As today marks the beginning of a bank holiday weekend here in the UK and as chocolate has to be the main focus of everything over the course of the next few days, this is likely to be one of the quickest Quick Catch Up emails we have ever sent from Janie Crow.
 
I have just a couple of things I want to tell you about this week so I hope you can spare just a couple of minutes to catch up with our news….

The most recent publication of Inside Crochet Magazine was officially released yesterday and you can find another instalment of my monthly journal within its pages. I am really enjoying having a platform to write an in depth piece on a monthly basis and this time I have talked about how satisfying (and bang on trend) it is to showcase your treasured items within your home - including your all important yarn stash! If you don't already subscribe to the magazine, you can find more information here.
 
Magazine 188 has a whimsical theme and all the projects are based around pastel palettes, so I used this opportunity to revamp my Imogen blanket project, which was originally made using a Rowan yarn that is now discontinued. The new version, shown in the images above and below, uses Yarnsmiths Pebble Haze DK, which I think adds a really lovely vintage, heirloom look to the piece. You can find kits for the project via the Wool Warehouse website by following this link. You can find more information about the project on our website here, where you will also find the paper brochure pattern and links to downloads.
 
The new version of Imogen is made using DK weight yarns and you can find a free yarn substitution document (which needs to be used along side the original pattern) by following this link.

There are now just a handful of places left on our summer crochet event in June, so if you do fancy coming along, check out this link for more information and to book.
 
If you choose to join myself and members of the Janie Crow team for a fun afternoon of crochet in the surroundings of Old Fold Manor Golf Club, Barnet, Hertfordshire, we will welcome you with a lovely goody bag and a yarn kit to create a small, summer-themed project designed by me. You’ll have the opportunity to work on the project at your own pace with expert guidance on hand throughout the afternoon.
 
Light refreshments will be served and there will be an opportunity to browse our pop-up shop, where a 10% discount will be available on the day. We hope this will be a lovely chance to relax, chat, connect, and share ideas with fellow crocheters in a friendly, welcoming setting and we are really looking forward to it.

There are only a couple of places left on the Knit For Peace retreat that I will be tutoring in Mysore, India next year. The retreat will run from 22nd January to 4th February at The Green Hotel, with comfortable accommodation on a full board basis. 
 
During the trip I will lead seven morning workshops including both a crochet and a knitting project for those who wish to participate. Afternoons and weekends will be free to explore the city and surrounding countryside.
 
Knit for Peace retreats are both extremely friendly and very relaxed.  Join in as much or as little as you wish. Come on your own and make new friends or bring a non-crafting partner or friend to share with you. Everyone is welcome. The retreat could be an excellent first introduction to India, or a joyous return to a lovely city.
 
The weather in Mysore in January is usually beautiful and sunny. The town itself is interesting and still retains its old-world charm. There are many places of interest to visit including palaces, a world-famous market, temples and nearby bird sanctuaries and wildlife reserves.
 
You can find more information about the trip by following this link.

If you're looking for a new project, we generally have good level of kits in stock including the new Stylecraft Special DK version of the Climbing Rose Wrap. This yarn kit has been updated due to some of the yarns used in the original version being discontinued.
 
Andy has put kits for Sandalwood back in stock this week, so if you have been waiting for that to come back, take a look at this link for more details.
 
Over the last week Emma put a fabulous post about the Sunshine and Showers crochet along on our Instagram feed. This is a great project for this time of year as I designed it to start in spring, with each section of the twelve part design representing a month of the year. You can find more information about the project here.

We were away last weekend house and dog sitting for some friends who live on the south coast. Andy and I had a fabulous few days away walking on the beach, checking out the shops and mooching around with ice creams! It was really nice to have a dog joining us too and he was such a pleasure to look after that I have really missed him since we got home! Thankfully we are seeing our daughter Summer and her lovely pooch tomorrow, so there will be lots of puppy cuddles again.  
 
I haven't managed to come up with an idea for a recommended recipe this week, but as we had the most outrageously delicious snack in a pub in Brighton on Sunday, I thought I would share this idea with you - garlic and herb roast potatoes, with a gravy boat dip! Totally delicious, especially with a good shake of salt and a pint of lager! 

​We are looking forward to a little bit of time in the garden over the weekend - it is the Easter tradition for us to have a really good sort out over the bank holiday weekend (weather permitting) so I am really looking forward to that.
 
I have a workshop project to put the finishing touches to over the next few days, so I am also looking forward to a bit of time crocheting in the comfort of the sofa. I am working on a quilted sewing project that I picked up at the Stitch Festival a couple of weeks ago too, so lots to keep me occupied even if the weather is bad! 
 
 I will be back in a fortnight's time, hopefully with an update on the status of the new Sevilla Blanket which is waiting patiently in the wings. Until then I hope you will keep safe and happy…. 

The light around the house has started to change, with sunshine streaming in through the kitchen windows and shining a bright light on all the dust and cobwebs that we have been blissfully unaware of all winter. No wonder spring is traditionally the time for a good old clean up! 
 
We have had a busy month so far with lots going on, both personally and work wise, so I have quite a bit to tell you about this week, including news of our Summer Crochet Afternoon, tickets for which launch this afternoon. I am also providing you with a sneaky peek at the blanket version of my Majorelle design, which we have called Sevilla. The patterns and kits for this design should launch within the next month, so look out for more news on that soon!
 
I hope you have a few minutes to catch up with all things Janie Crow….

​We are excited to announce our Summer Crochet Event where you can join myself and members of the Janie Crow team for a fun afternoon in the surroundings of Old Fold Manor Golf Club, Barnet, Hertfordshire.
 
We’ll welcome you to the event with a lovely goody bag and your yarn kit to create a small, summer-themed project designed by me and you’ll have the opportunity to work on the project at your own pace with expert guidance on hand from myself and members of the team.  
 
Light refreshments will be served during the afternoon and there will be an opportunity to browse our pop-up shop, where a 10% discount will be available on the day.
 
This is a lovely chance to relax, chat, connect, and share ideas with fellow crocheters in a friendly, welcoming setting and we are so looking forward to it! You can find more information and book your place by following this link to the Janie Crow website. Please be sure to read all information before booking, including our cancellation policy.

Bookings for my knit and crochet retreat in Mysore, India are now open and eleven confirmed bookings have already been received, which means there are now just five places remaining.
 
The holiday will run from 22nd January through to February 4th/5th 2027. You can find more images taken on previous trips to Mysore with Knit For Peace on the Janie Crow Lifestyle instagram feed. If you would like to join me and other craft enthusiasts on this fabulous break, follow this link to Knit For Peace for more information and to book.

I am a real fan of Wes Anderson films, with The Grand Budapest Hotel ranking as one of my all time favourites, partly due to the fabulous purple and pink colour palettes in the film, the inclusion of quite a few nods to artist Gustav Klimt and the Succession Movement and the delicious looking patisseries from Mendl's. Oh, and the fabulous performances by Tilda Swinton, Ralph Fiennes and the rest of the cast. 
 
The reason for me telling you this is because (in a long winded fashion) I want to recommend another Wes Anderson film, The Darjeeling Limited, which we watched on the recommendation of our son, Charlie, a few weeks ago. If you have ever been to India, love the idea of going, or especially if an Indian train journey appeals to you, then I really recommend this film. The colours alone will have you hooked! 

Due to a cancellation there are now two places on my workshop trip to Turkey with Stitchtopia this October. You can find more information by following this link, or by clicking on the image above.
 
Over the last couple of weeks I have been working on workshop projects for this year's workshop tours, as well as the design of my new CAL project which will launch later on this year.
 
I love working on smaller projects like bags and pouches, cushions and wraps and working on different projects at the same time is something I tend to do these days. It works well as I can chop and change between projects - when I get a bit fed up with one or can't work out my maths, I pick up another one for a bit while I think things through!
 
The patterns for many of my previous workshop projects have been released as paper and download versions and you can find many of them by following this link to accessories and this one to cushion covers.

