Here to give you the lockdown lowdown

Janie's Quick Update
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Another week into lockdown and I am back to say hello and check up on you!
 
How are you all getting along? Anyone going a bit stir-crazy or are you all still happily pottering around in your gardens and enjoying your daily walks? Whatever you are up to I hope that your knit and crochet continues to bring you solace, whilst proving a perfect distraction from reality. Judging by the emails we have received this week it seems to me that your crafting is more important than ever and I know that many of you are busy completing projects that have been buried away in your stashes for a while. It really is the perfect time to get lots of things completed and like you, I feel very lucky to have my yarn at the ready by the settee for when I am at home.

Over the Easter weekend we pretty much managed to catch up on sorting all the backlog of web site orders and so felt like we were heading into this week in a stronger and more organised position. We have managed to get quite a lot of kits back in stock over this week, but they are selling fast and Stylecraft have told us they are now running approximately 5 days behind schedule with trade order delivery, so I think there may well be a bit of a wait ahead of us for the next batch of yarn orders. The kits for the Fruit Garden CAL are still on the web sites on a back order basis, but we hope to have the stock in very soon – thank you for being so patient!
 

Fruit Garden CAL
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With less than 2 weeks to go before the first set of patterns for the new Fruit Garden CAL are published Stylecraft have uploaded my ‘Getting Ready’ document to their web site. The document includes information about the yarn and equipment required for the project and other crochet related advice like how to achieve the correct tension and how to work neatly.
 
Over the Easter weekend I managed to film a short video to accompany the document. In the film I have covered the basic crochet stitches you will need to produce the project and I have also included a few little tips – like working your turning chain before you turn your work and changing your hook size on stitches with longer posts. You can find the video on my YouTube channel here. Take a look and let me know if you can hear the thunder storm that happened half way through!!!
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This forthcoming Tuesday sees the publication of another free download via the Stylecraft site. This one is my main introduction to the project and again there is a video to accompany it. Within the document I give you even more background information about the inspiration for my design and how I set about designing the pieces. The accompanying video (put together by Juliet Bernard for Stylecraft) is already live and you can find it by following this link.
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Yarn kits for the Recipe 1 version of the CAL are available to order on Janie Crow and the Just Knots web sites.

Catching Up Online
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It has been pretty lonely for us all over the last few weeks and I have been thinking especially about those of you who are on your own. I am so grateful to have Charlie still at home with Andy and I, but have been missing Summer dreadfully. Like so many others we have been trying to schedule in weekly catch ups with the family via Zoom and Facetime and it has been so good to see everyone even if it is in a virtual way.

Lots of people are joining in on-line tests and having family group quizzes. I am looking forward to a group catch up this evening where each household has set 10 questions and have a few other Zoom based chats lined up over the weekend.
 
The UKHK (UK Handknitting) have been holding virtual knit (crochet) and natter groups over the last few weeks and you can find more information on their Instagram feed here. I think they meet every Thursday evening at 7pm.

Yesterday evening I was part of a Zoom group chat with my girlfriends and we were talking about what special thing we can do to celebrate birthdays during lock down. We are all so used to going out to celebrate or having a party at home, so the prospect of a lockdown Birthday or Anniversary is disappointing to say the least! It was Charlie’s Birthday just as we headed into isolation at the end of March, so being at home was a bit of a novelty then, but as the weeks pass by it is harder and harder to think of ways to mark an occasion. My friends were talking about having on line ‘dance offs’ or dressing up, but if you have any great ideas you would like to share I would love to include them in a newsletter!
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Over the Rainbow
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I mentioned the crochet rainbows in last week’s newsletter and I know that a lot of you are still making things to hang up in your windows as a symbol of hope. Over the past week I have seen quite a few images of lovely pom-pom wreaths popping up on Instagram.

Julie of Tilly Flop Designs was the first one I saw featuring them on her feed and I love the rainbow effect she has used on her own pom-pom wreath, so I have unashamedly copied her and made my own version using up some scraps of yarn from my stash.
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Making the pom-poms was a really therapeutic thing to do and it made me think back to my childhood when we would cut out pieces of circular card and wind yarn around until we had big fluffy pom-poms. I can’t for the life of me remember what we did with them once they were made, but I remember the process vividly.
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.Once my wreath was complete I packed up all my leftover yarns and popped them in the post to Summer so that she can make one too. I sent her one of the new style pom-pom makers, which make the process so much easier than cutting out card, along with an embroidery hoop for her to tie the pom-poms on to. It is really nice to think that we might have similar wreaths decorating our front doors even though we live almost 30 miles apart.
 
