December newsletter

​December Newsletter

​It is hard to believe that Christmas Day is just 2 weeks away - are you ready for it? I think we are pretty much sorted for our much quieter day than usual, but there are still a few bits and bobs to get and some gift wrapping to do. I hope that wherever you are and whatever you have planned that you are looking forward to a fabulous festive break despite the current situation.
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Yesterday Andy and I completed our 10k walk to raise funds for the homeless charity Shelter. Sarah and Paul will be walking tomorrow. We have all reached our fund raising targets thanks to your kind support and have managed to raise a whopping £540, which is amazing! If you want to make a donation it isn't too late - you can find a link to our Just Giving page here or by clicking on the image above. Thank you all so much!

This monthly newsletter is a bit of a big one and we hope that it contains lots of things that you will like. Unfortunately I have not managed to sort a video introduction today as I had a bit of a melt down with my camera this morning! All being well I will manage to post a short video some time next week instead and I will put a link in next week's newsletter.

As I said already we have quite a lot of things to tell you about and show case in this newsletter, including 2 great pieces that Sarah has put together - one is for a quick hand made gift and the other contains some great ideas for festive gift wrapping. You will also find information on a few of the products from our Lifestyle range and a link to another scrummy recipe from our daughter Summer....

I hope that you have 5 minutes to catch up with all things Janie Crow!
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Inside Crochet Magazine - Festive Edition
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The paper version of the Festive Edition of Inside Crochet magazine has sold out, but if you are looking to make some last minute decorations or fancy embarking on a lovely new project to make over Christmas you can download a one off copy of the magazine by following this link.
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There are so many fabulous projects in this magazine including projects by some of the UK's leading designers and I am honoured to have been asked to contribute the patterns for some festive decorations that feature in an exclusive 'beaded crochet' cover book. ​
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The cover book contains the patterns for 4 decorations (made in 2 alternative colour ways) and step-by-step instructions and images for adding beads to your crochet.
 

If you like the idea of beading but feel you need a bit of extra help you can find a video tutorial that Sarah and I filmed a few years ago on the Janie Crow YouTube channel here and a free to download technique document here.

You can find more bead shades over on Andy's Just Knots site by following this link.
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Janie Crow Lifestyle
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The response to the Janie Crow Lifestyle brand, which we launched a little over a month ago, has been amazing and it is incredible to see the number of followers of the Instagram page grow by the day. We are closing in on 850 followers, which is just great - thank you all so much for your kind words and messages.
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​'Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before! What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more!'
Dr Seuss - How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

Summer and I have been busy posting on the Lifestyle Instagram page over the last couple of weeks so you might find something over there that will interest you - I am particularly pleased to have discovered the Oxfam online book shop which is just amazing and such a treat to browse through. You can select the books by genre so this link, for example, will take you to the Art, Architecture & Photography section, but with more than 30 categories to choose from you are bound to find your self a brilliant book (or two!). The cookery section is awesome!

Summer is really good at coming up with lovely ideas for home made or free thoughtful gifts. Here is here post from a few days ago: 

'Christmas is going to be different for everyone this year, so why not make some new traditions. There’s plenty of thoughtful things you can do this year instead of buying gifts. Christmas doesn’t have to be about how much you spend on presents but how much effort and care goes into it. We think more than ever people need to feel loved this year. Why not give people home baked goods, or IOU vouchers for a massage or breakfast in bed? Or a promise that when you can you’ll spend the whole day with them doing activities they’ve missed this year. As the Grinch eventually realised, Christmas is about a little bit more!'

I have been quite organised this year and have already started doing some Christmas wrapping - not like me at all as I am usually lastminute.com, but I have really enjoyed looking at some eco friendly ideas on gift wrapping. We have Natural Jute Twine in stock on the web site and we have managed to find paper tape so I have been looking for images on line to inspire me. Here are a few I have found, but I am thinking of adding a few pom poms or crocheting some little tree decorations using left over bits of yarn as well as a few cuttings from the holly bush in the garden to add the finishing touch:
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​Sarah has been looking at some neat ways to use oddments of fabric, scarves and tea towels to make some great reusable gift wrapping and she has also included some ideas of how to use pages from a magazine or newspaper as gift wrapping and you can find her ideas and images along with links to great tutorials lower down this email.
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Summer's chocolate brownies are a real family favourite in our house and we have missed them so much over the last year since she moved away, so I am really pleased that she has posted the recipe and an accompanying video showing how to make them on her blog Rosie Baker this week. We will definitely be making some over the weekend and eating more than a couple each, so then we will have to head out for a really long walk to work off the calories, but it will be so worth it! 