I designed the Majorelle cushion and project pouch for last year's workshop trip to Morocco with Stitchtopia. The design was inspired by the giant cacti found in the exotic Jardins Majorelle, which once belonged to Yves Saint Laurent and are now an essential visit when in Marrakesh.
 
My project uses the fabulous little 25g balls of Rico Ricorumi 100% cotton yarn, which is just perfect for smaller projects. I have used ten shades of yarn and some fabulously colourful beads from the Debbie Abrahams range to add a decorative touch to the designs.
 
I have already seen quite a few versions of the project made by people using yarns from their stash and you can source the yarn and beads individually from other retailers as the kit is currently out of stock with us. You can find the patterns in UK and US terms as paper copies via our shop and as downloads via Etsy and Ravelry. 
 
With the help of one of my expert team of crocheters, Joanna Austin, we have now created a blanket version of the design using a slightly different palette. We have called this version Sevilla as it reminds me of the ceramic tiles and colours we saw everywhere on our trip to Seville and Granada last year. I am also referring to this blanket as the perfect sibling for Persian Tiles as I think the two would go brilliantly well together. As soon as we have more news on the pattern and yarn kits I will let you know, but for now I leave you with a teaser image to whet your appetite!

It is our son's birthday today, and it is his lovely girlfriend's birthday early next week, so we are planning a joint celebration on Sunday by heading out for a meal with Charlie and Ellie.
 
I will probably make my usual Victoria Sponge Cake for the birthdays, as it is such an easy one to make and has, thus far, never let me down! I use this recipe by Mary Berry - it's so easy as you put all the ingredients in a bowl at the same time and whisk them up. No creaming sugar and butter, and no carefully adding the flour - just whack it all in and whisk it together, being careful not to over mix. Its a no brainer!
 
My (not so) secret when making this cake is to take Mary's advice and make it with Stork Margarine and not butter and to add an extra egg. I have been known to add two more to get a much looser consistency and the cake still worked. You can thank me (and Mary Berry) later! 

I am beyond excited that the lovely Sarah Hazell and I will be heading to The Stitch Festival tomorrow. We are both really looking forward to being attendees at a show rather than vendors and catching up with a few friends along the way. I am hoping we will make it to Drew Kent's fashion show at 2pm, which is bound to be fabulous! 
 
I am also looking forward to plonking myself on the settee with a glass of wine and my crochet to have a good old catch up with Sarah as she is staying with us for the weekend and we don't get to spend much time together these days. I have lined up the perfect (workshop) project to accompany a movie or two.

Andy and I managed to sneak in a week away in Tenerife at the beginning of the month. We had a lovely time, despite chilly, wet weather and not the warmth and sunshine we were hoping for. It was particularly nice to see the island's spring flowers and eat lots of lovely food though. We visited a couple of botanical gardens while we were there and Andy drove up into the mountains, so I took loads of pictures for design inspiration. Of course, the cactuses were my favourites, but the hibiscus were giving it their best shot too! ​

This time last year I headed off to a secret location in Scotland to be a guest judge on The Game of Wool. Love it or hate it, there is no denying the good that the show has done for the yarn industry, with so many new crocheters and knitters taking up the hobbies, so I am really pleased that it will be returning later on this year. 
 
Channel 4 are seeking new participants for the new season, so if you think you have what it takes to be the next winner, why not do something daring and apply? You can find more info here.
 
So that is it from be for another couple of weeks. Gemma and I will be back in a fortnight with the next Quick Catch Up email. Until then I hope you remain safe and happy and that you get to settle down with your knitting or crochet for a little TLC at some point!

So here we are, finally at the end of February and very much looking forward to what March has in store, especially as, in theory anyway, that should be longer days and a little more sunshine. I have to admit that the last week or so, where we have been tantalised with some higher temperatures, has made me long for the spring even more than before.
 
It has been a busy couple of weeks here at Janie Crow as usual and I have been working on the new CAL design as well as getting projects ready for some of this year's workshops - something that always takes far longer than I expect it to! 
 
I hope you have a few spare minutes to catch up with our news…

We have a healthy stock of kits at the moment such as the King Cole version of my Climbing Rose Wrap project that uses some natural fibres instead of pure acrylic. You can see in the images above how closely I have managed to match the yarn shades and I love the little nepp in the light pink King Cole yarns and the haze around the green. It really gives the project a luxury feel.
 
When reworking the project using yarns from the King Cole range, we also made a version using Yarnsmiths from Wool Warehouse. You can find that kit, as well as other projects that we have made using their Superwash Wool DK, by following this link.

I designed the Majorelle cushion and project pouch for last year's workshop trip to Morocco with Stitchtopia. The design was inspired by the giant cacti found in the exotic Jardins Majorelle, which once belonged to Yves Saint Laurent and are now an essential visit when in Marrakesh.
 
My project uses the fabulous little 25g balls of Rico Ricorumi 100% cotton yarn, which is just perfect for smaller projects. I have used ten shades of yarn and some fabulously colourful beads from the Debbie Abrahams range to add a decorative touch to the designs.
 
Thankfully, after a short delay caused by a series of unfortunate events, we have now been able to dispatch all the kits that were pre-ordered when we released this design back in January. Those of you who have not received your kits yet should get notification of dispatch today as all pre-ordered kits have now left us - finally! 
 
We have put another order in for yarn for the kits with Rico, but still have an issue with the stock of one or two shades, so we have decided to hold off releasing the kits again until we are one hundred percent sure that the order will arrive with us intact! We are so sorry for the wait that some of you have had and wish we could have better news in regard to new kits, but there we go, in the whole scheme of things it's not the end of the world and we would rather be in control of the situation than have stock waiting around for just one shade again.
 
We have already seen quite a few versions of the project made by people using yarns from their stash (you can find some of these lower down this email) and you can source the yarn and beads individually from other retailers, so if you fancy having a go at making Majorelle you can find the patterns in UK and US terms as paper copies via our shop and as downloads via Etsy and Ravelry. 

I am really excited to have been invited back to The Green Hotel in Mysore, India to tutor my fifth residential workshop with Knit For Peace.
 
The holiday will run from 22nd January through to February 4th/5th 2027. More information about the trip will be available soon, but if you want to be among the first to register your interest in joining me, you can do so by contacting the charity via this link. 
 
You can find more images taken on previous trips to Mysore with Knit For Peace on the Janie Crow Lifestyle instagram feed. 

The Stitch Festival will take place at London's Business Design Centre in March. We have secured a discount code that will enable you to get £2 off the price of standard admission tickets on each day of the show except Saturday. The offer code is JANIECROW26 and it is valid until 8th March. We won't be exhibiting at the show this year, but Sarah and I are going to visit on Saturday 21st. If you want to find more information about the show click here. 
 
My amazing friend and fellow designer, Jeanette Sloan will be exhibiting at the show and we just can't wait to see all of her fabulous beaded knitted projects from her new book in the flesh. 
 
You can find the book, Beaded Colourwork, published by Laine and featuring the most beautiful model and glorious photography, available to purchase on Jeanette's website here. If you are planning to go to the Stitch Festival then you can order the book through Jeanette's website and pick it up at the show if you wish.

There are now only two spaces left on my Northern Lights Yarn Cruise in December 2027. I know it is an age away, but it is always good to have something in the diary to look forward to, so if you want to nab one of the last places, head over the Stitchtopia site here for more information. 
 
There are four holidays to choose from, each with a different tutor, including Lucy of Attic 24 and Aleks Byrd. If you want to come on the trip with me the departure date is 12th December 2027.

​In the next instalment of my seasonal journal, in the upcoming issue 187 of Inside Crochet magazine, I share tips on different ways of adding new yarn or changing colour as well as my thoughts on why ‘blanket stack’ images are so appealing. 
 
If you haven't had a look at the Inside Crochet website recently I recommend you do so as it has had a lovely revamp. As well as general information about the magazine and subscription options, there is also a great pattern search facility for each issue of the magazine so that you can see the designs that feature in each publication, whether it is a current one or a back copy.

