When I look back to last February I realise what a special time it was, especially as Sarah and I managed to squeeze in a trip to Edinburgh to see the May Morris exhibition at the Dovecot Studios.

We had a couple of days of frothy coffee, indulgent cakes, scrummy dinners, a few glasses of wine and, of course, the awesome exhibition of May Morris's extraordinary work. It really was the most amazing time, especially in light of all that has happened since. ​

If you like the look of the patchwork trend too then you might be interested in following the feed of Psychic Outlaw, which I came across on Instagram this morning. The feed features images of coats and jackets all made from old patchwork quilts - I love it! 
​​

We were looking forward to a bit of time in the garden this weekend as the weather forecast had us believe that we were set for some warmer and drier weather, however as the week has progressed the forecast has become a tad less positive, so we have our fingers firmly crossed that we won't get too wet!

Our weekend plans are almost always the same these days and, whilst I really miss going out and catching up with friends and family, I have grown to love our Saturday routine in particular. We spend a lot of time planning and making our evening meal, often trying recipes we have never made before and we also put 'proper' clothes on and make an effort to dress up as if we were heading out. Andy was given a cocktails book as a gift a few years ago, so he makes a different cocktail treat most weekends. Tomorrow we are set to try Negronis! 

February can be such a mixture of bright, sunny, spring like weather and the dismal days of late winter, but as I said in the introduction to this newsletter, it is so good to see the first signs of spring. Hopefully we will get out for a walk to check out the snowdrops and emerging bulbs in the woods at some point over the next few days.
 ​

‘Love and Kindness are never wasted. They always make a difference’ - Helen James.
 ​

I subscribe to the COOK email newsletters and this week they featured their list of 100 acts of Random Kindness. Many of the items on the list are no doubt things that we all do anyway, but seeing the list reminded me of the importance of thinking of others and being more aware of those around us, even if we can't see them right now. This time of year, when we are more likely to spend lots of time inside, can be very isolating even at the best of times.

If you are feeling a bit low and need a bit of a crochet pick me up then email me back with a quick message telling me which Janie Crow download pattern you would like to cheer you up. Sarah and I will pick 10 emails to reply to early next week and will attach a free download copy of the pattern you have chosen. The best way to be sure of getting our emails is to save the mail@janiecrow.co.uk email address to your contacts.
 
I hope that wherever you are and whatever your plans, you have a great weekend and that you keep safe. ​

2021 is Janie Crow’s 10th Birthday, but we are still trying to work out exactly what we can do to celebrate it. We had hoped to be running some special workshops and events, but for obvious reasons we are unable to set dates for these at the moment. Our lease runs out on our studio space in September and our Landlord has decided to develop the building into apartments, so it is even more difficult for us to plan anything for the Autumn. Whilst I am sad at the prospect of leaving the studio, I am a firm believer in fate and feel that as one door closes another will open, but it does leave us rather up in the air as far as birthday party planning goes!
 
Last July, in between lockdowns, we spent a night at our local big hotel, West Lodge Park, so we could work out whether it would make a good venue for a special event. It is a lovely old country house, set in beautiful grounds with it’s own Arboretum and we feel that it would indeed make a great location for an event. The only problem is making the decision to commit to a booking given all the uncertainty over the forth coming months. For now we have decided not to make any plans and just see where things take us, but I am really hoping that we will all get to collide for a big show and tell style party that involves Prosecco and posh nibbles before the end of the year – let’s all keep our fingers very firmly crossed!
​

I really enjoyed designing my first three crochet club projects. The first one was inspired by Art Deco Wurlitzer Duke Box design, my second by traditional Victorian crochet lace designs and my third one was inspired by Persian Architecture and Moroccan tiles. By the time I was designing and releasing my fourth club I felt like a musician who was struggling to write, record and release an album in record time. The workload had become huge and stressful and, as I am definitely at my least creative when the pressure is on, by the time I had four Crochet Club projects under my belt I knew it was time to start something new. 
 
