Blog Posts

'Till Needle, Thread and Fabric Meet

1/3/2019

Janie's Friday Feature

Welcome to this week's Friday Feature Newsletter - the Janie Crow equivalent of a Sunday supplement magazine....

Here I am again with another newsletter and this week Sarah and I have focussed on sewing and embroidery as a theme. As you may well know, Sarah is a very accomplished stitcher who has produced some really fabulous pieces of sewn art work and so this week she has written the main feature, which is all about an exciting forthcoming exhibition she will be involved in. Sadly my sewing skills don't even begin to compare to Sarah's, but I am a really big fan of all things stitched and often use embroideries and tapestries as the inspiration for my designs, so I have tried to add pieces into this week's newsletter that fit the theme well.

This week's newsletter also includes the usual tip of the week and palette of the week and my 'what's new' feature. I hope that whatever you have going on in your life today you will be able to settle down for 5 minutes or so to relax in our company.....

'I cannot think my day complete 'til needle, thread and fabric meet.'
- Author Unknown -

Nordiska Exhibition

Hi! It’s Sarah here with a feature that is really very close to my heart!

If you are already a fan of embroidery and the whole mid-century aesthetic then I hope that the following will be of interest to you – if not, then I hope that you will be inspired to visit a brand new exhibition in Birmingham later this month, as well as pick up a needle and thread.

Eighteen months ago I visited the Festival of Quilts exhibition at the NEC in Birmingham. I have visited this show on and off over the years, but 2017 was special. I had arranged to meet up with indigo enthusiast Lindsay Roberts. We had chatted away on Instagram, but never met – the exhibition provided the perfect opportunity and we spent a fabulous day revelling in fabric and threads! The highlight of the day was being introduced to Tanja Malo , the owner and founder of www.linladan.com.

Roughly translated, the Swedish ‘linladan’ means flax barn. The Swedish tradition of using flax or linen as both a fabric and a thread in embroidery is one that Tanja is not only keen to preserve, but also to promote within a modern context. As we become increasingly concerned about working with sustainable fibres, linen is a go to resource. It uses less water to produce and remains strong seemingly forever! I have recently been working with fabric and threads that are over 50 years old and it is as if they were made yesterday.

The chances are that if you have visited any of the Knitting and Stitiching shows, Selvedge fairs or Festival of Quilts exhibitions over the last few years you may have dropped across Linladan. I cannot imagine anyone being able to pass the glorious riot of colour that is created from little boxes of vintage linens, flower threads and silks, but Linladan is more than just finding lovely old stuff to sell! There is an ethos behind the business that encompasses provenance, fair pay and working conditions, sustainability, respect for all that is handmade and attribution for the original designers and artists and I have no doubt that the exhibition will reflect all of these qualities.

It is only through sheer hard work and determination that the Nordiska exhibition has come into being. Years of research have led Tanja to discovering not only the Nordiska archive itself, but also some of the people who were originally involved back in the 50s, 60s and 70s. This has enabled her to produce kits from the original designs with a percentage going to the original designers in recognition of their contribution and legacy.

The exhibition will include original paintings and embroideries as well as the hand drawn charts that were used to produce kits.

Tanja has been able to speak and work with those artists who are still alive and members of other families who worked at the Nordiska factory. This has enabled her to not only learn more about their practise and inspiration, but also to find out which designs were among their favourites. Many families and artists have lent Tanja examples from their own personal collections, like Kaisa Edstroms hand embroidered wedding dress from 1963 and Ingrid-Dahlman’s Sagoslottet Fairytale Castle.

It has often been difficult to find the original instructions for a design which has made reproducing the kits as exact replicas quite tricky. Linladan is now onto its second print run of kits. More instructions have been found and suitable linen has been sourced. Every effort has been made to add threads in colours as close to the originals as possible.

Moving forward, Tanja would like to continue working with the archive and encourage embroiderers to use their own palette of colours when stitching. In the 60s all prints would have been made on the same colour background. Now it is possible to make smaller print runs in different colours so that embroiderers are free to interpret the designs in their own way – using more or less colours than the original, using pastels, neutrals or even neons instead of a more traditional palette.

Next week I will be joining Tanja to help set up the exhibition. This will be the first time that much of this work will be on show to the public, so I am incredibly excited! I am also going to be teaching one hour workshops each day where participants will have the opportunity to practise some of the most popular stitches of mid-century Swedish embroidery. We will be using linen threads on linen fabric, with patterns from the Nordiska archive.

I am always amazed by how the simplest of stitches are able to convey so much.

The exhibition will run as part of the Fashion and Embroidery Show and tickets also include entrance to Sewing for Pleasure and Creative Craft Show. Full details can be found via this link and details of the workshop 'A Thread Through Time' can be found here.

My thanks to Tanja at Linladan for letting me join in the fun and to Claudia Brookes, for the use of these fabulous images.

If you do get chance to come along, please say hello so that we can share more inspiration with you!

Tip of the week

Sarah has suggested a couple of tips this week - both are sewing related:

Sarah says she hates it when thread starts to tangle or turn back on itself. To stop it doing this Sarah suggests running the thread through bees wax to make the twist on the thread stronger and tangle free. You can find Hancock's beeswax blocks on the Beyond Measure web site by clicking on the image below.

Sarah's second tip is to use quilters tape as a guide if you struggle to sew in a straight line. You can find the tape by following this link to the Cotton Patch web site.

If you have any life hacks or craft related tips you would like to share within this section of the Friday Feature Newsletter in the future, then do hit reply and let us know.

What's New

I have added a few new pages onto the new web site this week including a workshop page that lists my dates for 2019. You can find the page by following this link.

My next workshop will be at the lovely Missenden Abbey School of Creative Arts in Buckinghamshire on the 9th and 10th March. This is a crochet motif design workshop, which is aimed at people who want to have a little play with their crochet in order to change or adapt existing motifs or possibly design their very own motifs from scratch - something that is in fact far easier than most people think and which can come quite easily once a little bit of basic information about how crochet designing 'works' alongside a pinch of encouragement is given! You can find more information on this workshop by following this link.

I am hoping to have more time to work on the web site next week and will let you know what pages I manage to put live in next week's newsletter. The shop area on the web site is still not up and running, so if you are interested in any patterns or kits, then you might like to take a look on the Just Knots web site or on Black Sheep Wools as both these stores carry good stock of my designs.

As I have told you already, about six weeks ago Andrew and Andrea from the Fruity Knitting Podcast dropped into the studio so that I could take part in an interview with them. The resulting video is on their Youtube feed, so I would love it if you would take a look! If you are a Fruity Knitting Patron you can still make use of a 10% discount on the 3 CAL projects I talk about in the episode - follow this link for more information.

Colour Palette of the Week

Last weekend saw unusually warm, bright weather here in the UK, but the last few days have been much greyer and are far more usual for this time of year and so I have chosen a palette this week that reflects this!

The image used for this week's palette has been saved on my phone for a while as I was attracted to the sophisticated choices made with colour and surface pattern on this embroidery. This kind of mixture of greys and yellows has been a really strong trend for the last few years and I am still itching to use it in one of my designs - perhaps Mystical Lanterns would look great in this tight palette? What do you think?

The image is from an account called Handmade.Embroidery on Instagram.

Instagram Favourite

I have always been a huge fan of the fashion house Alexander McQueen. You may remember me recommending that you all go to see the documentary film about Lee Alexander McQueen last year - it is an amazing insight into the vision of the incredible designer that he was, but it is also unbelievably moving and sad.

In the wake of Lee's death in February 2010 it was Sarah Burton who took the reigns at the brand and I think she has done an incredible job harnessing the legacy of Lee's vision and she continues to design simply amazing things. If you think you may not have seen one of Sarah's designs, then think again - she designed the Duchess of Cambridge's iconic wedding dress in 2011.

I am a huge fan of the Alexander McQueen Instagram account. The pictures on there are fantastic and the range of close up images in particular are really great. The images often come with the written story of the how the clothes were made and it is clear that the skill of the crafts people involved, whether they be seamstresses, leather workers, embroiderers or painters, is a really key part of how Sarah Burton makes this such an inspirational brand.

The images I have included here show pieces from the newest collection and I love how much embroidery has been used.

I want to draw your attention in particular to the black jacket with what looks like splashed red paint across it from the most recent men's wear collection - shown below.

On closer inspection the detail on this jacket it intricately stitched - isn't it incredible! When I saw this close up image I was totally blown away, and I am sure that you will be too!

There is a really good interview with Sarah Burton on the Vogue web site, within which she talks about the importance of the heritage of traditional crafts. You can find the interview by following this link.

It's nearly the weekend!

We had a fabulous time at the Unravel Yarn Festival last weekend and I would like to say a big THANK YOU to all those of you who came along to say hello! We had a new stand layout, which included our new piece of IKEA furniture that we finally managed to go out and get (!) and I was really happy with the way the blankets and throws looked on the display.

My Magic Circles blanket was particularly popular at Unravel. It is funny - we can never predict which blanket will be the star of the show, it changes every single time! I know some people were disappointed that we ran out of both the printed pattern and the kits, so I include a link here for you to easily find them. Magic Circles is shown in the image above behind Fields of Gold and Lily Pond.

Alongside all the fabulous exhibitors, Unravel also featured talks and presentations and I was really excited to finally meet and see the work of fellow crochet designer Katie Jones, which was on display in the gallery.

We are looking forward to a quiet weekend at home. With a bit of luck I might actually finally get the last coat of paint on the hall walls! The house is in major need of a spring clean, so the wet, colder weather might well provide the perfect opportinity for us to do it, although I suspect I am more likely to sit on the settee with a box set of movies to watch on the TV and a lap full of crochet. I am trying to catch up with The Victorian House of Arts and Crafts on BBC Iplayer, so this will be a wonderful distraction from painting!!!

I would, as always, love to hear what you have planned for your weekend and hope that whatever it is you are set for a fabulous couple of days of rest and recouperation.

Sending crochet love and yarny kisses

Show Season

22/2/2019

Janie's Friday Feature

Welcome to this week's Friday Feature Newsletter - the Janie Crow equivalent of a Sunday supplement magazine....

It is a slightly reduced newsletter this week as we are currently away at the Unravel Yarn show in Farnham. This newsletter contains most of the usual features, such as palette of the week and Instagram favourite, but I have not had a chance to work on the main piece, which I had planned would talk about the current trend for all things denim. I promise (again) that this will make it into a newsletter in the future....

In this week's newsletter I have included some information on 2 forthcoming workshops that might be of interest to you. One is a crochet design based weekend workshop that I will be teaching at Missenden Abbey in a few weeks time and the other is some news in regards to the next Knit For Peace workshop in Mysore, India. Do read on further down the email for more information on both of these.

