Gemma is always busy in the kitchen and serves her family some lovely home made meals. This week she has recommended this Parsnip Dal recipe from Riverford. It sounds delicious! ​

The last couple of weekends we had some amazing weather, so we spent quite a lot of time preparing the garden for veggie planting. Our little beetroots were delicious, so too were the over wintered fennel I used to make a scrummy pasta sauce. ​

Before I leave you I just want to ask a small favour. My good friend Emma has had her Instagram account blocked, which means she can no longer access it. Despite being a beautiful middle aged woman, the IG bots believe Emma to be underage for an account and, despite her providing all the required information to reinstate her account, she continues to be blocked. Over the years Emma had gained a really good following of more than 10,000 people on Instagram, but now she has had to start all over with a new account. So, my appeal is for you to take a look and follow her if you fancy - I guarantee you will not regret it as she is a lovely, funny human with a great big heart who will not fail to give you a giggle! 
 
I hope you all have a fabulous weekend whatever you have planned and I look forward to popping back into your inbox in a couple of weeks time. Thank you all again for your incredible support of our Ukraine appeal - you're all amazing! 

It has been amazing to see some completed Indigo Dreams projects popping up on social media. I have really enjoyed the CAL and hope that it has brought those of you who followed it some joy too. I have been working on a new colourway of the project which will be released in the autumn when the pattern reverts to me. ​

If you fancy making some crochet flowers to brighten up your home and make it feel lovely and springy then you could use this pattern, which you can download via the Knit For Peace web site - obviously I would love it if you would also make a donation to the charity while you are there! ​

I have a few exciting events on the horizon that you might fancy joining me for. You can find information about an afternoon tea event and  a couple of workshops that I am doing at Black Sheep Wools lower down this email, but I have a few other things I want to tell you about.

We are really looking forward to exhibiting at Wonderwool Wales next month. The show has not happened since 2019, so we are particularly excited about returning. You can find more information by following this link.

I will be tutoring two workshops for Arena Travel as part of their Stitchtopia programme. I will be accompanying a group on a cruise to Iceland in May and then will be going on a tour of Finland in June. You can find more information about the trips by following this link. 

I have been invited back to Yarn Lane TV on May 2nd. I hope you can join me. ​

s a thank you to Andy for his amazing attentiveness I gave him a copy of the first ever book from Dishoom called From Bombay with Love. It really is a gorgeous book, full of really tasty recipes. This is what the authors say about the book:

'Dishoom: From Bombay with Love, is an eccentric and charming cookery book, with over 100 recipes for the Bombay comfort food and drink that we love. Through the course of the pages, you will be taken on a day-long tour of south Bombay. Starting at breakfast, through to lunch, dinner and nightcaps, we share recipes for beloved dishes such as Masala Chai, the Bacon Naan Roll and House Black Daal.'

The book is a really lovely read, with lots of stories, anecdotes and information about the origins of some of the recipes therein. The images are so incredibly enticing. I visited Mumbai in 2015, but this book is really making me want to go back again!  ​

I am hoping to get into town next week to do a bit of design research. It is ages since I have been to the V&A or an exhibition or even to some of the larger stores like Anthropologie, which I always find so inspiring. A bit of window shopping sounds like a great plan! 

I recently came across this amazing cardigan by The Peruvian Connection, which reminded me a little of my Frida design - isn't it amazing? It has a price point far beyond my pocket, but the work involved in it is really intricate and I love the style. You can find a few more gorgeous crochet garments on the site such as the Saltillo and Millefiore tops below.  ​

I have always designed items for the home as I am not sure my skills are up to creating garments, but seeing these on the Peruvian Connection web site have me inspired. I would love to know how you guys feel about crochet garments - should I stick to blankets and cushions?

We have had a real mixture of weather this week - we had torrential dirty rain on Wednesday, which left the windows and cars covered in a fine red dust thanks to a Saharan dust cloud that travelled up to us through Spain over the last week or so. A bit frustrating that we now need to give everything a good clean, but the sun is shining and we are set for a lovely weekend weather wise so we can't stay cross for long!
 
I actually made it back to the gym this week for the first time in a while, so after months of ignoring my membership I am hoping to make it back there over the next few days and will also get a bit of a workout by cutting the grass - my life is so rock and roll!
 