The overriding thing that I didn’t like about running the Crochet Club (besides the bonkers workload) was that it was exclusive to those who had enough money to pay for it in the first place. The only way I could work out how to make a living from running the club was to sell accompanying high end yarn packs, but as I was also on a mission to propel the craft of crochet to a higher level of skill and a larger audience I really wanted to find a way of creating a project with a much wider appeal.
 
In late 2014 I got chatting with Annabelle Hill, brand manager at Stylecraft Yarns, about creating a CAL project that would be free for everyone. Working in this way, where yarn packs could be sold by all retailers or crocheters could use yarns from their stash and access free patterns, was a massive gamble for me, but, whilst the fall in financial gain by working in this way was particularly scary at the time, I have never regretted my decision to put my Crochet Club to rest.

The four Crochet Club projects, which were released as CALs between 2011 and 2014, have been archived and the patterns are not available - however nicely you ask! However, if you fancy working on a project inspired by one of the CAL designs you can find the patterns for the Imogen blanket, which was inspired by my 2012 Victorian crochet themed club project, by following this link and my Persian Tiles blanket, which was inspired by the 2013 project, here.
​

If you were a member of my first Crochet Club in 2011 I would love it if you would get in touch, especially if you would be willing to send me some pics of your project. If you were a member of all four of my Crochet Clubs then I definitely want to hear from you.

I wonder if there are any of you who have done all ten Janie Crow CALs over the last decade? In case you are wondering how many of my CAL projects you might have completed, here is the list:
 
2011 - Art Deco Inspired Crochet Club
2012 - Victorian Lace Inspired Crochet Club
2013 - Moroccan Inspired Crochet Club             
2014 - My 1970s Childhood Inspired Crochet Club 
2015 - Lily Pond Blanket CAL 
2016 - Frida’s Flowers CAL   
2017 - Sunshine & Showers CAL
2017/18 - Bohemian Blooms CAL
2019 - Climbing Rose Wrap CAL 
2020 - Fruit Garden CAL

I could not have predicted where my design work would take me when I set out on my first CAL adventure a decade ago. I know that I have been incredibly lucky to have had such amazing support from yarn companies and the crochet community. I simply cannot wait to get back out into the real world to touch base with you all again and hope that in 2021 you will all come along on another CAL journey with me and I look forward to telling you more about that soon.

​Thank you for being fabulous!

A few years ago, I had a bit of a blip and found myself struggling to find a purpose in life. I am not sure exactly how I got to the low point in the first place or over what period of time it manifested itself, but by the time Christmas 2017 rolled around I was at a point where I knew I needed some help, although I had no idea what sort of support I should seek. In the end I sorted out some online life coaching classes and ordered some self-help books, which I read over the course of a few weeks, each day beginning to feel more and more positive.
 
By the time I was setting off to teach on the Knit For Peace trip to Mysore in January 2018 I was already feeling like I was beginning to rid myself of the negativity that had started to overshadow me, but it was the trip to India that consolidated my belief in the detrimental effect that negativity could have on my life and made me promise myself not to be taken so far down that route again.
 
The reason I am telling you this is because over the last month or so I have found myself slowly slipping down the dangerous slope of negativity. The lack of difference between lockdown days and the fact that we have no real plans to look forward to over the next few months means that I have found it really easy to focus on all that is wrong in the world rather than all that is right and I know that spending much more time on my own than I usually would has definitely led me to do a lot of over thinking. 
​

There is a large lake in the University grounds near the Green Hotel in Mysore. It is a popular destination for people and wildlife alike and it is a great place for a daily stroll, so when we are lucky enough to be away with the Knit For Peace groups, we try our best to get there as often as we can. While walking one morning in January 2018, Andy and I were approached by some young adults who invited us to attend a coaching class that had been organised for the university students. The group were adamant that we should go to the meeting and so later on that day a 5 of us did! 
 