Summer's recipe uses vegan chocolate and milk, but like a lot of her recipes you can use non-vegan alternatives if you would rather. Sum gives advice on most of her recipes as to whether or not you can do a straight swap.

We have a few new products in the Lifestyle store this week and you will find more information about these lower down this email.
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Gift Wrapping Ideas
Sarah Hazel

​As we come to the end of 2020, I think many of us will want to put some extra thought into the way we wrap our gifts for friends and family. There is a certain irony in me writing this piece for you as I am not very good at wrapping gifts, since I usually leave it right until the last minute. However, since working on the Lifestyle brand with Jane I have become much more aware of packaging generally and we might present some of our gifts more thoughtfully and consciously. 

So often we turn to the East for inspiration and this year I have noticed that lots of brands - large and small -are encouraging us to practice Furoshiki, the Japanese art of fabric wrapping. Back in the Nara period (710-794 B.C.) cloth was used to wrap important goods and treasures. Fast forward to 2006 and the Japanese Minister of the Environment encouraged the use of Furoshiki cloth to reduce the use of plastic. As a result of this kind of intervention we are now seeing this ancient Japanese art being practised all over the world.

“It would be wonderful if the furoshiki, as a symbol of traditional Japanese culture, could provide an opportunity for us to reconsider the possibilities of a sound-material cycle society. As my sincere wish, I would like to disseminate the culture of the furoshiki to the entire world.”
Ms Yuriko Koike – Minister for the Environment (Japan) 2003-2006

I was really surprised by how quick and simple the technique is. All you need is a square piece of cloth. Ideally this should be double sided, but it is not crucial. Most Furoshiki cloths are either 45cm or 70cm square, but in reality they can be as large or small as the gift requires. There are lots of tutorials available online and I found this one from Edinburgh based Furoshiki Giftwrap, really helpful. 

This inspired me to have a go myself and here is a Friendly Soap bar wrapped and ready to go!
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Alternatively you could wrap another gift using an organic cotton tea towel.
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And for that slightly larger gift – a Janie Crow tea towel!
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Every year as a child my mum would meticulously preserve wrapping paper from one year to the next. During one of our Janie Crow Lifestyle catch ups we thought it would be nice to show you how to reuse not only gift wrap but the pages of magazines, leaflets etc by making an origami gift bag. Just like the Furoshiki this idea is also influenced by Japan where the art of paper folding is practised to a magnificent standard.

We have posted a super quick video of me making one of these bags over on the Janie Crow Lifestyle Instagram feed, but if you would like to learn how to make one yourself then the following link will take you to a fantastic tutorial by Paperkerwaii. It is incredibly soothing to watch and I made the following bags from magazine pages and ribbon that I have collected from packaging over the years!
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I have only touched on a couple of ideas here, but I hope that they will inspire you and since this is my last piece for 2020 I thought it would be nice to leave you with a gift!

Here is the pattern for my Slipstitch Gift Bag – it’s a great stash buster and perfect for soaps, candles or anything small. These can be used again and again and I hope you enjoy making one or two!
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​SLIPSTITCH GIFT BAG
 
Yarn:  This design can be worked in 4ply or DK oddments in three colours, A, B & C.
Needles and notions: 3.25mm needle for 4ply version.
4mm needles for DK version.
Tension:  25sts and 40 rows to 10cm using 4mm needles and measured over pattern.
Measurements:  Varies according to multiple of sts cast on.

Abbreviations:
wyib - with yarn to the back
wyif - with yarn to the front

Pattern notes: 
Information inside the brackets refers to DK version.
Twist yarns not in use, up the side of the work.
Slip all sts purlwise.
The bag can be made larger or smaller for either yarn weight by casting on more or less stitches equal to a multiple of 4 + 1. e.g, 4 x 4 =16 + 1 = 17

Instructions:
Using 3.25mm (4mm) needles cast on 21(25sts) in yarn A.
Purl one row. Change to yarn B, but do not break yarn A.
Row 1(RS): K1, *sl3 wyib, K1; rep from * to end.
Row 2: P2, *sl1 wyif, P3; rep from * to end, ending last rep with P2.
Row 3: Knit.
Row 4: Purl.
Rows 5-8: As rows 1-4 in C.
Rows 9-12: As rows 1-4 in A.
Repeat last 12 rows, twice more.
Break yarns A and C.
Next row: Knit in B.
Next row: Purl in B.
Repeat last 2 rows, two (three) more times, increasing one st at the end of the last row. 22 (26) sts
*Eyelet row: K2, *yfwd, K2tog, K2; rep from * to end of row.
Next row: Purl.
Work a further 3 (5) rows in stst. Break yarn B.
With WS of work facing join in yarn C and cast off loosely.*

