The first Granny Square I ever made was nothing like the name suggests in that it wasn’t square! It was messy, incredibly wavy and had five, possibly six corners! Despite all its flaws, however, I instantly found a sense of calm and mindfulness in the repetitive nature of making the groups of stitches and chain spaces to create the motif and I still find a lot of joy in making them.
 
Like many traditional crochet patterns, the origin of the design is a little unclear. According to Wikipedia, the earliest known example of a traditional granny square was designed by Mrs Phelps and the pattern was published in the April 1885 edition of The Prairie Farmer newspaper in the USA. This gloriously simple pattern seems to have stayed a firm favourite amongst beginner crocheters and experts ever since and making one is considered a rite of passage for any serious crafter.
 
My Great Grandmother learnt how to make a Granny Square in the 1970s when crochet was enjoying a huge resurgence in popularity. She was an incredibly proficient crocheter and had been brought up in the Victorian era when many ladies made fine, lace style crochet pieces. The humble Granny Square provided her with the chance to really play with colours and she would source yarn at charity shops and unravel old sweaters, wash the yarn and reuse it, to make her crochet projects. In her lifetime she must have made hundreds of blankets, from cot to double bed size, and many members of my family still have one of her heirloom creations.

At JANIE CROW we are passionate about the craft of crochet and are so pleased that it is increasingly recognised as a stage for creativity. Via our crochet designs, our free YouTube content and our social media platforms, we endeavour to show a wide audience the versatility and integrity of the craft, hopefully also managing within that framework to encourage a new breed of crocheters to preserve our beloved craft for future generations.
 
Since lockdown in 2020 we have seen a wave of new crocheters, many of whom do not have access to relatives, friends or the services of staff in local yarn stores to guide them through the learning process and instead refer to channels such as YouTube and TikTok for help. With these beginner crocheters in mind, we have created our ‘Zero to Granny’, Learn to Crochet Course that we are incredibly proud to present to you. Our course is a free resource for crochet beginners, those seeking to expand their knowledge and those who simply want confirmation that they are doing things in the right way.

We have created a total of thirteen new ‘Zero to Granny’ YouTube videos, all of which are free to access and sit alongside our existing collection of almost two hundred technique videos on the platform. The videos are listed within a playlist in number order, with the first one (1), entitled The Basics, gently talking beginners through how to choose yarn and hooks, how to make a slipknot and tension yarn. Our second video (2) shows in-depth the process of making a chain, whilst also explaining how to recognise the front and back of each one and how to count them. Each subsequent video shows another technique so that crocheters can build their knowledge of basic stitches. By video number seven (7) we move to working through a Granny Square pattern, a true rite of passage for any new crocheter. 
 
We have covered a huge amount of information within our videos and, whilst we acknowledge that they cannot replace the benefits of learning ‘in real life’, we hope that they are a comprehensive resource for those wanting to embark on their crochet journeys.
 
You can find the dedicated web page here and you can find the YouTube video playlist here. We hope that you will love it!

Our Learn to Crochet Course grew rapidly from the simple idea of creating a YouTube video to show how to make a humble Granny Square and I am incredibly grateful to Emma for putting a huge amount of time and effort into filming the videos. 
 
If you want to point newbie crocheters towards our free course or fancy dipping into it yourself, we would be really grateful. If you are a crochet tutor and want to use the resources to aid beginners, please feel free to do so, but please respect the copyright of the Granny Square pattern and email us to ask permission to print them off as class handouts.

I am writing this email still sat in my sweater and comfy warm joggers, hoping that the next few weeks will finally see some continued warm weather. At least the sun is shining and the days are longer, so I am happy, despite the chilly nip still in the air here in the UK.
 
Emma and I have been very busy putting the final touches to our Zero to Granny crochet course for beginners and hope to get it all packaged up and ready for you to access for free via our YouTube channel and our website next week. It has taken us far longer to sort out than we envisaged as we wanted to get it just right and cover all the bases of learning. Emma has been going through her videos and the accompanying documents with a fine tooth comb to ensure we have covered all the bases and we are really looking forward to sharing it with you.
 
We have some more kits back in stock this week and Gemma has done a great job adding some fab items to this Quick Catch Up email, so I hope you have a few minutes to catch up with all things Janie Crow!  

We now have yarn packs for the Spirit of Flora project too. You can also purchase the printed patterns as a set or cherry pick patterns for the motifs you like best. I think it would be lovely to see items made from some of the repeated blocks and you could always use some of the free patterns (also used in our Temperature Blanket Crochet Along project) to create your own unique layout.

Over on Instagram two lucky followers won the Letto crochet hooks that I told you about in last month's Quick Catch Up. Congratulations to @peterb195 and @crochetmad_e. 
 
If you've not discovered these gorgeous hooks as yet, do pop over to @lettoworkshop and have a browse, they really are works of art.⁠

Over on Facebook Gemma kicked off a bank holiday weekend ‘Show & Tell’ with her up to date temperature blanket and a completed beaded pouch that has been in progress for about six months! 
 
Fiona Dobson is also up to date with her temperature blanket. Well done Fiona, we love your colour choices.

We think a furry pooch has already laid claim to Jennifer Haley's almost finished Fruit Garden blanket! Fabulous work Jennifer. ​

If you don't already follow our social media channels you can find links at the bottom of this email. Do come and join us! ​

​We can't believe we missed this earlier in the year, but we just found this article about a giant crochet doily that was a part of this year's Turner Prize winning installation ‘Alter Altar’ by Jasleen Kaur. Crochet teacher Rachael Mills, from Blackburn, created a 5 metre (16 feet) wide doily to cover a vintage red Ford Escort. 
 
There's no clue in the article as to how long it took Rachael to crochet the doily, but it must have been quite some undertaking. Isn't it incredible?

We're very excited to be exhibiting at Wonderwool Wales this weekend. We will be in our usual position on stand W1 in Hall 3. 
 
Tickets for the show are still available and you can find them by following this link. Sarah, Paul, Andy and myself love being at this show and it would be fabulous to see you there! 