We have been thrilled to see some of your Majorelle projects popping up over on Facebook. Here are some images that have been shared in the Janie Crow Crochet Help Group. Thank you, from top to bottom, to Di Hinton, Catherine Moores, Karen Langdon and Ellen Preston, for sharing their fabulous work. 

Andy came across a short on YouTube called ‘Crochet (The Musical)’ by Wilma Westernberg and it will strike a chord with anyone who, while minding their own business crocheting, has been asked ‘What are you knitting? ​

Wilma is a blogger and crochet designer from the Netherlands, who has been crocheting since 2014 (and hasn't put the hook down since apparently!) There are more fun songs on her YouTube channel, several of them crochet and craft related, so if you feel in need of some light entertainment do take a look! ​

Do you find that February is the month when you start to long for the brighter, warmer days of spring and struggle a little more with the cold? It's definitely a month for comfort food and we think a delicious veggie lasagne fits that bill perfectly! With a side salad or some lovely bright green veg it's a meal that always goes down well. 
 
Gemma says that she thinks Lasagna is a bit like a food stash-buster in that the selection of veg can be altered depending on what you have in your fridge and you can always bulk it out with lentils if vegetable stocks are running low! This recipe on the BBC Food website is a great starting point if you haven't made a vegetable lasagne before and Jane recommends this one from Cook if you fancy something a bit more fancy! You can always roast the vegetables in advance when you have something else in the oven to save time and money! 

I have to admit that I have found it hard to feel motivated the last couple of days, especially on the crochet front and have wasted quite a lot of time faffing around, which in turn has made me feel even more fed up! It's been a silly cycle of negativity that I am putting down to the need for a break and a little too much over thinking in relation to some of the things that have happened lately. It's natural that we all hit a bit of a bump from time to time and I am determined to get myself out of it by the time we head into the weekend, especially as Sunday will herald the start of another new month! 
 
We are looking forward to dinner with an old friend tonight and are heading into Covent Garden to eat at Sagar, one of our favourite places. If you're a fan of dosas and true Indian cuisine then I really recommend this chain of small restaurants. You can find them here.
 
We are hoping for a dry weekend as we want to get into the garden. Andy has already started a new building project in the shape of an extension to the patio by the summer house. The spot that gets the most sun in the summer time has been a large plant bed up until now, but we decided it would be a great place to sit in the evenings to catch the last rays, so it is getting a revamp this year. It has been incredibly muddy, but the uprights for the gazebo that will sit over the patio are in place, so there is now more digging to do to get the footings of the walls in. If I think of it I will post some images on the Janie Crow Lifestyle Instagram page.
 
I recently had a bit of a clear up on Instagram in the hope of seeing accounts that I really like rather than having endless rubbish coming up on my feed. Going through the accounts I follow and giving them a few new likes has already made it a nicer platform to look at and I have been less prone to doom scrolling - which has to be a good thing. 
 
I have resisted clicking through to adverts and sponsored posts, but I did see one that took me to a really cool designer who makes items out of old knitting needles. I particularly like the customisable cuffs and thought you might like this store too - so take a look here if you fancy the sound of it! 
 
I think that is it from us for now - we will be back with more news in a fortnight's time with the March Newsletter. As usual, big thanks to Gemma for compiling many of the features in the week's Quick Catch Up and to you for reading it to the end and signing up in the first place! I hope that wherever you are and whatever you have planned for the next few days, that you are doing ok! 

​I know that I often start my newsletters by talking about the weather, and that it is a true British trait to mention the forecast at every opportunity. This time is no exception as it has been so incredibly wet here that half our garden is underwater and the local birds think we are creating a new pond for their pleasure! Squelching up and down the garden on my frequent to and fros from the house to the my studio I am hopeful that some drier weather is not far away and that the optimistic crocuses, daffodils and tulips will not drown before they get a chance to show off their lovely flowers.
 
On the crochet front I have been busy woking on a new CAL design and am really enjoying playing about with shapes and patterns - I am trying to keep things relatively easy so that it will be a good project for beginners, but still rewarding for those of you who are crochet experts! It is nice to be back designing a large project and I am already excited about revealing it to you in the autumn - so long as all goes to plan!
 
So far February has been slow and steady, with no stand out moments really other than that Knit For Peace are now inviting enquiries about our planned workshop trip to India in 2027. You can find more information about this and all our other news in the email below. 

I find playing around with crochet motifs incredibly rewarding and it is just lovely when things work out pretty quickly, however it can be really frustrating when things don't come up quite how I had imagined they would. Sometimes it is the simplest of pieces that become the most challenging to design, but as I said already, I have been enjoying playing about with new block designs for my next CAL this week.
 
I am still putting the edging onto my blanket version of the Majorelle cushion cover design. I have to admit that I am struggling with the repetitive nature of the border and the constant stitch counting for the pattern writing, so it is a job I keep putting off! I am so close to finishing that I really must get on with it this weekend. 

With all this seemingly never ending dull and wet weather I have been dreaming of warmer days and brighter light, leading me to go back through images taken on trips to India in particular. I last went there in 2023 and the pull to go back is now getting quite strong, so I was really excited to be invited by Knit For Peace to tutor my fifth residential workshop at the Green Hotel in Mysore next year. 
 
More information about the trip will be available soon, but if you want to be among the first to register your interest in joining me, you can do so by contacting the charity via this link. The holiday will run from 22nd January through to February 4th/5th 2027. You can find more images taken on previous trips to Mysore with Knit For Peace on the Janie Crow Lifestyle instagram feed. 

Last weekend I spent a fabulous couple of days with a group of amazing women, surrounded by good food, wine and lots of yarn! We had the best time and it was such a pleasure to be part of this fabulous group of inspirational women. Whilst away it was particularly exciting to be gifted a copy of Jeanette Sloan's amazing new book Beaded Colourwork. It truly is the most beautiful book featuring lots of amazing projects that showcase just how fantastic and effective beads can be when added to knitting.
 
You can find the book, published by Laine and featuring the most beautiful model and glorious photography, available on a back order basis on Jeanette's website here. Don't be put off that the webpage says the book is out of stock, you can still order it and Jeanette will send it to you once she receives more stock soon.

I designed the Majorelle cushion and project pouch for last year's workshop trip to Morocco with Stitchtopia. The design was inspired by the giant cacti found in the exotic Jardins Majorelle, which once belonged to Yves Saint Laurent and are now an essential visit when in Marrakesh.
 
My project uses the fabulous little 25g balls of Rico Ricorumi 100% cotton yarn, which is just perfect for smaller projects. I have used ten shades of yarn and some fabulously colourful beads from the Debbie Abrahams range to add a decorative touch to the designs.
 
Unfortunately we have hit a series of delays with the delivery of yarn for the Majorelle kits that we have sold through on a pre order basis. Rico have promised us that it will arrive with us early next week, and we now have the beads in stock too, so we should be able to get pre-ordered kits out to you very soon. We are so sorry not to have got these posted sooner and not to have had more stock. Sadly it looks like it could be at least six weeks before we can put our next batch of kits up for sale. 
 
I have already seen quite a few versions of the project made by people using yarns from their stash and you can source the yarn and beads individually from other retailers, so if you fancy having a go at making Majorelle you can find the patterns in UK and US terms as paper copies via our shop and as downloads via Etsy and Ravelry. 

We currently only have a couple of kits that are out of stock and Andy tells me that most other kits have good stock levels. The Marrakesh version of Persian Tiles (shown above) is back in stock and we also have a good stock level of the original and light blue versions.
 
The ever popular Eastern Jewels colourway of Persian Tiles, created by Lucia Dunn, is currently out of stock, but if you like Lucia's eye for colour then you might want to consider the Fiori version of my Fields of Gold blanket, which is shown below. This is one of my favourites and I am really excited to be working with Lucia on a couple of new recolouring projects over the next few months.