To Finish:
Plain back version:
With 3.25mm (4mm) needles pick up and knit 21 (25) sts from cast on edge in yarn colour of choice.
Starting with a Purl row continue in stst until work measures the same as the Front to Eyelet Row. Work from * to *.
Patterned version:
With 3.25mm (4mm) needles pick up and knit 21 (25) sts from cast on edge in yarn A. Work as Front.
Both versions: Weave in any loose ends and block according to ball band instructions. Join side seams using back stitch or mattress stitch if preferred.
Make a twisted cord/ crocheted chain long enough to be slotted through eyelets and tied into a bow.
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​New Products

When we started looking at products to stock on Janie Crow Lifestyle we were keen to source plastic free things that would act as a replacement for items that most of us already use, such as soap, deodorants and moisturisers. We also wanted to have items that were good quality and had a price point that matched their longevity and that ultimately looked good. Over the last 6 months we have spent a lot of time testing things and have chosen items that ticked lots of boxes, such as plastic free, cruelty free and low waste, whilst also trying to source things that are made in the UK and so have a low carbon footprint.

When it came to finding good cosmetic brands it was difficult to find items that could tick all our boxes so we have had to make a few compromises on some of the brands we have chosen. One of these is our brand new range of Lipstick pencils from Beauty Made Easy, which we fell in love with and just had to stock!
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The 'Le Papier' range of lipsticks are vegan (unlike many lipsticks that contain the colourant cochineal) cruelty free and contain no plastic. Beauty Made Easy are based in the EU and make their lip balms in Europe too, however the pencil lipsticks are made in Taiwan and so it was the carbon footprint of these items that made us a little wary of stocking them to begin with.

After a little research I discovered that most global cosmetic companies produce their items outside of the UK, with Germany being the biggest producer, followed by Japan and the US, so it is likely that majority of beauty products in your collection have come from abroad. And so, after a bit of debate, we decided that the pros of these lipsticks outweighed the cons and that the non plastic element of these products was enough of a 'tick' on our list to make us want to stock them, especially as the beauty industry generated over 142 billion units of mostly uncompostable or recyclable packaging in 2018, which mostly ended up either in the ocean or in landfills.

You can find our range of Le Papier' Lipsticks, balms and glosses by following this link and you can find out more about the company behind them 'Beauty Made Easy' by following this link.

Last week I mentioned how much I like our range of Friendly Soaps and so I was really pleased to discover that the company have now won an award for their Lavender and Geranium hair conditioner bar. You can find more information about this by following this link to their Instagram page and you can find the award winning conditioner bar on sale in our store here.
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And Finally....

Many of you got in touch in support of my piece about plastic waste that I included in the newsletter a few weeks ago. In a world of big players it can be hard to know what to do to fight the plastic war and it can feel like our little contributions to creating an eco lifestyle are a drop in the ocean compared to the way that big companies behave. I truly believe that if enough of us make small changes then we can have an effect on market forces and that by making our voices heard by signing petitions or campaigning on social media, or even just by talking to our friends and family about it, we can force a change. With this in mind I thought you might be interested in Greenpeace's report on the UK Supermarket's use of plastic and maybe then sign the petition asking them to ditch the plastic packaging which you can find here.
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Give Yourself a Hug!
Sarah Hazell
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Head huggers have proved to be a really popular accessory this season. Not only do they keep your ears warm, but they are a great way to use up your stash. Why not make a few to give as gifts for friends and family this Christmas?

I have tried out a couple of ideas this week and thought I would share them with you! This is not so much a pattern but a few guidelines for making your own head hugger with the resources you have available.
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The basis of the head hugger is a knitted or crocheted tube measuring approximately 22cm wide and 48cm long. So when you are working out how many stitches or chains to make, first of all check the tension details of your yarn. If you are using a standard DK, you should get 22sts to 10cm in width. This means that 1cm is equal to 2.2sts. If you multiply 2.2 x 22 you will get 48.4 sts. You will need to round this up or down depending on the stitch you have chosen to use. As a rough guide I made 37 chain for my chunky head hugger (shown above on the beautiful Phoebe) and 48 chain for the DK version (shown lower down). You may find that some stitch patterns use more or less stitches to achieve the same width, so to be super accurate it is a good idea to work a tension square first. 