Gemma has been so busy working on her Bohemian Blooms blanket, and doing the Easter school holiday juggling, that she hasn't had a chance to test out the book she has chosen for April, but here's a sneak peek. She's continuing the theme of stash-busting with this month's book ‘Crochet Makes From Scrap Cakes’ by Naomi Vincent. 
 
Keep on eye on the blog here, for the upcoming post, and in the meantime you can take a look at the other books Gemma has reviewed over the last few months.
 
If you like the look of the book and want your own copy, you can get a 20% discount and free postage by using the code DD88 at checkout on the Search Press website here. 

Gemma here again, to tell you about my latest Bohemian Blooms progress. Last month I had managed to join three sides and just had two more Fitzroy motifs to make to enable me to add on that fourth side. 
 
I'm pleased to report that the Fitzroy motifs are finished, ends and all, and the fourth side has been added to the blanket. Not only that, but I went one step further and also managed to join the two Bloomsbury motifs (that I made some time ago), to opposite ends of the blanket. All that leaves is two more Bloomsbury motifs, to which I can then join the remaining Omega motifs. Those two strips will then be attached to the other ends of the blanket and I will be ready to start on the border. 

I promised to reveal my little mistake this month:
 
I wonder if anyone spotted that I placed my Fitzroy and Gordon motifs upside down! Having noticed of course meant that I could pretend it had been completely deliberate and make sure that all of them were joined that way, so it wasn't a disaster by any means. 
 
I don't know if this happens to anyone else, but quite often, when I think to myself that I need to be careful about something I'm about to do, I go ahead and do it wrong anyway! 
 
The eagle-eyed amongst you may also notice that my Virginia motifs on the corners aren't all in the same orientation, despite this being mentioned in the book as something to take care over. I think I just get carried away with the excitement of putting things together! 

This month's target will be to make the two remaining Bloomsbury motifs, join the Omega motifs to the ends, and attach the edging strips to the blanket, ready to get going on the border the following month. 
 
The final blanket will definitely need a gentle blocking as there are a few slightly bulgy areas where the pieces have been quite tight to fit together, but finishing at this time of the year should work well for that, with the warmer weather helping the blanket to dry reasonably quickly. 
 
I'll be back in May with my next update! 

​Broccoli is one of Gemma's favourite vegetables, but she sometimes finds it a bit of a hard sell to the family (well the husband anyway), however she says that there is one sure way to get everyone happily eating it and that is by smothering it in cheese sauce, especially a blue cheese variety! Think cauliflower cheese but with broccoli instead, although if she has both in stock Gemma makes this with both veggies at the same time. 
 
It also works well with macaroni added in to make a pasta bake and, if there are any bread crusts hanging around, Gemma will make a breadcrumb topping to finish it off too. 
 
You can find a simple recipe for this yummy dish on the Riverford website here or click on the image below.

​Andy and I are nearing the end of our eight week diet and fitness programme and are now craving a time when we don't have to think about everything we put in our mouths or ensure we cram enough cardio into our days! That said, the course has definitely made us far more aware about the perils of over processed food and just how many calories there are in everyday things. Being a little more active has also reaped lots of benefits already and there are definitely some aspects of the programme that we hope to continue going forwards.
 
We will be away at Wonderwool Wales this weekend and are really looking forward to being amongst yarn lovers for a few days. We will be setting up the stand as you read this newsletter and I am hoping to post some images of the show on social media, so please do be sure to check it out!
 
Until next time, stay safe and enjoy your knitting and crochet! 

So here we are in April, with Easter just around the corner! The weather has been bright and sunny, if not a little chilly still, and the garden is full of beautiful tulips and a few remaining daffodils, so I am happy!
 
I have had a busy couple of weeks again, with a lovely workshop trip to Switzerland in the mix and lots of exercise and fresh air, plus a good dose of yarny fun too! I hope that you have been having a lovely time lately too and that life is treating you well. I also hope that you have a few minutes to catch up with this month's news from Janie Crow! 

We have partnered with the fantastic team at Wool Warehouse to create a yarn kit for my Marrakesh version of Persian Tiles using their gorgeous YARNSMITHS Merino DK Superwash yarn. You can find the kit here.
 
To celebrate the release of this fabulous kit, which contains all the yarn and the printed yarn substitution document, you can currently get 40% off the price and save yourself more than £60! 
 
As the colour palette in the YARNSMITHS Merino DK Superwash is so large (with 120 colours to choose from) this version of the blanket is pretty much identical to my original version, which was made using Stylecraft Yarns - you can find a link to the original kit lower down this email. 
 
The new kits, that use the Merino DK yarn, have been selling really fast, so if they are out of stock by the time you head over to the Wool Warehouse website, be sure to register your interest by clicking on the Wish List icon.

The Marrakesh version of Persian Tiles was inspired by a trip I made there a couple of years ago, when I was lucky enough to visit the stunning gardens that surround the Yves Saint Laurent Museum. I was blown away by the incredible colours, shapes and patterns contained within its walls.
 
Le Jardin Marjorelle was created by French artist Jacques Marjorelle over the course of almost four decades from 1923 and was later purchased by Yves Saint Laurent and his partner Pierre Bergé who restored and maintained it to create the incredible location it is today.

The Marrakesh blanket also features on some new tins within the Emma Ball range, you can find them by following this link.
 
This week we have also added a new bone china mug and a draw string bag design to the range. They both feature my pretty beaded flowers and decorations and I am really happy with how they have turned out! 

I found an abundance of inspirational surface pattern, including the Giacometti murals in the entrance hall of the police station, stained glass windows by Marc Chagall and some made using agate designed by Sigmar Polka in the Grossmünster. We also saw lots of murals painted on buildings and pretty spring flowers – the weather was fabulous too! ​

Andy has recently discovered an app called ReciMe that allows you to import recipe videos from platforms such as Instagram and then gives you a break down of the ingredients and method used. It is a great way of keeping track of recipes we see online and we have already made quite a few of those we have saved over the last couple of weeks.
 
A particularly nice one is this Spinach and Feta Lentil bread, by Thyme 4 Cooking, which Andy has now made a couple of times. He used a light Feta and didn't add any oil and it was still delicious hot or cold.

