October News

I had a fabulous time on the Stylecraft stand at The Knitting & Stitching Show at London's Ally Pally last week. The show was really busy and it was amazing to meet so many of you, see pics of your projects, take selfies and chat about all things crochet. Thank you so much to all of you who took the time to come and say hello.

I received a lot of comments about the Spirit of Flora project at the show and it was really good to hear so much positivity around it, especially as it is aimed at quite a high skill level. I love it when you tell me that you have learnt lots and built on your crochet skills by working through one of my projects. It still amazes me how much love there is out there for all my older projects too - Mystical Lanterns and Persian Tiles are still holding their own very nicely!

We continue to struggle to keep a healthy number of kits in stock, so please bear with us if the item you want is showing as out of stock. Our kit sales have almost tripled over the last couple of years and demand for yarn is still really high globally, so our low stock levels are not through lack of trying! We have a lot more designs to cover than we used to and can't always predict which projects you guys will be looking at from week to week. We will endeavour to have healthier stock over the next couple of weeks now that our shows are out of the way for the autumn, but if there is a particular item you are waiting for please fill in the 'notify me' link so that we know what you are looking for and so that you will get an instant notification once stock is back.

Patterns are still in good demand and this week Andy has added an option to purchase the complete set of Spirit of Flora paper pattern brochures to the website. The full set, which includes 12 motif patterns and the Getting Ready document, is available for £29.95 from the website here.

I was tagged into the image above on Instagram recently by Sanne at Chaicrafts who made the most amazing version of the Spirit of Flora blanket and gifted it to her sister as a wedding present - isn't it just beautiful! ​

It is always a frustration when yarns get discontinued and it means we can no longer make up yarn kits to accompany my designs. Keeping on top of discontinued shades and ranges can be really time consuming, so sometimes we make the decision to drop some of our kits. This week however, I have some good news in regards to my Summer Palace Wrap design as Baa Ram Ewe have reinstated their lovely yarn Pip Colourwork 4 ply, which means we now have kits back in stock! ​

All shades used in the original design are back in the Baa Ram Ewe range except for two of them, which we have substituted with the closest possible alternative. My lovely crocheter Jenna is making up a sample using a very dark brown as the background shade and a slightly different blue on the border. The original background shade had a tiny hint of green and the blue used for the edging was very slightly lighter, but I honestly think the outcome will be almost indistinguishable from the photos shown here.

We have just eight kits in stock to see how they go and you can find them for sale at £87.50 each by following this link. Colourwork Pip is made from !00% British Wool. It smells divine and the colours are fab, but if you are looking for something a little softer you could always purchase the pattern and make one using your choice of yarn.

We have just received these gorgeous new tape measures which feature two motifs (one either side) from the Spirit of Flora project. The Sunflower motif is on one side and the Evelyn motif is on the other. The tape measures are £7.50 each and you can find them here.

Here at Janie Crow we have been struggling to keep a BIG yarny secret! None of us have let the cat out of the bag, and we didn't squeal under pressure over the last few days, but it is still a huge relief to finally be able to tell you this exciting news:

STYLECRAFT SPECIAL DK IS COMING HOME!

Spa Mill, the home of Stylecraft Yarns in the heart of West Yorkshire, has been home to spinning for well over one hundred years and it is so incredibly exciting to see them bringing state of the art technology back home to Yorkshire to produce their yarns in the UK.

The investment at Spa Mill includes a new dye house for acrylic and wool and new drying machinery for both. There are other new machines that are used to 'stretch break' the acrylic and 're-break' it, as well as a standard drawing line, a new assembly line, new twisting machines and a completely new balling plant. A combined heat and power plant, which produces electricity more efficiently than a normal gas fired power station and reuses the heat from the exhaust gases in the dye house, has also been invested in. The plant is also already hydrogen ready so it can move away from the use of natural gas in time.

