OCTOBER NEWSLETTER FROM JANIE CROW

Janie's Friday Feature
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Welcome to October's bumper newsletter - the Janie Crow equivalent of a Sunday supplement magazine....

It has been a really busy month here with pretty much back to back yarn shows - Yarndale and The Knitting & Stitching Show. I love shows and it was really fabulous to see so many of you on the stands. Andy, Sarah and I had a great time chatting to you all and it was so good to see your positive reactions to my new work - both Bloomsbury Gardens and the Climbing Rose Wrap kits proved incredibly popular at both shows.

We are now back in the studio for 6 weeks before our next event, so I am looking forward to some catch up time. I have been designing a new CAL project for spring 2020 release and am into the final stages of this. I love seeing big designs come together and I can't wait to show you the project next year.

As we have no more shows until the new year we have put a few events into the Janie Crow diary - one is a workshop with designer Suraya Hossain of Mahliqa Wire and the other is our Winter Open Day here at the studio. You can find more information about these events and find out about other plans within the 'Dates for your Diary' feature of this month's newsletter.

If you have five minutes to spare, I hope you will be in a position to prepare a drink of choice, settle into a comfy chair and enjoy a catch up with all things Janie Crow....
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'The end of the summer is not the end of the world. Here's to October....''
- A.A.Milne -

What's New?

The response to the new layouts of my Bohemian Blooms project has been amazing! So amazing that we sold all the dedicated yarn packs via Just Knots at both Yarndale and The Knitting and Stitching Show. Unfortunately Just Knots and Wool Warehouse are now out of stock of the kits, but hopefully they will be back in soon, so do keep checking on the links if you want to get your hands on a kit. If you would rather use some of the yarns from your stash you can find free colour sub documents for the new Bloomsbury layout and for Emma May's Special DK version by following this link to my web site. You will need to purchase the pattern book to make any version of the pattern.

The third instalment of my Climbing Rose CAL will be published in next week's issue of Inside Crochet Magazine. It has been a real treat watching your progress with the Climbing Rose CAL over the last few weeks. Many of you have been speeding through the motifs and I have loved seeing the images of your crochet popping up on line

Next week's pattern will be for the Rambling Rose motif, which is shown to the right side of the image above. You can find more information about the CAL by following this link and don't forget that there is a new dedicated Facebook Group. You can find the group by following this link and above is an image of Sue and Tracy who both moderate the group.

If you are still looking for a yarn kit to accompany the project you will find them on Just Knots, Wool Warehouse and Black Sheep Wools.
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I am really pleased that many of my designs are now available as patterns and project kits via Wool Warehouse. It is great to have such a high profile on line yarn store showcasing my work and so I was really chuffed when they asked if they could interview me for their blog as part of their Designer Profile series. You can find the interview by following this link.

As I told you a few weeks ago, I have been nominated in the Craft Influencer of the Year category in the British Craft Awards. I am extremely proud of this, especially as I am the only 'yarn' crafter to have been nominated - my fellow nominees are all from other craft areas such as card making, patchwork and quilting and DIY/Lifestyle, so it is a real honour to have the chance for crochet to be recognised within this category for the first time
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If you have a spare minute or two I would love it if you would vote for me. The link to the poll is here. You can skip any of the categories if you are unsure of your favourite choice within them. Thank you!!!
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Dates for your Diary

I am really pleased that Suraya Hossain of Mahliqa is coming to the studio on Sunday 10th November to tutor a 'Knitting with Wire' workshop. You can find information about this class by following this link. There are just 8 places on this workshop, so you may need to sign up quickly if you want to come. We will be adding 2 new crochet workshops to the diary for 2020, so do look out for those in the future.
 

Alongside Suraya's workshop we have also added the date for our Winter Open Day, which will take place at the studio here in North London on Sunday 8th December. It would be really lovely to see you at the event where we will have lots of gift ideas for knitters and crocheters, kits and accessories. We will also have some great crafty bargains and Helen Bridgwood will also be holding a pop up shop to showcase her lovely knitted necklaces.
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I get asked a lot to tutor both knit and crochet workshops and although I really love teaching I have decided that for 2020 at least I am going to step back a little and do fewer day long or weekend workshops. Teaching on longer workshops, like the trip to India with Knit For Peace and my recent trip to Ireland gives participants a chance to really get stuck into a project and hone their skills, so I am really pleased to be able to finally confirm that I will be teaching on a 10 day cruise to Iceland as part of Arena Travel's Stitchtopia workshop programme in late June/early July next year.
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Details of the trip have been published on the Arena web site today and I have been told by the company that 8 places have already been sold, so it looks like the trip is going to fill up fast! You can find more information on the web site here, but you will need to phone Arena to discuss your booking as the cabin configurations are quite complicated.

STOP PRESS! There is just one place left on the Knit For Peace workshop trip to Mysore in January 2020. Juliet Bernard will be joining me as my assistant and we are really looking forward to the trip. Book the last space now!!!
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Natural Dying Workshops

I met Louise Drosdzol a few years ago. Louise is an expert crocheter who has made some of my display blankets whilst pattern checking my designs. As well as being an ace crocheter Louise is also an expert on hand dying yarn using natural dyes.

