Time To Get Cosy

Quick Catch Up
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It has been a bit of an odd week hasn't it? I hope you are all ok as we have headed into lockdown once again.

As an online business we are able to keep working here at Janie Crow and Just Knots although we have made a few changes to our working arrangements so that Andy and I are now working away from the studio in the afternoons once Sue is here to pack the post. We know we are very lucky to be in a position where we can keep working and I am mindful of all those who are not so fortunate. 

With so much uncertainty surrounding the forthcoming months it has been hard to plan projects and tough to predict what kind of thing you guys might be interested in making. The next 7 or so weeks in the lead up to Christmas is usually a time when us crafters throw ourselves into making decorations or gifts for others and so I have decided to keep it 'business as usual' and release some new festive projects over the next couple of weeks...

For me, this time of year is when I start to think about the interior of my home. During the summer months we love the garden and getting out and about, but this time of year I love the cosy feel of nights in front of the fire and that idea of hunkering down and forgetting the outside world for a bit. For obvious reasons I think this year is going to feel even more like that, especially these next 4 weeks, so I am looking forward to making some items to spruce up the house a bit and get myself in the Christmas spirit regardless. Today I have released the pattern for the Oonagh hand knitted cushion cover (you will find more information lower down this email) and next week I will be releasing 2 new crochet festive crochet decoration patterns, so look out for more about those on Tuesday.

Andy has added a new cart to the Janie Crow web site this week. Unlike the old cart, the new one recognises counties and shipping locations more accurately and means we can calculate weights and shipping costs to a better effect. We have tested the new cart software over and over again before it went properly live earlier on today to check it is all working ok, but (of course) we are expecting some glitches along the way! If you have any trouble linking through to checkout or adding things to your basket please get in touch. 

I have a couple of other things to tell you about this week, so I hope you will stick with me for a couple of minutes and catch up with all things Janie Crow.
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Oonagh Hand Knitted Cushion Cover
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I designed this cushion cover for a workshop trip to the West of Ireland that I tutored last year. As the focus of the trip was the knitting heritage of the Aran Islands, that sit at the mouth of Galway Bay, I chose to use traditional cable stitch designs and textural patterns. To give the cover a more contemporary twist, and because I adore a bit of bling, I also added some beads using a slip-stitch method that enables the beads to create a cross pattern. 
 
I used traditional cream yarn as the shade for the first cushion cover with gold and green beads to echo the national colours of Ireland, but I had a feeling it would also look great in red with silver beads, so I set about commissioning a new version especially for the festive season. I really love the way the silver beads sparkle on this cover.
 
The pattern is written for West Yorkshire Spinners Colourlab DK, but you can use any DK weight yarn and of course you can use any yarn shade and bead combination. Andy has the Colour Lab yarn in stock on the Just Knots web site here - I have to say I currently have big crush on the Aqua Green and Deep Teal as I think they would work really nicely with the Love Is Enough version of the Fruit Garden CAL! You need just 2 balls of the Colourlab to make the cushion cover.

Due to a high volume of sales during the lockdown period our stocks of Debbie Abrahams beads are a little low on some shades, so we have not been able to put pre-packed together for this project, however you can get the pattern, the beads and the leather buttons along with the yarn on the Just Knots site - Andy has added drop down options from this page for you to put your own selection together.

If you want to take a look at the bead shades you can hop across to the Just Knots Debbie Abrahams bead page to choose alternative colours to those that I have used. Scroll down the page to see the shades more clearly. For the Cream cushion I used 3 shades of beads so it is a good way of using up any left overs, just make sure that you thread them on your yarn in the right order! Although I used a few colours I think it would look really effective to use one shade - perhaps a lovely festive gold like shade 31? We have added 3 new shades of beads onto Just Knots this week too - they are Rose (383), Tangerine Dream (733) and Teal (51).

I really enjoyed designing and making the original cover and am sending a big thank you to my lovely friend Mary who made the red one for me. 

Mahliqa Wire
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Mahliqa specialises in hand knitted & crocheted textile jewellery using a mixed media of hand-dyed yarn, precious metals & Swarovski crystals. Mahliqa’s designer and creator, Suraya, is a London-born British Asian, who draws on her cultural heritage of arts and handicrafts from the Indian sub-continent.

​Suraya is hugely inspired by the vintage jewellery styles of India & Persia and incorporates vivid colour into her designs by using Swarovski crystals, gemstones, enamelled copper wires and luxury yarns produced by talented indie yarn dyers. 
 

Suraya is a regular exhibitor at the Knitting & Stitching shows and other yarn festivals and
has been featured in The Knitter, Knitting and Inside Crochet Magazines. Much of Suraya's work is commission based, creating bespoke pieces for private clients, so we are very lucky to have a selection of her fabulous work for sale here on Janie Crow.
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​Suraya lives just a couple of miles away form us here in North London and we have been friends for a long time. I think that Suraya's work is absolutely stunning and I am so pleased to see how her career has gone from strength to strength over the last few years. Suraya and her work was featured on Kirsty Allsopps Handmade Christmas show last year (you can find the video here - Suraya is featured at around about the 45 minute mark) and you can find the Mahliqa press page here that also shows her winning design from Vogue Knitting Live earlier this year. What a total star she is!