My Frida's Flowers crochet along design is a decade old this spring. It is amazing how fast that time has gone, especially as I still think of it as a relatively new design! Working with Stylecraft means I can release free to download crochet along projects every few years and it is fabulous that they keep these patterns in place for the benefit of future crochet enthusiasts. You can find the free patterns for Frida's Flowers by following this link to the Stylecraft website and clicking on your chosen language. 
 
I remember quite vividly that we first showcased the CAL at the Unravel Festival in Farnham in 2016. We have loved exhibiting at the show in the past, and it is always fabulous to interact with lots of yarn lovers! Unravel is on this weekend if you fancy a visit. Tickets are sold out for today, but you can still get them for Saturday and Sunday - you can find more information by following this link.

The Stitch Festival will take place at London's Business Design Centre in March. We have secured a discount code that will enable you to get £2 off the price of standard admission tickets on each day of the show except Saturday. The offer code is JANIECROW26 and it is valid until 8th March. We won't be exhibiting at the show this year, but Sarah and I are going to visit on Saturday 21st. If you want to find more information about the show click here. 
 
We will be exhibiting at Wonderwool Wales at the end of April. We have been doing this show for many years now and love it! We are really looking forward to the event this year as the show is celebrating its twentieth birthday so it should be extra special.
 
Helen Ingram of Woolly Chic will be hosting her Summer Craft Party evening event at Hitchin Lavender in June. I have wanted to go to this for the last couple of years as it looks like such a fun event, so I am really excited that my lovely friend Juliet has secured a couple of tickets. If you want to go too, you can find more information here or on Helen's Instagram account here.

We are aware that today is Friday the 13th, but we don't believe in unlucky dates here at Janie Crow, and actually it is clearly very lucky for some as I have been told it is the cheapest and quietest day of the year to fly! We are also not big fans of the saints day that begins with the letter V that happens tomorrow and so, instead of celebrating that, Emma has decided that we should all embrace the concept of Galentines instead. If you haven't heard of this concept before, let Emma enlighten you: 
 
‘Glalentines was the construct of the brilliant Leslie Knope from the sitcom Parks and Recreation in 2010. Leslie (played by Amy Poehler) was a glorious character and her enthusiasm and tenacity was inspiring. She had great affection, and admiration, for the women in her life and so she celebrated them on the 13th of February with ’Galentines'….'
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To celebrate our female friends and family, Emma is inviting you to tag them over on our Instagram feed and tell us why you love them! We will pick some winners at random and you and your named ‘Galentine’ will receive a PDF copy of both of the projects featured in the post – Sunshine & Showers and Indigo Dreams.
 
Emma has also started to write more posts on the Janie Crow blog. In the newest one she reflects on the month of January and all the positive things it brought to her. Yes, I know that the word January doesn't often go with the word positivity, but she has managed to find quite a few good things to mention, so do take a look! 

Over the last few months, especially over Christmas, Andy and I have both put on a few kilos, and so, as my jeans are feeling more than a little snug around the waistline and Andy says he is feeling a little wider around the middle too, we have embarked on a four week shred in an effort to shift those pounds before the spring. It is so easy to start eating a little more and moving less at this time of year when the lure of the settee with a glass of wine and a bowl of peanuts is hard to resist, so it is not surprising that many of us get a little heavier. 
 
Over the last couple of weeks we have been having lots of meals with extra vegetables and have been trying to find seasonal recipes that use native British grown veg rather than things that have been flown half way across the world. I am a big fan of green and leafy things like spinach and kale and there are so many recipes that feature cauliflower these days, that adding more of these vegetables to our meals hasn't felt like a hardship. We have a book by Riverford, that has some great winter vegetable recipes, so we have been using it a lot. You can find the book by following this link or by clicking on the image above.
 
Leeks are also really good at the moment. They go fabulously well with white beans, so you can make really yummy soup and casserole type meals with them. I recently made this creamy sausage, leek and bean stew by Sophie Ward and it was delicious.

After a really busy week, the prospect of a duvet day feels incredibly inviting. Instagram must have read my mind yesterday evening as this cute little video by India Rose Crawford popped into my feed. It is just so lovely and definitely made me hanker after a lazy day in bed!
 
It's set to get quite a bit colder here over the next few days with a snow and ice warning in the forecast, so it looks like it will be a weekend of hunkering down with my crochet and a few movies. I hope that whatever you get up to that you stay safe, well and warm….

Hurrah! We have very nearly made it through January and to celebrate here we are with a little bit of Janie Crow chat!
 
I have been feeling very motivated to crochet lately (which is a bit of a relief if I am honest) and have been dipping in and out of a few projects. With deadlines still a way off on a couple of projects I am finding that this is a nice time to be working a little ‘under the radar’. I like January for that reason - it always feels like most people are not quite on top of their game after the Christmas holidays and that big deadlines tend to be best left for February, or even March!  
 
Gemma has been busy collating some lovely images of Temperature Blankets, which you can find in today's email and she has also found a couple of other great things to mention, including crocheted oysters and a yummy recipe (don't get the two muddled up!), so I hope you can spare a few minutes to catch up with all things Janie Crow!

Thank you for the fabulous response to my new design Majorelle, which we launched last week. The kits sold out in a very short space of time, so we are hoping to sort some more very soon. Unfortunately we are currently unable to get enough beads as the Indigo shade is sold out, but as soon as they are back in stock with Debbie we will be sure to get kit building. For those of you who pre-paid for a kit, we are hoping to get these posted out mid February. ​

I love seeing alternative colour ways of my designs, so perhaps our lack of kit stock will mean that more of you are tempted to create your own versions of this design. You can find the paper patterns in UK and US terms here and download versions on Etsy and Ravelry.
 
I am currently working on a blanket version of this project using an alternative colour palette, so I am looking forward to being able to show you that soon! 

​This time of year is when many of us start to think about holidays. The thought or warmer weather and a bit of a break really kicks in by the end of January when it is so dull and dismal here in the UK. 
 
I am really looking forward to all the workshop trips I have in my diary for this year, but as they are all fully booked I have already started to discuss trips for 2027. It seems a bit crazy to be planning so far ahead, but with time flying by so incredibly fast, I am sure it will feel like the next year will pass as quickly as all the others! 
 
With lots of ideas for new designs and my wish to continue teaching a few residential workshops I am trying not to over think the speed at which time goes past, but it is always good to have things to look forward to in the future. I read a book once called ‘Live Life in Crescendo’ and it was all about how positive it is to always be making new plans, so here we go:
 
I will be returning to Mysore, India with Knit For Peace, this time next year (mid to late January 2027), to tutor a knit and crochet workshop based at the amazing Green Hotel. Dates and prices are not fixed yet and further information is not available, but if you have ever fancied a workshop trip to India and like the idea of supporting a great charity at the same time, then you might want to keep this in mind. I will give you more info as soon as I have it.

I will also be tutoring on a Northern Lights yarn cruise with Sitchtopia in December 2027. This trip is now live and ready to book on their website. You can find more information by following this link. 
 
There are quite a few dates to choose from on this trip, including a knit holiday with Aleks Byrd in 2027, which I am sure will be fabulous! There are also still spaces on the trips that go this year, one is tutored by Lucy of Attic 24 and another by Julie Dubreux. If you want to come on the crochet one with me, the departure date is December 12th 2027!

Over the last year, we have been working with the lovely team at Wool Warehouse to produce yarn kits using some of their fabulous Yarnsmiths yarn. Creating projects using their Superwash DK has been a joy for me as their colour palettes are so huge and I am able to perfectly match colours used in my original designs. 
 
The latest addition to the collaboration between us here at Janie Crow and Yarnsmiths is the original Persian Tile blanket in navy, orange and red. You can find the kits by clicking on the image above or here.

This month we are focusing on the Temperature Blanket project. It's very hard to believe that it was over a year ago that we embarked on something slightly new and unusual for Janie Crow. 
 
Twelve months later and we have been so happy to see some beautiful finished temperature blankets appearing on social media. Gemma is currently hiding as she hasn't got around to sewing her ends in yet and therefore hasn't started work on the border, despite finishing and joining all her squares. Gemma says she is hoping to turn her mind to it in February and promises to keep you posted!
 
