Quick Catch Up with Janie Crow

As usual it has been a busy couple of weeks since I was last in your inbox. Sadly the weather has changed a little here this week after our amazing spell of summer sunshine, and it is a bit of a shock to the system to have to dig in the wardrobe for a cardigan in the evenings.
 
As a true sun lover I would never admit to looking forward to the colder weather, but there is no denying that it is a perfect time for crafting and we are definitely seeing an increase in crocheters taking on larger projects for the autumn months. Thankfully we have a good stock of kits to keep everyone happy! 
 
I have continued to work on my beaded decoration designs in preparation for Christmas. It's always a bit strange to be working on festive projects when the weather is good, but I have so enjoyed working on smaller projects for a while. I have three blanket designs vying for attention on my pin board above my desk, so there are some plans for bigger projects in the pipeline. There is a rarely a time when I am at a loss as to what to do - I am sure you all know the feeling! 
 
We have a few things to tell you about this week and Gemma has been busy creating a really nice Quick Catch Up email for you, so I hope you can spare a few moments to get bang up to date with our news.

We received a lovely email a while ago from Rene Panagiotelis, in Australia, in which she told us about her journey to completing the Mystical Lanterns blanket you can see in the images further down. 
 
"I purchased the pattern in November 2016 and then some Patons 8ply Cotton Blend compatible colours. It was not until around October 2024 that I finally found time to start the project. However, I was short of yarn and the original colours were no longer available. Fortunately I was able to blend in some different, but complementary, 4 Seasons Brighton 8ply Cotton Blend colours.
 
Making this blanket was so rewarding and relaxing and by now, my granddaughter was old enough to take an interest in the progress. She became my chief consultant when it came to laying out the lanterns in order to assemble.
 
I really wanted straight edges and was thrilled to find vertical, horizontal and corner patterns. As striking as the lanterns were, I felt the use of the cream colour to join the lanterns really added to the final effect. I wanted to continue using cream as a joining colour and after much thought and a bit of trial and error I decided to make a multi color double edge with the final row being a ‘cross stitch’ crochet row (Edging 93, Annie’s 101 Crochet Stitch Patterns & Edgings). The ‘cross stitch’ row really finishes off the border, which was beginning to curl before adding that last row.
 
Now after 8 ½ years and much bonding with my granddaughter, I was so happy to hand her the finished product. This was a complete surprise, and she was thrilled to say the least. Creating memories, as well as blankets, is completely up lifting."

If, like Rene, you would like to add straight edges to your Mystical Lanterns projects, you can find a free blog post showing how to make the Vertical Half Motif here, and the Corner Quarter motifs here. you can find the Mystical Lanterns blanket pattern information by following this link.
 
Thank you to Rene for sharing this lovely story with us.

We continue to have a healthy stock of kits at the moment including, but not restricted to, those in the images below. If you can't see the project kit that you are looking for below, you can browse of all our stock by following this link.

​US Postage - Update

​We have been assured by Royal Mail that the new system for sending parcels to America will be easy to manage and should have little impact on our US customer base, so long as all goes to plan. 
 
We are hoping to reinstate postage to the US next week. We will be treading carefully to begin with though, so that we are not caught out if things don't go quite as expected. There still seems to be quite a bit of conflicting information coming from courier companies, both here and in the US, so it seems prudent to be cautious to begin with.
 
We would like to thank our customers in the USA for their patience while we have been negotiating this change in procedure. 

For customers in the US who might be itching to get on with a Janie Crow project, don't forget that you can get yarn kits from Mary Maxim who are based there.
 
We have collaborated with the team at Mary Maxim for quite a while now and feel we have a great relationship with them. You can find kits for many of my original colourways, such as Persian Tiles and Mystical Lanterns, as well as some exclusive kits that the team in the US have developed themselves, such as the Rose version of Persian Tiles shown below and the blue Summer Palace blanket shown above.

It seems that many of you simply can't have enough stitch markers, so the lovely Emma Ball has been busy creating some new versions to add to the collection. You can find the new star and flower markers by clicking on the images above and below.
 
We also have a new crochet hook pouch that features the Mystical Lanterns design, which you can find by following this link.

We've been enjoying seeing your versions of Estella popping up on our social media platforms. Here are just a few that Gemma has found on Facebook. Thank you to Elaine Hogan Hanley, Valentina Hall, Hazera Belal and Gina Berry for sharing their work. ​

Over on Instagram Emma has been canvassing opinions on whether or not you like using charts when you are crocheting. Gemma prefers a written pattern, but appreciates having a chart available when a written instruction isn't quite making sense and taking a quick look at the chart can clarify what the words are trying to convey. Emma likes the visual guide that a chart provides when she can't quite work out what something should look like when following the written words. 
 
