Since sharing images of Rosemary's pelmet we get asked about this lovely piece often, and so we decided it was time to give you a little more information to help you make your own if you’d like to. It would certainly make a lovely addition to your Christmas decorations, but really could be used year-round!
 
If you’d like to make your own version, here’s all the information you’ll need:

​The pattern: The pelmet uses the full and half-motifs that feature in either the Mystical Lanterns blanket or shawl pattern. Please note that the scarf pattern does not include the pattern for the half-motif, so we’ve not linked to that one.
 
The pelmet uses the edging described in either of those patterns, but Rosemary also added a final flourish with a row of 3ch picot in every other stitch on the top edge.

Yarn: This is another fab stash-buster project and the amount of yarn you need will of course depend on how big you make it.  Rosemary's version includes ten full size motifs and eleven half-motifs and is edged using the same edging shown in the blanket pattern. It weighs 150g (including adornments) and she used eight different yarn shades, so only very small amounts of each yarn were used. As we have said already, Rosemary used Stylecraft Organic Cotton, but any DK yarn weight will work.
 
​Adornments: You can add bells or other adornments to your pelmet. As a guide, the size of the bells on Rosemary's are 2cm (1 in). We found these pretty bells (shown below) on Amazon which we think would look lovely. You could choose to add tassels or tiny baubles or anything (or nothing) you fancy!

Rosemary also added beautiful Shisha mirrors to her full motifs and they measure around 2cms (1in) – click here for an example of what to look for if you’d like to add them to your project and we’ve made a little video to show you how to do that, which you can find here.

The motifs are joined using a simple double crochet (US sc) through the back loops: the only tricky part is making your head realise what fits where, as when you hold the motifs right sides together you need to make sure you’re holding the curves in the right places! This is explained in the pattern, so don’t worry too much and some judicious placing of stitch markers really helps here.

So there we are – we’d LOVE to see some more versions of this beautiful decoration out “in the wild”.
Have you made one? 
Would you?

​Let us know in the comments and of course, if you do post photos on social media, make sure you tag your photos with #janiecrow so that we can easily find them.

It's a tad chilly here in North London today but the sun is shining and the local countryside is looking so pretty with all the frost, so you find me upbeat as we head into another weekend. The weeks are passing at such a rate and I am flabbergasted to realise that Christmas is now less than a month away. Only a few preparations have happened here so far, but I have popped a wreath on the front door and sorted some food orders at least! 

Despite the rather slow start to getting Christmas ready at home, we have had a very productive couple of weeks here at Janie Crow, with a few new pattern releases and a festive workshop in the mix! ​ 

A few weeks ago we released the Glitzy Stocking project which originally featured in Inside Crochet magazine. ​

Magic Circles Scarf ​

​Summer Palace Wrap

We had a lovely time at our workshop in Bournemouth last weekend, despite the best efforts of Storm Bert, and our group really embraced the projects that Debbie and I had prepared for them. Here are a few images of work in progress on the Halley Beaded Pouch pattern. Quite a few of the group changed their bead colours and swapped about the yarn shades. Aren't the results just fabulous! ​

Over on Instagram this month Jane was getting very excited about the ever expanding range of Emma Ball/Janie Crow products. You can watch the reel here. The Spirit of Flora tape measure is one of our favourites. You can find all of the products over on the website, including some lovely gift bundles, which would make great presents.  ​

Gemma realised that it had been ages since we had a show and tell over on Facebook and lots of you took the time to comment with photos of your amazing work. Here are just a few of our very favourites. We particularly like seeing some of the projects that don't appear so often, such as the Blue House Blanket and the Indian Roses Blanket. Thank you to all of those who shared your work with us. ​

​Sarah Reaser's Blue House Blanket in progress

Kellie Bright, who plays Linda in Eastenders, was at the show making granny squares in aid of the Solving Kids Cancer Charity with £235 being raised for the charity too through the sale of raffle tickets. ​

Gemma popped along to the yarn show on Sunday, braving the awful weather of torrential rain and strong winds and look what she spotted - Rachel has used the Indigo Dreams pattern to make the most amazing cardigan, absolutely perfect for this time of year. Thanks for stopping for a chat and to pose Rachel, you looked great, with or without the lipstick! ​

Well, not setting a target is definitely the way to go for me - I made good progress this month! Perhaps it has been something to do with the miserable weather or the time of year but I've really wanted to get on with my blanket over the last few weeks. I have managed to complete all four of the Trinity motifs that border the central nine floral motifs and join in the little Omega squares to complete the corners. 

