​I have really been enjoying playing around with my crochet hook and some yarn this week and already feel like I have the basis of some new design work just over a week after the final patterns for the Spirit of Flora project were released. Despite my love for the collection it has been so nice to move away from it and start to look at new stuff!

I find it easier to work on a few projects at the same time, so I have been playing with some beads for the festive workshop in November and have also been sampling a new floral design, which I hope will end up becoming a blanket at some point. I am also hoping that I can also squeeze in some time to work on a more geometric design inspired by a tiled floor in a bar we visited in Cologne in March and haven't really had the chance to look at since April! 

The weather has been really good this week, with warm afternoons and evenings, so we have been making the most of it by getting out and about for walks and pottering around the garden. With the forecasters predicting some more nice weather over the next week I am continuing to feel inspired by florals and am hopeful that the colours of summer will continue for a while longer. ​

It feels like ages since I was here last, updating you with my progress on the Bohemian Blooms blanket. We are just coming to the end of the school summer holidays and that, together with an unfortunate fall that left my elderly Mum with a very badly broken ankle, means I haven't been able to dedicate as much time to working on the blanket as I would have liked. The new academic year is approaching rapidly too, which means I have to spend time making samples and writing lesson plans for the upcoming term. It's busy, busy, busy here! 

Despite all the odds I have managed to make two new motifs, the very beautiful Virginia and Vanessa. 

This motif is named after Virginia Woolf and I learnt a very interesting fact from the book, that Virginia's first name was in fact Adeline, with Virginia being her middle name! Virginia is known to have suffered constant anxiety over the quality of her writing skills and she was haunted by the chance of her work being slated and ridiculed. ​

Vanessa Bell was particularly keen on painting flowers and she painted wonderful still life paintings which often featured painted ceramics and sumptuous fabrics alongside the flowers cut from her garden. The name Vanessa is of Greek origin and means butterfly so it was only fitting that the motif named after her should feature a butterfly! ​

​Four attempts at the bullion stitch later...

Gemma x

Gemma says it's a bit like bubble & squeak and definitely a dish for cooler weather rather than a hot summer's day, but nonetheless it went down well with her family and it used lots of swede in one go, which was a bonus! You can find the recipe by clicking on the image above. ​

As vegetarians we are always looking for quick and easy recipes that don't involve too much vegetable chopping and advance preparation. I (Jane) found this recipe by Dominthekitchen on Instagram and Andy cooked it (a great trade don't you think!) a couple of weeks ago. It was really delicious and the recipe will definitely be added it to the dinner planning going forwards. If you like Greek spinach and feta pie then you are going to love this as much as we did. The recipe made enough for at least six large pieces and it was brilliant accompanied by a tomato salad and some tasty olives.  ​

Have you heard about the new TV series that has been commissioned for More4? The competitive knitting series will be called 'The Game of Wool' and there will be eight episodes, each one an hour long. Set in the Scottish countryside, ten contestants will take on complex challenges over the series and there will be a 'Big Knit' and 'Wee Knit' challenge each week. You can read more about it in the press release here. We can't wait! ​

Sunflower

​Pair of Roses - This pattern also includes the instructions for the Half Rose motif, which you can use to create a triangular shaped project or unusual edging.

Double Carnations

Bedford Park Daisy

We will be launching the patterns for set three of the Spirit of Flora project next Wednesday the 21st August. As with set one and two, the patterns will be available as paper brochures via our website or as downloads via Etsy or Ravelry. ​

Sunflower

Pair of Roses

Double Carnations

Bedford Park Daisy

Don't forget that the Complete Crochet Handbook is back in stock following its reprint. We have signed or unsigned copies for sale on the website now and you can find them by following this link. ​

​image (c) Haworth Church

'The Coat of Hopes is a patchwork pilgrim coat, on an ongoing walk through Britain. Made, worn and walked by many hundreds of people during and since the pilgrimage on which it was created - from the south coast of England to the gates of COP 26, the UN climate summit, in Glasgow autumn 2021.
The Coat is made up of pieces of blanket into which people have worked their griefs, remembrances, prayers and hopes for the place they call home. It walks ever calling those who encounter it, or who share it, into the present. Supported by its warmth (love) - to bear its weight (responsibility). So each might “wear the promise that we all belong together” as we seek to respond with our whole self to the climate and ecological emergency.'
​
Words copied from the Coat of Hopes website, where you can find more information.

​Image (c) Tim Nusog

​We are looking forward to our first proper lazy weekend in quite a while and don't have a huge amount of plans except some drinks in the garden with family later on today and a friend's fancy dress birthday party on Saturday evening.

Over the course of the weekend I will be working on some Granny Squares to help promote Claire Montgomerie's fabulous Granny Square Card Deck which you can find on pre-sale here and I am also hoping to get to the cinema to see the newest Deadpool film at last. 
 
I hope that whatever your plans are, you are also looking forward to a nice weekend and that maybe, like me, you will get a chance to sit for a bit with some lovely knitting or crochet!

