a woman in midlife started to set in. Aren't we lucky!

​For many years I told myself lots of untruths. That I was fit (enough), that I wasn’t that big (size 16 is average), that my thyroid condition meant I couldn’t lose weight, that the menopause was hindering any effort to get fit and feel good, that my knees and back ached so much that I couldn’t possibly consider more exercise. The list is probably longer, but you get the gist!
 
On May 21st 2024, Emma and I were chatting, and she told me about a weight loss app she had been using called Noom. When I think about that conversation now, I don’t think that losing weight and getting fit was particularly on my radar, but listening to Emma say how helpful she was finding the app, not just from a weight loss perspective, but also in terms of lifestyle choices and mental wellbeing, I decided it was worth a try.

​I am not on any kind of an affiliate scheme with Noom, and I am sure that there are other very similar apps, especially as it is pretty much all about calorie counting, balancing what you eat with exercise, making sure that you are eating the ‘right’ amounts in terms of nutrients and hitting the right percentages of food types – basically, carbohydrates, fats and proteins.
 
I yoyo dieted for years, and had relative success with Slimming World and Weight Watchers, but nothing stuck long term and within a few months I would be back where I started from. The game changer for me with Noom was weighing in everyday and being ‘allowed’ to have free days, where I could pretty much eat what I wanted. Having a suggested calorie intake that was flexible and made allowances in terms of extra calories to balance exercise made the whole idea of a ‘diet’ much easier to deal with and the daily coaching sessions on my phone helped me really keep up the momentum.

​I was looking back through pics from that first year on Noom and I can see that my face and body started to change about two months in, by which time I was down by about 7 kilos, but for a few months everything stopped moving by anything significant. I was happy with the loss of weight and possibly would have stopped there, like I have done before, but I had started to see posts and news articles about the importance of strength training in menopause. As the thought of serious training at the gym terrified me, it took me a few months to build up enough courage to have a session with a Personal Trainer, and it is the date of my first session with Cara (the 11th October 2024) that has become another important anniversary for me.
 
I get quite emotional about Cara these days as I credit her for literally changing the shape of the rest of my life. she has given me the confidence to lift free weights (in a very male dominated environment) and look at ways that I can improve my diet to reach the best results for my body. 

I realise that having a PT is a total privilege and that I am lucky to be able to meet up with her once a week. To balance the cost of this I have made changes to other areas of my life - we definitely spend less money on take aways, eating out and our food shopping, but it is still a financial consideration that I have decided to build into my life. 

I catch up with Cara on a Friday morning and two other mornings I strength train on my own, using sessions that Cara has given me as a guide. Twice a week I do cardio sessions and am really happy to be back to treadmill running, which has really improved my fitness and achey back! 

I am not an evening person and I knew from the get go that if I was going to start a fitness habit that it had to be a morning thing. It means I have to work later into the evening, after dinner and it means that TV shows, movies and evening crochet time on the settee is not always on the cards these days, but training first thing is the only way I know I will slot it into my life more or less daily. I don't train at the weekend.

​I am still careful about food and always make sure I hit my macros, getting plenty of protein and fruit and veg, but with the training `and exercise that I now do the weight has stabilised, even with the naughtyish weekends and Saturday cocktail habit!
I am no longer a member of Noom, but I do use it for logging my weight from time to time and I also use a free calorie counting app called My Fitness Pal when I feel the need to check up on what I am eating.

​There have, of course, been set backs along the way, but I have tried really hard not to let little weight gains or work/holiday interruptions stop me returning to training, which I now do every week day. Losing more weight is not on my radar, but gaining muscle and toning my body is definitely on my forever list! Someone asked me a while ago what event I was training for and my answer was 'old age'!