As we were quite clearly not Indian University students we were quite a novelty in the group activities that were organised for that afternoon, but we had a fabulous time working through some positive behaviour exercises with all the students. They were so welcoming, vibrant and happy that there was no way we could have walked away from the event feeling anything less that euphoric having danced, played games and laughed with them, all the time being taught about the perils of negative thoughts and behaviour and the importance of positivity. After the workshop one of the students took us to the nearby Hindu temple, which was so peaceful and beautiful bathed in the pink sunset. It was an incredibly special afternoon, one which I will always remember as being a huge turning point for me in regards to recognising the detrimental effects of negativity.
 
In the book ‘How to get off your backside and live your life’ by Joyce H Campbell the author talks about how we must all steer our own ships and stop playing the blame game, ultimately taking total responsibility for our own lives. This was one of the things that the university students in India focussed on too and for me, this idea of being totally in control of our own destiny, is something that I need to remind myself about..
 
Last week I came across this great video by Will Smith that kind of encapsulates this is a nut shell. 
​

I think I am on the up and have managed to get myself back in a positive frame of mind, but if you are feeling down and feel in need of help don’t be afraid of looking for it. The charity Mind have been doing some really important work through lockdown and are there to help anyone who feels overwhelmed. It is normal to feel down from time to time and there is no shame in admitting, like I have, that your mental health is not always in tip top condition, but it is imperative that we recognise it and deal with it.
 
If you could do with a bit of a pick-me-up (and are not yet totally fed up with Zoom meetings) then you could book some online courses or events. I attended some great workshops as part of Vogue Knitting Live over the weekend and would thoroughly recommend them. I also arranged to chat to some friends for a bit and took myself off on a long walk. It is all stuff we know, but sometimes it is good to have a reminder that it is really important to get plenty of sleep, exercise and fresh air and to keep safe and be kind to ourselves as well as others...
​​​

Don't Believe Everything You Think - Nadia Narain 
Keep Safe & Be Kind - Beth Walk

​The snow here in North London has made me a little later than usual today but I am sending you a chilly wave from us here and Janie Crow and Just Knots and hoping that you are all keeping safe, well and warm!

It is hard to believe that 14 weeks have passed since we released the first part of the newer version of my Fruit Garden CAL and that those of you working through the design now only have the final part to complete in order to have your own blankets. How exciting!

The eighth yarn substitution document for the Love is Enough version of the Fruit Garden Crochet Along project is now live on the Stylecraft web site. 
 ​

You can find a video to accompany the next stage of the Acanthus motif and the edging in the original colour ways here.
 ​

​If you want to make a cushion to accompany your project you can find the patterns as a free download or as a paper pattern by following this link. 

Don't forget that you can find help and join in some crochet orientated chat via the Stylecraft Yarns CAL Facebook page here. 

​If you are looking for a new project then you might be interested to know that my Indian Roses blanket design has now been released as a stand alone pattern. You can find it by following this link or by clicking on the image above. You can also find 3 free yarn substitution documents for alternative colour ways of the design on my web site.

I look forward to seeing you back here in your inbox on Friday 19th February. Until then I hope you keep safe and well.

I am so pleased to let you know that we have published the pattern for my Indian Roses Blanket this week. The design was inspired by a vintage washstand that sits in the reception area of the Green Hotel in Mysore, India. The stand features porcelain tiles that have pink roses at the centre surrounded by teal and green surface detail.
​

​Fruit Garden by @mybabyhandmade
Persian Tiles by @inadionisius

This time last year we were lucky enough to be in India where I was the tutor on a workshop trip with Knit For Peace at The Green Hotel. Over the last few weeks Andy and I have been reminiscing by looking back over the images we took on our trip and we know we were incredibly lucky to have been away this time last year, especially in light at what the last 10 months have had in store. Many charities have struggled to fundraise over the last year and money has been tight for many, but the team at Knit For Peace have soldiered on and have managed to send out sacks and sacks of knitted and crocheted items to destinations where they are needed. They are currently asking for blankets, hats, gloves and mittens to help people keep warm in the cold weather and you can find out what else they need, and perhaps sponsor a sack of items to help it reach it’s destination, by following this link. 
​​