In the photos below, from top to bottom you can see blankets made by:
Scarlett Reynolds
Fiona Dobson
Melinda Hall
Terri Hayes (Kansas, USA)
Ruth French (Scottish Highlands)
 
We know there are more out there, so thank you to everyone who has been sharing photos of their completed blankets. We will put together a blog post with more of your photos in the coming weeks. 

Have you ever considered adopting an oyster? No, us neither, but now that we have seen these crochet versions, produced to support the Wild Oysters Project, we think we need to have a couple!  
 
The North East & Cumbria branch of the UK charity, Groundwork, are asking people to adopt a crocheted oyster as a way of supporting the Wild Oysters Project, which is aiming to restore native oysters to the north-east England coastline. 
 
There has been a decline of more than 95% in native oyster numbers across the UK since the 1800s and it is important that we don't loose them completely as they are a valuable inhabitant of our coastlines. Oysters are natural water filters, and can clean up to 200 litres of water a day - that's equivalent to a bathtub full! An abundance of oysters will not only clean the water and prevent algal blooms, but their reefs also provide a home in which other marine life can thrive.

​You can join the waiting list to be in with a chance of having one of the four thousand oysters currently being crocheted by the nation's fabulous volunteers by following this link, where you will also find more information about the project.

​Since the start of the new year, Gemma has been making a concerted effort to add a bit more variety to her diet. She believes that it's very easy to get stuck in a rut of eating the same half-dozen favourite dishes time and again, and I agree, so for this month's recipe Gemma is recommending something she hasn't made before - Kimchi Bubble & Squeak Cakes, served with fried eggs. 
 
In case you don't know already, Kimchi is a Korean fermented vegetable dish, most commonly made with cabbage in the West. It does have quite a kick, as it is full of garlic and chilli, so it really livens up the bubble & squeak and, as it is also a fermented food, it is really good for your tummy! So it's a win win! You can find a recipe on the Olive website here. 

​We are heading to Hove to visit some friends today and I am really looking forward to seeing the sea, despite the weather forecast for endless rain! There is something about the pull of the ocean isn't there? I think we all feel it. Of course I am really looking forward to spending time with friends too, especially as we all go way back to our secondary school days, but they have mentioned the idea of having a dip in the sea while we are there - something I am definitely planning to avoid despite my love for it! 
 
As I said in my introduction, I have been doing a lot of crochet this week so I am going to give my hands a bit of a rest, so will resist the allure of my hook for a few days over the weekend. I find I can only crochet for a couple of hours a day otherwise my hands get incredibly sore and clunky. Thankfully there are always lots of other jobs to do besides crochet! 
 
As we take our first steps into February in a couple of days time, I hope this email has found you healthy, happy, safe and warm. 
 
Until next time….

Well here we are in January - officially the longest month of the year by at least a fortnight - or so it always feels anyway! With the twinkly lights of Christmas packed away for another year it seems odd to think that only a fortnight or so ago we were still in the holiday spirit, welcoming in the first days of 2026.
 
I don't seem to have a lot to show for the last couple of weeks, other than a tidy desk and depleted stash thanks to a good old sort out over the festive period. There was, as always, a whole lot of lurgy going on in our house for what seemed like weeks on end, so at least it is good to be over that and hopefully fighting fit for all that January has in store! 
 
I hope that you were all able to take a bit of time to rest over the holidays and that you got to spend some time working on a knit or crochet project. At busy times, it is just so good to take a break and get some stitching done.
 
I have a few things to tell you about today, including news of a new project that will be released next week and an exciting new collaboration with Inside Crochet Magazine, which will also make it's debut next week! I hope you have a few spare minutes to catch up with all things Janie Crow!

I designed the Majorelle cushion and project pouch for last year's workshop trip to Morocco with Stitchtopia. The design was inspired by the giant cacti found in the exotic Jardins Majorelle, which once belonged to Yves Saint Laurent and are now an essential visit when in Marrakesh.
 
My project uses the fabulous little 25g balls of Rico Ricorumi 100% cotton yarn, which is just perfect for smaller projects. I have used ten shades of yarn and some fabulously colourful beads from the Debbie Abrahams range to add a decorative touch to the designs.
 
Patterns will available in UK and US terms as paper copies via our store and as downloads via Etsy and Ravelry at a price of £6.95 from next Friday 23rd January. We will be releasing kits on a pre-sale basis on that day too. 
 
I have been working on a blanket version of this design using yarns from the Stylecraft range in a different colour palette. More information on this will come over the next few months, once I have finalised the border.

I like the turn of the year and find it is good time to reflect on what has been achieved and plan for the new year ahead, however I am not sure it is a good time to put new habits into practice. Starting a gym habit for example, is more likely to fall by the wayside at the first hint of a bad weather forecast and lets face it, eating healthier is so much easier in the summer when lighter meals and salads are more appealing.
 
January is a great month to hunker down and be kind to yourself and I often feel like it is a good time to re-set and look forward. We have lots of plans here at Janie Crow, including a couple of new events and a CAL project which will start this time next year. I have also made a few personal resolutions, but not a long, unrealistic list full and I won't be starting on any of them until February, when hopefully things will start to look brighter weather wise.
 
One of our exciting new projects is my Seasonal Journal, which will be published monthly in Inside Crochet Magazine. The first of these four page spreads, where I give ideas for projects, colour ways, recipes and a few technique tips, alongside other things, will feature in magazine 168 which is out on Thursday 22nd January. You can find more information and subscription details for the magazine by following this link.

We have kits for Mexican Diamonds in the pink and red palette, which is gorgeously different to the original version (shown above). We also have kits for the Summer Palace Blanket in the original colour way (shown below) and for the Royal Garden Blanket in the Stylecraft Special DK version. We have a few Mystical Lanterns kits in the Beatrix colour way, which you can find here. This kit is also made using Stylecraft Special DK.
 
You can find all our kits and yarn packs by following this link and all our paper patterns here. If you would prefer download copies then check out our Etsy and Ravelry stores.

Due to a cancellation there is one spot available on my trip to France with Stitchtopia in June. The trip is via Eurostar to Paris and from there we will visit Rouen for a couple of days before we travel to Claude Monet's garden at Giverny. We will then head to Paris for a guided tour and a river cruise and the holiday will also include three workshops with me and a trip to the Palace of Versailles.
 
You can find more information by following this link. You need to set your search to 1 person to find this holiday as the default is to search for 2. 

As I said already, we have some exciting things in store for the year, including workshops, events and new designs. Here are a few dates for your diary if you want to catch up with us:
 
Our first residential workshop of the year will be at Nunsmere Hall in April. This is currently sold out, but if we have any cancellations I will let you know. The workshop is organised by Inspired Minds, which is a partnership company made up of myself and Andy, plus talented hand knit designer Debbie Abrahams and her assistant Sue. We host a couple of workshops a year and they are always very well received. 
 
If you want to join the mailing list to find out about any new residential workshops (there are a few coming soon!) then head over to the site by following this link to sign up to the newsletter. There are still a couple of spaces on Debbie's workshop at Seaview Hydro Spa Hotel in Scotland in June. You can find more information by following this link.

The Stitch Festival will take place at London's Business Design Centre in March. We are hoping to be able to give you a discount code for tickets within the next couple of weeks over on our social media platforms and you can find more info here. We won't be exhibiting this year, but I like the idea of a wander around - it is a great show!
 
We will once again be exhibiting at Wonderwool Wales at the end of April. We have been doing this show for many years now and love it! We are really looking forward to the event this year as the show is celebrating its twentieth birthday!
 
In early June I will be leading the workshop trip to Northern France, which I have told you about already, and then towards the end of the month we will be hosting a new and very exciting Janie Crow event. We are working on the arrangements for this at the moment and hope to give you more information in early February

We are often asked about the practicalities of hanging crochet blankets as an artwork on the wall. We often hang my blankets at shows, but are sure to turn them often so that they don't stretch. We use poster clips to hold some of them and hooks for others and I have one blanket (Bohemian Blooms) that I have sewn a backing onto so that a curtain pole can be threaded through.
 