​We have been posting images on social media as part of our Decade of Design celebrations and it has been so lovely to see all your positive responses to some of my older designs. 
 
I posted images of Frida's Flowers last week and will be focusing on the Mexican Diamonds and Delft blankets next week. These designs still seem relatively new to me, so it is amazing to think that they are almost a decade old, with both of them released in 2016! 

Andy and I are over the half way mark on our eight week exercise and diet programme. With just three weeks left now, we have really started to see some changes and it has been a really great way to reset and look at the areas of our lives that may have been a little out of control. I really thought I would miss sugar and hard cheeses like cheddar more than I have. That said, I am really looking forward to the first week in May when we can start having a few treats again! Especially as I brought literally kilos of chocolate back from Switzerland! 
 
We are really looking forward to exhibiting at the Wonderwool yarn show in Wales in a fortnight's time. There are still tickets available for the show, so if you fancy coming along to say hi, you can find them here. 
 
I have six weeks at home now (apart from going to Wonderwool) so I am really looking forward to some settled time and getting back to my crochet projects. I hope that wherever you are and whatever you have going on, that life is treating you well and that you are also looking forward to a lovely weekend.
 
I will be back in a fortnight's time, when I hope that we will have all the components of our Zero to Granny project ready to share, so until then, keep safe and have fun with your yarn! 

It has been a pleasure to sit down with my crochet hook this week and try out a new and exciting yarn range that will be coming from West Yorkshire Spinners in the autumn. The British yarn is just lovely and the colour palette is divine, so I have lost quite a few hours playing with it! I had forgotten how fast time flies by when I am crocheting and so I have found myself chasing my tail on a few other projects this week!
 
I will be heading off to tutor a workshop trip to Switzerland next week, so I have been putting the final touches to the project and sorting out yarn packs for the participants. My crochet has had to take a bit of a back seat for a few days as a result, but I will be packing it all away in my suitcase to accompany me on my trip.
 
I have a few things to tell you about this week and Gemma has also been busing adding some interesting items to this Quick Catch Up email, so I hope you have a few minutes to catch up with all things Janie Crow!  

I often get emails and messages from companies who would like me to promote their goods, but I don't like the idea of clogging up my social media platforms with third party posts and I also don't want to be associated with paid for promotions, so, as a general rule, I don't get involved. About a month ago, however, a company who make the most beautiful crochet hooks contacted me asking If I would consider collaborating, and once I saw the beauty of the items they are making, I was totally sold on promoting their fabulous work - fee free of course! 
 
The company are called Letto Workshop and their products are hand made by artisans in Ukraine. You can find their Instagram profile here and their website here.
 
Letto have kindly sent me a couple of hooks to try out, but I thought it would be great to run a giveaway instead to give you guys a chance to win one of them. If you would like to try winning a hook, head across to our Instagram feed for more information. Please note that you need to be in the UK (sorry to those of you elsewhere) to be in with a chance of winning.

We released the pattern for the Catalina Pouch in the autumn and at the time we made the decision not to create a kit for the project as the high end yarn I used from the Rowan range works out very expensive for such a small project. However, the bag is a great stash busting project and is great for using up small left over bits of yarn and I think it would look great made using lots of alternative colour palettes.
 
To line my crochet pouch I used a pre made bag from the Clever Baggers, company, but we found out recently that they charge a high postage cost to anywhere outside of the UK, so Andy has added some of the bags to our store so that you can get them through us. You can find the patterns and the pre-made bags by following this link.

We have some new items in stock from the Emma Ball range. They include some new tins that feature the Marrakesh version of Persian Tiles, Mexican Diamonds and some of my crochet flowers. You can find the new tins by following this link.
 
We also have a new tote bag that features the Mexican Diamonds pattern. You can find it by following this link.

At the beginning of the month Emma chose this lovely image of temperature blanket squares that she found on Instagram to let everybody know that the new chart for recording March's daily temperatures was available to download over on the blog. Thank you to @crafts_r_us for sharing her lovely pic! ​

2025 marks 10 years since the release of the Lily Pond crochet along blanket design and we have started a series of posts on both Facebook and Instagram celebrating, one by one, all the designs that have been released by Janie Crow over the past decade. 
 
The patterns for the Lily Pond CAL are still available to download for free via the Stylecraft website here.

Thank you to all of you who have taken the time to share your project photos with us. We love seeing your work. ​

​There was an interesting article published in the Guardian back in January this year focusing on how younger people are starting to take up hobbies like knitting as an alternative to constant screen time. 
 
The individuals featured in the article had different reasons and motivations for taking up a new hobby and some interesting points were made around the culture of ‘fast fashion’ and over-consumption within the programme, with many of the new crafters realising how much time and effort is involved in making your own garment.
 
You can read more here or click on the image below. 

We will be exhibiting at Wonderwool Wales in just over four weeks time. We will be in our usual position on stand W1 in Hall 3. 
 
Tickets for the show are still available and you can find them by following this link. Sarah, Paul, Andy and myself love being at this show and it would be fabulous to see you there! 

Production began this month of the new Channel 4 show ‘Game of Wool’, which will be hosted by the lovely Tom Daley. The competition will be set against the picturesque countryside of rural Scotland, and each episode will see the contestants set two challenges: a group project, where they’ll be working together in teams, as well as an individual one where they’ll take on briefs that will really test their capabilities and skill level.
 
Each week, the competitors must create a whole host of unique makes and larger than life sculptural pieces – all made from yarn. These include clothing, jewellery, home accessories, furniture, sculptures and possibly even a spot of ‘yarn bombing’. 
 
It will be interesting to see how well the arts of knitting and crochet translate to the screen when the programme is aired in the winter. You can read more about the show by clicking on the image above and you can follow Game of Wool on Instagram by following this link.

Gemma took a brief pause from her hard work on the Bohemian Blooms blanket to knock up a warm hat for her daughter which she found in the book ‘Crochet Messy Bun Hats’ by Kristi Simpson. Hats are a great stash-busting project and can also be very motivating because they work up pretty quickly. You can have a read of Gemma's review of the book over on the blog here. 
 