About a year into my sessions with Cara I asked her when it was going to get easier - her reply was 'never'. It never gets easier if you push yourself to achieve more and more. It's true of everything in life isn't it! If things were easy, we would all be able to do them all of the time! My journey has been REALLY hard at times, but I am so proud of where I am and feel so much better than I ever thought was possible as I start to navigate my late 50s. My fitness goal is to achieve a set of chin ups, this means I am working on my back, chest and core strength. I will share a video of where I am at the moment on my Janie Crow Lifestyle account if you want to take a look.

If you made it this far, thank you for allowing me to indulge myself in this blog post - it feels important to me that I write it down. If you feel inspired to make changes to your own life and want to ask me anything else about my journey please feel free to email me [email protected]. If you have read this far in the hope that I might actually mention yarn or crochet then my reward to you is a 20% discount code for download patterns via Etsy and Ravelry for this weekend. Enter JANIE57 at checkout. The code is valid until midnight (BST) on Sunday 31st May.

​Thanks for reading!

May is a month full of birthdays and festivities in our family, with my Dad and our daughter sharing their birth date on the same day and my parents' wedding anniversary on our niece's birthday. Our nephew will have his birthday next week, on the same day as one of our cousins and I have my birthday next weekend, which means I just scrape into being a May birthday too! 
 
I love May, not just because of the family celebrations, but also because it is a time when the promise of summer is at its peak. The garden is getting ready to burst into colour and the air smells different, with the morning chill not so harsh as of late, so it might finally be the time to dig out the summer clothes and sandals! 
 
It has been a busy few weeks here at Janie Crow, so busy in fact that I am a week late with the May newsletter, but as a bank holiday looms and we get an extra day off to enjoy, I am sure such things are very unimportant! I have a few things to tell you about this week, so I hope you can spare a few minutes to catch up with our news before you head into your weekend plans….

Last week I bundled loads of my crochet projects in the car and headed off to south London for a shoot. It has been a while since my projects were given the love and attention of a stylist and professional photographer, so it was great to see them come to life in a fabulous location, full of quirky pieces and vintage finds. I am looking forward to showing you the new pics very soon, especially as we created lots of group shots showing how well many of the projects sit together in a lovely interior setting. We even managed to squeeze in enough time for some blanket stack shots and some profile pics too! 
 
You can see a couple of speedy videos, shot by the fabulous stylist and crochet designer Claire Montgomerie on the day of the shoot, over on my Instagram feed by following this link.

We have a good selection of kits in stock at the moment, including those for the Majorelle pouch and cushion cover, which are both featured below, and for the blanket version of the same design, which is called Sevilla and is shown above.
 
The blanket project uses Stylecraft Life DK in seven shades of yarn, with a total of sixteen x 100g balls needed to make it. The project measures approximately 138cm wide by 148cm long and I chose the colour palette using our trip to Seville in Spain last summer as my inspiration. I love the fact that this project sits so well with my Persian Tiles original colour way, which celebrates its tenth birthday this year. In fact I have been referring to Sevilla as Persian Tiles's new baby sister, as I am so proud of this brand new addition to my crochet blanket family! As always it has been great to see clever crocheters using yarns from their stashes and recolouring the design - you can see some featured on our Instagram feed here.
 
The Majorelle pouch and cushion cover are included in one pattern and the kit contains enough yarn to make the cushion cover. If you wish to make the cover and the pouch you will need to add in more beads and probably a few extra balls of Ricorumi cotton, which you can find on the Wool Warehouse website here or via Black Sheep Wools here.

Just two places remain on the Knit For Peace retreat that I will be tutoring in Mysore, India next year. The break will run from 22nd January to 4th February at The Green Hotel, with comfortable accommodation on a full board basis - the food is particularly delicious! 
 
During the trip I will lead seven morning workshops, including both a crochet and a knitting project for those who wish to participate. Afternoons and weekends will be free to explore the city and surrounding countryside - there is a lot to see and do! 
 