I was recently shown this fabulous version of Spirit of Flora made by Naomi Guy, which has been attached to a wooden panel backing. Isn't it fabulous! I am so grateful to Naomi for allowing me to share the images here. You can find more information within the Spirit of Flora group on Facebook here.

The Janie Crow team were all a bit obsessed by the Baileys laden slow cooker fruit cake recipe I shared before Christmas - we all loved it and will definitely be adding it to our festive favourites for next year. If you had a go at making it too then I would love to hear what you thought of it.
 
Andy made his usual delicious Vegetarian Wellington for Christmas Day. I have shared the recipe for this quite a few times, but in case you missed it previously you can find it here. It is a bit labour intensive, especially if (like Andy) you also want to make the pastry, but it is yummy.
 
In the funny period between Christmas and New Year, I fancied making something hearty and warming so I followed this recipe for a mushroom galette by Dom in the Kitchen. The pie filling was good, but it was the pastry that made me add it to my winter recipe collection as it was simply delicious! Not the best pic above, but the light wasn't great and the galette didn't hang around long enough for me to capture it in day light! The tiny bit we had left for the next day was yummy cold, so I think this would make a good thing to enjoy with a side salad in the summertime too.
 
I adore aubergines and have made this recipe for black bean parmigiana a couple of times now. It is super easy and really yummy, so I recommend you give it a go. I followed the recipe from the Bold Beans cookbook, but you can also find it here. 

With more time than usual to faff about making breakfasts over the festive season, I finally managed to perfect making poached eggs, and, after a five year hiatus (thanks to covid and the death of my previous starter), this week I have finally returned to making sourdough bread.
 
I was really amazed by how well my first loaf turned out as I honestly didn't believe that the simplicity of the technique I found on Instagram would work. The only down side was that we ate more than half a loaf at one sitting, so my bread making will definitely have to only be a once a week event! You can find the recipe and video tutorial that I followed, by Toast with Hope, by clicking here. 

Andy and I are off to a curry night with some friends this evening, but have very few weekend plans other than to make some more bread! What we end up doing will be based on the weather forecast as Andy is keen to get outside in the garden. He has big plans for extending the patio down by the studio so will no doubt he will be busy digging out some foundations! It's the sunniest spot in the summer so it would be good to make room for a larger table and more chairs.
 
Waltham Abbey Wool Show will take place on Sunday if you fancy getting out and about. I have bought a ticket as it is a great show and it would be great to catch up with some yarny friends. You can find tickets still for sale here and there are also some workshop places still available.
 
I am looking forward to getting properly back to work next week after a slightly faltered start. I have created a Pinterest board for my new CAL and have started to pick out some shades so I am excited about the idea of launching into something new. I also have quite a few workshop projects to design, so there definitely isn't a lack of things for me to do! 
 
I hope that whatever you have planned for the weekend and the next week or so, that you have a great time and that you are keeping safe and well. Big yarny hugs as always….

Have you made your list and checked it twice? Have you managed to get the tree up and at least started a bit of gift preparation? I can only say yes to one of these questions, but with less than a fortnight to go before the big day I hope that you guys are getting into the swing of the festivities! 
 
We have continued to be so busy here at Janie Crow and my list of work related jobs seems to be growing, rather than dwindling as we head towards the Christmas break, but as things generally start to slow down over the next week or so, I am confident of having my to do list whittled down to very little in preparation for new and exciting things in 2026.
 
I have a few things to tell you about this week, so I hope you have a bit of spare time to catch up with my news….

I have really been impressed by how far the competitors on The Game of Wool have come in terms of their design and technique skills since the first programme only five weeks ago. Seeing their progression and experimentation with crochet has been particularly great and I can't wait to see what challenges they will face next.
 
During filming of the third episode, when I was lucky enough to be a guest judge, Tom Daley and I grabbed the chance to have a quick catch-up over a spot of freeform crochet and you can find the resulting video on YouTube by following this link. 

If you have seen The Game of Wool shows already, then you might fancy listening to the Craft Talkin podcasts, which are recorded straight after the show is aired on Sunday evenings. Alongside hosts Merion and Jamie, you will find guests such as Emma Varnam and Anna Nikopirowicz discussing the projects and competitors featured in the weekly episodes.

We still have a really healthy stock of kits and patterns, so if you are looking for a project to work on over the holidays, or want to get one as a gift you should be able to find what you want in our shop.
 
Please note that we will not be able to guarantee the dispatch of items after the 18th December because many of our suppliers will close on Friday 19th for the festive break. This means there is less than a week left if you want to purchase anything from us and get it in time for Christmas. 
 
We will also be taking a break over the holiday period and so, even though you will be able to purchase items from our store throughout the holiday period, we will not be processing any orders until week beginning 5th January.

We are continuing to see a spike in sales of kits for projects that were shown on The Game of Wool a few weeks ago, including the Climbing Rose Wrap (shown above) and the Mystical Lanterns blanket. The Marrakesh version of Persian Tiles is also proving particularly popular and we have lots of stock of the Eastern Jewels colour way too.
 
You can find all our kits and yarn packs by following this link and all our paper patterns here. If you would prefer download copies then check out our Etsy and Ravelry stores.

It's no secret that I adore a bit of bling and love adding beads to my projects. You can find my beading masterclass pull out brochure in this month's copy of Inside Crochet Magazine, which you can find by following this link. 
 
I have also updated the Halley Pouch project (shown below) to make a shawl version (also shown below) in the same edition of the magazine. Yarn and bead packs for this project are available exclusively via Wool Warehouse by following this link.

Emma has been busy planning our traditional Twelve Days of Christmas 
posts for social media, which will run from Christmas Day through to Twelfth Night the 5th January. We have some really lovely posts planned and may well have a few offers in the mix, so do make sure to check out our Instagram and Facebook feeds to get involved.

At the weekend I made the viral three ingredient slow cooker fruit cake which is doing the rounds on social media at the moment. It is a tad boozy, which is not surprising given the ingredients, but it is super yummy and our cake certainly didn't hang around for very long! 
 
All you need is a bottle of Baileys. Not the huge one, I used around 700ml I guess. Between 800g and a kilo of dried fruit and 300g Self Raising Flour. 
 
I soaked the fruit in the Baileys for a couple of days in the fridge, then mixed in the flour. I lined the slow cooker with baking paper and set it to cook on low. The recipe says to cook it for about 4 hours, but it took mine 5 hours to firm up a bit after testing it with a skewer after 3. 
 
The cake is really good, but is definitely better if you leave it a few days before eating. Ours evened out and improved a lot by day three, but we had eaten most of it by then!

I'm usually all over the festive season like a rash and can't wait to head out to see the lights and get on with my holiday planning, but this year I have really struggled to get in the swing of things. I think it might be because we have been so busy at Janie Crow and October was taken up with shows and workshops. I was also unwell for about five weeks, right into the middle of November, so I guess that has made me feel like I am playing catch up with everything.
 
Andy and I are heading into town today to spend time with the lovely Sarah and Paul Hazell (the other half of our show team if you've ever met them at Yarndale or Wonderwool) and I am really excited about seeing the lights and store windows and catching up with them. I am sure that their company and being in London will have its usual effect on me and have me super excited and feeling festive in no time.

I have pretty much finished decorating the spare bedroom and have really enjoyed adding a few finishing touches over the last couple of days - moving all my ornaments and nicknacks around the house to choose which bits look good in the newly decorated room. Having a freshly painted space has made me realise just how in need of a spruce up the rest of the bungalow is, so hopefully there will be some time in the new year to add a few more DIY jobs to the ever growing list of things to do.  
 
We have a super busy weekend planned with a catch up with old school friends to see a local band on Saturday evening and we are hosting a Christmas get together with another group of friends on Sunday, so I guess we better make some time to put up the Christmas tree and get all the decorations out at some point too! 
 