It has been a busy week at Janie Crow, which has included the first phase of the colouring in competition judging and lots of yarn kit making ready for the show this weekend. I have also started work on a new shawl design that will be released in a magazine in the autumn and so far it is really nice to be back designing again after what feels like a long gap between design projects. I am hoping that more ideas will follow, so watch this space......

Happy Friday!

'You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have'
- Maya Angelou -

What's New?

As mentioned in my introduction this week I have news of 2 new workshops that you might be interested in.

I have been lucky enough to teach on the Knit For Peace workshop holiday in Mysore, India twice before and had been in discussion with the charity about tutoring in Jaipur in 2020, however, due to unforeseen circumstances, I will now be replacing Gillian Ely and Debbie Bliss as tutor on the January trip to Mysore once again. The dates of the trip are the 18th to the 31st January and you can register your interest by contacting the charity. More information will be on their web site soon.

I will also be tutoring a weekend workshop at the lovely Missenden Abbey School of Creative Arts in Buckinghamshire on the 9th and 10th March. This is a crochet motif design workshop, which is aimed at people who want to have a little play with their crochet in order to change or adapt existing motifs or possibly design their very own motifs from scratch - something that is in fact far easier than most people think and which can come quite easily once a little bit of basic information about how crochet designing 'works' alongside a pinch of encouragement is given! You can find more information on this workshop by following this link.

Colour Palette of the Week

This week I have taken my palette of colours from a picture I took of my Dad's incredible camelia bush in his garden. The bush is currently full to bursting with these beautiful flowers and I just love it!

We have tried to grow camelias in our own garden, but have never had any luck keeping them, so I am very envious of this one that gives my Mum and Dad such a wonderful display each February.

I have to admit that the palette I have taken from this image surprised me a little as I would have predicted that the flowers were more yellowy pink than bluey pink, but I guess it might be that the shade of the trees in the garden creates different light on the flowers.

Colouring Competition

We have done our first round of judging on the Delft colouring competition this week. We received over 230 entries, which is amazing and it was really hard to make choices between the entries as the quality was so high.

We have chosen our 7 favourite colour palettes and will be crocheting the samples over the next week, so that we can reveal them to you in their crochet form early next month.

The image above shows the selection process and features graphic designer Luise Roberts, myself and Sara Huntington, editor of Simply Crochet magazine. The two other judges were Stylecraft's Brand Manager Annabelle Hill and Juliet Bernard. Please note that images above do not necessarily feature colour palettes of the selected finalists.

I want to send a big THANK YOU to those of you who took the time to send in an entry.

Instagram Favourite

My Instagram favourites to date have been based on feeds that I find attractive visually. I have featured knitters, crocheters, embroiderers and interior designers, all of whom provide bright interesting images of their work or inspiration, which in turn create a reaction in me.

This week my Instagram Favourite ticks all the boxes mentioned above, but more recently Jeanette Sloan has also become one of the leading voices within a very important discussion on social media. If you haven't checked out Jeanette's feed already, then you can find the link here and by clicking on the image above.

It's nearly the weekend!

I told you last week that we were heading off to the NEC in Birmingham to the Stitches trade show and had been invited to the British Crafts Awards ceremony. Well, we had a lovely day at the show and at the event in the evening where I was really thrilled to come runner up, behind the wonderful Dedri Uys of Look at What I Made, in the crochet designer of the year category. Dedri has been in the running for the award many times so it is really great that she finally won. The image below is of Dedri with Anita Mundt from Scheepjes.

As I already said, this weekend we are at the Unravel Yarn show in Farnham. We are really happy with the stand - we did make it to IKEA at last and have a new 'open wardrobe' as part of our stand layout. I think the new piece of furniture shows all the blankets off really nicely and so I will put some images on my Instagram feed. If you are coming along to the show please drop by the stand to say hello - we are in the Great Hall.

If you have been visiting the new Janie Crow web site you probably won't have noticed much of a change since you last visited, so next week it is my intention to get some more new pages on there, so do keep looking out for new things.

Whatever you are up to I hope you have a lovely weekend. If you want to get in touch simply hit reply and let me know what is on your mind.

Sending yarny love and crochet kisses

Healthy Habits

15/2/2019

Janie's Friday Feature

Welcome to this week's Friday Feature Newsletter - the Janie Crow equivalent of a Sunday supplement magazine....

As always I cannot believe just how fast the last week has flown by - the older I get the quicker my time seems to go - it can be a bit scary at times!

This week Sarah and I have been looking at ways of putting healthy habits into practice or keeping in line with those you may have already created. As I have said many times before I found myself in a situation where I needed to reboot my habits and routine a year or so ago, when I felt that everything had got a little bit out of control and when my work in particular was taking over too large a chunk of my time. By working through some very simple exercises over the course of a few months I managed to rearrange my life a little to make room for the things I felt I was missing out on.

It is really easy to loose sight of your goals, be they personal or work related, and get caught up doing things you may no longer enjoy. I have a series of 'post it' notes on the wall in the studio that say things like 'Gym', 'Family', 'Delegate' and 'Prioritise' on them to help me stay in control. I have recently also started using a timer on my phone - I set it to go off at hourly intervals so that I can judge how much time things are taking me, as I do have a habit of spending too much time on small things that are not massively important and so leave too little time for all the other things that need to be done.

Last year one of the things I was really guilty of was filling my spare time with work - I think when you are self employed this is an easy thing to do, so over the past year I have tried to create some new pass times and hobbies. My sourdough bread making, for example, has become a good distraction and (although my waistline has possibly suffered a negative effect as a result) I feel the process of making the bread 3 or 4 times a week provides me with some really good therapy!

The other thing I have started to do again is walk and Sarah mentions the positive effects of walking within her piece further down. When I had my beloved dog I walked over the woods with her every day, but since loosing her 18 months or so ago the walking habit died too! Sarah has some tips for keeping up with healthy habits and has written a great piece for this week's newsletter, so do scroll down to take a look.

As usual this week's newsletter features both a palette and a tip of the week alongside a few other bits and bobs that I hope you will find of interest. As always, if you have anything you want to say to us, simply hit reply and send us an email.

Happy Friday!

'There are always flowers for those who want to see them.'
- Henri Matisse -

Keeping Healthy Habits

Sarah here!

I am really pleased to be joining you again for the Friday Feature and hope that you are all feeling the benefit of any changes you might have made to improve your sense of wellbeing. If like me you started off full of good intentions at the beginning of January and have managed to wander slightly off piste, take heart, you are not on your own. This can be a tricky time of the year to navigate. The festive season is well and truly behind us, but the weather is still unpredictable and although there are the odd signs of spring, there isn’t quite that ‘smell’ in the air yet. However, this could be the best time to check in on the benefits of a healthier lifestyle without all the pressure of the “New Year, New Me” stuff. A few daffodils and twinkly lights is a good way to remind yourself that lighter, warmer days are on their way.

Coming out of your comfort zone at the darkest, coldest and bleakest time of the year, can feel like a bit of an ask. I wonder if this is because we associate healthy habits and regimes with notions of giving things up. How can we help ourselves to stay on track and keep the glass half full? When that sense of overwhelm starts to build up, one of the best things we can do is to simply stop and give ourselves time to reflect and re-assess what we are trying to achieve. What are the building blocks we need to put in place to keep up our momentum? When I started to research this piece there were several simple and obvious ways to help keep us on track – ironically these are always the easiest to lose sight of when life gets busy. So here is a gentle reminder:

A good night’s sleep is one of the most restorative, mood and energy boosting treats you can give yourself – and it is the quality, rather than the quantity of the sleep that matters. I recognize that this may be really irritating to read for those who struggle to sleep as I guess you will have tried all of the following. however, it may help someone and it certainly got me thinking about how I approach the end of the day.

Make sure your bedroom is dark, quiet and well ventilated.
Try to go to bed and get up at the same time – trickier at the weekends I know, but changes in this routine can often lead to migraine.
Avoid screens, (even the TV) an hour before you intend to go to sleep.
Exercise regularly.
If you do wake up you could try reading or do something else relaxing until you feel tired again – do not be tempted to check your devices!

I often watch the TV before going to bed and, although I read once in bed, this checklist has made me think about when I watch some of my favourite programmes. Rather than staying up late to catch something, I am going to try recording it and watching it at a better time. It’s a small change, but if it improves the quality of my sleep then it’s a bonus.
Healthy eating has never been easier, but it can still be a struggle some days. I grew up in a house where homemade cakes and biscuits were always available and no dinner was complete without pudding! I still punctuate the day and reward myself with sweet things. Deep down I know this is not good for me.

In a previous Friday Feature you may remember I mentioned that I was going meat free during January. Well, I have stayed meat free and am still really enjoying exploring new recipes, tastes and textures. I am more conscious of the importance of cooking from scratch and how batch cooking can prevent relapsing into bad habits. I have eaten out a couple of times and given in to dessert, but the important thing is that as a family we are making more conscious decisions about what we eat. Preparing food for and sharing new dishes with friends is a habit we have no trouble maintaining!

My attitude to exercise is probably worse than my passion for cakes and puddings! P.E. lessons terrified me at school, but I was very good at ballet, so I do appreciate the importance of exercise and the tremendous boost it can give to our wellbeing. I guess it is another case of finding what works for the individual. I love walking and take my dogs for a run twice a day, so not a complete couch potato! I think walking is a great way to exercise and allows you to make discoveries along the way. Who would have thought that this photo was taken in the heart of Birmingham!

Despite my treks with the dogs I could definitely do more and so recently we have started walking to the local supermarket instead of taking the car. I often leave things upstairs so that I have to make several trips – sounds crazy, but every little helps. I have also discovered a five minute morning yoga routine that I am going to try. I know that lots of you run, cycle, work out and do yoga, so I hope you are not too appalled by my less than energetic ways. Finding the time to exercise can often be a constraint, but anything is better than nothing, so that will be my starting point!

And finally – STRESS!

We need a small amount of stress to function and to keep motivated but too much is detrimental to both our physical and mental health. It is something we will all face at different points in our life and the triggers will be different for all of us. However, we can develop habits or strategies to alleviate this pressure when we are often at our most vulnerable. Not a day goes by without some report about the negative impact of technology (and often specifically social media) on our health and wellbeing. I have been as guilty as the next person on the number of times I check my phone and counting the number of likes a post gets on Instagram. Apparently, every time you get a like on Facebook or Instagram you get a little hit of dopamine, every time you see something new you get another hit – that is why it is so addictive. The dangers are well documented – constant connections to our phones leads to lack of focus and concentration and creativity, poor sleep and probably most harmful of all – endless comparison with the apparent success, luck and gorgeousness of other people. This is not intended as a rant against the use of social media, just a gentle reminder that it is OK to take a break!
Chances are that if you are reading this feature it is because you crochet, knit or stitch, possibly all three. Working with our hands and engaging with calm, rhythmical and repetitive action leads to a state of flow, similar to meditation. Our focus and concentration improves and our self esteem improves. It helps us to feel grounded in an ever virtual world. These are great habits and certainly the ones I feel most easy to maintain.