We registered the Janie Crow company in 2011, the year I released my first crochet along project, so 2021 will be Janie Crow’s 10th Birthday. We have started to form some plans as to how we can celebrate our first decade and we hope that by the autumn we will be able to hold some workshops and gatherings and that we will be able to see some of you ‘in the flesh’ again. Over the last couple of months I have been working on a CAL blanket project that will be published in Inside Crochet magazine over the summer months and I am also planning to start work on the design for a new crochet along project that will be released towards the end of the year. I am not sure exactly what form this project will take yet, but I am currently planning to call it ‘Jubilee’ or ‘Decadence’ as a nod to our 10th Birthday. Look out for more information on the new projects and our celebratory plans soon.
​

I can never have enough project bags and I am always on the look out for little pouches that suit my needs, so I was really excited when Heather Burgess of Rag Button Designs agreed to collaborate with me to make these lovely items. Heather sources beautiful quality Irish linen to make these gorgeous pouches, which she puts together by hand and then stitches into the fabric, adding buttons, beads, ribbons and some of my hand made crochet flowers to make each one uniquely beautiful.
 ​

Our last batch of hook wraps and pouches sold out within 2 days of being put live on the web site so I am really pleased that Heather has been hard at work making some new items. We now have pouches and hook wraps back in stock.
 
The pouches come in a choice of fabric shades and Heather has introduced duck egg blue and salmon pink fabrics to the range this time. The small pouches feature crochet flowers (made by me) in a few shades. The large pouches feature the outline of the Janie Crow birds in machine stitching and hand stitched detail. These also have an additional inside pocket. Each pouch is lined, has a smooth zip closure and includes a metal ring on the outside seam.
 ​

We have a Riverford vegetable delivery every couple of weeks and I love unpacking the fresh seasonal veg and working out what we are going to make with it. Last week Riverford sent a link to their YouTube Channel and specifically the video tutorial for making Carrot Flapjacks. I love carrots, oats and cheese so as these are pretty much the only ingredients I knew I was going to love these!

I made these scrummy flapjacks from the free recipe last weekend. They were so quick and easy to bake and would make the perfect alternative to savoury snacks or a slice of cake, although we did scoff the lot in the space of 24 hours so possibly not so healthy after all! 
​​

​‘Eat Food. Not too much. Mostly Plants’ - American food writer Michael Pollen.
​

​This week saw the release of the yarn substitution document for Part 7 of the 'Love is Enough' version of the Fruit Garden CAL. I cannot believe we are now just 2 weeks away from the end of the re-run of the project. I hope that those of you who have been working through the blanket design have enjoyed your crochet journeys and that you might find time over the weekend to catch up with your yarny projects. I am definitely hoping to find some time for a bit of hooky!
 
I hope that wherever you are and whatever your plans that you have a great weekend and that you keep safe.

Hello from Janie Crow and Just Knots, we are still here, doing our best to keep up with everything! It still isn't quite business as usual, but we feel like we are slowly catching up with some of the non-essential stuff and I am really looking forward to sending out the new look January Newsletter this coming Friday - a few weeks later than expected, but that seems to be the way it goes for pretty much everything at the moment! I will be releasing the pattern for my Indian Roses blanket this week so I hope you will join me in a couple of days and look out for my email for more information.

So, the reason for this email is that the seventh yarn substitution document for the Love is Enough version of the Fruit Garden Crochet Along project is now live on the Stylecraft web site. 
​​

​If you want to make a cushion to accompany your project you can find the patterns as a free download or as a paper pattern by following this link. 

Don't forget that you can find help and join in some crochet orientated chat via the Stylecraft Yarns CAL Facebook page here. Yarn substitution documents for the next (and final) part of the project will go live on the 9th February.