I am totally in love with all of Suraya's ready made pieces of jewellery, but if you fancy having a go at making something yourself you can also find her patterns and accessories on the Mahliqa Etsy store here.

Fruit Garden CAL - Take Two!
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The Fruit Garden Crochet Along project has started all over again and will run through to February 2021. Stylecraft and myself made the decision to re-run the project because so many people could not join in last time around due to circumstances surrounding the pandemic.  

The yarn substitution document for the new 'Love is Enough' colour way went live on Tuesday. You will need to download the original patterns plus the yarn sub document to work through the project. If you wish to make the blanket in one of the original colour ways or using yarns from your stash then you do not need the new documents.

You can find the introduction document for the Love is Enough colour way here and I do suggest that you take a look at the Getting Ready document too.

We had hoped to have some of the Naturals - Bamboo + Cotton kits on the web site this week, but we are still waiting for one shade of yarn to arrive. As soon as we have kits in stock again I will let you know. If you are looking for ideas for alternative colour combinations or want to use up yarns from your stash then why not take a look at the Stylecraft Yarns CAL Facebook page here.
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Poppies & Rainbows in Weardale
Gemma Biggs

We managed to get away for the half-term week. This was a holiday booked in the height of purest optimism as we came out of lockdown back in the summer and so it was anticipated with much excitement by all the family, especially as it has been a few years since we got away. We booked a self-catering cottage on a farm in the depths of Weardale, County Durham as the idea of a change of scenery (but away from the crowds) really appealed. While we were away the weather can only be described as appalling, endless heavy rain and howling winds, but a good time was had, nonetheless.  
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For me, one of the highlights of our trip was the many displays of crocheted and knitted poppies that we came across in small villages and towns throughout the area. The most memorable were those in St John’s Chapel, a small village on the A689 between Daddry Shield and Ireshopeburn. The display was organized by the St John’s Chapel Poppy Group to raise money for this year’s Poppy Appeal.  

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic there have been no door to door collections this year and so displays such as these have been created to help raise money for The Royal British Legion. The purple poppies were created to remember all the horses who have died in conflicts too and these were for sale in the Chatterbox Café, which is opposite the church in the village. The display made it into the local press too!

Alongside the poppy displays there was another highlight of being in the area during such wet weather as there was no shortage of rainbows! 

If you want to support the Royal British Legion follow this link to the official site. 
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The Big Walk For Shelter
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Thank you so much to all those of you who have donated some money to support our fund-raising for Shelter. We have already doubled our target of £100, so that is amazing! If any of you would like to join in with the walk and boost the funds even more you can join team Janie Crow by following this link.

Here at Janie Crow we know that we are lucky to have a roof over our heads, cosy beds, yummy dinners and a healthy yarn stash to keep us warm through the winter months. We also know that there are thousands of people who are not so lucky. With the colder months fast approaching we want to do something to help the charity Shelter look after some of those who will find themselves on the streets this winter. 
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Team Janie Crow will be taking part in a 10km walk on Thursday 10th December and we would love it if you would send us a small donation via our Just Giving page here. 

Every four minutes a household becomes homeless. For more information visit the Shelter web site here.
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It's Nearly the Weekend!

I think it goes without saying that we have very few plans for the weekend! We are hoping that it might stay dry enough to give the grass one final cut before the winter really sets in and we hope to spend some time sorting out the summerhouse at the end of the garden (which is currently doubling up as a bit of a gym) as it has become a bit of a dumping ground over the warmer months. I am hoping to make it my winter project as it could really do with a lick of paint and a bit of TLC. 

Summer and Chris have harvested their carrots this week. I am not confident that ours are going to look quite as good as theirs, but we might lift a few over the weekend to see what is going on under the bushy carrot tops!
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No doubt we will try and get another nice long walk under our belts at some point over the next few days. The forecast is still good for tomorrow, but not so good for the next week, so it looks like we might be enjoying a cosy day by the fire on Sunday. I like to watch the Remembrance Day service on TV, so we will have that on in the background whatever it is that we end up doing.
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I came across a link to the Drone Photo Awards for 2020 and thought you might like to see them too. There are some really fabulous images on this site, like the one above of women sorting chillies and a shark in a school of salmon. It is amazing to think that all the images were all taken from the height of a drone. 


I am really looking forward to being back here with you next Friday as we are launching an exciting new addition to the Janie Crow brand that I cannot wait to tell you about and don't forget that I will be back in your inbox on Tuesday to show you the new festive crochet decoration designs. 

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend. See you soon and take care....

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I have been nominated within the Craft Influencer of the Year category of the Craft Business Awards once again. I was fortunate enough to win this award for 2020 and would love to do so again. If you would like to vote for me then click on this link or on the image below to be taken to the online voting forms.
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