Everyone’s circumstances are different and it is so easy to forget to take care of ourselves. Without some level of self care, both our physical and mental health is likely to suffer. Self care is not a hedonistic concept it is about developing a calmer, balanced and healthier lifestyle, often through tiny changes. Two books that I refer to all the time are Self-care for the Real World and Rituals for Every Day. They are written by two sisters, Nadia Narain and Katia Narain Phillipsand published by Penguin Random House. The emphasis is on suggesting ways to look after yourself and boost your sense of well being, rather than dictating a regime. They are realistic and recognize the curve balls that life throws at us.

I hope you have a great weekend and that you are able to eat something nutritious, get outside and breathe some fresh air, but also find time to rest and relax with your current project.

Tip of the week

The new Janie Crow web site now has 14 free technique downloads and a range of helpful YouTube videos uploaded to help you on your crochet journey. You can find them by following the links.

This week I want to highlight one of the videos - 'How to make a neat ring' - as it features a great little tip on how to make sure your slip knot isn't visible in your foundation ring when working in the round. The images above show how much better the ring can look if you use this tip. You can find the video by following this link.

What's New?

The response to the new web sites has been amazing - thank you to all of you who have taken the time to comment on them and get in touch.

For those of you who don't already know, the new Just Knots web site is a retail site that replaces our original Janie Crow one and for the time being historical links from Janie Crow, such as those in past newsletters and magazine features for example, will be automatically redirected to this site. Going forwards though, anything related specifically to me and my design will be featured primarily on the new Janie Crow site.

About six weeks ago Andrew and Andrea from the Fruity Knitting Podcast dropped into the studio so that I could take part in an interview with them. The resulting video went live on Tuesday via their Youtube feed, so I would love it if you would take a look!

Colour Palette of the Week

I wanted to feature a bright and cheery palette this week. I took this image in February last year - I remember going out and getting a bunch of tulips in the hope that they would cheer up a dull and miserable couple of days. The image was taken with the lights on at home, so it isn't brilliantly clear, but I think I have managed to create a nice palette of shades from it - I really do love purple/dark red shades with bright greens.

I remember thinking that we were heading into spring this time last year and then we had all that snow! We did the Spring Knitting and Stitching show in thick snow (the worst that London has seen for years) and had snow again when we were at the Edinburgh Yarn Festival and that was mid March, so I am guessing there is still a chance that we haven't had all our winter weather just yet - it is lovely to start thinking about the spring though isn't it!

Colouring Competition

The colouring competition has been a huge success - our postman, Dave, has been kept very busy this week delivering all the entry forms! I have been incredibly restrained and have yet to open a single one of them. A small group of us will be going through the entries and picking our favourites next Wednesday and I really can't wait to start looking through them.

I want to send a big THANK YOU to those of you who have taken the time to send in an entry. We will be revealing the 5 finalists in early March - so do look out for more information on that very soon!

Instagram Favourite

I have recently started following the work of quite a few embroiderers on Instagram. I really love the detail of some of the things they are doing and have been really surprised at how innovative and exciting the craft has become.

I have been following @fistashka.art for a few months now and I just love it when her work comes up on the feed. Polina, the embroiderer behind Fistashka Art, is from Russia and has been embroidering since 2015. Recently she has been concentrating on lovely moth and butterfly brooches, but you can see from the image that she also works on mini portraits and larger pieces.

'My works are often compared to Impressionist paintings, because my embroidery recalls this style. I am inspired by the works of Van Gogh, Monet, Renoir and Russian painters.'

Freddie Fever!

Last week I featured Mark @theguywiththehook as my Instagram favourite - I hope you followed the link and liked his feed.

This week Mark has completed his tribute to the legend that was Freddie Mercury. Isn't it amazing! You can find the pattern via Mark's blog by following this link or clicking on the image above.

It's nearly the weekend!

I am looking forward to a day at home tomorrow, although we didn't make it to IKEA last weekend, so it may well be that we decide to squeeze this in at some point. On Sunday we are going to head up to the NEC in Birmingham to visit the 'CHSI Stitches' trade show. I am really looking forward to this as we are going to catch up with Sarah while we are up there and I have been invited to attend the British Craft Award ceremony in the evening.

Thinking about the event on Sunday reminded me that I was recently sent some images from the British Knitting and Crochet Awards party back in October. I thought you might like to the one above as it is not often that Lucy from Attic24, Dedri from Look at what I made and myself manage to collide at the same time. The image also features Sarah Neal, Editor of Let's Knit magazine.

Next week we will be heading off to exhibit at Unravel Farnham. The show starts on Friday and runs through to next Sunday. If you are planning to visit the show please drop by our stand to say hello - we will be in the main hall.

Next week's newsletter will focus on Denim, which is a really big trend for spring, so I hope you will join me. In the mean time I trust you will have a wonderfully creative and enjoyable week...

Thing 1 & Thing 2

8/2/2019

Janie's Friday Feature

Welcome to this week's Friday Feature Newsletter - the Janie Crow equivalent of a Sunday supplement magazine....

I hope this newsletter finds you all well and happy and that you have some great plans for the weekend. The weather is particularly miserable here in North London today, so I hope it is a bit brighter where you are. When it is a bit grey and rainy I find it quite hard to feel motivated and I have to admit that the idea of the settee and the company of the TV is quite alluring at the moment, but this weekend is in fact set to be quite busy because of two really exciting things:

Thing One: My new JANIE CROW web site has officially gone live today! The site it is not totally up to speed, but I am so desperate to show it to you that I decided it should go live regardless - I hope you will like it! You can find more information about the new site in the 'What's New' feature lower down this email.

Thing Two: I will be taking over the Instagram feed at Simply Crochet Magazine from tomorrow morning through to Sunday evening, which means I will be busy sharing images and stories for the weekend. Please do drop by to take a look!

This week I had planned to take a look at the new fashion trends for spring and had wanted to give you an over all view of what will be in and what will be out this year. There is one key trend that I really want to write about, partly because it relates so well to my yarny world, but also because I have always been a big fan of DENIM. Sadly though, with all that has been going on with the new web sites and all the catching up that needed to be done after our trip to Vogue Knitting Live, I have decided to schedule this piece in for a future newsletter.

Don't forget that the colouring in competition closes next Friday, so you only have one more week to get your entry back to us in the post. The overall winner will receive £150, a yarn pack of their personal colour design, they will have their colourway included in a revised Delft pattern AND they will be featured in Simply Crochet magazine. The two runner up prizes are the same, but will receive £50 each. I think these are pretty great prizes, so, if you like a bit of mindful colouring in and are looking for something to do over the weekend, why not download the entry form (after reading the competition guidelines) and get colouring in!

I hope you will enjoy five minutes away from what you are doing to take a short break in my company whilst you read through this week's newsletter - as always, if you have anything you want to say or contribute please hit reply and let me know!

Don't get your knickers in a knot. Nothing is solved and it just makes you walk funny!
- Kathryn Carpenter -

Tip of the week

I received an email a few weeks ago from a lady called Maggie Fork who has asked about sewing in yarn ends. I am a real stickler for dealing with yarn ends as I go along rather than leaving them until the end of a project and I must admit to being a bit fussy about it!

You can find a free technique download called 'Dealing With Yarn Ends' on the new web site by following this link. The download talks you through how to weave in ends and how to sew them in and is one of 14 free download files.

What's New?

So at long last we finally have TWO new web sites! I know, I know - they've been a long time coming, but I hope that after all this time they will be worth the wait!

The new Just Knots web site is a retail site that replaces our original Janie Crow one. The web site is looked after in the main part by Andy and Sue and will act as one of our supported retailers of the Janie Crow brand. For the time being historical links from Janie Crow, such as those in past newsletters and magazine features for example, will be automatically redirected to this site, but going forwards anything related specifically to me and my design will be featured primarily on the new Janie Crow site.

I would really like it if you would take some time to have a quick browse of both new sites - they will remain under construction for the next few weeks and the JANIE CROW one in particular has a lot more to add, but I am hopeful that you will find lots of interesting things on there already.

My new site is basically the home for anything related to me and my design. You will find free technique downloads, links to my Youtube channel, my blog and specific information about my designs on there and eventually you will also be able to shop for patterns and browse a small eclectic range of items such as bespoke crochet hooks and shawl pins. The new site will not be selling kits, yarn or other more generally sold items as these will be available via other stockists. You can find information on stockists and trade sales by following this link.

Colour Palette of the Week

This week's palette is taken from a photograph I took at my Mum and Dad's house earlier on today. My Dad always plants these lovely little irises outside the dining room window in the autumn so that they appear this time of year and I love the fact that they start to bring a little bit of colour to the garden.

The mild weather has meant that Dad's camelia is also really busy producing the most beautiful flowers. I will try to remember to get an image of these to share with you at some point too. I love the fact that the bright shades of winter blooming plants are made all the more special by the grey weather - pops of colour really catch my eye this time of year and I love the bright purple, yellow and green of Dad's irises, even if I did take the picture from inside of the rain splashed window!

Colouring Competition

As I said in the introduction to this week's newsletter there is just one week left until this competition closes. You can enter as many times as you like, so why not unleash your creativity and enjoy some mindful colouring in?

Simply colour in the motif chart to create your own version of my Delft blanket design, then pop it in the post to us along with your written entry form to be in with a chance of winning a great prize. You can find the downloadable information pack and competition guidelines here and the competition entry form here.

The original Janie Crow Delft Crochet Blanket was inspired by the blue and white Delftware from the Netherlands. It is made up of a single motif, plus a half motif, worked in three colour ways: Dark, Medium and Light. Only one colour is worked in each round, and each colour way uses all the yarns – they just appear in different rounds and amounts.

Using all the yarns in each motif is a foolproof way of ensuring a harmonious overall blanket design, but it is not the only way. Those of you that follow my blog or receive my newsletters know that I find inspiration for my colour palettes wherever I go. When I have an idea, I surround myself with the yarns that evoke the same feelings and start to design. I am fortunate in that I have an abundance of yarn in my studio, but you can do the same using felt tip pens, coloured pencils and paper.

I find it fascinating how recolouring a design can completely change the way it looks and I love to see other crocheters versions of my designs, especially those that have used an alternative colour palette. With this in mind Luise and I thought it would be really fun to invite you to colour in a chart representation of one of my Delft design to see what wonderful ideas you can come up with. Dont' worry - this isn’t a design competition! You do not need to know how to design, or even how to crochet, all you need to do is colour in a chart and pop it in the post!

