Quick Catch Up with Janie Crow

I had a great time on the Stylecraft stand at the Knitting and Stitching show here in North London last week and it was lovely to catch up with so many of you and hear your crochet stories. It is always so wonderful to know that your crochet brings you solace and so much joy and I was really humbled by the fact that so many of you took the time to come and speak to me. ​

We showcased a few new colour ways and revamped versions of some existing blanket designs at the show and I will share the details of these with you over the next couple of weeks once we get the colour substitution documents sorted. 

It has been really great to be back at my desk this week and I have finally been able to settle down with my hook, which has been so fantastic after weeks of dipping in and out of design work. I always have a few projects on the go as I find my focus can drift if I spend too long on one thing and so I have been continuing to work on the new colour way of Persian Tiles and on sampling some beaded designs for our festive workshop in Bournemouth. 

I have a few things to tell you about this week including a new pattern release for some pretty 'stash busting' crochet pouches. I hope you can spare five minutes to catch up with all things Janie Crow!

I am a huge lover of project bags and pouches to put all my bits and bobs in. I have countless make up bags and travel bags, all of which have specific uses and contain particular things. I am the same with my crochet and knit project bags. I have them in all shapes and sizes, some with zippers, others with buttons, some with extra pockets and some with dividers. I love the fact that I can identify my WIPs by the bags they are in, especially as I often find myself switching between ongoing projects.

I love projects that use up left overs or small amounts of yarn and I really adore adding beads to crochet stitches, so I am really excited that the pattern for the beaded pouches (that we showed you a few weeks ago) are now available for all you eager crocheters who love stash busting projects and a bit of bling too!

The pattern includes instructions for two versions, which I have called Cafe au Lait (the brown coffee one) and French Linen (the pale flax coloured version). You can choose whether or not to add lots of beads and a pretty additional flower, which I have taken from The Fruit Garden Blanket project and revamped a little.

As I am no good at sewing I have used a ready made cotton zipped pouch from The Clever Baggers (details are in the pattern) as a lining. Working around existing bags is a trick I have been using for workshop projects for the last 5 years or so and it is a great alternative for those of us unable to sew a lining - although you do need to be a tad more careful about achieving the correct tension so that everything fits together. Using a padded lining bag means that your pouch would be perfect for storing precious, more delicate items.

The projects are written for Stylecraft Organic Cotton DK and use Debbie Abrahams knitting beads. Of course you can choose to use exactly the yarns I have used, or pick your own lovely palettes - I am really looking forward to what you come up with. I hope that your crochet pouch will make a great addition to your cherished bag collection just like mine has, whatever you choose to use it for.

You can find the patterns available as downloads on Etsy and Ravelry and as paper copies (UK terms only for this one I'm afraid) by following this link to the Janie Crow store.

Don't forget that we have Janie Crow and Emma Ball calendars in stock for those of you who like to get ultra organised ahead of the new year.

Andy has forgotten to take the 'EARLY BIRD' discount offer off from the last time I mentioned them, so if you want to nab yourself a 13% discount (on Friday the 13th!) then head over to the web store and pop one in your basket - they are ready to dispatch!

You can find a little reel on Instagram that shows the blankets that Emma chose to feature within the calendar and don't forget to look out for some more new Emma Ball and Janie Crow items coming soon!

A couple of weeks ago Emma asked members of the Janie Crow team to send her photos of our essential crochet kit and this is what we came up with! ​

Jane: "I couldn't live without my magnetic Della Q buddy case for beading and my sewing needles. Love pouches. The embroidered one was made by my friend Juliet. HAVE TO HAVE a really sharp pencil hence the sharpener and eraser. 2 pairs of scissors as tend to loose a pair every time I settle on the settee. Usually find them down the side or they fall off my lap when I stand up!"⁠

Gemma: "This is what I take with me when I teach workshops, so I suppose these are my essentials. There are several of most things as I often end up lending bits and bobs! At home I have a similar set in my Janie Crow hook roll along with a zipped make up bag of many spare hooks in all sorts of sizes"⁠

Sarah: "The 'post -it' notes are for marking or highlighting parts of a pattern or writing a note to myself on something like a tip that someone has mentioned. Can’t live without stitch markers- use them all the time to mark corners and the beginning of a round. Bit of yarn in case I need to demo or test something. Safety pins - you never know when they might come in handy! The Seams hand cream is perfect for soothing tired hands!"⁠

Emma: "Am never this organised. Normally I am pulling hooks and most other things from down the sofa cushions! I can never ever find a tape measure even though I must have at least 20, so am delighted to have found one to photograph here. Scissors - usually more than one pair but again, they go missing a lot. I love the bent-ended darning needles for sewing in ends and the little bulb safety pins are fantastic as stitch markers. I scribble all over my patterns so always have a pen and the last thing I couldn't photograph was my phone as I always have an audiobook on the go while I crochet."⁠
 
Do you have anything in your kit of crochet essentials that none of us have? If you do we'd love to know what it is and why you can't do without it! ​

Now that its October we thought we'd give our Festive Crochet Decorations a Halloween make-over. It's a lot of fun to go a bit bananas with colours we'd not usually use together.⁠
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Emma has thrown everything at these: beads, mirrors, alternating yarn colours, and the good news is that we have technique videos to show you how to do all of those things. 