I know that Summer is really looking forward to making her wreath. She is not an avid knitter or crocheter like me, although I did teach both the kids when they were younger. I am hoping that they might come back to it later on in their lives like my great friend Rhonda who was taught many crafts by her mother as a child. I coached Rhonda through the process of crocheting about 3 years ago, but, as a busy, high flying business woman and a devoted Mum, it has only been during lockdown that Rhon has found the time to return to making her Granny Squares and I am chuffed to bits that she agreed that I could share with you the image she sent me of her and her blanket.
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Rhonda says the process of crocheting has helped her to relieve stress, feel calmer and keep her mind active and I am so proud of her and the lovely blanket she has created.

It has been so busy with the web site orders over the last few weeks that I have been unable to get going on a new crochet project. I completed a new version of Persian Tiles about 4 weeks ago (which I hope I will be able to show you soon) and have been itching to pick up my hook and start a new design, but packing so many orders has been making my arthritic fingers hurt a little (especially as I am avoiding Ibuprofen), so making the pom-poms was a great way to play with some yarn!

I have rooted through my WIP bag at home and pulled out the cardigan I started knitting in the Autumn, so I am also hoping to make some progress on that now that things are calmer. Heading into next week I have my fingers crossed that I can start to think about some new design work and have a few ideas for inspiration – as usual I would love to know what you are all working on.
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Virtual Wonderwool Festival
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Some of the casualties of the current situation are the many music festivals and yarn shows scheduled for the spring and into the summer. Andy was like a bear with a sore head when his favourite Rock Music festival was cancelled for June and we are both disappointed that the Wonderwool show in Wales will not take place next weekend, however the organisers of the show will be hosting a virtual show via their Facebook page. You can find more info by following this link.
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If you are an Instagram fan like me and are looking for a new account to follow can I suggest you take a look at Aannikova – an amazing bag designer who lives in the Crimean mountains.
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I love her feed as it is a mix of her young family life and her incredible art work. If you get a chance, take a look and if any of you manage to work out where you can purchase one of her incredible bags please let me know!
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It's Nearly the Weekend!

​We managed to get 2 days at home over the Easter break – we spent our time walking in the countryside around our home, tidying up the garden, cooking and eating! We are hoping to spend this weekend doing similar (after all there is not a lot more that we can do), but I am also hoping to add in some crochet time and have a bit of a clear up in our summer house at the bottom of the garden as it has become a little bit of a dumping ground for things we cannot find a place for in our little house. In this brighter weather I am also very aware that the house is badly in need of a spring clean, so it may well be that some dusting and cobweb hunting is on the cards!
 
With the focus on daily life being so much more food and cooking orientated than ever we have already planned our meals for the next few days and I am looking forward to making a veggie burger recipe I found on-line. We have an abundance of left over carrots, so I have found a recipe that should use these up. Life is just so full of excitement these days!!!
 
I would love to know what you guys are up to and don’t forget that if you have any ideas for ways to mark a special occasion I would love to know them – we are in the lead up to Andy’s birthday and he has been working so hard that it would be lovely to come up with a way to give him a special day - although Summer has already set the bar pretty high by sending him a tin of her handmade rum and raisin fudge!

Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, stay safe and I will see you back here again next Friday.
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PS: The nomination stage of the Let’s Knit Awards for 2020 is now open and of course I would really love it if you could take a few minutes to take a look at the web page. By submitting your nominations you can be entered into the prize draw and win some fabulous yarny goodies, so do take a look!

A Reminder about Postage
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At Janie Crow and Just Knots Yarns we use Royal Mail as our postal service provider. Royal Mail continues to operate most worldwide postal services and we have not yet been hugely affected by issues with the post. Things can change quickly, so if you are wondering about the mail service to your country, you can check up via the Royal Mail ‘Personal Help’ page here.
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