Janie x

Here’s a little behind the scenes post - or if you prefer a ‘keeping it real' post. This is the current view of Emma’s desk. She is mid-video for the final set of Spirit of Flora patterns coming on the 21st of the month, specifically, the Sunflower.

​We are showing this to illustrate that despite working hard to expand our reach, we are a small company of just a few people, working freelance from our kitchen tables and other places! We all have family life to balance and we work odd (and often long) hours.

At Janie Crow we work hard to make our video tutorials and Emma in particular spends a lot of time creating them. We are very proud of the video content we create and they are always posted for free. We want to support you through some of the more complex designs and we collect the questions or feedback on our videos to allow us to target the sections of a design that we get asked about most. This is not ideal for all people, especially those who want to be talked through every single aspect of pattern row by row, and we understand that.
 
We are so well supported by you, our lovely crochet community and we are really grateful for that, however, on occasion, it can be a little upsetting to see some of the comments we receive, most particularly on YouTube, which tends to be the place where we get the most adverse feedback, most often because more is expected than that we have offered or because crocheters are struggling to understand a pattern and are frustrated.

So, let’s discuss the value in making your own mistakes when crocheting, figuring it out and, yes, 'fudging' it! 

For many of us, when we first learned to crochet, there were far fewer videos to support us. Lots of us learned from books, or workshops and very often, we have had to puzzle over a stitch or a pattern or a perplexingly varying stitch count! There is such a lot to be gained from this approach. There is absolutely no shame in making a mistake, time and again, while learning.  Crochet is incredibly forgiving in that we can frog a row or a round and rework it relatively quickly.
 
Fudging: This is controversial but let’s discuss it! Imagine the scenario: you’ve made your motifs, diligently sewn in all the ends and joined them all together to create a blanket you’re really proud of. The only thing left to add is the border. Despite following the pattern to the letter, you cannot make that stitch count work. You’re 3 pesky stitches short ..... What to do?  
 
DEPLOY THE FUDGE! That’s what!

What does this mean? In this case it means adding in an extra few sts along an edge (which could be in the region of 200 stitches long for example) so will not show. Shove a couple into a stitch here and there and hey presto, perfect stitch count, gorgeous straight border and NO ONE WILL KNOW!  
 
Why do we feel weird about this? It feels like we are cheating doesn’t it?  

Well, no, we are not! In this scenario we like to think about the “modesty block” from quilting bees from a couple of centuries back. This was a block which was not quite right, ostensibly on purpose (yeah right) and added with pride to the quilt to show that “only God is perfect”. Brilliant! An infallible excuse for a fudge!
 
Make those mistakes dear crocheters, find your own ways to work, there are no crochet police and certainly no puritanical yarn-based judgement here. Find your groove, find your way and if you’re really stuck and we haven’t made a video for that bit: get in touch, our lovely Sarah will always help - from her kitchen table x

I have been incredibly fortunate to have been able to tutor knit and crochet workshops for Arena Travel for more than a decade. Under the brand name of Stitchtopia, Arena Travel has now run hundreds of trips for knit, crochet and sewing enthusiasts and I have been able to visit some incredible places and meet many fabulous people as a result. The team at Stitchtopia are always looking for new places to visit, so back in 2018 I suggested that they look into a hosting a textiles trip to Peru, never really expecting that it might happen!

Big trips like one to South America take a lot of organising, and with Covid putting a spanner in the works in 2020 and 2021, followed by a political uprising in the country last summer, it has taken us nearly six years to finally make it to Peru, but boy was it worth the wait!

I designed two projects for my group to work on while we were away - one hand knitted and the other one crocheted. Both projects were made in strips so that they were easier to work on while travelling. I tried to echo aspects of Peruvian design whilst being conscious not to copy them. The soft alpaca yarn used for the projects was generously provided by Rowan Yarns and I hope to release the patterns for them later in the year. 

Our tour started in the capital of Peru, Lima, where we immediately found talented crocheters making lovely 'surprise' flower dolls and other yarny items like keyrings and bags.

After a city walking tour we visited the Amano Museum of Pre-Columbian Textiles where we saw the most incredible examples of woven and embroidered textiles. Due to the low lighting and glass display cases within the museum my images are not brilliant, so I suggest you take a look at the website for more info. In the afternoon we had our first hand knit and crochet workshop at the hotel.

After a comfy stay in Lima for two nights after our long journeys, we flew to Arequipa where we were treated to a walking tour of the city, which included a visit to the stunning, vibrantly painted Santa Catalina Monastery and one to the Andean Sanctuaries Museum where we saw incredible textiles and artefacts that were discovered alongside the Juanita 'Mummy' high in the Andes Mountains in 1995.

On the same day we had our first 'up close and personal' meeting with a group of gorgeous alpacas and llamas at the Mundo Alpaca Centre, where we also got to learn about their fleeces and traditional dying and weaving processes. And then there was beautiful yarn and knitted items to browse in the shop - this was possibly the first of our many shopping opportunities! 