Louise has recently started running workshops at The Riverbarn Arts Centre in Walton-On-Thames and she has two forthcoming workshops for the autumn. You can find more information on Louise's web site by following this link.

Introduction to Natural Dyeing and Foraging
Sunday 10th November £35 11am - 3pm

In this workshop you will learn how you can forage and use seasonal and regionally relevant plants to create lasting and effective colours. Louise will cover her favourite local plants and what colours to expect. You will collect and forage along the beautiful Thames Path in Walton Upon Thames and then return to Riverhouse Barn to make magic!

An in depth 2 day course.
Sunday 1st December and Sunday 8th December 2019 £80

On this course we will discover how by using different natural mordents and colour modifiers we can make at least 20 different colours from one dye pot of Madder root dye. After this course you will be able to make the most of every natural dye bath you prepare, to achieve a variety of predictable colours.

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Maker of the Mont

As you already know, I really love getting images of your projects. I really like seeing different colour ways and alternative layouts that you have come up with using my designs as a basis, but it is also really fabulous to hear how the projects have made you feel whilst crocheting and it is especially nice to hear how they have been included in special events, such as baby showers, weddings and big birthday celebrations.

Helen Miller recently got in touch to share an image of her Lotus Flower Shawl, which was worn by her new daughter in law during her wedding celebrations. Helen kindly gave me her permission to share the image below of her son and her gorgeous new daughter-in-law on their wedding day.
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Helen's email read as follows:

'I contacted you earlier this year with a picture of a beautiful pin I had bought for the Lotus Flower shawl I had made. I still have the pin but I will be reordering the shawl kit as I am delighted to say that my new daughter-in-law decided that the shawl was perfect for her wedding! I had promised to make her a shawl, but we could find neither yarn nor pattern that seemed just right when, by chance, she saw my Lotus Flower shawl and fell in love with it. She wore it on her wedding day and it was much admired. I have attached a picture for you.'
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BIPOC in Fiber

Just in case you missed it last month....

BIPOC in Fiber is the new name for what began as the POC Designers & Crafters List started in 2018 by Jeanette Sloan. Originally posted on Jeanette’s blog, the list quickly proved both popular and useful. Highlighting the many people of colour who work with fibre, the list reveals an urgent community-wide demand to see and support those talents. This very real demand doesn’t just come from other POC, or just from knitters, but from people of all ethnicities and a wide variety of crafting disciplines. This has led to a change of name and given the project a clearer sense of purpose.
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BIPOC in Fiber is creating an interactive directory and resource portal highlighting the work of Black, Indigenous and People of Colour working in the fiber community across any discipline; from knit, crochet and weaving, to yarn bloggers, indie dyers, writers, tech editors and everything in between.

Here at Janie Crow (and Just Knots) we are proud to support this fabulous initiative and I hope that you will visit the page, read all the info and support the project too. The link is here.

The BIPOC in Fiber campaign has now raised beyond it's target of £20,000 to support the vital and exciting work.

'Since January 2019 there's been a vital conversation on social media about racism, representation, inclusion and diversity within the online crafting community.

The urgent need for change has been revealed through this discussion - change that must be led by BIPOC makers.

BIPOC in Fiber is a website and resource portal. It's mission is to amplify and celebrate the work of Black, Indigenous and People of Colour working in the fibre industry.'

Note: Fibre is the UK spelling and Fiber is the US spelling.
Jeanette and her team have chosen to use the US version within their name and logo.
 

Blog of the Month

I am a big fan of the work of hand knit and crochet designer Emma Varnam. Emma has a demanding high profile job away from her life as a knit and crochet designer and so it never ceases to amaze me how prolifically she designs new projects.

Emma is the author of lots of fabulous books, but I especially like her toy books, which feature the cutest of crocheted animals. You can find Emma's blog by following this link.
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Emma has recently talked about her process for making for the lovely crocheted cardigan above and about the perils of making a project that combines knit and crochet patches. If you have some time to spare over the weekend, why not check out her lovely blog.
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It's nearly the weekend!

We are looking forward to Summer and Chris's engagement party on Saturday evening. I made a prototype engagement cake a couple of weeks ago and made the new cake last night. I don't know whether I had beginners luck with the first cake as it seemed like harder work yesterday - I had a few 'bake off' disaster moments where I thought the cake was going to go off skew, but I managed the crumb coat of buttercream and am looking forward to decorating it properly this afternoon. I never thought I would manage to make a cake like this, but with the help of YouTube tutorials by Cupcake Jemma I think I managed to make a pretty decent job of it! Below is an image of my first cake and I will (hopefully) show you the final cake next week so long as all goes to plan!

Whilst at The Knitting and Stitching Show last week I fell in love with a hand knit design by Erika Knight. The project is a slouchy cropped cardigan called Fettle (shown below). I haven't knitted anything for ages, but I am already really enjoying working on this project. I am using West Yorkshire Spinners Illustrious DK, which is knitting up really nicely. I am hoping to get some 'me time' on the sofa this weekend to work a little bit more of this project. I am nearly at the end of the rib on the back piece and am looking forward to some relaxing stocking stitch!
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Anyway, that is it from me for another week. I hope that things are good where you are and that you are looking forward to a lovely weekend, whatever you have planned. As always if you want to get in touch please hit reply...

Yarny love and crochet kisses..
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