Quick Catch Up with Janie Crow

We had a fabulous time at the Yarndale show last weekend and it was so lovely to see so many of you on the stand. It was especially good to hear how many of you enjoy the Janie Crow newsletters and mail outs - I hope you will enjoy this week's Quick Catch Up as I have some things to tell you about.

Thanks to varying stock levels at our suppliers and discontinued yarn shades it hasn't been easy keeping all our kits in stock over the last few months, but Andy has been able to do quite a big restock since coming home from the show last weekend. We have quite a healthy stock of the Original Persian Tiles kit as well as the Light Blue one which use Styelcraft yarns - you can find them here. We also have a few Sandalwood kits and the original Persian Tiles in West Yorkshire Spinners yarns.

Our yarn packs for my Sunshine and Showers project proved a real hit at Yarndale and Andy has managed to put more of them into stock on the website this week. This project was designed as a learning tool, with each section of the design echoing the changing seasons - the autumnal parts are some of my favourite as I tried to represent falling leaves and pumpkins (made my working crochet bobbles) sitting in the fields waiting to be picked for Halloween! This is perhaps my only project worked in rows, so it is great for getting to grips with basic stitches whilst achieving straight edges! You can find more information here.

We have good stock of both the colour ways of the Summer Palace blanket and hope to have kits for the wrap in very soon as Baa Ram Ewe have reinstated their Colourwork Pip yarn range. Two of the shades that I used in the original pattern for the Summer Palace Wrap have been dropped, but I have found a couple of great substitutes and listed them on the website here.

After a long absence we have kits in stock for the Indigo Dreams blanket (shown above) and its red companion Crimson Dreams. I think this is a perfect project for the colder months and the Crimson version is particularly festive, so it might be a brilliant autumn make! You can find more information here.

And finally - in terms of kits any way - we have yarn packs in stock for the Spirit of Flora CAL. It was brilliant to see so many pics of your projects at Yarndale at the weekend and I was especially chuffed to see that so many of you had raided your stashes and come up with your own lovely versions.

We are hoping to have more kits in stock over the next few months, including some of the higher end projects, such as the Magic Circles Wrap using Eden Cottage's range of beautiful wool and silk yarn and the Peppercorn version of Persian Tiles which is made using yarns from the West Yorkshire Spinners range. If you are interested in either of these you can request to go on the 'notify me' list by entering your details on the website pages.

Emma has been really busy coming up with a very busy work schedule for the next few months and she has already planned some new technique videos for Youtube. She has some great ideas for autumn projects - so do keep an eye out for those!

I am also trying to be ultra organised with my workload and am really looking forward to hunkering down with some crochet as the autumn progresses.

At the beginning of September we challenged our followers on Instagram and Facebook to create an Aster motif in a lovely, summery colourway and show us their creations using the hashtag #janiecrowastercompetition. The Aster is the birth flower for the month of September and, being determined to hang on to summer vibes for as long as possible, we were excited to see your entries. As expected, you did us proud with some wonderful colour schemes. Here is just a small selection of entries: ​

As always, it was really hard to choose winners, but that's what we have to do. There were two goody bag prizes available, one for an Instagram entry and one for a Facebook entry. So, here they are! The top photo (below) is from @dani_poppies, our Instagram winner and we particularly liked the combination of colours on this motif, especially the red picot edging to the flower. ​

Our Facebook winner is Caroline Foulkes. We were bowled over by Caroline's choice of colours, in particular the combination of the green and pink, and we loved how she took inspiration from the dahlia arrangement. Those lovely cats look like they approved of it all too! ​

Thank you all so much for taking part in our little September challenge. We hope you enjoyed it and congratulations again to our winners. We will get your prizes sent off to you as soon as possible.

It's nice to be back writing about my Bohemian Blooms blanket project again. September has been an incredibly busy month for me with my crochet classes beginning again and a new routine of driving my daughter to college four days a week. 

From a motivational point of view I decided that I would focus on finishing all the motifs needed to create the central square of the blanket, which could then be joined. There's nothing quite like getting to a joining stage to feel like you're making some progress. So this month was all about the Vanessa production line. I had three more Vanessa motifs to make, in order to have the full set of nine needed for the centre. Do you remember those sewn bullion stitches that I was struggling with last month? Well, I'm pleased to report no trouble this month and I think they could actually become a bit addictive! ​

Before I started the joining process I made sure that all the corner stitches of the motifs were correctly marked with stitch markers and then I joined motifs so that I had three strips of three, leaving two long joins along three motifs at a time to complete the centre panel. Ta dah! ​

The beady-eyed amongst you will notice a few stray ends that need dealing with but that's a mere detail. I'm thrilled to have reached this stage and it will definitely spur me on. It's beginning to look like a blanket! ​

This coming month I am looking forward to working the Unity motifs on to the sides of this central panel and adding the little Omega squares made right back in the beginning to the four corners. Have a fabulous October and I'll see you back here in a month's time. ​

​Gemma x

Gemma's recipe recommendation this week is for Mushroom & Stilton Wellingtons via the BBC Good Food website. ​

Gemma says that one essential that is always in her fridge is ready made puff pastry, so these were relatively quick and easy to prepare and perfect for a warming family dinner now the nights are a little bit on the cooler side. If you're not a fan of blue cheese I'm sure that could be swapped for something a bit more to your taste - maybe a bit of Boursin would be good?

We were fascinated to read about the recent discovery, in an attic, of a crochet blanket made by Queen Mary (the late Queen Elizabeth the Second's mother). Apparently, during the 1930s/40s Queen Mary would occasionally donate these small cot blankets to help London families. You can read more about the blanket and its history here or click on the image below:

Knitted Knockers UK are a charity that provides knitted and crocheted breast prostheses for women in the UK who have undergone a mastectomy or lumpectomy and alongside the standard prostheses can even make versions suitable for swimming and other sports. They can also provide display packs for organisations and other health care professionals. What a fantastic organisation. You can read more about the services they provide by clicking here or on the image below. ​

Our poor little house has once again been majority neglected over the last few weeks and so this weekend will be one where we stick pretty close to home. We have quite a few outside projects to do as we need to get the garden furniture packed away and do some autumnal pruning. I think it will also be a weekend of cooking and I am weirdly excited about the prospect of a meal with mashed potato and gravy!!

I will be at The Knitting and Stitching Show with the Stylecraft team next week. You will find their stand in the main hall and I will be there all day on Thursday and Saturday and on Friday and Sunday I will be there in the afternoons - it would be great to see you if you are able to come and say Hi!

If you are in London and looking for something to do, the 'Outlaws' exhibition opens at The Fashion and Textiles Museum today. The show focuses on the work of Leigh Bowery and you can find more information by following this link.

I came across a funny video whilst scrolling through YouTube this week. It is by Foil, Arms and Hog and you can find it here if you fancy a laugh! If you want to see a Friday specific one by the same guys (which is also pretty funny) you can find it here! ​

Sending big yarny hugs.