If you avoid charts at all costs because you're not sure how to read them, Emma has included a video in the Zero to Granny series on how to read a chart. It's a very useful skill to have and adds another tool to your crochet kit, so do have a look at the video. You can find it here. If you are the opposite and always use charts but struggle with written patterns, there's also a video to help you with that right here. 

Gemma will be popping on to the blog at the weekend to provide you with an update on her temperature blanket progress, but in the meantime, if you want to be super organised and ready for the 1st September, you can download the new temperature recording chart here. 
 
If you don't already follow our social media channels, you can find links at the bottom of this email. Do come and join us! 

We loved joining in with Granny Square Day on Friday 15th August and Jane's new Estella square was greeted with lots of enthusiasm. Alongside Estella three other free granny square patterns are available, from the other Ambassadors of the day, Lisa Richardson, Katy Mitchell and Dedri Uys. You can find the patterns for the Circle in a Square, Bunch of Flowers and Rose's Rebellion motifs here.

You can find a downloadable and print friendly version of the Estella motif over on our website here and over on our YouTube channel Emma has added a set of videos that take you through the pattern step by step. You can find the playlist here. 
 
We have had a few requests for a paper copy of the pattern so have printed some. They are available for £3.95 (in UK terms only) and you can find them by following this link.

Yarnstravaganza, the celebration of yarn shops, is taking place across the UK from the 27th September to the 4th October. It's a great way of showing support for your local yarn shop and it's well worth getting in touch with them to see if they have any special events planned. you can check on the UK Hand Knitting website here to see if they are taking part. ​

Gemma's chosen book this month was ‘Random Acts of Crochet Kindness’ by Olivia Dieterich. The idea is that small crocheted items are left out in the community to spread a little joy when found by members of the public. There is a Facebook group of the same name with over 350k members, which you can find here.
 
The book contains twenty five patterns for small items, like those you can see on the cover of the book, together with tips on making message labels and ideas on places to leave them. They are great little projects for stash-busting too.

You can read Gemma's thoughts about the book within her Book of the Month blog post here and if you the look of this book too, head on over to the Search Press website. If you're in the UK you can get a 20% discount and free delivery by entering the code DD88 at checkout. ​

This week Andy made a really yummy dinner using a recipe from our Bold Beans cookbook. The dish included feta, peas and mint as a base to some crispy queen butter beans. It was simply delicious! 
 
The recipe isn't available online as far as I can tell, but there are some very similar versions on the Bold Bean website. This one, which includes beans, peas, charred lemons and pecorino, looks really good too! 

Do you already know that we have a Janie Crow Lifestyle Instagram account where I share everyday things that have got me inspired or excited? To be fair, it is mostly images of food, such as the plate of puris I made for dinner last weekend, but every now and again there are images of flowers, books, plants and architecture on there too. Basically anything that I have felt photo worthy during my everyday life.
 
For some reason Instagram users don't particularly like it when everyday things are mixed up with crochet, so having two accounts means I can share bit of non yarny stuff too, without upsetting anyone! 
 
The images below give you a bit of an idea of the kind of things I post. If you're interested, do pop over there by clicking on the link here or on the images below to take a look. 

Over the last month or so I have been trying to stick to a new routine, which involves setting my alarm for the same time everyday and going to bed on the dot too. I have also been spending my mornings going to the gym and doing my shopping and food prep so that by the time I sit down to my desk, my chores are pretty much done and all I have to think about is crochet and lovely yarny things! 
 
I start my working day at my desk by picking up my hook and working on my projects. I now don't touch my email inbox, or anything hugely clerical until the end of the day, once all the creative stuff is done. Working in this more regimented way, and going to bed on time, has already really helped my focus and I am feeling nicely energised by my new daily habits.

Last weekend we celebrated my father in law's birthday with a family party in their garden and this week it is our son in law's turn for a celebration as he turns 30! I have made him a chocolate fudge cake as it is his favourite and we are looking forward to catching up with them on Sunday to raise a glass to the August birthday boys! 
 
It has been quite rainy here today and it looks set to be similar over the weekend, so I am hoping that will be the perfect excuse to do a spot of weekend crafting. I have a few knitting projects that haven't been touched all summer, so maybe it's time to dig these out to finish off in the autumn. Whatever you have planned, I hope you have a nice weekend and are able to squeeze in a bit of time with your current project too.
 
I will be back in your inbox in a couple of weeks time with news of some new Climbing Rose Wrap yarn packs and some more dates for your diary.