Threading the 91 Pewter beads onto the yarn for each of the Trinity motifs felt endless, but once it occurred to me that each of the 13 fans took 7 beads, I then threaded them on in groups of 7 and it seemed much less overwhelming! I was getting a bit nervous by the time I started the fourth motif as there didn't seem to be all that many beads left in the bag but all was well and there are even a few left to go into my stash. I might try making some of Jane's lovely Festive Crochet Decorations and use the remaining beads for those. ​

This month's biggest challenge was joining the Omega squares into the corner spaces formed when the Trinity motifs were complete. I found it really tricky to get the alignment correct while working the hook through the dc stitches of Omega and the slip stitches worked along the edge of Trinity, from the reverse side! In fact, confession time, after three attempts and some very painful fingers later, I actually made the decision to sew them into place. That meant that I could work from the front side of the blanket, which helped me to see that I was matching stitch to stitch correctly and the overall appearance of the join is the same as if I had used a dc join from the reverse side.  ​

I'm tempted to adopt the same approach this coming month with no target setting but I'm sure I'll be able to complete at least a couple of the motifs that are still on the list to make. I still need 4 Virginia motifs, 3 Fitzroy and and 2 Bloomsbury (the long striped ones that will form the outer square along with the remaining 4 Omega motifs). Of course, this time of year is very busy and with all good intentions I am hoping to still make a couple of hand-crafted gifts, so let's see how it goes.

Wishing you all a warm and happy festive month and I'll see you back here in a few weeks' time.   ​

This week's recommended recipe from Gemma is for Cinnamon Rolls, her ultimate comforting treat at this time of year. The thing with Cinnamon Rolls is that they take quite a bit of time to make and that's possibly part of the reason they are so good when they are finally ready and you get to sample your hard work! Gemma uses her breadmaker for the dough part so she can just leave it to get on by itself, but you can use a stand mixer as suggested in the recipe or knead by hand. They're great with or without the cream cheese icing! ​

You can read more about the world record attempt by clicking on any of the images. We are particularly loving the gingerbread cottage below! ​

I have been working on a few new projects over the last couple of weeks. I really like to have a few things on the go, so I have been doing some step-by-step photography for a pattern which will be re-released with two new versions in the new year and I have also been working on a couple of new blanket designs. I have finally started work on a garment design using my Mystical Lanterns motif too, so it's been great to dip into so many things. Working on a few projects at the same time helps me keep my focus and I tend to mix things up so that I can work on simple things when my brain is finding harder designs taxing!

I am still enjoying my knitting project, which I am working on in front of the TV in the evenings, so I am hopeful that my weekend plans will allow a bit of time for me to settle down on my cosy sofa! I hope that whatever you have planned you will have a lovely weekend too! ​

​Beaded Decorations

Festive Decorations

Festive Mini Stockings

Twinkle Bunting

​Persian Tiles - Peppercorn

As I said in the introduction, I have been embracing the colder weather and longer evenings and have been enjoying some time with my knitting in the evenings. Having my blankets around me is bringing me a lot of joy and I just adore seeing them piled up by the sofa ready to warm anyone who's feeling a bit chilly! In the image above you can see (top to bottom) Mystical Lanterns, Spirit of Flora, Persian Tiles Marrakesh, Skimming Stones and another Spirit of Flora at the bottom. My original Royal Garden blanket is on the chair - watch out for a couple of new versions of this blanket in the new year! ​

I was so lucky to tutor an amazing textile workshop trip to Peru during the summer. It is a truly incredible country, and I adored it! When I was designing the project for the workshops I was very mindful of not copying traditional patterns and I wanted to keep it relatively simple.  ​

When designing Spirit of Flora I thought it would be good to create a half motif that would enable crocheters to make either triangular projects, such as shawls, or a square blanket with a fancy edge, made from the half motifs. The Pair of Roses motif leant itself really well to also becoming a half motif and I am really pleased with how it turned out. 

You can find a free download document that contains guidance on how to make the Festival of Flowers shawl by clicking on the image above and you can find more information about the Spirit of Flora collection by following this link. You will need three of the Spirit of Flora patterns to make the shawl - they are Leaf Trellis, Evelyn and the Pair of Roses motif, which also includes the half motif instructions. ​

Last weekend I tested out this one pot lentil vegan version by So Vegan. It is really easy and the vegan 'cheese' (which is made from tofu) is not too bad, which is quite the compliment coming from me as I am usually not a fan of cheese replacements. I think my version could have done with a little more olive oil and (as I used pre soaked lentils and not tins) I also think I should have cooked it a tad longer - but none the less, a good recipe that I will definitely repeat! You can find it by following this link. ​

You can find more information about the trip by following this link - ignore the date in the header and in the http address as it says 2023! Dates for next year are 10th through to the 24th January. 

Having tutored this workshop quite a few times I can really recommend India in January. The warm weather, fabulous food and incredible sites set you up fabulously for the year ahead and the price of the holiday includes a donation to the charity, so you can feel ultra good about that too! ​

I joined my friends Jo and Suraya for a visit to the Make Joy yarn festival in Woolwich, London last weekend and had such a lovely time! We attended a couple of talks, the first by the amazing knit designer Sylvia Watts-Cherry and another by the fabulous crochet designer Helda Panagary.  ​

Janie x

I love designing crochet projects that use different shaped blocks to create blankets. My Persian Tiles design, for example is made using octagons and squares. Delft, The Blue House, Climbing Rose Wrap and Frida's Flowers are made using hexagons and Royal Garden is created by working diamond and triangle shapes. Creating tessellating blocks is something I really enjoy, but as a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to the finished shape of my projects, I often end up designing half and quarter motifs to ensure that they can have (at least two) straight edges. It is a personal preference of course, and I know many designers who like their projects to have shaped edges created by the motif contours, but too many wavy edges, or oddly shaped borders don’t really sit well with me.