I hope you all have a fabulous weekend whatever you have planned and I look forward to popping back into your inbox in a couple of weeks time.

Janie x

The team at Love Crafts have suggested making crochet or knitted hearts using the blue and yellow shades of the Ukrainian flag. You can find a free pattern by Annemarie Bentham by following this link or by clicking on the image above. ​

As we head into the weekend I am praying that we start to see some calmer times. Hopefully by the time I am sending my usual style newsletter next Friday we may have seen a de-escalation of aggression, but in the mean time I hope that your knit and crochet is bringing you some peace and that you can find solace in knowing that you have helped in some way.

I hope you all understand the reason for my break away from a usual Janie Crow news heavy email and that you will understand that my motive is humanitarian and not political.

Stay safe ​

Within the 'Thought for Today' feature on the radio this morning the speaker talked about the importance of women vocalising their success and it got me thinking about how we measure the achievements of ourselves and other women. I follow inspirational speaker Kubi Springer on Instagram and have read one of her books about building a strong brand. I like the way she writes and enjoy listening to her motivational speeches, but it always bugs me that her benchmark for whether or not you are successful (in business anyway) is what car you drive and how big your house is.

It seems to me that when evaluating the worth of anyone these days (not just women) society has a tendency to base calculations on the amount of money we earn, the area we live in and how many holidays we can afford rather than the actual level of success we have achieved.

On ​International Women's Day, we often hear about women who are championed because they have broken the mould and made a pathway into male dominated areas. We see praise for female engineers and mathematicians for example. Women who work in areas traditionally dominated by men. I am not saying this is a bad thing - my daughter is a Design Engineer and I am so incredibly proud of her, especially given all the discrimination and misogeny she has come across over the course of her working life, but shouldn't we be championing ALL women regardless of their chosen careers?

For me, converting another crocheter to the benefits of our craft is a win. Hearing how crochet has changed someone's life is  another win. Seeing how women support each other in the craft world - win win win! None of these achievements has a monetary value and no price tags can be placed on the joy people experience making projects either. To me, the worth of a hand made gift is immeasurable - the ultimate love token!

Over the course of my career I have met some of the most amazing women, many of whom have totally changed my life. My little Janie Crow team is predominantly made up of incredible, strong, loving and funny trail blazing women who have supported me in so many ways, both on a work and personal level, but I have also found that in broader society women can be their own worst critics, especially on social media, where we are often reminded to be kind and thoughtful.

​We lost Andy's amazing sister to bowel cancer recently. At her funeral everyone spoke of her amazing personality. Of the love she had for her family and her incredible courage in the face of her illness. Julie worked as a teaching assistant and always put the joy of children to the forefront of her life. She was a loving wife, a doting mother to three incredible children and an amazing daughter, sister and friend. Her worth is not measured on the basis of the career she chose, what car she drove or how much money she made in her lifetime, it is based on her incredible gift for loving and looking after people - her own in-built magnificence. Our lives will never be the same without her.

In 'The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People' Steve Covey talks about how we should all live our lives with 'the end in mind'. In other words, by continuously thinking about how we want to be remembered and on what we want our achievements to be based. For International Women's Day 2022, in a world where social media tells us we should 'have, have, have', I am reminding myself today of the importance of championing and supporting ALL women regardless of how traditional society measures worth.

I am so thrilled that The William Morris Society have included an interview with me in their latest magazine. The Society were a huge support to me while I was working on The Fruit Garden Blanket Book and I feel so honoured that they felt my work was worthy of an article in their magazine. You can find the society's website here. While you are there, be sure to check out their shop as they have recently added some really fantastic Morris inspired items. I am currently coveting the Orange Tree tote bag, which I think would make a perfect storage bag for my Fruit Garden blanket! ​

I have written a blog about the project, which includes some images of the blankets made in fabulous alternative colourways. You can find it by following this link. Images with thanks to Lita Johnathans.