The idea is that the entries will be judged and a selection of finalists will be chosen after a public vote. Winners will be given prizes and the yarn colour packs for the new colour ways, which will include the winner’s name and inspiration, will subsequently be available via Stylecraft stockists. The colour substitution documents for each new colour way will also be available as free downloads via this web site and will feature in an updated version of the Delft Blanket crochet pattern later on this year.

Instagram Favourite

My Instagram favourite this week is theguywiththehook. I love Mark's work and am especially intrigued at the moment to find out how his crocheted Freddie (top left of the image below) is going to turn out!

Mark has just released his brand new Tibet Tiles crochet blanket design, which is shown quite a few times in the image above and you can find his blog post and the pattern by following the link here.

Fruity Knitting

About six weeks ago Andrew and Andrea from the Fruity Knitting Podcast dropped into the studio so that I could take part in an interview with them. The resulting video is due to go live on Tuesday via their Youtube feed, so I would love it if you would take a look.

If you haven't seen any of the Fruity Knitting podcasts before then I suggest you do so! Andrea has interviewed some really influential makers, designers and yarn producers and she and Andrew always include some great features in their programmes, which are always really professionally produced and interesting to watch. I had a streaming cold at the time, so I am hoping I don't sound too snuffly!

It's nearly the weekend!

I know that this newsletter is once again heading out a little late, but hopefully it will land in your inbox at a time when you are able to take some time out and enjoy it! As I have already said - we have a busy weekend of web site buidling and Instagramming (is that a word?) ahead of us, but we are also planning some family time and maybe even a (brave?) trip to IKEA to look at display stands - we are heading into show season, so I am hoping we might find a cool solution to displaying my mounting pile of blankets!

I leave you this week with this lovely image sent to me by Linda Smith via my Facebook page. I just love Linda's use of the lilac shade in place of the blues I used on the original version of Fields of Gold.

Hope you have a lovely weekend and a good time next week - if you're heading out for a Valentines Day celebration then I hope you have a really nice time!

Sending crochet love and yarny kisses.

Back Home and raring to go!

1/2/2019

This is a slightly late Friday Feature Newsletter this week as we are freshly back from New York and (after a bit of a jet lag driven lay in this morning) I have spent today trying to catch up with a back log of emails and orders.

We had an amazing time at Vogue Knitting Live last weekend and I would like to thank you all for your good wishes and those of you who visited the booth - it really was incredible to be so far from home and meet so many people who already follow my work. You can find some images from the show lower down this email along with our usual features such as the Palette of the Week and my Instagram Favourite.

We have returned to the studio to find lots of entry forms for the colouring competition waiting for us and you can find the information about this lower down the email too.

This is the final Friday Feature Newsletter to be sent from this mailing list. If you want to sign up to the new list in order to receive the newsletters from next week on-wards then please see the information about this lower down the email. Next week's newsletter will focus on the fashion trends for spring and I will be including a nice piece from Sarah who is going to look at the craft of tie dying.

As always, if you have anything you want to say or something you would like to be included in a future newsletter then do hit reply and let us know.

Happiness is a way of travel, not a destination.
- Roy M. Goodman -

Vogue Knitting Live - New York 2019

I tried my best to share lots of images on my Instagram account while we were away, but the lack of good internet connection and the time difference meant that I was a bit out of sync with posting. Below are a few images I took whilst at the show. I have more and will share them with a little more back ground information over the next few weeks, once I am back up to speed.

The light at the venue was quite blue, so please excuse the quality of a lot of my images - you can find better pictures on the Vogue Knitting Live Instagram site by following this link.

The image above is of the Magpie Fibres stand. The shawl is called Nightshift and it is by Andrea Mowry aka Drea Renee Knits - you can find the pattern by following this link. The image doesn't do this beautiful shawl justice I am afraid, but you will find better images on Andrea's web site.

The image above is of the 3 winning finalist designs in the Donegal Tweed exhibition. The brioche one in the middle, which won first prize, is particularly beautiful don't you think?

After years of yearning I also made it to Purl Soho - a store I have wanted to visit for the last decade or so. The simplicity of the way the store designs it's displays and it's in house garments and accessories is just lovely - I am hopeful that the image above gives you an idea of their style if you haven't come across them before

Tip of the week

I have only had a quick chance to test this tip of the week out, but I am told by my friend Sarah Lally, who sent in the suggestion, that she now uses it all the time. When working treble crochet (US double):

'Instead of doing 3 chains at the beginning of a row or round, do a
double crochet with a chain on top. Looks less leggy and more like a
real stitch.....I must say I have only recently discovered it and am now a complete convert!'.

What's New?

Two weeks have passed since our original Janie Crow web site crashed beyond repair which meant that the new 'Just Knots' site went live a little sooner than we had intended. There is still some work to be done on the site and some glitches are still appearing so I hope you will all be patient with us while we get everything up to speed.

You can find the new Just Knots web site, which has all the stock items from the original site, by following this link. All the original Janie Crow links will be directed to the new site automatically.

Because we have been away we have not had a chance to work on the new Janie Crow brand site, which will be the new home of my blog, technique downloads and design information, but we are hoping to get this sorted very soon. I am building the site myself, with help from Andy, so I and am really keen to show it to you - all being well there should be something for you to see within the next two weeks so keep your eye out for more information.

If you have been following the Dolce and Gabanna related discussions on my social media feed then you may have noticed some comments in regards to copyright statements on knitting and crochet patterns. Copyright statements exist to protect the original designer of a pattern and are applicable whether or not a pattern is free. When the D&G copycat story was first shared a few weeks ago there were lots of people saying they were surprised that patterns hold a copyright statement and so I thought I should mention a few things in regards to this in this week's email.

A crochet pattern is like a recipe in that it can only be attributed to a designer in it's original form. If a certain number of changes are made then a pattern could be said to have been changed enough to no longer be within the ownership of the original designer. This is a bit like adding a few of your own special ingredients to a Jamie Oliver recipe or adding an extra egg to Mary Berry's Victoria Sponge recipe (I do this and it makes the sponge lighter), however, none of these changes to the ingredients alter the fact that the source of the recipe comes from the original celebrity chef and that it should therefore be accredited to them and the same applies to a knit or crochet pattern.

One of the areas that I think may have also caused confusion is in relation to making and profitting from a knit or crochet design published (either free or otherwise) by an independent designer. I have had a surge of people contact me in regards to this so I thought I should try to explain how the copyright statement on my patterns affects those of you who make items to sell.

In short - if you want to sell an item made from one of my patterns, be it a blanket, a hat or a bag, then you should credit me as the designer. In theory you should ask for permission first, before you list an item for sale and you can do this by emailing me - in most cases I will say yes to a request, so it is not the end of the world if you have not asked in advance.

I hope this makes things clearer. If in doubt please email me or hit reply to this email.

To tie in with the words above I want to share this image of my Magic Circles Blanket made by Amikitoramikat - a seller who has listed my designs on her Etsy account. I adore the styling on this image and am in love with the bright pink walls and turquoise wardrobe in Kathryn's picture.

Colour Palette of the Week

The image I chose to take my palette from this week is one I took in New York. It sounds a bit silly, but even after 8 days there I still had to pinch myself that I was seeing big yellow school buses and taxis and wandering down streets from the movies!

I took this image on the east side of Central Park after Andy and I took a rather chilly walk through it. I stood and waited at the lights for a cab to go through so that I could catch the yellow! When I look at the image now I wish I had pulled out the bright orange of the dog coat that is in the bottom left of the image and maybe the burgundy shade on the sign post at the centre as these may have added quite a different feeling to the palette.

Colouring Competition

Don't forget that the colouring competition I launched here last week is open until 15th February 2019. You can enter as many times as you like, so why not unleash your creativity and enjoy some mindful colouring in?

The competition is being launched in support of the release of a newly worked version of my Delft blanket pattern, which uses Stylecraft Life DK. The patterns for the blue and cream colour way, which was inspired by my love of Delftware and The Willow Pattern china, are available now via Stylecraft stockists. You can follow this link to find out more about the design and purchase the 12 page brochure pattern (£4.95) or the Stylecraft Life DK kit, which contains 15 x 100g balls of yarn, the pattern and a sew in label for £44.95. The pattern is available in UK & US terminology and Dutch language.
No purchase necessary to enter the competition.

I really hope that you like the thought of entering the competition. Don't forget that it closes on the 15th of February. You can find more information in this month's copy of Simply Crochet Magazine and via Stylecraft's social media platforms.

Instagram Favourite

My Instagram account recommendation this week is that of Geninne D Zlatkis, who describes herself as a 'passionately curious artist living with Manolo, our two sons and an adorable red healer named Zorro'.

I love it when Geninne's images pop up on my feed, especially when they include pics of her dazzling dog and beautiful art work. You can find her account by following this link. Her work is also available to buy on Etsy.

Sign up or miss out!

As I have already said, today's newsletter will be the final one to be sent from this mailing list. This list belongs to our original web site, which has now been renamed as Just Knots. Because of new laws introduced last year we have to make a clear definition between the mailing lists for our 2 new web sites and so, in order to continue to receive this email on a Friday afternoon, you must sign up to a new mailing list. Follow this link to sign up.

It's nearly the weekend!

We have a snow flurry going on outside right now, which is adding to the existing layer of snow we had over night, so I think it will be a case of sticking close to home this weekend. I am desperate to get my hands on a crochet hook as I have had no time to do any crochet for about 2 weeks and my hands are itching to get going! I have a new design in my head so as soon as I have pressed send on this newsletter I am going to wind off a skein of yarn and get going....

I hope that wherever you are and whatever you are doing you stay happy, well and warm. If you are in the US then I hope you are not too badly affected by your record breaking cold weather.

Sending crochet love and yarny kisses.

Greetings from new york

25/1/2019

Welcome to this week's Friday Feature Newsletter - the Janie Crow equivalent of a Sunday supplement magazine....

Greetings from The Big Apple!

After months of waiting we have finally arrived in New York for The Vogue Knitting Live Show, which starts this evening at 5pm. We are VERY excited! I will tell you all about the show and share some images in next week's newsletter.

At last we have some positive news about the new web sites, which you can find lower down this email in the 'What's New?' section. I have also included some information about a lovely Italian knitting holiday that Sarah will be tutoring in May and I have left in the information about the colouring competition, which I know many of you have already been getting involved in.

The first feature of the newsletter relates to my admiration for the Austrian artists Egon Shiele and Gustav Klimt and my colour palette of the week also relates to this topic. I hope you will enjoy it.

I'd rather regret the things I've done than regret the things I haven't done.
- Lucille Ball -

Vienna Artists - Klimt and Shiele

When I was at art school back in the 1990s I based my final show on the work of Gustav Klimt. For my textile degree I specialised in machine knitting and for my show I produced fabrics that had a see through rayon knitted back fabric with swirls, circles and squares added on by wrapping yarns around the needles at the front of the fabric to create an extra, almost 3D layer - the effect was almost like a devore fabric and (of course) I added beads and vintage mother of pearl buttons for added sparkly effect.