If you like the look of the book and want your own copy, you can get a 20% discount and free postage by using the code DD88 at checkout on the Search Press website here. 

It feels like an awfully long time since I've been updating you with my progress on Bohemian Blooms. In fact, I've just had a quick look back at the blog and it was actually the end of November! 
 
Well, I hear you say, surely you've finished it by now…..​

I haven't finished, but good progress has been made, with all of the Virginia motifs completed, another Fitzroy done, and two more on a production line and almost finished. Last time I had added the Trinity and Omega motifs to the central nine squares, which really helped the project start to feel like it was coming together.
 
I've now made up three of the four sides and added those to that central panel. I quite like interspersing the making up tasks with the crocheting as it keeps things interesting for me and I'm less likely to get bored and wander off to do something else, like start a new project instead! 

Of course, in my rush to get panels joined, I made a bit of an error. I wonder if anyone can spot my (not so) deliberate mistake? I decided to run with it and leave it as it is, as I wasn't prepared to take the panels apart again and I don't think it detracts too much from the overall appearance, but I did give myself a stern talking to! I'll reveal all next month, when hopefully the fourth side should have been added and the remaining two Bloomsbury motifs completed. 
 
One final observation is that I am incredibly happy at this point in time that I have been sewing in my ends as I've gone along! Although there are a few remaining from the joining that has been done, all the ends on the motifs that have been joined have been sewn in and that feels good! 

This really is working up into a beautiful blanket and I'm so glad I decided to make it. It feels luxurious and special and although it is perhaps taking longer to make than I had intended, it feels like all time spent on it is part of the investment it represents. See you next month. ​

For this week's recipe Gemma has chosen a savoury dish that always goes down well in her house: a mushroom quiche. For the shortcrust pastry Gemma always uses a half and half mixture of wholemeal and white plain flour, just to tweak the healthiness factor up a notch, and a couple of different mushrooms, usually chestnut mushrooms and one other variety. 
 
Gemma says that it's always surprisingly quick to knock up a quiche, particularly if you use a food processor to make the pastry and it works just as well as part of a more traditional meal with potatoes and veg, as it does with a lovely salad on the side. 
 
Here's a link to the James Martin recipe that Gemma uses, or you can click on the image below. Looks delicious doesn't it! 

Summer and Chris's puppy Stoick (pronounced Stowick not Stoyck) is growing so fast and is a real whirlwind at times. He has had all his jabs so can run his zoomies around the garden rather than around the house, which is a bit of a relief for everyone! We pup-sit most weeks and so I make that at time when I look at emails and social media, as getting my yarn and hook out isn't worth the risk of being mugged! 
 
We are looking forward to seeing Stoick and his Mum and Dad tomorrow.

As I said already, I am off to Zurich next week, so I will be spending some time over the next few days sorting out my clothes and lining up my luggage. The trip to Switzerland is with Stitchtopia holidays so we have a packed itinerary, which not only includes workshops and city tours, but also entry to the Swiss Yarn Festival and a guided tour of the Lindt chocolate factory. I am really looking forward to meeting the group on Tuesday and I am sure we will all have a fabulous time. If you fancy joining a similar trip in the future, you can find details of all the craft holidays on the Stitchtopia website here.

Well, that's pretty much it form me for another couple of weeks. Don't forget that the clocks go forward by an hour on Saturday night/Sunday morning here in the UK and so we will get an hour less in bed. Longer days are the reward though, so it's totally worth losing a little sleep!
 
Until next time, stay safe and enjoy your knitting and crochet! 

March has brought some wonderful weather and it has been so good to finally feel the sunshine on our faces! The last couple of days have been a touch colder again, and there is a bit of rain around here in North London, but there is blossom on the tress and the light has much improved, so I am a happy bunny!  
 
It has been a really busy couple of weeks since I was last here and I will admit to being a little tired after a trip to Cologne at the weekend and a back to back jaunt to Scotland from Monday to late evening on Wednesday. I am hoping to have a good bit of rest at the weekend so that I can catch up with my sleep a little, but it is exciting to have so much going on. I hope you can spare a few minutes to catch up with all my news in this month's newsletter.

This year marks ten years since I released the Lily Pond CAL design in association with Stylecraft Yarns, so over the next few months we will be celebrating a decade of design by posting images of my back catalogue of projects in release date order on our social media channels.
 
We will be kicking off by featuring the Imogen blanket, which was one of my first stand alone crochet patterns, and then we will work right through to present day, hopefully in time to coincide with the release of new projects for the autumn. I could not have ever imagined the amazing response that my designs would create and I am so grateful for all your incredible support ever since.
 
I am hoping there will be a new CAL design this year, and some stand alone project patterns, including a those for a few garments, but the crazy thing is that as my business has grown, I seem to be getting less and less time to crochet. Hopefully 2025 will be another year of great designs though, so long as I can get myself in gear! 

Andy and I headed off to Cologne on the train last Friday to visit the H+H textile and handicrafts trade show. We had originally decided that we wouldn’t visit this year as we were there last year, but then we found out that crochet designer, Shelley Husband, aka Spin Cushions, was planning to be there and Emma Ball also took on a stand in order to showcase all her lovely products, including those from the Janie Crow brand, so we decided we just had to go! 
 
Travelling by train is one of my favourite things and living in London means that it is easy for us to use the Eurostar. We were lucky to miss the disruption at Paris on Friday, which was caused by an unexploded WW2 bomb and arrived in Cologne early evening after a train change in Brussels, which meant we managed to grab a refreshing pint of beer and buy some Belgian chocolate in the supermarket between trains!
 
The show is unlike anything we see in the UK. It spans three floors of the Koelnmesse exhibition centre and there is so much yarn, fabric and accessories on display that it is really hard to decide where to start! 

We saw some great yarns, including a fabulous new range from West Yorkshire Spinners, which launches in the autumn. I can’t wait to tell you more about it soon, as the palette is just a dream and the inspiration behind it is totally my kind of thing.
 
The show is a great place to see the trends for the forthcoming seasons. There are still lots of self striping and ‘space dyed’ yarns, as well as fluffy, mohair styles and lurex appear to be making a big come back. The Lang Yarns stand had some fabulous garments on display and many of the stands focussed on crochet as well as knitting, which was great to see.