This pattern is so versatile: switch the colours to match any event or holiday and they instantly fit! Also, they're a fantastic "one-hit" project for when you need a little fix but don't have a lot of time. ⁠This little collection is a work in progress. There are plans afoot to make it into a.....no, no, we'll keep that a secret and show you soon! ⁠
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For now, if you fancy making some of these lovelies for yourself, there is a link here to the pattern. Be warned though, they're VERY addictive!⁠
 
🎃 👻 🎃 👻 🎃 👻 🎃 👻 🎃 👻 🎃 👻 🎃 👻 🎃 👻 🎃 👻 🎃 👻 🎃 👻 🎃 ⁠

Okra has a reputation for being a bit slimy and not very appealing when cooked, but this super simple recipe for Garlic Roasted Okra that Gemma tried out after coming across a bag of fresh okra in a groceries box won everyone in the family over. The pointy ends of the okra were particularly crispy and delicious!

Gemma has been trying out the 'Too Good to Go' app over the last few months, where local cafes, restaurants, shops and supermarkets offer leftover food at vastly reduced prices at the end of the day to help combat food waste. Gemma says:

"Every Saturday after our swimming club we pick up a Too Good to Go box from our local Morrisons supermarket on the way home. If we're lucky there are a few bags of crisps to snack on on our way home, but we all enjoy rummaging in the box when we get back to see what's in it. It helps if you are a flexible cook and sometimes things need using up quickly, but as a result of getting the boxes we have been having more home made soups, eating lots more salad and creating some truly interesting meal variations over the week! It feels good to know that perfectly good food isn't simply going into the bin at the end of day too."

It has been a busy few weeks for yarn shows with Yarndale at the end of September and the Knitting & Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace last week. We love exhibiting at shows, but also really enjoy taking a wander round them as customers. Gemma has found this really useful blog post by Being Knitterly, which has been recently updated with lots of yarn show dates from now through into 2024 - definitely time to get that 2024 calendar sorted! 

Like so many others we were shocked to read about the felling of the famous Sycamore Gap tree in Northumberland recently. Two women who live in a town close to the site where the tree stood felt that they needed to do something to commemorate the tree and together created a postbox topper for the town centre in Hexham. You can read more about it by clicking on the image below. ​

Knit For Peace are delighted to announce that they will be returning to the much-loved Green Hotel in Mysore, India in January 2024.

The Knit for Peace holiday to Mysore is the perfect way to discover India in comfortable surroundings and friendly company. Esteemed crochet and knitwear designer Carol Meldrum will lead daily crochet and knitting workshops and all skill levels are welcome. Guests will knit and crochet under a shaded pergola in the prize-winning historic gardens, with Carol on hand to teach and inspire. There is a coffee shop and home bakery on site for those who enjoy afternoon tea.

During the afternoons and on weekends, guests have the chance to shop and sightsee local temples, palaces and wildlife, and can take the opportunity to visit charitable projects supported by the Charities Advisory Trust and The Green Hotel. The Green Hotel was set up by the Charities Advisory Trust over 25 years ago as a model of sustainable tourism, and profits are distributed to charitable and environmental projects in India.

You can find more information about this wonderful trip (which I would thoroughly recommend, having been three times myself) by following this link. ​

We are heading away to the seaside this weekend and I am so looking forward to some time with our family. I have only seen the sea once this year and, as we haven't had a holiday away from home for longer than 3 days, I am hoping it might be a weekend of rest and recuperation. I think the weather is due to cool down over the next few days after our lovely warm start to the autumn, so I will be digging out some cosy knitwear to take with me.

I have started to make a Granny Hexagon cardigan (I am using pattern number 9965 from Stylecraft as the basis for it) and have really been enjoying the mindfulness of working repeated groups of treble crochet. I have raided my stash and have pulled out all my red and pink yarns that I have decent amounts of and will definitely be taking this project away with me. I found a lovely TikTok that shows a fabulous version made big and baggy in a similar colourway to what I am hoping to achieve - you can find it by following this link - I love this! 

I hope that whatever you have planned for this weekend that you will have lovely time. I will be back in your inbox in 2 weeks time with the October newsletter. If you fancy catching up with what we are up to in the mean time, be sure to take a look at the JANIE CROW Instagram feed or head over to our Facebook page.

Sending yarny hugs!

Janie x