Winter Woolly Trends

Janie's Friday Feature

Phew! Here I am finally with a Friday Feature Newsletter after weeks of shows, events and travelling. Well - I say here I am with a Friday Feature, but as I am sitting at the dining table at home at 8pm on Friday evening writing this, it in fact looks likely that when you read this it will be Saturday, but never mind, I am here at last! And I've missed you!

It has been a mad month with lots of things going on, but now I am so pleased to be back home and back at the studio in the lead up to the Festive Season. We have 9 weeks until we head off to New York for Vogue Knitting Live so I am really hoping to be able to settle down to some new design work and sort out lots of things that have been rumbling away in the background for the last few months.

You may remember that a few weeks ago I told you that we have some exciting plans for Janie Crow going forwards into next year. Part of this plan involves a new retail web site and a new design based brand web site for Janie Crow. We will be revealing the new changes to you over the next couple of months - we are really excited about the new sites and of course we hope that you will like the changes we are making too!

This week, after our trip to the Netherlands a few weeks ago and our final residential workshop in Bournemouth last weekend, it has been a case of catching up with everything, but hopefully from next week we will be able to find more time to concentrate on building the new sites and putting all the wheels in motion for our changes. As I already said, I am really hoping to find some time for designing and have been working on some recolouring of existing designs. Of course, in true yarnaholic fashion, I have also decided to launch into making a 'Crochet Between the Lines' shawl using Scheepjes Whirl in my 'spare' time! (yeah right!) I am using Peppermint Patty Cake and Turkish Delight yarn cakes (shown below) and I am already in love with it!

I have to admit that the colours did start off looking a bit like an Elf's stockings as I was working both balls from the centre and ended up with red and dark green working in stripes at the same time, but I have now switched it so that the green is taken from the outside of the ball and it is looking much more promising. If, you have not been introduced to the wonders of Scheepjes Whirl or the genius of the Crochet Between the Lines pattern, by Tammy Canavan-Soldaat, then I urge you to have a look at the links I have included in this paragraph and If you want to read a great blog post about choosing your yarn shades and getting to grips with the designs then head over to Tammy's blog here. The light is really dingy and yellow here in the kitchen tonight, so I will share some images of my progress when it is brighter and I have more than 20cm of crochet to show you!
 
​

In this weeks newsletter I am focussing on the new knitwear trends for the winter. This is in relation to fashion rather than interior or making trends, but I am going to try to link to things that you could craft yourself as an alternative. I hope you will enjoy it.

Woolly Trends for Winter!

You don't have to look very far to find out that one of the key trends in knitwear this winter is knitted cables. Think traditional Arran sweaters with lots of great big fabulous cables and tons of bobbles. Think oversized and slouchy sweaters or cardis worn with jeans, but also tailored and neat tops worn tucked into pleated skirts over sequined dresses. The look is everywhere and it is easy to find wonderful patterns that totally sum up this lovely trend. You can also find a great video on YouTube, which illustrates this look perfectly by following this link.

Kim Hargreaves's new book 'Pale' totally refects this lovely trend and you can find more information and images of the 21 knitting patterns in her book by following this link or clicking on the image below

You might also want to take a look at the new Pom Pom magazine, which also features some really innovative designs that have clearly been designed in line with this trend. Knitters have been going a little bit bonkers about the Nightingale sweater by Norah Gaughan (shown below) so, why not see what all the fuss is about by following this link and taking a look at the new magazine preview images.

Fringing and eyelash style knitwear is also really making a move on the catwalks this winter. I know many of us shudder a little when faced with these kinds of yarns on the shelves at the yarn store and you do run the risk of being in trouble if you stand too close to an open fire or a lit cigarette in one of these garments, but trust me, furry style/fringe type knitwear is totally in!

Knitted oversized dresses and cardigans remain very fashionable too. Grandad knits with elaborate intarsia and soft teddy bear fur type textures were seen on many winter 18/19 catwalks with many garments worn in bright colours either off the shoulder or belted at the waist.
 ​

Fairisle continues to be bang on trend and yoke sweaters that feature colour work even more so. If you haven't already come across the designs of Boyland Knitworks then you really need to take a look as the designs are wonderful. I particularly like Sunset Highway sweater which is shown in part below.

Boho looks also continue through to the winter with gradient yarns and mixtures of colours remaining at the heart of this look. Quite a few designers featured cut and patchworked styles, with the key colours being red, plum, fuchsia and tan, indeed many fashion forecasters have started to say that brown is the new black, so whether you choose peanut skin orangey brown or more camel tones - brown is definitely THE colour of the season.

I am so pleased that it seems blanket wraps and capes are to stay at the height of fashion this season. I adore this look and am really pleased that it has stayed in for another winter. Big soft blanket wraps are so incredibly handy as they can be stowed away in your bag if you're a little too warm or wrapped over your winter coat if it is particularly chillly - the one I had last year spent most of the winter either on my back, in my bag just in case I needed it or next to me on the sofa in front of the TV! This year it seems that the blanket wraps have got even bigger than last year, with many of them shown draped and tucked into belts. There are some great examples in the image below from the Vogue web site - you can click on the image to read more about the trend forecasts.

New! Summer Palace Blanket

Following the success of my Summer Palace wrap design, which was released a couple of months ago, this week we have put a blanket version of the design on the web site on a pre sale basis.

Following the success of my Summer Palace wrap design, which was released a couple of months ago, this week we have put a blanket version of the design on the web site on a pre sale basis.

In light of the article above I am now thinking that either version could work really well as my winter wrap/cape tucked into a belt, so I might have to steal them away from the studio for a while to test out that theory, especially as it is set to get colder here this coming week! Or I could just stick to the existing wrap version shown below?

It's nearly the weekend!

So, (for me anyway) it is now past 11pm and it has taken me a full 3 hours to sort out this week's newsletter, thus it will most definitely need to be known as a Friday newsletter on a Saturday - I hope you will forgive me for it's tardyness!

Over the course of this evening I have (as usual) been distracted from my original mission and instead been taken down a few rabbit holes looking at the winter trends and thinking about what little delights I might want to add to my wardrobe this year! I have been kind of considering a fashion diet for 2019 - my good friend and fellow Blogstar Emma Varnam has spent the last year on a Fashion Fast (you can read about it on her blog here), but as I don't actually buy all that much new stuff anyway and as a fast might involve me having to think about my yarn purchases too I think a true fashion diet may be a step too far for now. I do love this time of year though in regards to looking at clothes. I love that all the sparkly party dresses are appearing in the shops alongside cosy looking winter coats and boots and I REALLY love it when the new ranges of brushed cotton PJs and fluffy warm slippers make an appearance!!!

I am looking forward to a weekend at home at last and not only am I home, but it looks like all of the Crowfoot Clan may actually coincide within the house at some point - something that is a bit of a rarity these days! We do have plans for an early morning sprint to IKEA to pick up some new shelving for the studio tomorrow, but apart from that the weekend currently holds few plans.....

What will you be doing this weekend? I would love to hear about it, especially if you have something crafty lined up. All being well I will get to spend some time on my Between the Lines shawl and I hope we will light the open fire. It's the simple pleasures in the end isn't it!

I will be back next week with a piece about the art of Freeform crochet as requested by a few of you - I hope you will join me.

Wishing you a happy weekend lovely people!