January News

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….