I look forward to seeing you back here in your inbox on Friday. Until then I hope you keep safe and well.
​

Are you a fan of New Year's Resolutions? I am as I find they keep me focussed and grounded at least during the first part of the year and so I have made them for the last 20 years if not longer. They tend to follow a similar theme every year - loose a bit of weight, maintain or improve my fitness and take a little bit more care of myself and others.  As 2020 drew to a close and the promise of a Covid vaccine hit the headlines a month or so ago it was exciting to imagine a better and brighter New Year and I had high hopes for my resolutions, but as the reality of the British winter hit and as we have once again headed into lockdown I have to admit that I have found it increasingly hard to stay positive.

I use my resolutions as a way of making a promise to myself to keep an eye on things and not let my weight or my health get in to bad shape, whilst also reminding myself to take a little bit more care of myself, which for me means trying to avoid becoming consumed by work, making sure my home life is balanced correctly and taking a bit more ‘me’ time. During lockdown this has meant doing things like sitting  down with a book or taking a nice long walk.

The trouble is that I am really bad at settling down to anything these days and find my concentration level at an all time low. I am easily distracted and have found myself wasting quite a lot of time. I am not sure whether this is as a result of lockdown or of my (fabulously menopausal) age, but I am relieved to have found that one of the answers to counteract my lack of motivation is to purposely dip in and out of things and not beat myself up over my lack of commitment! I have found the time scale of 30 minutes to be a great incentive to 'get things done' and at times I even set a timer so that I am reminded to stop one task and then move on to something else.

It  has been a surprise to see how  much can be achieved in 30 minutes and with the help of a list of jobs that I write daily I can definitely vouch for the effectiveness of breaking activities down into bite size pieces and - as a life long lover of a list - I take huge pleasure in ticking things off and heading to bed at the end of the day knowing that at least a few tasks have been completed. I have even been known to add an already completed task to a list just so that I can have the pleasure of immediately crossing it off! 

Because of the new lockdown Andy and I are working from home 2 days a week so I have been using this time to revisit some older projects. The pattern for Indian Roses, which will be available separately to a yarn kit as a paper or a download version, should be available next week and I have also started to revamp my Diego's Flowers motif (shown above), which I featured on the blog a few years ago.

Heading further into the year I am excited to say that there will be a new blanket CAL project from me, which will feature in Inside Crochet magazine over the summer months and, as it is Janie Crow's 10th Birthday this year, I am also planning a CAL for next winter, which will hopefully feature many of the techniques and design features of my past CAL projects. So it looks like my trusty 30 minute timer is in for a lot of use over the next few months!

For more news and updates look out for the next Janie Crow newsletter, which is set to drop into your email inbox on Friday 22nd January. Until then I hope that you continue to stay safe and that like me you are finding your craft projects bring you much solace at this difficult time.

​Janie x
​

We do love a good cup of splosh here at Janie Crow, but did you know that something like 96% of the UK's tea bags contain plastic?

The thing is that a lot of the big brands are a little bit sneaky about their use of plastic as they say the bags themselves do not contain plastic without letting on that they have used a method that involves plastic to seal the bags.

The other big issue with tea bags is that many of them do not break down in your home compost bin and need to be composted using an 'industrial method', so unless your food waste is collected by your local council for composting you will struggle to get the bags to break down into your soil.

Thankfully over the last few years many brands have taken steps to ensure that they are plastic free or use very little, but it is worth taking a look to see if your favourite brand has taken steps to be more green, especially as we Brits drink somewhere in the region of 100 million cups a day.

We switched to using loose tea about 18 months ago and whilst it felt like a bit of a pain to begin with we have grown to love our tea making process and appreciate how much nicer the tea tastes now we have ditched the bags. I bought our beloved 'Piquot Ware' tea pot for a bargain price of around £8 at a junk shop a couple of years ago and we add our used tea leaves to the garden compost. Andy puts our used coffee grounds around the vegetables growing in the garden to put the slugs off of munching them too, so its a win win situation for us!