We spent a little time with Emma Ball on her stand on the Saturday afternoon of the show and it was great to hear how many people admire her work. For me, it was also a real treat to see the Janie Crow branded items on display. I am so grateful to Emma and her team for their incredible support over the last couple of years.
 
Emma has created some new items, including draw string bags, tins and mugs, that feature my crochet flowers, so I will let you know when these come into stock – the new mugs are especially fab! 
 
You can find the current collection of Emma Ball and Janie Crow goodies over on the website by following this link.
 
As well as walking the show floors we were able to catch up with some of our friends from within the industry and it was good to spend some time walking around Cologne, especially as the weather was so kind to us. 

Andy and I have taken on a bit of a challenge and have signed up to an eight-week diet and fitness programme, so we have been more aware of the ‘macro’ element of our food choices over the last couple of days. Cake, crisps, sugar and alcohol are out of the window, so I have been searching the web for food that is higher in protein and lower in carbohydrate so that we can stick to the plan.
 
Getting a good balance of protein can be harder when you’re vegetarian, so we already monitor our diet to some extent and, as we also try to avoid over processed food, I have stocked up on some veg and pulses that are naturally a higher source of protein.

I know that green peas and tofu are a both really good sources of protein and I wanted to find a recipe for a dip or that I can use as a tasty addition to a salad, but all of the recipes I found had avocado in them, something I want to avoid for a while as they are such a water thirsty crop and there is a lot of evidence to suggest that we should eat fewer of them from an environmental point of view.
 
I found this recipe on the Veggie Desserts web site but replaced the chickpeas with smoked tofu and it is really delicious! 

My lovely friend and fellow designer Debbie Abrahams is heading down to stay with me this weekend and so I am really looking forward to some, shopping and yarny chat. We haven't caught up properly for ages, other than for tutoring workshops, so I am really looking forward to seeing her. 
 
We recently launched a joint workshop with Debbie and myself, which will take place at Nunsmere Hall in Cheshire next year and there are still a couple of places left. You can find more information by following this link to the Inspired Minds website. The rooms left in stock are the Executive Twins, which are based on two people sharing, so make sure you select that from the drop down menu, otherwise you won't be able to book.
 
The next couple of weeks are looking relatively calm, so I am looking foreword to being at my desk with my hook and yarn. I hope that you can also find some time for a bit of hook or needle action! The forecast is looking a little wintery here in the UK, so the colder weather is a great excuse to curl up on the sofa with a lovely project.

I haven't been very well this week and finally succumbed to the lurgy that has been busy infecting (what feels like) the whole of North London since Christmas! I don't feel completely awful, but I have lost my voice at times, which a few people around here probably count as a blessing! 
 
Thankfully we have seen the sun a little more often as we finally head into the spring. The daffodils are in flower in the garden and the tulips are getting ready to burst into bloom. I just love it when the plants, shrubs and bulbs starts to perk up at this time of year and we finally get rewarded for making it through the winter by a garden full of colour! 
 
As usual, we have been busy here at Janie Crow over the last couple of weeks, so I have a few things to tell you about. I hope you have a bit of spare time to catch up with all things JANIE CROW! 

Traditionally I have aimed my crochet designs at the intermediate to advanced skill level, but we still get lots of beginners launching themselves into my projects because their love of the design is enough to spur them on through the learning process. We know, however, that not everyone is confident enough to embark on a big project, especially if they consider themselves to have a relatively low skill level.
 
So, as a result of the large number of comments and requests for simpler designs that we receive, we have decided that it was time that we create some more free resources for absolute beginners. Yay!
 
We will be starting with how to make a Granny Square - a rite of passage for all crocheters. Our Zero to Granny course will be free to access and will include videos and downloads, which we hope to have ready for release in a few weeks time. 
 
We are very excited about this project and hope that it will encourage even more newbies to jump on board and give the wonderful craft of crochet a try. If you are interested in learning, know someone else who might be, or simply want to check that you are working in the right way, keep an eye on our social media channels for more information…..

We have had a bit of a run on kit sales and have sold out of all the CAL yarn packs, but we hope to have lots of items back very soon. We still have stock of all the kits shown below and we now have kits for the Mystical Lanterns blanket in the original colourway and in the Avice version, which is made using Stylecraft Special DK. You can find more information and purchase kits by clicking on the images below.
 
If you are looking to make a blanket using natural fibres, we have the West Yorkshire Spinner's version of Persian Tiles in the original colourway back in stock. The blanket is made using Colour Lab DK, which is a 100% British Wool yarn. You can find the kits by following this link or by clicking on the image of the blanket a little lower down.

Some of you may remember that Andy used to run a company called Just Knots, which was a part of Janie Crow that specialised in knitting needles, crochet hooks and accessories. We always did well with the accessories, especially at shows, but when we moved back to working from home we decided to stop selling the additional items in order to concentrate on patterns, yarn packs and kits.
 
We still replenish our crochet hook stock for workshops and events, but we no longer sell knitting needles, so Andy has decided to sell them at a discounted price over on Ebay. Some of the items say CLEARANCE in the description, others don't due to lack of space within the Ebay system. All prices are discounted compared to RRP and include the postage cost. You can find the Just Knots store by following this link.
 
Clearance items currently includes Knit Pro Symfonie, Nova and Zing and there are also some lovely Lykke wooden needles on there too. Andy is adding to the store continuously, so if you don't see what you need this time, keep checking in case it appears in the future! 

Emma has been busy over on Instagram and has made some really nice posts over the last couple of weeks, including a real beauty on Wednesday, where she focused on celestial crochet projects, including my beaded Halley Pouch pattern. You can find a link to Instagram here and a link to the Halley project (shown below) here.

Andy has put some new Emma Ball bundles together and you can find them on the website now by following this link. The items included work out cheaper when purchased in bundles than singularly, and we have a couple of new items (mostly tins) in stock now too.

I know we are barely into 2025, but if you are already thinking about what events you might like to be a part of next year, then you might be interested to know that Stitchtopia have just launched the details of their residential Festival in March 2026.
 