Knit for Peace retreats are both extremely friendly and very relaxed. Join in as much or as little as you wish. Come on your own and make new friends or bring a non-crafting partner or friend to share with you. Everyone is welcome. The retreat could be an excellent first introduction to India, or a joyous return to a lovely city.
 
You can find more images taken on previous trips to Mysore with Knit For Peace on the Janie Crow Instagram feed here. If you would like to join me and other craft enthusiasts on this fabulous break, follow this link to Knit For Peace for more information and to book.

Within my monthly journal for the most recent edition of Inside Crochet Magazine (Issue 189) I talk about the joy I get from my garden, especially at this time of year, when it is looking so full of promise! The magazine features some great garden inspired projects too, so do be sure to check it out if you haven't done so already. 
 
I have been patiently waiting for my peonies to burst into bloom in the front garden. The bushes are loaded with buds, but so far, despite me checking up on them daily, they are still tightly shut! I am hoping that this weekend's warmer weather will force at least a couple of them to open and I guess I shouldn't be in such as hurry as I am always disappointed when the flowers finish. At least they are currently providing a sweet treat for the ants who love their sticky nectar and patrol the buds to ward off other pests like greenfly.
 
I love arranging the peonies in shallow bowls once they are picked and last year we used a crochet basket that Andy made from a kit by Tamsin at The Left Hookey, as the perfect cover for the ceramic dish. You can find kits for the Appledore basket, along with other fabulous items, many of them perfect for crochet beginners, over on Tamsin's website here.
 
Our climbing rose is also looking fabulous with a profusion of buds and flowers. I was told recently that commercial roses are bred so that they don't smell as this makes them flower longer. The roses in the garden smell divine and remind me so much of my childhood when my grandparents had a garden full of them. There are so many that I can pick them pretty much daily and pop them in a vase with some cut lavender - a heavenly combination which provides a blissful perfume festival! 

There is nothing quite like the taste of fruit and vegetables that have been grown in the sunshine rather than under artificial light in greenhouses, or picked before they are ripe and flown across the globe, so I love it when we start to get tomatoes that are soft and sweet rather than sour and crunchy! I believe that one of the finest accompaniments a fresh tomato can have is feta cheese, oh and a splash of olive oil of course, so this week my recipe recommendation is to use all three!
 
As we head into the warmer months we tend to have salads as the accompaniment to most of our meals and so we have plenty of fresh herbs growing in the garden - flat leaf parsley and corriander are particularly good in leafy salads and fresh oregano, thyme and mint work so well with feta and tomatoes too.
 
I grew our mint from the left overs from a bunch I bought from the local supermarket. Mint will grow roots in water really quickly, even if it is looking a little sad and wilty beforehand, so it is super easy to get a large plant in next to no time - just be sure to keep it in a pot rather than planting it straight into the garden or you could be inundated! 
 
We discovered a lovely salad made with watermelon and feta a few years ago. I am pretty sure I have shared this recipe before - but it is particularly yummy! 

I have already given you quite a few reasons why I love May so much, but another one is that we get a double dose of Bank Holiday weekends - and with a fab forecast on the horizon too, I am particularly looking forward to the next few days. 
 
I have been living in jeans and layers for months on end and my feet haven't seen daylight for a very long time so it will be good to dig out some lighter clothes and replace my woollies in the the wardrobe for a few months. In reality we only really get about four months where summer clothes are more appropriate here in the UK, so let's hope that the summer will live up to all expectations this year.

We are currently dog sitting for our daughter and her husband who are away on their holidays for a few weeks. It has been lovely having the pup around for the last week and he has already got us wrapped around his cute little paws! I imagine that a few longer walks will be on the cards over the next few days, as well as some games in the garden.
 
I have been working on the projects for the forthcoming Stitchtopia trip to France over the last couple of weeks, as well as the one for the Footsteps of William Morris one in early July. I am hoping to get the project for the trip to Turkey sorted relatively soon too, especially as we are already planning more trips for 2027.