Have you considered making the switch from bags to loose tea? If you haven't taken the decision to ditch the bags yet you might be interested in the a couple of articles I have found about the impact of tea bags on the planet. You can find a particularly interesting one here and a pretty damning one about 'silken' tea bags here. If you want to check out how your favourite (UK) tea brand measures up then take a look here.

Janie x

Happy New Year to you all! I hope that wherever you are you are keeping safe and well.

Despite the new lockdown we are thankful to still be able to work here at Janie Crow and Just Knots, but it is not quite business as usual as we are having to work in a shift pattern that ensures we are not all working from the studio at the same time. Whilst this means that we are still able to process and dispatch web orders it also means that I have been unable to do some of the usual things like film videos and work on new designs. This is a little frustrating for all of us, but we know we are incredibly lucky to still be working and I trust you will understand why some things have had to take a back seat. Hopefully normal service will resume within the next couple of weeks as we get into the swing of working in a slightly different way to the norm.

Before I introduce you to Part 6 of the Fruit Garden CAL 'Love is Enough' project I want to let you know that I have been invited to be one of 6 designers taking part in Waltham Abbey Wool Show's virtual event this weekend. Along with Debbie Bliss, Jeanette Sloan, Jo Smith, Natalie Warner and Sylvia Watts-Cherry I will be taking part in the 'Meet the Designer Q&A' session which will take place at 1pm this coming Sunday afternoon. There are still some tickets for this event, which I am sure will be great fun, and you can find more information by following this link.

So, as I said already, the sixth yarn substitution document for the Love is Enough version of the Fruit Garden Crochet Along project is now live on the Stylecraft web site. 
​​

​To work through the Dianthus motif and another part of the Acanthus motif you will need to download the original pattern for Part 6 and use the yarn sub document alongside this as a guide for which yarn shades to use. If you are joining in the CAL and using one of the 2 original colourways or your own colour palette then you will not need the yarn sub document.
​

I have not been able to record a short video to accompany the re-release of this set of patterns but I hope to film a catch up video for set 7 which will be available in a couple of weeks time. You can find a video to accompany the Dianthus and the next stage of the Acanthus motif in the original colour ways here.
​

If you want to make a cushion to accompany your project you can find the patterns as a free download or as a paper pattern by following this link. 

Don't forget that you can find help and join in some crochet orientated chat via the Stylecraft Yarns CAL Facebook page here.

Yarn substitution documents for the next part of the project will go live on the 26th January.

I hope to be back in your in box on Friday 22nd January with news of a new(ish) pattern release and our new style newsletter, so until then keep safe....

​I think it is pretty much a foregone conclusion that at this time of year many of us find ourselves reflecting on the previous 12 months in order to calculate and consider all the things that we think we have achieved and the things we have learnt so that then, through this contemplation, we are able to decide what objectives we will take into the future. We reminisce about the good times we have had, look at our achievements and then make new plans based on these things, whilst also making a mental note to learn from, and not revisit, the bad times.
 
2020 has been a game changer. It has been about staying safe and looking out for others. It has been a chance to reset and reflect over the course of months rather than as a reaction to the New Year looming. This year, whilst it is inevitable that we all have different things planned for 2021, the overriding achievement has to be (that unlike the many of thousands of people who have lost their lives, or who have had their life drastically altered thanks to the pandemic), we are lucky enough to be in a position to reflect on 2020 in the first place!

For me the past year has been a chance to re-evaluate the things that we prioritise and really think about how we want our home and work life to look going forwards. Over the last few months we have been busy making some exciting plans for the new year that we hope will include projects and events that you would like to get involved in. 2021 will be Janie Crow's 10th Anniversary year so it is extra exciting for us!
 
Your support over the last year has been incredible and I am always blown away by your lovely emails and messages and your amazing response to my work. I wish you all good health and happiness for 2021. With love from my family to yours....
​