These major advances mean that Stylecraft can be more efficient with resources, using less water and energy and so reducing their carbon footprint. By manufacturing in Yorkshire, they are also reducing transport distances, cutting both fuel consumption and pollution. 

The new yarn range officially launched yesterday and you can find some teasers on our Instagram feed.
The yarns will be in stock with stockists from today and, if you want more info, you can find my blog post here. ​

As life has been really busy over the last few weeks Andy has been pretty much in charge of our evening meals. He found a great recipe for home made veggie sausages, which you can find here. They are made using tofu and kidney beans and are wrapped in rice paper, so there is very little fat in them. They're really quick to make, super tasty and the recipe makes lots of sausages - I think Andy made sixteen!

The JC team had a chat about quick meals this week and Gemma sent me a link for what looks like a really tasty pie, which uses leeks and mushrooms. I think this will definitely go on the list of meals for next week. It's defiantly the time of year for pie and the open top style, made using ready made puff pastry are always great! You can find the recipe here.

With the colder weather this week I had a real fancy for soup and made one using mushrooms and cauliflower. I roasted the cauliflower in the air fryer to save a bit of time, but if you're super organised you could prepare it ahead of time by popping it in the oven when you're cooking something else. This is a really easy recipe and it makes a lovely creamy low calorie soup - you can find a similar recipe to the one I used on the Vegetarian Gastronomy website here.

Gemma's book of the month recommendation is not so much escapism as a busman's holiday as, ever keen to improve her knitting skills, she recommends Patty Lyons' Knitting Bag of Tricks: The Official Workbook. ​

Gemma says:

Patty Lyons’ Knitting Bag of Tricks was published in 2022 and has been a much-consulted book on my craft books shelf for the last year or so. It’s a reference book containing many tutorials on ways to improve your knitting, and the Official Workbook has been written to be used in conjunction with the original publication. Each lesson in the workbook corresponds to a chapter of the original book and leads you through a series of exercises to practice the tips and tricks contained in it.

As the reader you are invited to make a series of swatches and then make ‘swatchservations’ about your knitting, helped by prompt questions to guide you. There are spaces to stick photos and add stickers from the numerous fabulous sticker sheets further along in the workbook.

There are lots of illustrations throughout the book, by the designer, teacher, illustrator and author Franklin Habit, and I love how he represents stitches using characters such as dancers and acrobats.

This is a fantastic book if you are the kind of knitter who likes to really understand your knitting and are a bit fussy about the finer detail. It teaches you to look at your work in a different light and think about alternative ways of doing things to achieve a more refined finish. Also, any book that comes with sticker sheets is a winner as far as I'm concerned! 

Gemma x

It has been menopause awareness month and today (October 18th) is Menopause Awareness day!

All members of the Janie Crow team (except Andy obvs!) are at various stages of our perimenopause and menopause journey and so Emma has written a great piece about it. You can find it on the blog here.

I am so thankful to live at a time when we talk about menopause and can access help if we need it. It is no longer a taboo subject and there is so much research going on. I listened to this podcast on the Zoe platform on YouTube yesterday and I found it quite interesting to hear about the things we can do to help ourselves, such as making better decisions with food and getting more exercise. ​

I am looking forward to a weekend at home after being at the show last weekend. As we head into colder evenings and shorter days I want to make the house a little more winter ready and get the last remnants of the summer put away until next year. The summer house at the end of the garden tends to be used as a bit of a dumping ground for stuff we are not quite sure what to do with, so I am going to have a clear up in here too.

Charlie and his girlfriend Ellie carved out their pumpkins ready for Halloween yesterday evening, so they are out on the door step already! Quite a few of the local houses have decorated early, so we are not alone in our spooky preparations!

I haven't been home over the weekend for a couple of weeks, so I am really looking forward to being here for a couple of days. I have some yarn lined up on the window sill which I am itching to use, so hopefully I will get to do a bit of crochet over the weekend, especially if the weather stays this dingy! 

I hope you all have a lovely weekend
Janie x