Rose emailed with an image of her Mystical Lanterns blanket which she gave to a friend as a gift. Isn't it lovely - I really like the way Rose has added another dimension to this blanket by blocking colours together.​

I am often blown away by versions of Persian Tiles when they pop up on social media, but the version above, sent in by Marg McRae, made me gasp in delight when I opened the image. Marg says:

'Hi Janie, I am Marg McRae from Albury NSW Australian. My husband and I have been ex farmers for 30 years, I am his carer as he has a disability. I am writing to you to say I love all of your crocheted blanket patterns, also enjoy reading your newsletters.
In our 1st lockdown last year, I got my crocheting hooks out and did your Persian Tile rug pattern. I chose 4ply pure Australian merino wool. I wanted to share a photo of my blanket, I love it. It has been 30 so years since I have done any crocheting, didn’t want to put my hook down.
I do lots of quilting all by hand, which I find very relaxing also...Marg'

Needless to say, we really love getting emails like Marg's one and all adore seeing your images. You can share them on our Facebook page by following the link. ​

The weather has been really bright and sunny here today so I am hoping to squeeze in a few nice walks this weekend. Our local countryside is coming to life, with lots of daffodil bulbs and crocuses about to bloom. At home, we are on amaryllis watch as the bulb I planted in January is about to burst into glorious flower!  
 
I hope you all have a fabulous weekend and that you have some lovely plans to look forward to. Sending yarny love....

Janie x

As I have already said in the introduction above, we are very pleased to have a new project to tempt you with this week. The Frida's Flowers CAL was launched in 2016 and it has been fabulous seeing it made by people all over the world ever since. The original blanket, which features bright flowers on a black background, was inspired by the iconic costumes and personal style of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo and it was made using Stylecraft Classique Cotton. As this yarn is now discontinued I decided it would be a good idea to update the yarn listing for the new Organic Cotton DK. You can find the newly updated yarn list here should you like the idea of making this original colour way. You can find more information about the CAL and yarn packs for this version by following this link.
 ​

A few years after the release of the original Frida blanket I asked Lucia if she would create a new colour way of the project and was really excited when she produced her version, which she named Primavera. Until now, the kit for this blanket has only been available as an exclusive kit from the Janie Crow web site, but now, to coincide with the release of the CAL project as the featured make along project for February, we have decided to give Primavera a wider release. Yarn kits should now be available via your local Stylecraft stockist and the yarn substitution document is available as a download. We have created some kits for the project, which include a printed yarn substitution document, by following this link. You can find more information by following this link. 
 ​

I have written a blog post about Frida and Frida Primavera, which includes lots of ideas for alternative colourways, by following this link. 
 ​

​It has been quite grey and gloomy here in North London and very chilly, so we sent out a plea on Facebook for followers to show us photos of their colourful crochet work to brighten the days. Here are just a few of the wonderful makes that were shared with us:
 
Below is Gay Horne's Sunshine & Showers blanket - nearly finished! 

Elizabeth Beswick-Watts has created a fantastic version of the Mystical Lanterns blanket, but says she regrets not sewing in her ends as she went along!  ​

Andrea Dahncke is working on her colourway of The Blue House Blanket. We haven't seen many of these out in the wild yet and think her choice of colours is really pretty. ​

Another design that we don't see so often is the Imogen Blanket. Michelle Withey has just finished hers.
Hasn't she made a fantastic job of it?  ​

Thank you to everyone who shared images with us over on Facebook. We do love seeing your work and in particular your exciting colourways of Janie Crow projects. Hopefully the images above will inspire you to root through your yarn stash to create a very personal piece of your own crochet.... ​

art 4 of the Indigo Dreams Crochet Along has now been published in Inside Crochet Issue 144 and we are loving seeing your progress over on the dedicated Facebook group, which now has almost four thousand members! In this month's instalment you will be making the Rosewood Motif and the Love Heart Granny Squares.
 ​

​Ever in search of quick and easy recipes to make at the end of a busy day, Gemma has recommended this recipe for really simple homemade falafels, which she found over on the BBC Good Food website.

If you're feeding the family for a main meal Gemma recommends doubling the recipe and if you prefer your food a little bit more fiery, you might want to tweak the spice content as they are quite mild. ​

The Challenge is to create (by knitting, crocheting or sewing) 1900 flags of bunting, which will decorate a replica section of Hadrian's Wall at the Roman Vindolandia, in Hexham, Northumberland, in an exhibition between 22nd-30th October 2022.