I have seen a load of reels about making your own wreath this year, and I particularly liked this one on Instagram, so I am hoping to have a go at that tomorrow. I found a second hand wicker basket on Vinted and have collected some bay, rosemary and olive branches from my Mum and Dad's garden in preparation. We also have plenty of ivy and yew in our garden that I can cut, so I am sure I can cobble something together! If it is any good I will post a pic on the Janie Crow Lifestyle Instagram feed. 

I recently posted a blog where I talk about my Christmas traditions - you can find it by following this link. From the general sound of this email I think I probably need to remind myself of it too! I trust you will forgive me for being a little bah humbug - I promise to rid myself of the Grinchy feeling by the time I press send on this email!
 
I leave you this week with a link to this video taken by my daughter of our fabulous grandpup, Sto, having a bit of quality time with their festive decorations. Not sure how long their tree is going to withstand so much attention! 

It's been an eventful couple of weeks here at Janie Crow with our festive workshop at Bournemouth and an incredibly busy website in the mix! Time seems to be rushing by at such a rate and it's hard to believe that Christmas is now less than three weeks away. I don't feel at all festive yet, but hopefully that will change this weekend when we are hoping to put up our decorations. On our street the seasonal lights and decorations are going up earlier every year, with some appearing at the end of November, so we are definitely the late comers round here! 
 
Over the last fortnight we have seen an incredible number of new followers on our social media accounts, which we are guessing is as a result of The Game of Wool. If you are new to this newsletter - welcome! I hope you will all enjoy catching up with my news.

​We have a really healthy stock of kits and patterns at the moment, so if you are looking for a project to work on over the holidays, or want to get one as a gift you should be able to find what you want in our shop.
 
Please note that we will not be able to guarantee the dispatch of items after the 18th December because many of our suppliers will close on Friday 19th for the festive break. This means there is really only a fortnight left if you want to purchase anything from us and get it in time for Christmas.

We have seen a bit of a run on kits for projects that were shown on The Game of Wool a few weeks ago, including the Climbing Rose Wrap and the Mystical Lanterns blanket. The Marrakesh version of Persian Tiles is also proving particularly popular and we have lots of stock of the Eastern Jewels colour way too. 
 
You can find all our kits and yarn packs by following this link and all our paper patterns here. If you would prefer download copies then check out our Etsy and Ravelry stores.

If you're struggling to choose a project then how about a gift card? They are available in lots of monetary values from £10 to £250. You can find them by following this link.
 
If you fancy getting some accessories, rather than a kit or pattern, don't forget about our Emma Ball items, which includes things like stitch markers, project bags and storage tins. You can find the range here.

It's hard to believe that we are rapidly approaching the end of our temperature blanket project, with the final month now here. Gemma has struggled at times to keep up, but has made a start on the November squares and, with the Christmas holidays fast approaching, she is hoping to get back up to speed and be ready to start putting a border on as we see the New Year in. In the picture below you can see the simple moss stitch border that Gemma added to our sample blanket - we are really looking forward to seeing your ideas for finishing off. 
 
We have now set up a temperature blanket page on the website so, if you didn't join in this year but fancy having a go in 2026, you can find all the information you need in one place. 
 
In the second photo below you can see an absolutely gorgeous version we found over on Instagram by crafts_r_for_us. Those pinks and peaches are beautiful aren't they! 

Over on Instagram Emma shared that her pre-Christmas crochet project this year is a Mystical Lanterns pelmet. Those of you who have been following us for some time may remember that this pelmet was originally made by Jane's friend Rosemary and incorporates tiny mirrors and bells into the design. You can read all about it in a blog post here. You can see Rosemary's pelmet in the first picture below. We can't wait to see how this progresses. Keep us posted Emma! ​

The blues and golds on the decorations below by Louise Haigh are just stunning. Thank you both for sharing your photos with us. ​

It has all been about The Game of Wool out in the online yarny world over the last few weeks and, love it or hate it, you can't deny it has got people talking about knitting and crochet, which can only be a good thing! We're looking forward to what weird and wonderful projects are still to come over the remaining episodes of the series. 
 
Tom Daley and I managed to grab a bit of crochet time in between filming and had a good chat about our yarny passions - you can find a video of our catch up over on Youtube by following this link.

This month Gemma took a closer look at the recently published ‘Crochet Socks that Rock’ by Anna Nikipriowicz (David & Charles 2025 ISBN-13:9781446314517). 
 
Was this dedicated sock knitter converted to the crochet variety? You'll have to head on over to the blog to find out!

Andy and I have been vegetarian since 2020 so this year will be our fifth veggie Christmas. Andy tends to make this vegetarian wellington and I also make a celeriac and spinach bake. I only make it at Christmas and love the smell of nutmeg and gruyere when it is cooking in the oven. I can't find the recipe online - I think it was originally published in a Sainsburys magazine. This recipe is similar but without the spinach.
 
Gemma has been assigned the task of cooking a vegetarian main course for this year's family Christmas dinner too, so she has been browsing for inspiration. In the lead at the moment is this parsnip, feta and butterbean pie, over on the Good Food website, but she is considering swapping the parsnips out for sweet potato as sometimes the flavour of parsnip can be a little overpowering. She's going to have a practice run any day now, so we'll keep you posted. If you have any tried and tested recipes that you could recommend do let us know and we will pass them on. 

​Inside Crochet Magazine recently asked me about my festive traditions and they printed a summary of the interview in their most up to date magazine. You can find the full piece, with lots of questions about me and my work, as well as my Christmas wish list, on the blog here.
 
I have been doing a little bit of decorating this week and am looking forward to the weekend when I hope to get it finished. Our little bungalow is in need of quite a lot of TLC having been pretty neglected since lockdown, so I am hoping that this most recent spate of DIY will continue long enough for me to knock a few other rooms back into shape. I really love the planning side of decorating but am not keen on the reality of the endless prep and brush washing! In fact my favourite part of any project is making the Pinterest board! You can find the board I made for our little spare bedroom by following this link if you are interested!
 
We will be puppy sitting for a few days from tomorrow and I am really looking forward to having our little grandpup around over the weekend. He is such a little love and thankfully is finally calming down a bit! 
 
I will be back in your inbox next Friday, rather than in a fortnight's time, with the December newsletter so do look out for my next email.
 
Big yarny hugs….

Phew! What a manic month it has been here at Janie Crow! I have so much to tell you about this week, including news of some brand new kits and festive projects, so I hope you can spare a few minutes to catch up with my news! ​

Whether you are a fan of the show or not, there is no denying that The Game of Wool is doing great things for the knitting and crochet industry, with yarn shops and online sellers reporting a rise in visitors over the last couple of weeks. The great news is that many of these customers are new to the crafts and are looking to learn new skills. This is something that makes me feel incredibly hopeful for the future preservation of my beloved crochet in particular! 
 
I am incredibly proud to have been invited onto the show to be a guest judge of the projects made for episode 3. I had no idea beforehand of what the projects might be, so it was a complete surprise to be judging crochet deckchairs - not something that immediately springs to mind when you think about crochet! I am giving away no spoilers in case you haven't seen the episode yet - you can find it by following this link.

In the lead up to filming the show, the TV company asked me to send through some ideas of which projects I could wear. I gave them the option of the Magic Circles, Summer Palace and Climbing Rose wraps. They chose the latter, which I was pleased about as it kept me super cozy on what was a very chilly shoot day!
 
Climbing Rose was released as a crochet along project back in 2019 and patterns and kits are still available in the shop. Due to some discontinuations I have recently revamped the yarn usage by having a version made solely in Stylecraft Special DK. You can find the free yarn substitution document by following this link. The kits in our shop still contain some of the original yarns and will do so until they have sold through. You can find them by following this link.
 
Please note the image above is not too accurate on the colours within the wrap. Images below are closer to the true shades.