This week marks the two year anniversary of my health and fitness journey, which started after a conversation with Emma about calorie counting apps and has led me to some life changing habits. I told myself lots of mistruths for a long time and kidded myself that I was healthy enough, so to now be in a position where I am lighter and fitter and see a body in the mirror that makes me proud is an incredible feeling and makes all the hard work so worthwhile! ​

As the sun is shining and its beautifully warm here in North London today, Andy and I are going to head out for a Friday afternoon drink in the local pub garden later on and then have no real plans for the rest of the weekend, other than to potter about in the garden and cook some good food. We still have Margaritas (cocktails, not pizza) on a Saturday evening, which is a habit that dates back to lockdown, so it will be great to sip the first of the season watching the sun set over the house! 
 
I hope that whatever you have planned, that you are heading into a nice weekend and a great bank holiday too if you are in the UK!

A pinch and a punch goes out to you as we welcome the first day of May! I can't quite believe that we are a third of the way through 2026 already, especially as I am only just getting used to writing the '26 when signing and dating things. It seems to me that time just goes faster and faster as I get older and it makes me panic a little that another year is flashing past in the blink of an eye. That said, I guess it is also a reflection of the fact that things are good here in Janie Crow land - when life is a bit rubbish it can drag by, so that has to be seen as a positive!
 
We have had a busy couple of weeks again, with another fabulous show at Wonderwool Wales under our belts and the release of the new blanket design, Sevilla, in the mix. As we head into the bank holiday weekend I have a few things to tell you about, so I hope you can spare a few minutes to catch up with our news…..

We had a fabulous time at Wonderwool Wales at the weekend and it was so nice to have a chat with all those of you who took the time to stop by the stand. I just love getting out in the wild and hearing the stories that surround your crochet projects and it is always fantastic to be in the woolly surroundings of a yarn show that demonstrates just how thriving and exciting our industry is.
 
This year we made the big decision to only take branded stock to the show and so we created a new layout to showcase our kits, patterns and Emma Ball accessories. It was a big step to lose the third party stock, such as needles and yarn, which we have always taken to shows to support our sales. Having a stand that was made up of solely Janie Crow branded items has been my dream, so I was incredibly proud of the way it was received. You can see a video that shows the stand before the show by following this link to our Instagram feed.

I feel incredibly lucky that the amazing Emma Ball continues to create collections of knit and crochet accessories for Janie Crow and it was fabulous to see her at the show at the weekend.
 
We got through so many tins, bags and stitch markers that we only had to pack one small box of items to bring home! The tape measures were a particularly big hit, with not a single one left on the stand by the time we packed up! We have some new items in the Emma Ball & Janie Crow range which haven't even made it onto the website yet, so as soon as we have managed to update our stock we will let you know.
 
You can find the full Janie Crow collection over on the Emma Ball website by following this link.

Last weekend saw the show debut for my new projects, the Majorelle pouch and cushion and the Sevilla blanket and it was great to see them so well received. We have kits in stock for Sevilla (shown above) and you can find them by following this link. Paper patterns can be found here and downloads can be purchased via our Etsy and Ravelry stores.
 
For those of you who might be struggling with the layout of the motifs for Sevilla when doing the making up, you can find a free downloadable document that shows how the motifs are placed, by following this link.
 
Patterns for the Majorelle pouch and cushion were so incredibly popular at the show that we sold out! We do have paper patterns in stock on the website though and you can find them here (we are aware that the images are currently not showing on this page and hope to sort it out very soon!) Download copies are available via Etsy and Ravelry. 
 
Kits for the project will be back in stock next week once we have had the chance to make some up. All the yarn and beads are here, so hopefully we can get going on making these over the next few days.

Over the last year or so, we have been slowly updating the website as it was getting a tad hard and clunky to navigate thanks to the large amount it now showcases. Gemma and Emma have been working really hard to make things more streamlined and easier to find, and they have added some new categories too, such as free patterns, resources and news. 
 