Having worked out how many stitches to use you can then start to make your tube. I used Waffle stitch for my chunky hugger and Rope stitch for the DK version. Details are at the end of this piece. You may prefer to work this as a flat piece or to work in the round. Either is fine, but if you are working flat, join the long edges with right sides together using either mattress stitch or slip stitch so that you achieve a nice flat seam. ​
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Turn the tube inside out so that the right side of the work is now facing. Fold the tube in half again lengthways, ( with the seam on the outside edge if you have one) and then twist so that the ends are sandwiched together.
 

When you are happy that all edges are lined up equally, stitch through all the layers – this is what secures the twisted knot.

Turn so that the stitches sit to the back of the work and voila – you have a head hugger!
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INSTRUCTIONS:
Waffle stitch
Worked on an odd number of stitches plus 2 for the foundation chain.

Special abbreviation: 
2 Linked exdc – 2 linked extended double crochet
Insert hook as instructed, yrh, pull a loop through, insert hook in next stitch as instructed, yrh, pull a loop through, [yrh, pull through two loops] twice.

Foundation row: make the required number of chain depending on your yarn choice. 

Row 1 (RS):  2 linked exdc in 3rd and 4th ch from hook, *ch1, 2 linked exdc in each of next 2 ch; rep from * to last ch, ch1, 1dc in last ch, turn.

Row 2: Ch2, (does not count as st), 2 linked exdc in first dc and next ch-sp *ch1, 2 linked exdc inserting hook to right of next vertical thread (at centre of next exdc) and then into the ch-sp; rep from * to last exdc, ch1, 1dc in last exdc, turn.

Repeat Row 2 until you reach desired length.
 
Rope stitch:

Worked on a multiple of 3+2 stitches plus 1 for the foundation chain.

Foundation Row: 1tr in 4th ch from hook, ch1, 1tr in next ch, *skip 1ch, 1tr in next ch, ch1, 1tr in next ch; rep from* to last ch, 1tr in last ch, turn.

Row 1: Ch3, (counts as 1tr), skip first 2tr, * [1tr, ch1, 1tr] in ch-1 sp. skip 2tr; rep from * to last tr, skip last tr, 1tr in 3rd of ch3, turn.

Repeat Row 1 until you reach desired length.
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Fine Cell Work
With thanks to Jan Burrell

​My lovely friend Jan contacted me this week to tell me about the charity and social enterprise 'Fine Cell Work' which enables prisoners to 'build fulfilling and crime-free lives'.
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You can find their web site by following this link and this is what they say about their work in prison and post release programme:

'Fine Cell Work is a charity and social enterprise which enables prisoners to build fulfilling and crime-free lives. We do this by training them in high-quality, skilled, creative needlework undertaken in the long hours spent in their cells to foster hope, discipline and self-esteem. Our aim is to allow them to finish their sentences with work skills, money earned and saved, and the self-belief to not re-offend.

At the Fine Works Hub, our London-based community workshop, we run our Open the Gate programme which provides work experience, formal training and employment support to ex-prisoners (who we call apprentices). Funded by the National Lottery Community Fund, the programme aims to support ex-prisoners with their reintegration into society upon their release from prison'.

The needlepoint and embroidered cushion collection is possibly my favourite area on the site. The collection is simply stunning and the quality of work looks perfect.
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If you fancy having a go at making a cushion cover yourself or are looking for a gift, then the needlepoint kits would be a great choice, especially if (like me), you are a big fan of the work of Arts and Craft Movement ceramic artist William De Morgan.

I think there is something for everyone on this web site and I will definitely be popping back there to look for a few gifts and decorations although quite a lot of the Christmas bits and bobs are now out of stock.

The standard of work is amazing and of course I love the fact that the charity have made the link between craft and well being and I think as crafters we can all relate to their belief that 'The making and selling of high-quality needlework boosts their self-worth, instils self-discipline, and fosters hope.'
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You can follow Fine Cell Work on Instagram here and you can find a brilliant informative video that shows the process of how items are created on this web page. 
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​It's Nearly the Weekend!

​We had thought that we might head into the West End to do a little bit of shopping and see the Christmas lights this weekend, but I think with London on the verge of going into Tier 3 that this would not be the best decision so (as usual) we don't have big plans for the weekend. I guess we will be spending our time pottering around at home and baking Summer's lovely brownies at some point. The weather forecast is not brilliant but maybe we will manage a walk or two and of course we will be only too pleased to settle ourselves on the sofa with a craft project or a book!

I hope that whatever your plans are you keep safe and well. Sending big virtual yarny hugs to you all.
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​I have been nominated within the Craft Influencer of the Year category of the Craft Business Awards once again. I was fortunate enough to win this award for 2020 and would love to do so again. If you would like to vote for me then click on this link or on the image below to be taken to the online voting forms.
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