Crochet patterns for the bunting, designed by Lynne Barber, are available to download on the project website, which you can find by clicking on the image above or here. You can also find a knitted flag pattern here. It could be a good opportunity for some new year stash-busting too! ​

I have a couple of train journeys ahead of me this weekend and I am already looking forward to a few hours sat crocheting as I speed through the English countryside. I think the weather forecast is looking good too, so a spot of sunshine will be very welcome.

What do you have planned for this weekend? We always like to hear about what you have on your hook or your knitting needles and which projects you are getting excited about. Simply hit reply and let us know. ​

Janie x

The Frida's Flowers blanket was my crochet along project in 2016 and it has been such a joy to see versions of it out in the wild ever since! The design was inspired by the personal style and costumes of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo - it features bright flowers and leaves on a black background, typical of the kind of traditional embroidered textiles Frida favoured for her dresses and skirts.
​

The patterns for my blanket continue to be available as free downloads via the Stylecraft website. You can find them in UK & US terms and the Dutch and German languages by following this link.
​

One of the things I love about creating crochet blankets is seeing them made in alternative colour choices by other people. While many crocheters have made the blanket in my chosen shades over the last few years, many have posted images of their own blankets made in alternative yarns.

I think it is fabulous that this project really inspired people's imaginations and I was especially excited to see the images below of lots of different colourways made by a crochet group in Indonesia. Lita Johnathans - who originally posted these images on Instagram has given me permission to post them here. Aren't they amazing!

A few years ago I asked Lucia of Lucia's Fig Tree if she would consider recolouring the project and was over the moon when she created her version, which she called Primavera. With Lucia's permission we created yarn packs for this colour way, but when Stylecraft discontinued the Classique Cotton DK a little while ago we were unable to continue to make the kits.
​

When Stylecraft recently introduced a fabulous range of Organic Cotton DK to their collection I knew immediately that it was time to look again at Frida and Lucia's Primavera blanket again, so I am really excited that we are now able to sell the kits once again and that the yarn substitution document for Lucia's version is now available via her website and not just as part of a kit.

As I said already - it always makes me feel really proud when I see my designs out in the wild, so you can imagine how I felt when I spotted my flowers on a Dolce and Gabanna design. It was a bit of a shame that they didn't ask permission to use the design, or credit me as the initial designer, but it was still a wow moment to see my Frida on the catwalk!
​

Frida and Frida Primavera will be Stylecraft's make along project for February. You can join the dedicated Facebook Group and find out more by following this link. I am hopeful that this re-release of the project will tempt some of you to make the blanket and I am really looking forward to seeing more of them out in the wild over the next few months.
​

It was really lovely to have a proper break from work over Christmas. For the first time in more than 6 years we closed the websites for the festive period and it was really good not to feel the pull of work during our break. However, because we decided not to check any emails over the holiday, we were blissfully unaware that the mail@janiecrow.co.uk email address had become blocked by some really large emails that had been sent in.

As a result of this some people who emailed over the 12 day period may have received a mailbox full notification. If you were one of these people and you still require some help please email again so that we can deal with your query.

We really love hearing from you and I especially love to see your 'out in the wild' images of projects you have completed, but if you do want to send images please can you make sure they are not too big before you send them. It seems that a weeks worth of emails with multiple large attachments obliterates our inbox! ​

Looking at colour trends has been a big feature of this week as Brand Manager of Stylecraft Annabelle Hill and I have been discussing the palette for the Naturals ReCReate yarn, which is my current favourite. This yarn is 100% recycled and, with 350 meters of yarn per 100g ball, it would be perfect to use in my blanket designs - I am really excited that the colour palette is going to grow.
 ​

In the lead up to Christmas we managed to get quite a few little jobs done around the house and I finally managed to sort out a small studio space in the summer house at the end of the garden. It is so peaceful up here and I am really enjoying my little private work space. Andy built the summer house about 10 years ago and the children have always used it as a good space to entertain their friends, but now that they are grown up we felt it was time that the space was updated. In the images above you can see the main part of the summer house and my little space behind the storage unit. Can you spot my William Morris Kelmscott curtains on the right hand side? 
 ​

Now that the summer house is more or less sorted we have turned our attention to the bedrooms in our little bungalow as they are badly run need of some TLC. I have been looking at the interior trends and love the fact that purple, blue and pink are making a big come back. The image above from Home Textile has me really inspired, but I think our rooms might be a little small for such bold colours. 
 ​