As part of our course we had to produce art work as inspiration or in support of our knitted designs and so I made accompanying pieces using a collage technique to echo many of Klimt's paintings. My Mum and Dad still have many of these pieces of artwork hanging in their home, although some are now looking a bit sorry for themselves as the pieces of foil, magazine cuttings, buttons, beads and yarn I stuck on almost 30 years ago are beginning to fade and fall off!

Around a decade ago there was a surge in popularity of Klimt's paintings and many stores made the most of the trend by selling large reproduction canvasses of paintings like The Kiss and The Three Ages of Woman so I am sure that many of you are aware of Klimt's work, especially his gold period.

I didn't really get to grips with crochet until about ten years ago, so it wasn't something that I added into my degree work, although we did have to include one hand knitted sample within our final collection. When I first started my crochet journey I remember stumbling across images of crochet inspired by Klimt paintings and I still love the idea of doing something similar. I have posted some images of some fabulous projects with links to the crocheters who have made them below.

Babette by Kathy Merrick

If you like the look of the image above then you might alos like to look at the blog of French designer 'Clothogancho'.

Image from Flickr - Vicx Paper Village

What do you think of these pieces? I think they are fabulous and that there is such a wealth of Klimt paintings that could still inspire fabulous crochet design. Perhaps one day I will return to this idea, maybe once I have managed to visit the famous Albetina Museum and the Beethoven Secession Building in Vienna - two places that are more or less at the top of my bucket list, sitting just under my desire to visit Frida Kahlo's Blue House in Mexico.

A few weeks before Christmas my friend Luise and I went to the Royal Academy of Arts here in London to see the Klimt/Shiele exhibition Drawings from the Albertina Museum - Vienna. We were also lucky enough to attend a talk by the curator of the show prior to walking around the galleries. I am a huge fan of both Klimt and Sheile's work and this exhibition compounded my admiration for the incredible drawing skills of both artists.

'1918 was a seismic year in Vienna. As the Austro-Hungarian Empire crumbled, an intense period of creative vitality drew to an end with the deaths of two of its foremost artists. One was the preeminent and strikingly modern painter of fin-de-siècle Vienna, Gustav Klimt; the other the young, scandalous and prodigiously talented Egon Schiele. Both revelled in the immediacy of drawing, an ideal medium for exploring new ideas of modernity, subjectivity and the erotic.'

Whilst I heartily recommend the show to you, especially if you are a fan of life drawing, if you are not aware of Sheile's drawings in particular then I suggest that you take a look at some of them before you book tickets or make a journey into town to see the show, as, even 100 years after they were drawn, many of them are still pretty shocking for their erotic content.

Tip of the week

My good friend Dedri from Look at What I Made showed me how to use a running stitch marker a couple of years ago and it is a technique that I find invaluable when working in the round and is one that I cannot believe I lived without knowing for so long!

Using a running stitch marker is really simple and makes working in the round so much easier. It is also a great way of helping you understand the way crochet stitches work in the round as the running thread shows you how the round end moves over by one stitch on each row.

Dedri's images above show the first 2 steps of the technique. You will find the full tutorial by taking a look at Dedri's web site, where she has posted a great blog piece about working in the round. Dedri uses US terminology.

What's New?

Those of you who have been reading the newsletters over the last 6 weeks or so will know that we have been promising you that 2 new web sites would be launched very soon. Our original plan was to launch in November, but after a load of technical issues we had no choice but to delay this.

Last week our original Janie Crow web site crashed beyond repair, probably as a result of all the migration of products and images to the new site. This sudden failure of the site has meant that we have had to make the new 'Just Knots' site live a little sooner than we had intended and means that it is still under construction. If you have seen the site I hope you will feel that it looks and works better than the original site anyway, but you may find some glitches, so please bear with us while we work through these.

You can find the new Just Knots web site, which has all the stock items from the original site, by following this link.

All the original Janie Crow links will be directed to the new site automatically and the colouring competition can also be accessed via this site by typing www.janiecrow/delftcompetition into your browser.

The new Janie Crow brand site, which will be the new home of my blog, technique downloads and design information is almost ready and I am really looking forward to showing it to you within the next few weeks.

Colour Palette of the Week

I have taken this week's colour palette from Gustav Klimt's painting Water Serpents 11. Klimt created many pieces using mermaids and serpents as inspiration, but this one has always been one of my favourites and there is my own collage version of this painting within my degree portfolio.

I am currently going through a love affair with the colour orange, so I thought this would make a perfect palette to sit in this week's newsletter and carries on nicely from last week's palette where I also looked at coral and terracotta shades.

Italy in the springtime with Sarah

Sarah here! Most of what I know about Professional Finishing and how to alter a garment so that it fits your size and body shape I learnt from Jane and now I also love teaching workshops that help others get a really good finish on their knitted projects. In May I will be returning to the Watermill in Posara, Tuscany to tutor a series of workshops based on one of my most successful designs – The Phoebe Poncho.

I have taught workshops for many years and one of the things that I have become aware of is that knitters want to understand how they can alter a pattern to get a better fit, so, this year’s project focuses on creating a simple garment tailor-made to your requirements. I will be demonstrating how a simple folded poncho can be altered for different heights, body shape, arm length and necklines.

All participants will receive enough yarn, in a denim shade of their choice, as well as notes and instructions on how to record measurements, make alterations to sleeve and body length and work on a successful neckline. There will be opportunities to swatch different stitch patterns as well as discuss the best ways to finish your project.

The location of this week long workshop in northern Italy is total bliss and the food, wine and hosting by Bill and Lois is second to none. There are a couple of places left on this wonderful holiday, which runs from the 4th to 11th May. It would be fabulous if you could join me!

For more information on the holiday follow this link.

Colouring Competition

The original Janie Crow Delft Crochet Blanket was inspired by the blue and white Delftware from the Netherlands. It is made up of a single motif, plus a half motif, worked in three colour ways: Dark, Medium and Light. Only one colour is worked in each round, and each colour way uses all the yarns – they just appear in different rounds and amounts.

Using all the yarns in each motif is a foolproof way of ensuring a harmonious overall blanket design, but it is not the only way. Those of you that follow my blog or receive my newsletters know that I find inspiration for my colour palettes wherever I go. When I have an idea, I surround myself with the yarns that evoke the same feelings and start to design. I am fortunate in that I have an abundance of yarn in my studio, but you can do the same using felt tip pens, coloured pencils and paper.

I find it fascinating how recolouring a design can completely change the way it looks and I love to see other crocheters versions of my designs, especially those that have used an alternative colour palette. With this in mind Luise and I thought it would be really fun to invite you to colour in a chart representation of one of my Delft design to see what wonderful ideas you can come up with. Don't worry - this isn’t a design competition! You do not need to know how to design, or even how to crochet, all you need to do is colour in a chart and pop it in the post!

The idea is that the entries will be judged and a selection of finalists will be chosen after a public vote. Winners will be given prizes and the yarn colour packs for the new colour ways, which will include the winner’s name and inspiration, will subsequently be available via Stylecraft stockists. The colour substitution documents for each new colour way will also be available as free downloads via this web site and will feature in an updated version of the Delft Blanket crochet pattern later on this year.

Sign up or miss out!

Next week's newsletter (1st February) will be the final one to be sent from this mailing list. This list belongs to our original web site, which has now been renamed as Just Knots. Because of new laws introduced last year we have to make a clear definition between the mailing lists for our 2 new web sites and so, in order to continue to receive this email on a Friday afternoon, you must sign up to a new mailing list. Follow this link to sign up.

It's nearly the weekend!

I told you last week about a situation where I felt my work had been copied by fashion house Dolce and Gabbana. I know that many of you are continuing to send messages to the company and are making your voices heard on social media, so I want to thank you again for all your support. Stylecraft have also been incredibly supportive and we hope that between us we will get some kind of response from D&G. I will let you know if I hear anything. If you missed last week's newsletter you can find it by following this link.

We had a fabulous time at Waltham Abbey Wool Show last Sunday - as always it was a great day with lots of visitors and a fantastic array of vendors. The show is held every 3rd Sunday of January, so you might want to put the date in your diary for next year!

Once we are home from the US our next show will be Unravel in Farnham from the 22nd to the 24th February. I will be teaching a Mystical Lanterns workshop at the show and you can find tickets by following this link. I always feel like this show marks the change from winter to early spring, although last year we had snow in March, so fingers crossed that the same won't happen this year!

We are looking forward to exhibiting at Edinburgh Yarn Festival in March. I think advance tickets may have sold out, but you can get tickets on the door and you can find more information by following this link.

We will be at the show here in New York right through to Sunday afternoon when it closes at 4pm. I am going to try and remember to take plenty of images so that I can show them you next week and I will also be putting some on Instagram, so do take a look.

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend.

GET YOUR PENS AND PENCILS OUT

18/1/2019

Janie's Friday Feature

Welcome to this week's Friday Feature Newsletter - the Janie Crow equivalent of a Sunday supplement magazine....

It has been a really busy week here at Janie Crow as we are preparing to head off to Vogue Knitting Live in New York next week and because we have launched (what I think is) a really exciting colouring competition. I mentioned this briefly last week, but you can find out more about it further down this email.

Another reason for the fervent activity in the Janie Crow studio this week is because we have now launched one of the 2 new web sites. The Just Knots site remains under construction, but is now live and taking orders. You can find it by following this link or by clicking on the logo above. The old web site is not automatically redirecting traffic at the moment, but we hope to have this glitch fixed soon. We are planning for the other new web site to go live on Monday - this is also under construction so please bear with us while the new sites are being worked on.

This week sees the return of the lovely Sarah to the Friday Feature newsletter. Sarah has written a piece on interior colour trends and has also very kindly agreed to share one of her favourite vegetarian recipes, should you fancy doing a bit of cooking over the weekend.

I hope you will enjoy this week's newsletter - it is quite a long one, so grab a drink and a couple of custard creams and spend a bit of time catching up with all things Janie Crow!

It is never too late to be what you might have been.
- Adelaide Anne Procter -

Colouring Competition

I am so excited to introduce you to a fun colouring in competition that I have devised in collaboration with graphic designer Luise Roberts, Simply Crochet Magazine and Stylecraft Yarns. The competition is open until 15th February 2019 and you can enter as many times as you like, so why not unleash your creativity and enjoy some mindful colouring in?

The competition is being launched in support of the release of a newly worked version of my Delft blanket pattern, which uses Stylecraft Life DK. The patterns for the blue and cream colour way, which was inspired by my love of Delftware and The Willow Pattern china, are available now via Stylecraft stockists. You can follow this link to find out more about the design and purchase the 12 page brochure pattern (£4.95) or the Stylecraft Life DK kit, which contains 15 x 100g bals of yarn, the pattern and a sew in label for £44.95. The pattern is available in UK & US terminology and Dutch language.
No purchase neccessary to enter the competition.