I won't be tutoring next year, but will be at the event on the Saturday with a pop up shop and I will be giving an evening presentation too, so it would be great to see you there! 
 
There are lots of workshops to choose from and the list of these will go live within the next couple of weeks. You can reserve your place, and get first pick of the workshops, by paying a £50 deposit. 
 
The website currently says that this is a Patchwork and Quilting event, but I can confirm that this is a typo and that the event is also open to yarn lovers too, with workshops by eight fabulous tutors, including Emma Leith, Frederica Patmore and Anna Nikipirowicz.

It is nearly Oscar time again, so Emma came up with the bright idea of launching a competition to see who can come up with the best recreation of one of the images of Justin Bieber wearing a version of the Persian Tiles blanket to an after party event in 2023. You can find more information about the competition by following this link to our Instagram feed. 

Gemma has been busy perusing crochet books over the last couple of months and you can find her reviews of them over on the blog.
 
This month she has found a really pretty book, called 'Adorable Desserts to Crochet' to focus on. The book is by Marie Clesse and it features lots of sweet (!) designs for you to get your hook into. Gemma had a go at making a really scrummy looking macaroon. 
 
If you like the look of the book and want your own copy, you can get a 20% discount and free postage by using the code DD88 at check out on the Search Press website here. 

​Jenny Demkin sent us an image of her Spirit of Flora project this week. She used the Leaf Trellis, Tudor Rose and the free Floral Plain Motif to make her lovely blanket shown below. Jenny used the Floral Tile edging pattern as her border, which is also a free pattern that you can find on the Janie Crow website here.
 
I really love the simplicity of Jenny's project and I adore how just a couple of the motifs from the Spirit of Flora collection can be combined to make a really stunning project! 

Becci (Riverknits) and Sharon (Dragon Hill Studio) are getting together to put on a series of knitting and crochet classes. They met when both exhibiting at a yarn show and soon discovered a shared love of folk music. When they're not spending time knitting or crocheting, you can find them catching up to play tunes!
 
Becci is an experienced knitter and crocheter with a love of wool. In her job as a yarn dyer and co-owner of RiverKnits, she designs knitting patterns with a focus on colourwork and good fit. She has been teaching fellow crafters how to dye yarn for several years now, some of whom have gone on to start their own yarn dyeing businesses.
 
Sharon is a freelance technical editor, yarn dyer, designer and experienced tutor. She has had several patterns published in both Knit Now and Crochet Now magazines. Specialising in crochet, she particularly enjoys teaching and passing on her love of the craft.
Classes will be held at the RiverKnits studio, in Weedon Bec, Northamptonshire.

Both the Beginner Crochet Class and Beginner Knitting Class are a comprehensive 2-day course, comprising 12 hours total teaching time. Day 2 follows a week after Day 1, giving you chance to practise and solidify your progress in between classes. Because we will have two tutors at all times, the teaching will be flexible, and you are encouraged to work at your own pace.
 
The first classes are happening on March 20th (crochet) & 21st (knitting) and there are also dates available in May. Please visit the Riverknits website for more information and to book.

We won't be exhibiting at The Stitch Festival at the Business Design Centre in London in March as it will collide with our son's 30th Birthday celebrations, however, we are able to offer you a discount code that will give you £2 off the standard adult/concessions ticket price. The code to use at checkout is as follows: 
 
JANIECROW25 
 
The code expires at midnight (or there abouts) on the 6th of March and is not valid on afternoon or Sunday ticket sales.

My first workshop trip of the year will be the Stitchtopia trip to the Swiss Yarn Festival in early April, which I have realised this week, is not actually all that long away, and so, with just over four weeks left, I have started designing the project that participants will work on while we are away.
 
The concept of the design has been in my mind for ages and I have been looking at traditional Swiss chocolate box designs as the inspiration for the colours and theme of my project. You can find my mood board for the design over on Pinterest if you fancy taking a look!

There are still a few places on the trip to Zurich, where we will visit the yarn show and tour the city. We will also be visiting the Lindt factory, so if you are a chocolate and yarn fan this might sound like a perfect trip!
 
You can find more information about the workshop by following this link.

I caught up with my cousin Amy last weekend and (of course) the conversation inevitably turned to the subject of cake and she swears that this recipe from the Hummingbird Cafe, is the best carrot cake ever!
 
The online reviews appear to agree, so I am definitely going to give this scrummy looking cake a try. The Ocado site that features the recipe has the cake and the frosting listed separately. You can find the cake recipe here, and the frosting here. Both recipes are printable.
 
If you beat me to it and manage to make the cake over the next few weeks, do get in touch and let me know if Amy is right about it being the best carrot cake ever! 

We got a fabulous surprise a few weeks ago when our daughter Summer and her husband Chris presented us with the new addition to our family - Stoick the puppy! He is named after Hiccup's Dad, Stoick the Vast from How To Train Your Dragon. 
 
Look at that lovely face! We are so in love already and are looking forward to two days of puppy sitting next week! You can keep track of Stoick by following his Instagram account, which you can find here.

We have a busy weekend lined up with some of the family coming over to join us for some cocktails on Saturday evening. Weekly Margaritas became a habit during lockdown and we still try to enjoy a couple of drinks on a Saturday evening when we are home at the weekend, which is not all that often lately. Andy has been busy perfecting Espresso Martinis lately, so I am sure they will be on the menu too! 
 
We have some friends coming for lunch on Sunday so I am hoping the weather will be nice enough to enjoy a local walk. It has been so good to get out and about recently, so fingers crossed that can continue! 
 
Gemma has been taking a bit of a break over the last month or so, but she will be back to help me with the next Quick Catch Up in March, so don't worry if you are missing seeing her Bohemian Blooms Diary, or hearing her words from the web. Usual service is set to resume soon! 
 
Hoping you have a fabulously yarny weekend!

The weather has been so incredibly dull and dingy here over the last week that I keep finding myself scrolling through the images on my phone in search of something bright and colourful. Thankfully my yarn stash is also a good source of colour therapy and so I have been busy sorting through that too - rummaging around for the really bright, zingy shades that I am pretty sure give me a good hit of serotonin when I crochet with them. If only yarn was a source of vitamin D too, eh!
 
