It's Friday Then.......

10/7/2020

Quick Catch Up with Janie

The days have gone so fast this week and so, as usual, I cannot believe that Friday has swung around again. I hope that wherever you are you are continuing to stay safe and well.

It has been wet, wet, wet here in North London over the last few days! We are sun lovers at heart and so it has been a bit of a shock to the system to have some dull days after all the weeks of sunshine. The water is good for the garden though and it gives us an even better excuse to sit crocheting on the sofa, so all in all it hasn't been such a bad week!

Things continue to be busy here at Janie Crow and Just Knots and we are seeing more and more businesses around us returning to (almost) normal. I am pleased to say that I have finally managed to book a hair appointment and one evening this week Andy and I even ventured out for a (socially distanced) glass of wine at our favourite local pub!

On a less positive note however, our lovely son Charlie found out on Wednesday that he is one of the 3000 or more staff set to be let go by food chain Pret-a-Manger. It is hard to imagine what kind of a world we are going to see at the end of the pandemic and I think it is going to be incredibly tough out there for Charlie and so many others like him, especially as both John Lewis and Boots have also announced thousands more job losses this week. As a mum you always want the best for your children don't you, so, although it is a bit cheeky to use the newsletter to ask you guys for some help, if any of you are aware of any vacancies in Customer Service, Social Media and HR in the London/South Herts area please let me know! I have a vey well spoken, willing and able young man at home who would love the opportunity to get back to work, paid or otherwise!

So, onwards and upwards -

I have a couple of things to tell you about as we head into the weekend, ahead of my larger monthly style email, which will be sent next Friday. I hope you have a couple of minutes to spare to catch up with all things Janie Crow...

Dianthus Motif

This week saw the publication of the newest motif for the Fruit Garden Crochet Along project. The patterns feature a flower motif called Dianthus, which I have based on one of May Morris's stylised embroidered flowers and you are also asked to work a couple more rows onto the Acanthus motifs that have been made over the course of previous patterns.

The image above shows one of my prototype Dianthus motifs and the image below shows a detail from May Morris's beautiful embroidered bed throw 'Acanthus' that I used as my inspiration for the motif. I have featured some of May's layouts in my accompanying video this month and you can find it by following this link.

You can find the patterns for Set 6 of the Fruit Garden CAL, which are available in UK, US & Dutch Language, by following this link.

Bohemian Blooms on Fruity Knitting

I met Andrea and Andrew from Fruity Knitting in December 2018 when they came to interview me here at the studio. Whilst here Andrea fell in love with the idea of working through my Bohemian Blooms blanket and so I packed her off with a kit and a book when they left the studio.

As a complete beginner I was not convinced that Andrea would manage to work through the project, so I am incredibly pleased to see that on the last episode of the Fruity Knitting podcast Andrea revealed her completed blanket. I think you can see from the image below how pleased Andrea is with her completed blanket and what a fabulous job she has made of it.

You can find the podcast where Andrea talks about her crochet journey here.

Within the video she talks about how proud she is of her work, but also says about how the design led her to tears at times, especially as she was approaching the end. I am sure this is a process we have all gone through on our learning journey and please be assured that I have spoken to Andrea this week and she is feeling very positive about her new found skill now that the tears are a thing of the past!!

If you want to find out more about the Bohemian Blooms project you can do so by following this link. The patterns for the project are available in a 96 page, fully illustrated, soft back book and we have kits for the project on sale on the web sites.

Frida's Flowers on Country File

Did any of you see my Frida's Flowers Blanket and Matt Baker in close proximity on Country File on Sunday? If not I have posted a (bit of a blurry) pic below of barge owner and ace crocheter, Phillipa and her blanket on the Grand Union Canal.

With the release of the Fruit Garden CAL we have seen a resurgence of interest in past crochet along projects including the Lily Pond Blanket and the Frida's Flowersprojects, but unfortunately many of the yarns used in yarn packs have been out of stock for some time. You can still find the patterns as free downloads on the Stylecraft web site here though and so you could always come up with a new (stash busting?) colour way or use an alternative yarn. We are hoping to have kits back in stock soon.

It's Nearly The Weekend!

Andy and I really have the Friday feeling this week, partly because the weather is set to be better as we head into the weekend, but also because we have decided to take a break at home next week - something we have not done for years!

We have a few things planned for our North London based 'staycation', including finishing off some decorating in the kitchen and sorting out our front drive after it was dug up by Dyno Rod this week courtesy of our water company who had found a leaking pipe!

We are also planning a few days out. I am keen to drive into town and have a wander around a quieter than normal city centre. A walk down the river would be amazing as I have not ventured into town for months. Hopefully we will also find time for lots of countryside walks and catch up with the family. Having the week off also means we can dedicate some proper time to Charlie, who has spent so much of the last few months at home while furloughed and who could do with a bit of TLC!

I have started on a couple of new designs over the last couple of weeks and the catalogue is very nearly ready so I am looking forward to showing you what I have been up to very soon.

I will be back here next week with the July Newsletter and trust that you have a great weekend and a good week in between now and then. Whatever you have planned I hope you will stay safe and well.

I leave you with the Crowfoot family's favourite Friday video, just to get you right in the mood for a fab Friday night!: