Phew! It's a scorcher!!

​Janie's Quick Update

The weather here in North London has been amazing these last few days, so we have used the opportunity to do some work in the garden in the evenings after work. As it looks like the forecast is not so good for the weekend and thus the garden might not be the best place to be, I have been lining up a few projects to do at home - these will include a spot of decorating and hopefully a bit of a catch up on some of my neglected knitting and crochet projects.

When we first found ourselves in lockdown back in March and April Andy and I were a little envious of people managing to spend time in their gardens or doing a bit of upkeep on their homes, but we have been using our weekends to get on top of a few (much needed) home based jobs, such as painting the kitchen ceiling and clearing up the garage. We even got round to having some top soil delivered for our the raised flower bed that Andy built in the front garden last summer and which has been left empty for the past year! Today we are hoping to head out to the Garden Centre for some plants to fill the bed - the prospect of this simple trip is feeling like a big adventure after so long at home! 

One of the projects I have been working on over the last few weeks is the revamp of a second hand bench I found in a junk shop a few years ago. I used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint and wax to reinvent the bench, which now sits proudly in the conservatory. Below are my before and after pics of the project. I am very pleased with the results!

​This is the first time I have used the Chalk Paint on a piece of furniture. I have to admit I was a little suspicious of the promise that you can paint over the original piece of furniture without having to sand off the varnish or do any major preparation first - but I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was and what a good effect the finished piece has.

The Annie Sloan site is full of really inspiring decorating ideas - I have attached some screen shots of a few of my favourites from the Annie Sloan website below:
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Fruit Garden CAL - Part 5
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The patterns for the Fruit Garden CAL Part 5 went live via the Stylecraft web site on Tuesday. The patterns feature a motif called Hollyhock, which is probably my favourite motif in the project. The release of the motif is well timed as Hollyhocks are now flowering in the gardens here and it has been fabulous to see images of the motif alongside the flowers!

This set of patterns also includes the instructions for the First Edging.
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I uploaded an accompanying video to Youtube to help with some of the more complicated bits of the pattern. The video shows how to work the popcorn stitches and the background framework of the Hollyhock Motif and how to work the 2 colour method of crocheting used on the First Edging. 

It has been so exciting seeing your images of the central panel of the Fruit Garden CAL project and I would like to thank you all for being so incredibly positive about the project - it means so much to me! 
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My Creative Journey Talks
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To keep us occupied during lockdown many organisations have been arranging online events. Sadly I missed one organised by the William Morris Gallery this week as it was rescheduled due to bad sound, but I have attended others and really enjoyed them, so I was pleased to hear that 91 Magazine have announced the launch of their brand new 'My Creative Journey' online talks. These will be free to get involved in online, but attendees are asked to make a donation to the featured speaker's chosen charity. The magazine will donate all proceeds to the charity after the event.
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The first talk will be on 1st July (next Wednesday) and it features Alina Tang of Pansy. Alina is a illustrator, ceramicist and shop owner based in Amsterdam. The happy, colourful vibe of Alina's work is fabulous and her chosen charity is NATSIWA, an organisation advocating and empowering Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander women in Australia.
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If you have not come across 91 Magazine before then you might want to take a look. The magazine is produced by some of the same team that work on Inside Crochet Magazine and the styling and features are just lovely. They have a great web site and blog too and in this week's newsletter update they have shared a link to this fabulous article about Season Paper Collection, a company that produce great stationary and wallpaper.
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Coming Soon! Janie Crow Catalogue

A couple of weeks ago I told you about the forthcoming coming Janie Crow catalogue, so I thought I would give you a little sneaky peek of a couple of the pages this week.
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I am so excited by this project and cannot wait to show you the whole catalogue very soon!

Janie Crow Bird Logo Tea Towel
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I am asked about the stylized birds that feature on the Janie Crow logo a lot! Many people have asked me if I can design a pattern for some crochet birds like those in the logo, but on the occasions I have tried to do so I have ended up in a bit of a mess. It was logical therefore, to produce a printed Janie Crow design that features my pair of birds instead.
The Tea Towels are made from 100% cotton fabric, are machine washable and have been produced in the UK

We made the decision not to cram the design with lots of print, so that there remains plenty of room for you to add decorations of your own, such as hand embroidery and applique stitching. I have one at home that I am hoping to finish and mount in a frame, so watch this space! 

Dimensions approximately 47cm (18½in) wide x 66cm (26in) long. £7.95

British Knitting & Crochet Awards
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​Let's Knit Magazine are delighted to reveal the shortlist for their reader voted categories for this year's British Knitting and Crochet Awards. Magazine readers have been busy nominating their favourites over the last few months and the chosen short list has now been revealed.

To win one of the awards is a great honour as they are voted for entirely by the public. The British Knitting and Crochet Awards provide the platform for knitting and the crochet community to voice their preferences and recognise those who have helped and influenced them. 

You can vote for your favourites any time between now and the 26th August and the winners will be revealed in the November 2020 issue of the magazine
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Thousands of nominations were received and the top five or six names in each category have been compiled into this final shortlist. There are 22 categories in total ranging from Star Baby Yarn Brand and Best Sock Yarn Brand to Most Loved Knitting Designer and Social Media Star.

Every voter will be in with a chance of winning a terrific bundle featuring 1800g of yarn, subscriptions to top titles My Weekly and People’s Friend Magazines and knitting and crochet books - a total prize value of over £200!

For more information and to place your votes please follow this link.

It's nearly the Weekend!
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June is a month when it is traditionally a bit quiet here at Janie Crow and, as we start to tentatively venture out of lockdown, we are seeing the workload calm down a bit. This is a time of year when I often start to think about the design for the next year's 'big project'.

Looking back through the images saved on my phone I can see that this time last year I had already started to think about the design for the Fruit Garden CAL and had just completed the photoshoot for the Climbing Rose Wrap.

Starting work on a big project is always daunting, but once I make the decision about my design inspiration I really enjoy getting stuck into a new project. Next year will be the 10th anniversary of my first Crochet Club (Crochet Along) project, so I have something special in mind for you all and am looking forward to embarking on a new design....
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As I have just mentioned the Climbing Rose wrap, I thought I should say that the complete pattern for the design will be available soon. The project was originally released as a CAL in 4 parts in Inside Crochet Magazine, but as the pattern rights have now reverted to me, I will be releasing the pattern (rewritten in Janie Crow style) in August. The pattern will be available as a paper brochure or digital download and kits will continue to be available via the Janie Crow and Just Knots web sites.

As the weather is very warm here the thought of sitting with a large knitting or crochet project is not all that temping. Working on small swatches, particularly if they are made in natural cotton or bamboo style yarns, is a more preferable idea, so I will be picking something 'natural' to work on over the next few days. I would love to know what you are working on too. You can send me some images via email or you can post them to the Facebook page.

If you are looking for a new project we have just received the new copy of Inside Crochet Magazine. Andy has put 15 copies on the Just Knots web site. I particularly like the projects shown below:
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So I think that is it for this week's update. I hope that wherever you are in the world you are doing ok and I hope you have a lovely weekend.

Yay! It's Friday!!!

A Reminder about Postage
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At Janie Crow and Just Knots Yarns we use Royal Mail as our postal service provider. Royal Mail continues to operate most worldwide postal services and we have not yet been hugely affected by issues with the post. Things can change quickly, so if you are wondering about the mail service to your country, you can check up via the Royal Mail ‘Personal Help’ page here.
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