In an effort to cheer myself up, within the midst of what feels like a never ending winter, I have tried to pack a lot of bright, inspiring colours into this email, alongside all my news, and hope that you have a few minutes to spare to catch up with all things Janie Crow!

I was talking to another crochet designer the other day about how the workload of designers has changed so greatly over the last few years. Crochet and handknit designers traditionally worked in-house for yarn companies or were employed as freelancers and thus paid solely for their design work. The advances in technology now means that designers have many more jobs on their to do list, such as maintaining engaging social media channels, creating videos, shooting step-by-step tutorials and dealing with pattern queries, alongside all the usual stuff, such as writing and creating patterns in the first place. 
 
With the rise of forums like Tik Tok and Instagram, we are finding that many new crocheters want to create their projects solely from the use of videos and many of them do not know how to read patterns, so it is interesting to see how the needs of the craft community are constantly changing, putting even more pressure on designers and yarn companies alike to create more and more material for their audience.
 
We have had quite an odd start to the year, with quite a few hurdles along the way, and I feel like I have been chasing my tail work-wise for weeks on end, but hopefully things will be calmer towards the end of the month and I am looking forward to some sustained time with my beloved yarn and hook! It can be so frustrating not to be able to really get stuck into my work, but I feel incredibly fortunate to have a small (but totally fabulous) team who can complete many of the tasks that are now essential for running an online crochet business and who support me so well by picking up the flack when I'm not on top of my game.

The Royal Garden project was first released in 2018 and it was made using yarns from the Rowan range. A few years later I worked alongside Scheepjes to create a kit for the project using yarns from their range. This kit has recently been discontinued, so I decided it was time to create some new versions of the design using yarns from the Stylecraft range.
 
One of the new versions is made using a palette of colours from the Special DK range and the other has been made using Stylecraft's 100% recycled yarn, the lovely ReCreate DK. 
 
We do not currently have kits in stock for the Special DK version as we are waiting for some shades to come back into stock, but we do have the ReCreate kits in stock and you can find them by following this link.
 
The original Scheepjes kit was heavy and weighed in at over two kilos, so we were not able to send it to customers outside of the UK as the postage cost was so high, however, as the new kits are a lighter weight, we have been able to amend the postage options and can send them worldwide. 

The design was inspired by the terracotta floor tiles found in the coffee shop at the Green Hotel in Mysore, India, and the formal quilt-like layout of the former royal palace's gardens at the front of the building.
 
You can choose between two different layouts for the project and we have included colourful diagrams to show both of these in the new pattern (shown below). It also includes written and charted instructions, step-by-step images and links to a couple of free technique videos that Emma has created to guide you along the way.
 
The pattern is available in UK and US terms and we are hoping to have the Dutch language version in stock very soon. You can find more information about the project by following this link. 

I mentioned last month that we have ongoing issues with stock levels for kits. We hope to have this problem resolved by early next month as we have been advised that quite a lot of yarns will be available soon. 
 
We have stock of all the kits shown in the box below - you can click on the images for more information on each of the projects.  

We have just been able to add kits for the Climbing Rose Wrap and the Mexican Diamonds Blanket to the website. You can find them by clicking on the images below. We haven't had either of these kits in for a while, so head over to the website now if you have been patiently waiting!

Despite our relatively poor stock of kits and yarn packs, we do have a healthy stock of paper patterns, which you can find here. 
 
Download copies are always available via our Etsy and Ravelry stores within just a few clicks, so you could always use this opportunity to sort through your stash and see if you have enough yarn to at least get started if you are itching to create a new project. You can link to our Etsy and Ravelry stores by clicking on the images below.

We are in Farnham exhibiting at the Unravel Yarn Festival at the Maltings. The show is on today, tomorrow and Sunday and tickets are still available. You can find more information about this great yarn show here.

​Emma and Gemma came up with the idea of running a team Janie Crow temperature blanket crochet along project over the course of 2025 and they have been very busy creating blog posts and social media content about it since early January.
 
It has been brilliant to see how many of you have taken on the challenge of creating a project using the free motif designs from the Spirit of Flora design, which you can find by following this link. You can click on the image below to see the blog posts about the temperature blanket project.

We won't be exhibiting at The Stitch Festival at the Business Design Centre in London in March as it will collide with our son's 30th Birthday celebrations, however, we are able to offer you a discount code that will give you £2 off the standard adult/concessions ticket price. The code to use at checkout is as follows: 
 
JANIECROW25 
 
The code expires at midnight (or there abouts) on the 6th of March and is not valid on afternoon or Sunday ticket sales.
 
My friend, and fellow designer, Shannon-Jaide of The Wool Flower Co is leading three workshops at the show and there are still have places available on all of them. If you are a beginner then you might want to learn to make a Granny Square with Shannon-Jaide's help, or, if you are more experienced, you could join her to make a crochet bum-bag or some pretty crochet shell earrings. You can find all the information on these workshops by following this link and you can see Shannon-Jaide's work over on her inspirational Instagram feed here.

​My first workshop trip of the year will be the Stitchtopia trip to the Swiss Yarn Festival in early April, which I have realised this week, is not actually all that long away, and so, with just over six weeks left, I have started designing the project that participants will work on while we are away.
 
The concept of the design has been in my mind for ages and I have been looking at traditional Swiss chocolate box designs as the inspiration for the colours and theme of my project. You can find my mood board for the design over on Pinterest if you fancy taking a look!

There are still a few places on the trip to Zurich, where we will visit the yarn show and tour the city. We will also be visiting the Lindt factory, so if you are a chocolate and yarn fan this might sound like a perfect trip!
 
You can find more information about the workshop by following this link.

Andy and I were looking at the origin of our recent punnet of blueberries and wondering when we will start to get fruit and vegetables that have been grown a tad closer to home and have not racked up all those air miles. Living in the UK means that the choice of items grown here is pretty minimal, especially at this time of year, so I was really pleased to see some Yorkshire grown rhubarb for sale at the weekend.
 