Many other projects of mine were showcased on episode 3 of Game of Wool and it would be great to know how many you spotted! I saw Spirit of Flora hanging in the background and there was Mystical Lanterns on the table when I demonstrated some crochet stitches. ​

Of course it was also a big thrill to see the image of Justin Bieber with my Persian Tiles blanket! You can find a Youtube video of him at the Vanity Fair Oscar's afterparty wearing the design here. Fabulous to see Tracy keeping warm with the Marrakesh version too!
 
If you are looking for a project to keep you cosy over the winter then do take a look at our kits and patterns. We have pretty much everything in stock in our shop at the moment - the first time that has happened for quite a while! 

I have been toying with the idea of creating crochet artworks for some time and love the recent trend for festive wall hangings. When Inside Crochet Magazine asked if I would like to work on a beaded masterclass booklet I jumped at the chance and set about creating four different designs, which you can make to hang on your tree, thread up as bunting, or pin to a board to create an artwork like mine.
 
Using the perfectly cute, mini balls of Ricorumi cotton to make these decorations was incredibly rewarding too, especially when paired with beads. They are a designers dream as their size and the array of shades makes it so easy to pick a lovely colour palette without making too much of a dent in your bank balance. The yarn is 100% natural and of a great quality, so it is a brilliant choice if you want to make special, heirloom worthy projects.

​The patterns for these designs are only available via Inside Crochet Magazine issue 184 which is out now and we have a limited number of yarn and bead packs for sale in the shop at just £29.95. 

This time last year I designed the Halley pouch as the project for a festive workshop. I love making the beaded flowers that are a part of this design so much that I keep going back to them to create more designs. I have used the beaded flower as the centre part of one of the hanging decorations and have also created a wrap version of Halley using yarns from the Yarnsmith's range.
 
The pattern is currently featured in Inside Crochet Magazine and you can find kits for the project on the Yarnsmiths site by clicking here.

With a little under five weeks to go before Christmas it is slowly beginning to feel a bit festive round here. I have managed to get a couple of gifts already, which is a bit of a record for me as I am usually very lastminute.com. I have also been thinking about decorations and have rooted through my projects to find all my festive things.
 
We have quite the collection of crochet decorations now and you can find them by following this link. We also have quite a few bags and pouches that would make great gifts. 

Andy and I have been taking part in a 50 day countdown to Christmas challenge, which has included specific exercises (the 100 squats before each meal was a particular killer on Wednesday) and good habit making ideas, including pointers to being healthy and mindful.
 
One of the days we were asked to experiment with a brand new breakfast idea and another day we had to create a new healthy evening meal. This weekend we have been set the task of trying out a new dessert recipe, but making sure that it does not include any refined sugar.
 
Always up for a challenge, we have found this recipe for lemon ice cream which is made using frozen bananas and cauliflower. Sounds crazy doesn't it! I will report back next time to let you know what it was like…

We have a lot of jobs that need doing in the house and the garden could do with its late autumn clear up, so we will be busy ticking things off of our to do lists all weekend. I am hoping to get in some baking time too as it is so long since I made a cake. I found a recipe for a boozy fruit cake made in the slow cooker, so I might give that a go on Sunday.
 
I am hoping that I will also be able to have lots of crochet or knit time on the settee with a movie or two, and of course The Game of Wool, on the TV. I have almost completed the Utility 2 cowl by The Knitting Shed and I have loved every single stitch of it. I used their Ainsworth & Prin plump sock DK yarn and it is just such a joy to work with. I think I might be a little sad to cast off, but then it is always so good to start a new project.
 
Whatever you have planned for the weekend I hope you keep safe and warm and that you mange to grab a little crochet fix! Much love until next time…..

Hello wonderful woolly crafters! I hope this email finds you well.
 
This is a really speedy email today as I have just three things I want to tell you about:
 
No 1: Due to a cancellation we now have two spaces on the Festive Knit & Crochet Weekend Workshop in Bournemouth.
 
No 2: Wool Warehouse now have Climbing Rose Wrap kits in stock, put together using their lovely Yarnsmiths range of yarn.
 
No 3: I am so excited about Game of Wool on Channel 4!
 
If any of these things tickle your fancy, then do read on for more information!
 

We had an amazing time in Morocco with Stitchtopia and now that I am home I keep looking through the hundreds of photos that I took to remind me of all the surface pattern and wonderment that we saw. It's the light that I am craving more than anything though, that lovely golden light that make colours pop and sing! ​

I haven't been particularly well since arriving home, with a cough that came on a few days after our trip. I had a cold while I was in Morocco too, so I am pretty sure I have had two bugs on the bounce, which is just bad luck! Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be shifting particularly quickly, so that, and the fact that it is getting dark at 4.30pm, is getting me down a little now that we are home. 
 
To cheer myself up I am sharing a few of my favourite pics from the trip on here. The one of the shepherd with his arms, and the tree behind him full of goats, was taken by the fabulous Teresa Wardlaw, my fantastic tour manager - isn't it great! We couldn't believe our eyes when we spotted a tree full of goats by the side of the road!

As I mentioned in the introduction, we have a twin room available on our forthcoming Festive Workshop in Bournemouth at the end of the month. The places are available due to a cancellation and are based on two people sharing either a twin or a double room. If you fancy coming along, either with another workshop participant, or with a non crafting companion, then email Sue at the following address:
 
[email protected] 
 
To avoid confusion we have not added the available spots to our Inspired Minds website, but you can find the dates and all the information about the workshop by following this link. To see the correct price you need to look at the inland double.
 
The workshop is hosted by hand knit designer Debbie Abrahams and myself and we both create a festive project for you to work on while you are with us. This year I have gone full on bling with a ton of lovely sparkly beads on my project - more info on that a bit closer to Christmas! 
 
The images above and below show last year's workshop where participants made my Halley Beaded Pouch.

Over the last few months we have been creating some yarn packs in conjunction with Wool Warehouse, using their lovely Superwash Merino yarn. The most recent one is my Climbing Rose Wrap and you can find the kits (which currently have a 40% discount) by following this link.
 
The wrap looks really fabulous made in gorgeous high end yarns and I have used their Heathers range and Pebble Haze which both have a lovely subtle tweedy feel to them. 

So, onto the final topic of this week's Quick Catch Up: GAME OF WOOL and I am already a big fan! 
 
There have been a few grumbles on social media this week, mainly about the scale of the yarn and needles that were used in week one, and poor Gordon's doomed steeking, but the good reviews far outweigh the negative, and the icing on the cake has to be making in onto Gogglebox on tonight! 
 
The framework of the show follows a very similar one to that of Bake Off, where contestants have to complete challenges in set time periods and are voted off on the basis of their achievements each week. Nothing new there, but what I think is AMAZING is finally seeing yarn crafts highlighted on a mainstream TV channel in a prime time slot. 
 
If you haven't watched the show you can find it on catch up by following this link. If, like me, you are already hooked, then don't forget to watch episode two on Sunday evening - I have it on good authority that the next episode includes crochet and finer yarn - so what's not to like! 

​I am looking forward to a weekend at home and have already lined up some comfort knitting on the settee for the evenings. I am making a cowl on circular needles. It has an i-cord cast on, which seemed to take me forever to do, so I am looking forward to getting to grips with the more straight forward (hopefully quite mindless knitting) part! 
 
If I am feeling completely better after my brush with the lurgy I might go to the Make Joy event at Woolwich Works tomorrow. The wonderfully talented Suraya of Mahliqa (knitted wire jewellery) is exhibiting so it will be lovely to see her stand and I really enjoyed the show last year. A fix of mingling with all the gorgeous yarn, accessories and other attendees has to be a great plan for a Saturday right?
 
I think that Sunday may well have the first roast dinner of the season on the cards, as I get ready for the second episode of Game of Wool. I haven't had a roast potato in what feels like months, so it will be good to have a treat! Maybe even an apple crumble to go with it - now that really would be living dangerously! 
 
Big hugs to you all. I will be back next Friday with the November newsletter - until then, stay safe and well.