I really hope that you like the thought of entering the competition. Don't forget that it closes on the 15th of February. You can find more information in this month's copy of Simply Crochet Magazine and via Stylecraft's social media platforms.

Interior Trends - The Colour Story

Sarah here! It’s great to be back and contributing to Jane’s Friday Feature!

Jane started talking to me towards the end of last year about some of the additional subjects and ideas she wanted us to explore in 2019 and I am really excited to be playing a part in this! Right now, it is still January, (which always goes on FOREVER in my opinion!), light levels are low and the weather is unpredictable, her in the UK anyway, so it’s a great time to start thinking about any changes you want to make to your home during the spring. I am always fascinated to see how it is often the simplest of changes that have the most impact on the way we live in our homes.

There are two really strong colour stories for 2019. The first is Pantone’s 16 – 1546 (Living Coral), a mouthwatering vibrant coral - shown above.

Pantone declared that Living Coral would be the 2019 Colour of the Year, not least because of its life affirming tone, but also because of the symbolism it shares with the natural world.

'Just as coral reefs are a source of sustenance and shelter to sea life, vibrant yet mellow PANTONE 16-1546 Living Coral embraces us with warmth and nourishment to provide comfort and buoyancy in our continually shifting environment.

In reaction to the onslaught of digital technology and social media increasingly embedding into daily life, we are seeking authentic and immersive experiences that enable connection and intimacy. Sociable and spirited, the engaging nature of PANTONE 16-1546 Living Coral welcomes and encourages lighthearted activity. Symbolizing our innate need for optimism and joyful pursuits, Pantone 16-1546 Living Coral embodies our desire for playful expression.'

Another key colour for 2019 is the more demure, but no less dramatic 'Night Watch' (Pantone Ref PPG1145-7)

The inspiration for advocating this luxurious green is its association with nature once again. Take one look at Night Watch and we think of luscious vegetation and the calming atmosphere of walking through a forest. The image below is typical of the way that Night Watch is being used as a feature wall to provide a flawless backdrop to those elements used in the soft furnishings and accessories like brass, glass, wood and woven textiles and proves to be the perfect foil to those coral coloured tulips taking centre stage.

Here at Janie Crow we had a great response to the Colour Palette of the Week feature in last Friday's newsletter, with some readers suggesting that they would be interested in buying packs of yarn based on an inspiring palette - this is something that Jane and I are going to look into.

I came across this gorgeous image that I think really sums up the potential of these two 2019 trend colours.

I decided to put some yarn wraps together showing the kind of palettes that you might like to use as inspiration for your own interior projects, such as cushions or throws.

Revitalising an interior does not always have to cost the earth either. You may find that you have all sorts of fabric, yarn or buttons that you could get creative with and allow these shades of natural optimism to brighten the last few dreary weeks of winter.

Tip of the week

This tip is not knitting or crochet related, but it is such a good one that I had to make it one of the first non craft tips to be featured. This is a tip that was sent in by Jane Dearie and is a great one that we have been using at home for the past couple of years. I think this tip originally came from Martha Stewart so I have added an image and a link to a YouTube video via the image below:

Folding duvet covers into pillow cases:

'I have a life tip I picked up a few years ago which I find particularly
helpful.

I store my bedding sets inside one of the pillowcases. The folded
sheet(s), duvet cover and other pillowcase all fit perfectly inside and
I'm not having to hunt through the airing cupboard to find all the
different bits of linen.

I swear it's saved me days, never mind hours!'

- Jane Dearie -

Credit where credit is due?

If you follow me on Instagram then you may well have seen that I shared an image taken at the Dolce and Gabbana Spring Catwalk show in September, The image is of a skirt and a sun top that I think bears a striking resemblance to my Frida's Flowers CAL project that I launched in collaboration with Stylecraft back in 2016.

My good friend and fellow designer Lucia Dunn was the first to flag this image to me and over the course of last Friday evening we received messages and emails from many crocheters asking whether D&G had collaborated with me on this design.

Copying goes on in many businesses and the hand knit and crochet world is no different. Having a design or an idea copied is pretty common. For example, I know a lady who swears blindly that Mystical Lanterns is her design and that it is simply fate that we have achieved exactly the same stitch count on every round and even given our design motifs the same name!

When I first saw this image I was totally stunned. To me it looks like there are elements of both Frida and Lily Pond in the skirt (which would set you back a whopping £12,850). I can see at least 2 squares from Lily Pond, with the 3D lily shown above being the most obvious one and I can see lots of elements from Frida reproduced as squares rather than hexagons as in the image below. What do you think?

As a small independent designer in a world of much bigger fish there is probably very little I can do about (what I feel is) blatant copying. Sadly, crochet patterns are like recipes - you only need to make a few changes to the ingredients in order to call it your own and a law suit related to this would end up expensive and exhausting. Add to this the fact that I don't want my love for my work and my belief in the power of the positive effects of crochet to be affected by what would no doubt turn into a bitter and costly affair, however I do feel that this is a case of awarding credit where it is due.

As I have said already, the response to the posts I have published on Facebook and Instagram over last week have been incredible and I am so grateful for everyone's amazing support. Many people have left comments on the D&G facebook page and have shared lots of related posts on Instagram, Twitter and on their own Facebook pages. If you would like to do the same then I would love to have your support. If you copy Dolce & Gabanna into your Instagram posts and hashtag #fridasflowerscal #lilypondcal2015 and me #janiecrow and #stylecraft that would be brilliant. Many people are also using the hastag #creditwherecreditisdue and copying in @dietprada - an Instagram account that exposes copying in the fashion industry.

T H A N K - YOU

Instagram Favourites

This week my Instagram recommendation is a couple of hashtags rather than a person or company. The hashtags in question are #delftware and #delftblue. Both feeds have very similar images as most people use both hashtags when posting, but if, like me, you are a fan of anything Delft related then it is worth following them both.

As this week's newsletter focuses on all things home I thought it would be interesting to see if any interior paint manufacturers produce an emulsion called Delft Blue. I found a few examples of paints that contain the word Delft in their name - my favourite was Designers Guild shade called Delft Tile, which you can see by following this link.

Colour Palette of the Week

If you fancy entering the brand new colouring in competition that I have mentioned further up this email, then you might want to take a look around the internet for some palette ideas. Pinterest is a great place to find a colour palette and I often look at interior images to find unusual colour mixtures. I also look back through all the pictures I have taken on my mobile phone.

When thinking about the palette idea for this week I wanted to tie it in with Sarah's piece, which mentions Pantone's colours of the year. The Pantone colours are used in regards to both fashion and interiors and it is always interesting to see just how much these two areas over lap each other, invariably without us realising, with a popular interior shade often featuring on the catwalk too.

I had a lady at a show once tell me that she would never purchase a yarn kit that featured a coral pink, as she HATED that colour! Sometimes people's dislike of a colour is linked to a negative experience - or because it seems old fashioned and I have to admit that until recently I found 'shimpy' coral kind of colours quite a challenge to use in my design work. Now though I am a total convert, especially when I look at these kinds of shades in relation to inky dark green, blues and bright turquoise and petrol shades as in Sarah's interior image.

So, this week I have chosen an image that I took whilst on holiday in Athens last summer. At this time of year it is good to be reminded of warmer days and, with the current trend for all things foliage related in regards to home interiors, I thought it would make a suitable picture for this week.

Nuts About January - Sarah's Speedy Veggie Loaf

Mr H and I decided to try a meat free January almost by accident! We both know several vegans, but happily tucked into turkey, gammon and all the trimmings over the festive season. During the lull between Christmas and New Year we caught up with friends who we haven't seen for ages and discovered that they had become vegan. Paul and I were both vegetarian during our student days, but for one reason or another eventually went back to eating meat.

So, we've been giving 'Veganuary' or at least a meat-free January a go!

We are not trying to change our eating habits overnight, but we have really enjoyed sourcing, cooking and eating a different set of ingredients. It doesn't have to be expensive either. Many of you probably have nuts left over after Christmas, so why not try a nut roast - it really is tastier than you might imagine!

There are no hard and fast rules with a nut roast, but I would recommend combining equal amounts of nuts to other ingredients like pulses /cheese/ breadcrumbs. An egg can help bind ingredients together, but if you want the full vegan experience you can use a food processor to blitz all the ingredients together along with a couple of softened, chopped onions.

Here's an oldie but a goody from my student days and it serves 6 people:

Ingredients:

1 large onion , chopped
50g butter/vegan alternative
1tsp mixed herbs
1 tbsp plain (gluten-free) flour
150ml milk or vegan alternative
225g ground nuts - this can be a single nut type or a blend
50g fresh breadcrumbs/gf breadcrumbs
juice and rind of half a lemon
1 egg - optional
sea salt
ground black pepper

Stuffing:

225g chopped mushrooms
50g butter/vegan alternative
teasp yeast extract or similar
175g fresh breadcrumbs/gf breadcrumbs
1 egg yolk - optional
sea salt
ground black pepper

Heat oven to 180C or Gas 4.
Fry onions and herbs in the butter until soft. Add flour, milk and stir until thickened. Add the rest of the ingredients and combine well. Season to taste.

Make the stuffing by frying the mushrooms in the butter until slightly softened. Add remaining ingredients, stir and season to taste.

Line a 450g loaf tin. Add half the nut mixture and then layer with the mushroom stuffing and top with a final layer of the nut mixture.

Cover with foil and bake for 60 mins. Remove foil and allow to stand for 5 mins before turning out and slicing!

So far we are really enjoying a meat free diet, but I will let you know how we continue to fare over the next few months...

Sign up or miss out!

If you want to continue to receive the Friday Feature newsletters and any other information relevant to me and my designs, then you need to sign up to a new mailing list. You can do this by following this link. We will add this link to this newsletter for the next couple of weeks.

It's nearly the weekend!

We will be at the Waltham Abbey Wool Show this Sunday and would love you to come and say hello if you are going to be there too!

I think Saturday is going to be a quiet day after all the madness of the last week. We have an invitation to join my Mum for her birthday celebrations in the afternoon, so it will be nice to have some family time, especially as we are going to be away next week.

I have already prepared most of next week's newsletter ahead of our trip to New York for Vogue Knitting Live. We are back the following week and so on Friday 1st of February the Friday Feature newsletter will focus on our US adventure. This will be the final newsletter sent via this mailing list, so, If you haven't done so already, please make sure you j oin the new mailing list by following the link.

I hope you all have a great weekend.

Gift Ideas For Crafters

7/12/2018

Welcome to this week's Friday Feature Newsletter - the Janie Crow equivalent of a Sunday supplement magazine....