Stylecraft have a beautiful shade called Pink Rhubarb in their new Made in Yorkshire range of Special DK. I didn't know until the yarn launch recently that Yorkshire is famous for rhubarb farming. If you are interested in the history of growing the crop in the 'Rhubarb Triangle', you can find out more about it via this article on Wikipedia. You can find my blog post about Stylecraft's homemade yarn here.
 
A few years ago we introduced a rhubarb plant to our garden. It has taken a while to settle, but I am hoping that this year we will start to be able to eat some of it. I certainly won't be paying the eye watering cost that the rhubarb I saw at the weekend was priced at, and will be waiting for the cost to come down (more than) a little before making a scrummy rhubarb crumble, such as the one I have featured as this month's recipe.
 
My mum is a big rhubarb fan too and has always stewed it with a wedge of ginger or slice of orange peel, so the idea of a rhubarb and ginger crumble really appeals to me, especially with a good glug of creamy yellow custard. You can find the recipe here. 

Whether you celebrate it or not, there is no getting away from the fact that today is Valentine's Day. Here at Janie Crow we tend not to focus  on 'special' days as we know they are not relevant to everyone and can cause unnecessary upset, but the reason I am mentioning it today is that I want to focus on the symbol of the day and quite literally get to the heart of the matter! (see what I did there?)
 
I am sure there must have been a time when, like me, you have sat or laid down in quiet surroundings and really focused on the rhythm of your own heart, beating away in your chest, and thought about how amazing it is. An incredible muscle that rhythmically thumps away, keeping your whole body, quite literally, ticking along day and night.
 
But here is the thing - when did you last think about your heart health? Do you imagine how your heart might look inside your chest and whether or not it is in good shape? I was thinking about how much we focus on all the things that happen on the surface of our bodies, like making sure our faces are moisturised and that our skin is smooth and wrinkle free. We all feel the pressure to create muscles and tone in place of excess fat and many of us are prepared to spend huge amounts of money looking after the parts of our body that we can see in the mirror. But what about the vital organs that sit hidden away inside our bodies? If we had transparent skin and could see what was going on inside of us, would we be more mindful of what our vital organs look like? If we had to wear our hearts on our sleeves, would we be more careful about our heart health?
 
The statistics for heart disease are shocking - one in five deaths in the US is attributed to it and there are more than 800,000 women living with the effect of coronary heart disease in the UK, which also kills more than twice as many women as breast cancer here.

I was recently sent a link to this video about heart health on the Zoe Youtube channel. It is an interesting film, where the discussion focuses on what you can do to improve your heart health. If you have an hour to spare then you may want to watch (or listen to) the whole conversation in one go, or like me, you can chunk it down into bitesize pieces and listen to bits of it at a time.
 
Whether you celebrate Valentine's Day or not, I hope that I have inspired you to give some thought to the health of your heart on this special day. If you are pretty confident that your heart is already healthy then you could always celebrate by creating a little crochet version! There are loads of patterns to choose from online but I particularly like this one by The Crochet Leaf! If you fancy making a project that includes heart shapes, check out my Indigo Dreams pattern, which you can find here.

I had a fabulous few days away with some of my yarny friends last weekend and I am still feeling buoyed up by spending time with some amazing women! This weekend we are at Unravel in Farnham and I am so enjoying spending time around yarny folk again. It is always such a joy to be in a room full of yarn and excited knitters and crocheters!
 
I keep misjudging the weather and find I am not wearing quite the right amount of clothes, so this weekend I have packed lots of warm layers in the anticipation of more chilly weather. I have finished knitting a lovely garter stitch waistcoat called Pelica and it is keeping me beautifully toasty over my cardigan! The pattern is by Rosa Pomar and you can find it here. Image below by © Agata Xavier shows the waistcoat beautifully. I didn't include buttons and followed the advice of Linda at Kettle Yarn Co and slightly felted mine to give it a slightly thicker feel. I love it!

After a few teething problems (that you may or may not have noticed) we are hopefully now up to speed with using our new email host. Making the decision to change was not taken lightly and I was worried about the technical glitches we experienced early on, but now I am really enjoying working with the new look email and hope that you like it too! If you are finding anything amiss with this new style of email, like odd text or broken links, please let us know so that we can iron out any issues.
 
We are looking forward to a quieter time next week and I am really hoping, in true British style, that the weather will afford us some brighter days. I hope that wherever you are, that you are healthy, happy and warm.
 
Until next time!

Welcome to the first ‘new look’ JANIE CROW newsletter of 2025! I am a little later than usual because of a small technical hitch, but I hope this email finds you well and that you are settling into the new year nicely!
 
It has been a busy start to 2025 for us and we are looking forward to some exciting things over the next few months, including the release of two revamped versions of my Royal Garden blanket design, which we hope to release by the end of the month.
 
I have a few other things to tell you about this week, so I hope you can spare a few minutes to catch up with all things Janie Crow!

I will be settling myself on the sofa, in front of the TV, with my knitting at some point over the weekend. I am really enjoying working on another knitting project after completing a garter stitch waistcoat project just before Christmas. I am trying to resist starting work on the Kaleidoscope knitted butterfly hanging designed by the wonderful Phil of Twisted Thread, shown above. It is an incredibly clever pattern as the butterflies are knitted in the round. I am intrigued to see how they are made and think it will be really fun to choose my butterfly colours! 
 
I hope you have some nice plans and that you will also be able to find some time for a spot of knitting or crochet over the weekend too! ​

Over the festive period we watched the movie 'Red One' on the TV. It was good fun to watch a very Christmassy film before the big day, when our excitement was high and the thought of Santa hurtling through the skies with his reindeer was thrilling! The movie was all about a boy who didn't believe in the magic of Father Christmas and I was struck by two sayings quoted in the film, so much so that I have written them down on post-it-notes and have stuck them on the pin board in my office:

1: Every day, every decision is an opportunity.

2: We choose everyday who we want to be.
 
I did a search online and found a YouTube video on the Jim Rohn channel called 'learn to act as if each new day is an opportunity'. You can find it here.  It is quite a long video (20 minutes or so) but I think it is a very positive watch/listen if you want to head into the New Year feeling like you are in control of your ship!

Happy New Year! ​