I am incredibly grateful for the support of my little team, who continually show me such fabulous dedication and strive to make the Janie Crow experience as nice as possible. If you haven't had a mooch around the website recently, why not take a look! It's not perfect just yet, but you might come across things you hadn't noticed before thanks to its new look and Emma and Gemma's expert attention.

It's funny how the Persian Tiles blanket pops up when you least expect it. Gemma was working on this newsletter when an image popped up on Facebook. The lovely ladies in the office at Community Learning Partnership in South Oxhey (the fabulous organisation that Gemma teaches crochet and knitting at) had just had a visit from Heather, who was so proud of her beautiful take on the blanket. She used a colour-changing yarn to cut down on the number of ends to sew in (we're all for that!). It has worked so well, together with the light background colour. We completely agree that Heather should be so proud, it's fantastic work. ​

This month Gemma explored the newly published ‘Crochet Fairy Tales: Cottage Stories’, the latest book by Kerry Lord, of Toft. It's a hard back book with beautiful photography throughout, retelling and creating in crochet six of the most well-known fairy tales, including Little Red Riding Hood and Snow White, among others. 

​If you are a lover of amigurumi you will enjoy this book immensely as the attention to detail in the patterns is impressive. The variety of design in the costumes of the characters is wide and other elements, such as Thumbelina's lily pad and Jack's beanstalk are also fantastic. If you'd like to find out more about the book head on over to the blog to read more of Gemma's thoughts on this feast for the eyes. 
 
If you are in the UK you can order this book (and any other full price book) from the Search Press website and get 20% off, together with free delivery, by using the code DD88 at checkout. 

The London Marathon, which took place just a couple of days ago, saw a couple of world records broken. The one you might have heard most about is the first completion time of under 2 hours (that's mad right? - 26.2 miles in under 2 hours), but the one that has warmed our hearts the most is that smashed by Simon Fannon aka the Veteran Knitter. 
 
You might remember Simon if you watched the Game of Wool on Channel 4 last year. Well, he decided to try to beat the previous record by knitting a scarf measuring more than 3.7m in length while running the marathon! He didn't only beat it, he well and truly smashed it, crossing the finish line with a scarf measuring 5.59m!

Another world record was broken on Sunday in London. This one wasn't a yarn related world record, but all of us here at Janie Crow love our food and tiramisu is a personal favourite of at least one of the team (mentioning no names Gemma!). 
 
At the Chelsea Town Hall a team of 100 Italian chefs worked relentlessly to create the world's longest tiramisu! The previous record was 273.5m and again the record wasn't just beaten, it was completely demolished, with the new record being set at 440.6m. To put it into context that's over four football pitches in length! Tickets to the event included a slice of the tiramisu to take home afterwards with proceeds going to charity. We'd love to know how it tasted, so if you attended the event do let us know! 

We know we've shared tiramisu recipes before, but in light of the above world record, we decided to share it again. You can never have too much tiramisu, right? It's also so easy to make, particularly if you make an eggless version, like this recipe from ‘Inside the Rustic Kitchen’. ​

We christened our new patio space by having a small pizza party in the garden a few weeks ago. We were really lucky with the weather and found that the new patio is in the perfect spot for some lovely sunshine. We have amazing weather here today, but sadly the forecast isn't so nice for the weekend, nevertheless I am hoping to have some time in the garden again to pop some new plants in the bed where we dug up some older shrubs and herbs to make way for the new patio.
 
I love this time of year in the garden when everything is bursting into life. My peonies are looking particularly promising again! The image above shows some that I picked last year - aren't they beautiful! 
 
After a busy couple of weeks I am really looking forward to some time at home. We are set to be relatively home based in May, so I am really excited about having some prolonged time here to potter around and get some new crochet designs under my belt. I hope that the month will treat you well and that those of you in the UK enjoy the forthcoming bank holiday weekend and that you get a chance to crochet too!