I am doing my best to ignore the sniffs and snuffles that have surrounded me over the last week or so, but I have a horrible feeling that the lurgy might be just around the corner! My son Charlie (and more recently Andy) have been struck down with man flu over the last couple of weeks, so it seems inevitable that the germs will spread! I hope that this email finds you well and that like me you have so far managed to avoid coughs, colds and general nastiness in the lead up to Christmas....

Rather terrifyingly there are just 17 full days before Christmas Day and so now would be a good time to make sure we are all on track with Festive plans. Our Sue, who works on the orders and the post here in the studio, is ultra organised and has already ticked off all her gifts on her list and written her cards. Sue started making pom pom wreaths as gifts way back at the end of the summer so now she can be wonderfully smug as she watches me panic about the fact that I have yet to even write a list.....

If you are like me and have yet to do any serious organising or shopping, you might be interested in a few of my favourite gift ideas which I have listed as part of the newsletter this week. Maybe you will find something suitable for a friend or that you can add to your own list, but either way, reading this Friday Feature will distract you from the reality of Christmas shopping for a little while longer, in the same way that writing it has distracted me!!!

Gift Ideas for crafters....

A few months ago Sarah wrote a great article on giving hand made presents and one of the things she focussed on is whether or not gifts that have taken a lot of time and effort are actually appreciated by the recipient. Along this same theme the guys at Crochetzine, an Instagram based free crochet magazine, have written some great posts over the past week or so about making items to gift at Christmas. I really recommend you head over to see their page if you are considering making a last minute gift before you pick up your needles or hook as they offer some great tips and advice as well as some fabulous little projects that you might want to make including the lovely little crochet stockings shown below, which, despite being designed for Advent, would work really well as decorations on the tree or the Christmas table, or as the wrapping for other small gifts.

If you're looking for something nice to give a yarn loving friend then you might want to take a look at some of the many subscription style gifts that are around.

One of my favourites has to be Little Box of Crochet, which you can find by following this link. Amanda Bloom and her fabulous team have a wide selection of wonderful boxes you can choose from, ranging from beginners boxes to 'Not so' Little Boxes, all of which contain the items needed to make a fabulous crochet item alongsdie some lovely extra surprise gifts. You can start the subscription this month and receive a really exciting looking box that includes all you need to make a beautiful design from Toft. The site also includes and area for gift subscriptions and links to purchase past boxes.

If you want to treat a really serious yarn lover who also happens to have a penchant for sock making then how about taking a look at the Triskelion Sock Club? We are massive fans of the Triskelion range, which is hand dyed by Caerthan Wrack - a man famous for his wonderfully deep and luxurious colour palette. You can find details of the sock club here, or, if you would rather just invest in one or two skeins of Triskelion yarn, then you could take a look at our range of Gofannon 4ply which is dyed by Caerthan exclusively for Janie Crow and comes with a free pattern for my Emily shawlette, which is shown above.

If you want to find an extra special gift and know someone who might want to wear a stunning piece of knitted or crocheted jewellery, or you fancy really treating yourself, then head over to the Mahliqa web site to be wowed by some amazing hand made jewellery designs. I am a huge fan of Suraya's work and am so pleased to say that she will be coming to the studio next year to do a workshop - details of this will be posted early in the New Year so keep a look out for more information soon. The image above shows one of Suraya's incredible hand made pieces, but you can also find kits and stitch marker sets on her lovely web site.

If you fancy knitting a slightly silly item to either gift or decorate your home, how about making one, or both of these brilliant hand knitted sprouts or Christmas puddings by Sincerley Louise. I love them!

If you want to be smug like our Sue and make a pom pom wreath then you can find a tutorial I wrote a few (4!) years ago by following this link to my blog. Making pom poms is a great stash buster and they are still bang on trend. You can find pom pom makers (which make this fun task even easier) by following this link.

Crisis at Christmas.

I am very much a believer that Christmas should be about spending time with family and friends and generally being a bit nicer and more thoughtful towards others rather than getting caught up in all the commercial hype that seems to surround so many things these days.

Many of us are in the nice position where we have warm houses and supportive friends and family, but there are are many people who don't have this luxury, so my number one tip for the ultimate feel good gift is to donate a gift of either your time or money to those who really need it.

The charity Crisis do amazing work here in the UK at this time of year and for just over £28 you could reserve a place for a homeless person at a centre this Christmas. For less than £30 you can help the charity provide a warm welcome and good company, three nutritious hot meals daily, including a delicious Christmas dinner, a bed for the night if needed and a chance to shower and get clean clothes. The charity also aims to provide a health check and treatment from a doctor, optician and dentist, expert help with mental health and addiction problems, advice on housing, employment and benefits and for some a way out of homelessness for good through Crisis’ year-round training, education and support.

Important information!

Here is another reminder that you need to subscribe to a new mailing list if you want to continue to receive the Friday Feature Newsletter in 2019.

We are introducing 2 new web sites in order to make our business clearer, more customer friendly and easier to understand. Both web sites will continue to be managed by us and both will sit under the same 'umbrella'. The new retail web site, which launches this week will be called Just Knots (our prototype log is shown above) and Jane's brand web site will continue to use the Janie Crow name.

Because of new laws introduced earlier on this year we have to make a clear definition between the mailing lists for the 2 new web sites, so when the Janie Crow brand web site is relaunched in January it will send to a new mailing list rather than this one. If you want to continue to receive the Friday Feature newsletters and any other information relevant to me and my designs, then you need to sign up to a new mailing list.

If you follow this link or click on the bird image above you will be able to sign up. We will add this link to this newsletter every week until the new Janie Crow web site is up and running. Until then the Friday Feature Newsletter will continue to come from this mailing list.

It's nearly the weekend!

What are you up to this weekend? I hope you have some exciting plans! We are heading into town this evening to visit the Sky Garden, which is London's highest (free) public garden. If you don't know about this amazing looking place then head over to the web site for more information - I will let you know what it is like next week and will share some images, so long as it isn't too dark!

Our trip into town this evening will most likely be the only venture out for us this weekend, other than to do a spot of food shopping or nip quickly to the gym, as I am hoping to have some much needed time at home. The tree is up and it is beginning to feel very Christmassy, so hopefully we will line up some festive movies and light the fire. I have a crochet deadline looming so I am looking forward to ensconcing myself on the sofa for 2 days pretty much straight.... my idea of heaven!

Whatever your plans I hope you have a lovely weekend!

Free Form Crochet

30/11/2018

Janie's Friday Feature

Welcome to this week's Friday Feature Newsletter - the Janie Crow equivalent of a Sunday supplement magazine....

I remember as a child how painful the lead up to Christmas could be in regards to wondering whether it was ever going to really happen - days felt like weeks and weeks like months as I wished and wished for Santa to get a move on! These days however, my life is the exact opposite and I am now constantly wishing that the pace of life would slow down and let me take a breather... I know I am not alone in this wish, but hope that you are managing to enjoy the lead up to the Festive period.

So here I am finally with another Friday feature - This week I have written a short piece about the art of Freeform crochet. I hope you will enjoy it.

Free your mind - free your crochet!

I looked up the word 'freeform' in the dictionary and it is defined as 'not conforming to a regular or formal structure or shape' and in regards to crochet this is a perfectly apt description as, not only is the practice of freeform crochet unconformist in that you don't follow a pattern, but the shapes created in the process are also (mostly) irregular and asymmetrical.

When I teach freeform crochet workshops the thing that most participants struggle with initially is the fact that I do not provide them with any patterns - it seems that the prospect of sitting and crocheting without a single piece of written instruction to refer to is incredibly daunting. I completely understand that - as crocheters we have spent a lot of time mastering the skill of reading and understanding pattern instructions, so to suddenly be without a point of reference can put us immediately out of our comfort zone.

I start my workshop with an exercise on blindly choosing yarns - I tend to pile a load of yarns up at the centre of the table and suggest that participants choose in a totally ramdon way - again this is something outside of our usual practice - indeed, for many of us it is the process of choosing the shades that brings much satisfaction.

Within the structure of the Friday Feature newsletters Sarah has written some great articles on mindfulness and I think this is something that freeform crochet has a close relationship with. When I teach this method I suggest that people completely empty their minds of what they are aiming to achieve before they start the process of working some crochet. This can be scary, but honestly it is fabulous to see what people achieve. To illustrate what I mean better, have a go at this short exercise:

Find a selection of crochet hook sizes and have them at the ready.

Go through your stash and pick out a selection of yarns - don't think about the colours, textures or weights you are picking and try not to analyse your choice.

Put the yarns on a table in front of you and when you are ready close your eyes and pick a yarn from your pile.

Quickly choose the hook size that you think matches the weight of the yarn and begin to make a chain - make as many or as few chain as you want, then slip stitch to make a ring.

Once you have a ring, using any combination or stitch heights, start to fill the ring up with stitches - you might start with trebles, or double trebles, you might decide to add in some areas of chain or turn mid way. Don't crochet with the same colour for too long, simply pick up another yarn and start working - you do not need to finish the round or row in the same shade and can dip in and out of using any yarn weight with whatever size hook you fancy.

What you are trying to ultimately achieve is a way of working without thinking or making decisions - you may think this goes against what I said about the relationship between freeform crochet and mindfulness in that I have just pretty much suggested that you should work in a mindless way, but what you are attempting to achieve within the framework of this exercise is a focus on the act of crocheting rather than a focus on the end result.

The pieces of crochet made when working in a freeform way have become known as 'scumbles'. This is a term used by Prudence Mapstone, a designer who many consider to be a pioneer of this technique - you can find her web site by following this link.

You can see in the image of an example of Prudence's freeform crochet above that colour and texture play a big role in her work and that fashion yarns such as eyelash and bucle fibres can create a real impact when used in a freeform way. I am sure you can also see that Prudence clearly makes decisons about the end result she is aiming for early on in the process of crocheting rather than working in a mindless way like I suggest, but this is because she has already honed the skill of working in a freeform way and is looking to create items that she can showcase.

The thing about freeform crochet is that you create someting that isn't replicable, so attempting to copy someone else's freeform scumble pattern for example goes completely against the whole point. You will find lots of tutorials on Youtube, but most urge you to follow their pattern or their way of working, whereas I am urging you to play with your crochet.

Why not use some time this weekend with a hook and some yarn and simply have a play! Don't have in mind something you want to make or an end result, just sit and enjoy the process of crocheting with an empty mind.....

Important information!

We mentioned in this week's regular newsletter on Tuesday that we are in the stages of building 2 new web sites. We are now aiming to have one of them up and running by the end of this week or early next week so long as everything goes to plan!

Please be aware that due to the potential switch over this week the web site may go down for a while. We hope this will not be for very long, but please be patient with us if you are trying to browse the site this week. We will send another mail-out just to warn when the change over is happening.