​My most recent CAL projects (The Fruit Garden, Indigo Dreams and Spirit of Flora) have all been based on square shapes. Making projects using squares means that crocheters can easily adapt a design to suit them. They can make it bigger or smaller, square or rectangular by making just a few simple changes to my plan and differences in tension (compared to my pattern) are not the end of the world. 

​When designing my most recent CAL, Spirit of Flora, I thought it would be good to create a half motif that would enable crocheters to make either triangular projects, such as shawls, or a square blanket with a fancy edge, made from the half motifs. The Pair of Roses motif leant itself really well to also becoming a half motif and I am really pleased with how it turned out. 

You can find a free download document that contains guidance on how to make the Festival of Flowers shawl by clicking on the image above and you can find more information about the Spirit of Flora collection by following this link. You will need three of the Spirit of Flora patterns to make the shawl - they are Leaf Trellis, Evelyn and the Pair of Roses motif, which also includes the half motif instructions. 

I think it would be great to see the shawl made in alternative shades and you could always choose two other motifs to accompany the Rose edging pieces instead of those I have used. Or, if you want to make something a little plainer, you could use one of the free plain motifs for the main part of the shawl and just use the Half Pair of Roses motif for the edging? 

I look forward to seeing what you can come up with!

We had a bit of a blip with our stock of Della Q makers bags as the distributing company we get them from changed their shipping methods which resulted in our order being held up in customs for ages. The stock we have received is probably the last shipment we will get this year, so again, if you have been waiting for something to come back into stock, do take a look here to see if it's in! ​

I know we are only one day into November, but as the weeks fly by so fast and because making festive projects is time consuming, we will be releasing the pattern for my beaded Glitzy Stocking next week. The pattern will be available in UK and US terms, via download or as a paper copy. ​

October was Menopause Awareness Month here in the UK and as most of the Janie Crow team are in that stage of their lives Emma wrote a blog piece about it, which you can find here if you haven't read it yet and would like to. The blog post is full of tips to help manage the myriad of symptoms and also just celebrating the fact that we are starting to talk about it and don't feel that we have to suffer in silence. ​

Then of course there was the hugely exciting news that Stylecraft Special DK is coming home, with the addition of twenty gorgeous brand new shades to the already extensive colour range. The JC team had great fun making the teaser video. Gemma has finally recovered from someone being on the other side looking through when she took the library book off the shelf and Emma has decided that, much as she loves yarn, the apple was tastier! If you're wondering what on earth we are talking about, you can watch the video by clicking here and you can see the new shades below. ​

As always, it's hard to believe that another month has passed by already! We've launched full throttle into autumn and although the temperature here in North London is still quite mild, the trees are losing their leaves quickly now. The colours that nature gives us this time of year are quite something. I love all the russets, copper, orange and yellow shades and I think when the leaves are laying on the ground it's somehow easier to notice all the wonderful shapes they have. 

Anyway, on to the subject in hand, it has been another slow month for me and Bohemian Blooms. Spreading my time over many commitments is challenging and yet somehow I seem to get more done that way than when I do (occasionally) have spare time on my hands. Last month I had managed to join the central 9 squares of the blanket and was ready to start adding the Unity motifs. I managed one! ​

I've decided that I'm not going to make any plans for what I might achieve on the blanket this forthcoming month, I'm going to take the pressure off myself and see where that takes me! Hopefully I will have some progress to show you next month. Until then, stay warm and well. ​

Have you ever noticed an Innocent Smoothie bottle in the shop with a little woolly hat on top? Well the company have just relaunched their Big Knit campaign again and are asking for crafters to knit or crochet the little hats to go on the Smoothie bottles in Autumn 2025. For every behatted bottle sold, Innocent Smoothies donate 25p to Age UK and since they started the Big Knit back in 2003 £3.2 million has been raised! You can find out more including how to join in here or by clicking on the image below. ​

October has been another busy month with lots going on here at Janie Crow. Within the next couple of hours you will be able to find our 'This was October' reel over on Instagram by following this link.

We had a fabulous evening yesterday with lots of trick or treaters coming to the door to celebrate Halloween. Honestly it was a tad crazy at times - I thought I had over done it with the treats, but in the space of about an hour the whole lot had gone! It was lovely having the little ones dressed up and excited on the doorstep though, and brilliant to know that a lot of kids will still choose a satsuma over a chocolate! Andy laughed at me for including them in my big bowl of treats, but he was proved wrong as they were a big hit and were chosen long before all the sweets had gone!

Emma is a really big Halloween fan and you can find the blog she wrote about it last week by following this link.

We live in a fabulously multicultural town here in North London, so it was fantastic to have Halloween coincide with Diwali celebrations. Last night there were lots of fireworks and our neighbours were busy preparing for family members to visit, with the little lights out by the door and in the windows too. I love it!

I found this brilliant link to a Diwali orientated online colouring book yesterday and managed to loose about an hour playing around with it - such a lovely thing to do and I really recommend it! One of my resulting pieces is below: ​