On Day 4 we boarded the coach and headed towards Yanque. As the altitude became higher we stopped for a drink of 'Misti' coca leaf tea, which is said to help with the adjustment in oxygen levels. We spotted so many alpacas. llamas and incredible wild vicunas from the coach windows and made stops along the way to visit textile centres, and of course, there was more shopping.....

Our base for the next couple of days was a lovely hotel in the Colca Canyon from where we made trips out to see the Condors flying and saw children dancing in the streets to raise funds for their school trips. We also managed to squeeze in a couple of knit and crochet meet ups so that participants could get on with their projects and show off some of the goodies they had found in the shops and markets.

On day 6 we travelled to Puno after a visit to the local market to pick up a lunch of fresh fruit, bread and avocados. We also managed to catch a bit of time with two very talented market stall holders who specialised in machine embroidery techniques. 

Our next hotel was located on the shore of Lake Titicaca and we arrived just in time to see a spectacular sunset over it. The following day we visited the incredible floating islands, where we were shown how they are built and maintained and were also shown some fabulous traditional embroidery and weaving.

​At this part of our trip we were at our highest altitude, so when it came to walking we were told to take it slow. After a motor boat ride across the lake we visited Taquile Island where we saw traditional dances and were shown the most amazing knitted and woven textiles. 

The image below was taken by Orla and it shows a man dressed in gorgeous hand made items, including a woven belt made by his wife and a knitted hat which has been made in the round using the finest of needles. The knitted hats worn by the married men on the island are multicoloured throughout as in the image, while the single men wear hats that have a plain, light coloured top half.

On day 9, after our fabulous stay in Puno, we travelled to Cusco on the luxurious Lake Titicaca train, which took us slowly through some spectacular scenery, towns and villages along the way. This day long journey gave everyone the chance to catch up on some knitting and crochet, whilst enjoying the onboard entertainment which included Peruvian music and dancing.

We stayed in Cusco for two days from where we visited some Inca sites, including the Qorinkancha (Temple of the Sun) in the centre of the city and Sacsayhuaman in the hills. Seeing the ingenuity of the Inca architecture and the incredible scale of their structures was an amazing experience. Whilst in Cusco we also visited the Centro de Textiles Tradicionales del Cusco where they ensure that there is a future for Cusquenan textiles. Here, we fed the animals and were treated to more spinning, dying and weaving demos too.

On Day 11 we travelled through the Sacred Valley to Pisac where we visited Inca period agricultural terraces and dropped into a silver jewellery studio, later wandering through the streets surrounded by shops full to bursting with the most incredible textiles and craft items.

​Whilst in the Sacred Valley we stayed at the Sonesta Posadas Hotel where we enjoyed an afternoon workshop in the stunning garden surroundings. Probably my most memorable location for a workshop ever! 

On our 12th Day we made a short trip through the snow capped peaks of the Andes to see the salt terraces at Moray and then travelled onwards to visit a co-operative of spinners, weavers and dyers where we were invited to wear woven shawls and traditional hats before a really interesting presentation about the natural dying process used for alpaca yarns.

In the afternoon we visited the Pumaq Wasin group who showed us their knitting and weaving traditions and provided us with a delicious home cooked lunch of quinoa soup and corn and pumpkin tortillas. Later they also talked us through their potato farming traditions. Another amazing day!

On day 13, as we headed towards the end of our trip, we travelled on the train to Aguas Calientas, the town at the foot of Machu Picchu from where we caught the bus for an afternoon visit to the incredible Inca site.

We were incredibly fortunate to have tickets to visit Machu Picchu twice, so a few of us got up really early on Day 14 to walk the Inca ruins once again. The weather wasn't quite so kind to us as it had been the previous day, but it was still an incredible experience climbing the hills in the early morning light, low clouds and drizzle!

On the afternoon of our final full day in Peru we managed to squeeze in another knit and crochet workshop and the group also got to do some more crafting on the train journey back to Cusco.

We flew back home on Day 16, but before we left Cusco we squeezed in a really fun chocolate making workshop and of course a spot more shopping! 

The images above show (most of) my haul of goodies I bought in Peru, which includes some of the most beautiful knitted and crocheted items ever, as well as plenty of yummy chocolate, coffee and a pretty high number of fridge magnets courtesy of Andy!

I still can't quite believe that I finally made it to Peru! It really is the most fabulous country - very calm and full of lovely friendly people. I have never been anywhere so in touch with their textile heritage and I am still in total awe of the incredible craftsmanship and pure skill we found there. It really was textile heaven, especially for knitters and crocheters, with yarns and handmade items at pretty much every turn.

​It is so hard to put into written words just how great this trip was and I really hope to make it back to Peru one day. Thanks so much to the team at Stitchtopia, especially Cheryl and Alison and to my incredible tour manager Teresa who was her usual amazing self. We were also incredibly lucky to have the company of our fantastic Peruvian Tour Guide, José who looked after us all so well. I also want to thank the fabulous knitters and crocheters who joined me on the tour. You were all amazing and I am so proud of you!