We are introducing 2 new web sites in order to make our business clearer, more customer friendly and easier to understand. Both web sites will continue to be managed by us and both will sit under the same 'umbrella'. The new retail web site, which launches this week will be called Just Knots (our prototype log is shown above) and Jane's brand web site will continue to use the Janie Crow name.

Because of new laws introduced earlier on this year we have to make a clear definition between the mailing lists for the 2 new web sites, so when the Janie Crow brand web site is relaunched in Janaury it will send to a new mailing list rather than this one. If you want to continue to receive the Friday Feature newsletters and any other information relevant to me and my designs, then you need to sign up to a new mailing list.

If you follow this link or click on the bird image above you will be able to sign up. We will add this link to this newsletter every week until the new Janie Crow web site is up and running. Until then the Friday Feature Newsletter will continue to come from this mailing list.

It's nearly the weekend!

We have been so busy with shows and events this autumn that we have almost forgotten how to use our leisure time, so we are hoping to remind ourselves of what life can be like outside of the realms of Janie Crow by getting to grips with some Christmas preparations this weekend.

I am wondering if it is too early to put up the tree - what do you think? I am always eager to get it out and decorated and they say that statistically people who put their tree up early tend to be within the happier percentage of the population, so perhaps this year would be a good one to test out this theory?

Whatever your plans I wish you a happy weekend!

Winter Woolly Trends

16/11/2018

Janie's Friday Feature

Phew! Here I am finally with a Friday Feature Newsletter after weeks of shows, events and travelling. Well - I say here I am with a Friday Feature, but as I am sitting at the dining table at home at 8pm on Friday evening writing this, it in fact looks likely that when you read this it will be Saturday, but never mind, I am here at last! And I've missed you!

It has been a mad month with lots of things going on, but now I am so pleased to be back home and back at the studio in the lead up to the Festive Season. We have 9 weeks until we head off to New York for Vogue Knitting Live so I am really hoping to be able to settle down to some new design work and sort out lots of things that have been rumbling away in the background for the last few months.

You may remember that a few weeks ago I told you that we have some exciting plans for Janie Crow going forwards into next year. Part of this plan involves a new retail web site and a new design based brand web site for Janie Crow. We will be revealing the new changes to you over the next couple of months - we are really excited about the new sites and of course we hope that you will like the changes we are making too!

This week, after our trip to the Netherlands a few weeks ago and our final residential workshop in Bournemouth last weekend, it has been a case of catching up with everything, but hopefully from next week we will be able to find more time to concentrate on building the new sites and putting all the wheels in motion for our changes. As I already said, I am really hoping to find some time for designing and have been working on some recolouring of existing designs. Of course, in true yarnaholic fashion, I have also decided to launch into making a 'Crochet Between the Lines' shawl using Scheepjes Whirl in my 'spare' time! (yeah right!) I am using Peppermint Patty Cake and Turkish Delight yarn cakes (shown below) and I am already in love with it!

I have to admit that the colours did start off looking a bit like an Elf's stockings as I was working both balls from the centre and ended up with red and dark green working in stripes at the same time, but I have now switched it so that the green is taken from the outside of the ball and it is looking much more promising. If, you have not been introduced to the wonders of Scheepjes Whirl or the genius of the Crochet Between the Lines pattern, by Tammy Canavan-Soldaat, then I urge you to have a look at the links I have included in this paragraph and If you want to read a great blog post about choosing your yarn shades and getting to grips with the designs then head over to Tammy's blog here. The light is really dingy and yellow here in the kitchen tonight, so I will share some images of my progress when it is brighter and I have more than 20cm of crochet to show you!

In this weeks newsletter I am focussing on the new knitwear trends for the winter. This is in relation to fashion rather than interior or making trends, but I am going to try to link to things that you could craft yourself as an alternative. I hope you will enjoy it.

Woolly Trends for Winter!

You don't have to look very far to find out that one of the key trends in knitwear this winter is knitted cables. Think traditional Arran sweaters with lots of great big fabulous cables and tons of bobbles. Think oversized and slouchy sweaters or cardis worn with jeans, but also tailored and neat tops worn tucked into pleated skirts over sequined dresses. The look is everywhere and it is easy to find wonderful patterns that totally sum up this lovely trend. You can also find a great video on YouTube, which illustrates this look perfectly by following this link.

Kim Hargreaves's new book 'Pale' totally refects this lovely trend and you can find more information and images of the 21 knitting patterns in her book by following this link or clicking on the image below

You might also want to take a look at the new Pom Pom magazine, which also features some really innovative designs that have clearly been designed in line with this trend. Knitters have been going a little bit bonkers about the Nightingale sweater by Norah Gaughan (shown below) so, why not see what all the fuss is about by following this link and taking a look at the new magazine preview images.

Fringing and eyelash style knitwear is also really making a move on the catwalks this winter. I know many of us shudder a little when faced with these kinds of yarns on the shelves at the yarn store and you do run the risk of being in trouble if you stand too close to an open fire or a lit cigarette in one of these garments, but trust me, furry style/fringe type knitwear is totally in!

Knitted oversized dresses and cardigans remain very fashionable too. Grandad knits with elaborate intarsia and soft teddy bear fur type textures were seen on many winter 18/19 catwalks with many garments worn in bright colours either off the shoulder or belted at the waist.

Fairisle continues to be bang on trend and yoke sweaters that feature colour work even more so. If you haven't already come across the designs of Boyland Knitworks then you really need to take a look as the designs are wonderful. I particularly like Sunset Highway sweater which is shown in part below.

Boho looks also continue through to the winter with gradient yarns and mixtures of colours remaining at the heart of this look. Quite a few designers featured cut and patchworked styles, with the key colours being red, plum, fuchsia and tan, indeed many fashion forecasters have started to say that brown is the new black, so whether you choose peanut skin orangey brown or more camel tones - brown is definitely THE colour of the season.

I am so pleased that it seems blanket wraps and capes are to stay at the height of fashion this season. I adore this look and am really pleased that it has stayed in for another winter. Big soft blanket wraps are so incredibly handy as they can be stowed away in your bag if you're a little too warm or wrapped over your winter coat if it is particularly chillly - the one I had last year spent most of the winter either on my back, in my bag just in case I needed it or next to me on the sofa in front of the TV! This year it seems that the blanket wraps have got even bigger than last year, with many of them shown draped and tucked into belts. There are some great examples in the image below from the Vogue web site - you can click on the image to read more about the trend forecasts.

New! Summer Palace Blanket

Following the success of my Summer Palace wrap design, which was released a couple of months ago, this week we have put a blanket version of the design on the web site on a pre sale basis.

In light of the article above I am now thinking that either version could work really well as my winter wrap/cape tucked into a belt, so I might have to steal them away from the studio for a while to test out that theory, especially as it is set to get colder here this coming week! Or I could just stick to the existing wrap version shown below?

It's nearly the weekend!

So, (for me anyway) it is now past 11pm and it has taken me a full 3 hours to sort out this week's newsletter, thus it will most definitely need to be known as a Friday newsletter on a Saturday - I hope you will forgive me for it's tardyness!

Over the course of this evening I have (as usual) been distracted from my original mission and instead been taken down a few rabbit holes looking at the winter trends and thinking about what little delights I might want to add to my wardrobe this year! I have been kind of considering a fashion diet for 2019 - my good friend and fellow Blogstar Emma Varnam has spent the last year on a Fashion Fast (you can read about it on her blog here), but as I don't actually buy all that much new stuff anyway and as a fast might involve me having to think about my yarn purchases too I think a true fashion diet may be a step too far for now. I do love this time of year though in regards to looking at clothes. I love that all the sparkly party dresses are appearing in the shops alongside cosy looking winter coats and boots and I REALLY love it when the new ranges of brushed cotton PJs and fluffy warm slippers make an appearance!!!

I am looking forward to a weekend at home at last and not only am I home, but it looks like all of the Crowfoot Clan may actually coincide within the house at some point - something that is a bit of a rarity these days! We do have plans for an early morning sprint to IKEA to pick up some new shelving for the studio tomorrow, but apart from that the weekend currently holds few plans.....

What will you be doing this weekend? I would love to hear about it, especially if you have something crafty lined up. All being well I will get to spend some time on my Between the Lines shawl and I hope we will light the open fire. It's the simple pleasures in the end isn't it!

I will be back next week with a piece about the art of Freeform crochet as requested by a few of you - I hope you will join me.

Wishing you a happy weekend lovely people!

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JANIE'S BLOG

Janie's Friday Feature

'I cannot think my day complete 'til needle, thread and fabric meet.'- Author Unknown -

Nordiska Exhibition

Tip of the week

What's New

Colour Palette of the Week

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It's nearly the weekend!

Janie's Friday Feature​

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Janie's Friday Feature

'There are always flowers for those who want to see them.'- Henri Matisse -​

Keeping Healthy Habits

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Colour Palette of the Week​

Colouring Competition

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Janie's Friday Feature

Don't get your knickers in a knot. Nothing is solved and it just makes you walk funny!- Kathryn Carpenter -

Tip of the week​

What's New?

Colour Palette of the Week

Colouring Competition

Instagram Favourite​

Fruity Knitting​

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Happiness is a way of travel, not a destination.- Roy M. Goodman -

Vogue Knitting Live - New York 2019

Tip of the week

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Colour Palette of the Week

Colouring Competition

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I'd rather regret the things I've done than regret the things I haven't done.- Lucille Ball -

Vienna Artists - Klimt and Shiele

Tip of the week​

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Colour Palette of the Week

Italy in the springtime with Sarah

Colouring Competition​

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​Janie's Friday Feature

It is never too late to be what you might have been. - Adelaide Anne Procter -

Colouring Competition

Interior Trends - The Colour Story

Tip of the week

Credit where credit is due?

​Instagram Favourites

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Nuts About January - Sarah's Speedy Veggie Loaf

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Gift Ideas for crafters....

Crisis at Christmas.

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Janie's Friday Feature

Free your mind - free your crochet!

Important information!

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Janie's Friday Feature

Woolly Trends for Winter!

New! Summer Palace Blanket

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'I cannot think my day complete 'til needle, thread and fabric meet.'
- Author Unknown -

Janie's Friday Feature

'You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have'
- Maya Angelou -

'There are always flowers for those who want to see them.'
- Henri Matisse -

What's New?

Colour Palette of the Week

Freddie Fever!

Don't get your knickers in a knot. Nothing is solved and it just makes you walk funny!
- Kathryn Carpenter -

Tip of the week

Instagram Favourite

Fruity Knitting

Happiness is a way of travel, not a destination.
- Roy M. Goodman -

It's nearly the weekend!

I'd rather regret the things I've done than regret the things I haven't done.
- Lucille Ball -

Tip of the week

Colouring Competition

Janie's Friday Feature

It is never too late to be what you might have been.
- Adelaide Anne Procter -

Instagram Favourites

It's nearly the weekend!