What do you guys like to eat for breakfast? I am a porridge fan in the winter months and an overnight oats fan in the summer time, but every now and then Andy will make some homemade granola, which is so super tasty it disappears in no time!
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My friend Teresa sent this link to these fabulous crochet 'Pigs in Blankets' designed by A Good Right Hook. I know it is way early to be preparing for next Christmas, but I wanted to share them here because they are just so darn cute - and cruelty free obviously! 
​

January is a traditionally a month where many of us give up things that are considered bad for us such as drinking and smoking for example, with campaigns such as Dry January as well as those that aim to encourage us to take up a healthy hobby or get out and about more.

As I have already said, I find January a good time to give up a few things for a bit and so this year we have decided to take part in Veganuary. Not because it is our aim to give up dairy and eggs completely (we are already vegetarian), but because we want to cut down a little on the cheese in particular and make a few small changes in order to get used to more recipes that are dairy free.

Our son Charlie suffers from lots of dairy related allergies, so we have already seen some big changes to his wellbeing now that cheese is no longer on the menu. We have been having lovely creamy oat milk delivered by the milkman for the last couple of years and are total converts to this and the one produced by Glebe Farm, which is a British produced oat milk unlike the market leader 'Oatly' which is produced in Sweden. Sadly we are yet to discover a good vegan cheese, so if any of you have a suggestion of a good brand or what to eat in its place that would be good!
 ​

There is a Chinese proverb that I am trying to keep in mind this month - it goes like this:
 
"The man who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones".

If you are looking to make some small changes to any part of your life in order to achieve long term results, then you might be interested in a book I have just started reading. It is called 'Atomic Habits; Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results' and you can find a link to it here.
​

We will be exhibiting at Waltham Abbey Wool show on Sunday and would love to see you there. The organisers of the show, Diana and Kate, have put in lots of arrangements so that exhibitors and visitors alike can keep safe. Tickets are for timed entry and you can find more information here.
 
It is my lovely Mum's 80th Birthday tomorrow so we are planning to have lunch together. My brother and his daughter have tested positive for Covid this week so we have our fingers crossed that we can all get together to celebrate Mum's big birthday the following weekend. Happy Birthday Mum!
 

Charlie introduced me to the work of Faig Ahmed this week. Ahmed designs deconstructed rugs and carpets like the one in the image above. I think his work is amazing and you can find out more about his work by following this link.
 

I put some hyacinth bulbs in water a few weeks before Christmas and kept them in the dark until New Year's day, when I brought them out and popped them on the window sill. Checking in on my bulbs daily and watching them grow has been a delight over the last few weeks, especially as their scent is filling up the kitchen day after day. As you can see from the image I have a couple of bulbs still left to flower and am particularly looking forward to seeing what colours the small one on the left will produce. 

Now that I am working from home and have a little more spare time I have been posting to my Janie Crow Lifestyle Instagram account a little more often so, if you want to catch up with me between my newsletters, you can find my feed here. We also have some plans for my Janie Crow feed, where I post images and information about my work, as I have badly neglected it lately.

I leave you with a link to sports commentator Andrew Cotter's YouTube account. I discovered his videos, which feature his beautiful dogs Olive and Mabel, recently and I keep popping back to watch another video. This one is really good!
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​Have a lovely weekend
​ 
Janie x
​

​Over the festive period we have been keeping ourselves in hermit mode once again, but have been able to venture out a little and have some family over to share in our small celebrations.vThankfully almost all of us have had our booster vaccinations - Charlie will be the last one on our list when he has his booster on Tuesday next week.

We feel incredibly lucky to have been able to take up the offer of a vaccination and have made donations to the Unicef Vaccinaid programme so that others all over the world are also able to get some protection against the virus. If you would like to donate too you can find a link here.
Since Christmas we have seen a flurry of download pattern sales on Ravelry and Etsy as people start to plan what projects to make as we head into 22. We will be back at work on Tuesday and will be sending out any orders placed over the festive period.

We still have some kits and hope to add more to the site soon as there are still a lot that we do not have the yarn for yet. The following kits are still showing stock: