Yes it is Saturday

Janie's Quick Update

I have been thinking about you all so much this week and hope that this email finds you all safe and well...
 
It has (of course) been another strange week here at Janie Crow. As I told you last week, we are still able to work from the studio as internet business is allowed to continue for now anyway. With more and more people at home we have seen the traffic to the Janie Crow and Just Knots web sites soar, which has presented a bit of a challenge in these unusual circumstances as it is just the 2 of us here now.

We continue to live and work in our own little 'Jane & Andy' bubble and I am amazed that we have not yet had a major fall out! I was reading an article about how people who are self isolating together can avoid confrontational situations by giving each other plenty of physical and emotional space and that they should try to spend time away from each other to make being together more special – not sure how those of us who live and work in very close proximity can make this work, but it made me very glad that the two us can at least escape the house and continue to enjoy keeping our business afloat, especially as so many others are not as fortunate. I have been thinking a lot about those of you who are on your own or working in key worker professions. As I said already, we have been working in our own little weird bubble and this is scary enough, so I cannot imagine what it must be like for all the NHS staff, the council employees, teachers and shop workers (etc) who are busy helping us all on the 'front line'.
 

Fruit Garden CAL

 
On Monday we added the yarn kits for the new Fruit Garden CAL to our web sites. The kits sold out in a stupidly bonkers short amount of time so we immediately got on the phone and asked Stylecraft to send us more stock. As it stands at the moment we have the Parchment and Caramel Life DK and Batik kits on sale on a back order basis, but we were unable to order more of the cotton + bamboo version as the shades for this are now out of stock at Stylecraft too. With all that is going on the supply chain for all our stock is far slower than usual, so we are hoping to be able to receive, pack and dispatch the next batch of kits early next week, then another batch the week beginning 13th April. As soon as we get word from Stylecraft that the cotton + bamboo kits are back in stock we will add these to the web site.
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I know many of you are really looking forward to having a crochet along project to get stuck into come the end of April, but I also know that many of you are worried about getting yarn packs in time. We have been inundated with requests to release the patterns and the yarn packs early, especially from those of you outside of the UK, but for now the scheduled dates all remain in place. A huge amount of work has gone into the design stage, the pattern writing, the promotion and of course the preparation of the yarn packs, so making changes now is not an option. I still have the final read through of the patterns to do and all the video tutorials to film. Add to that the fact that many people are still waiting for their yarn packs to arrive and you can immediately see that there is definitely no chance of having the CAL sooner than originally planned, so please be patient!

The 'Getting Ready' document will be released in just over a week on the 14th April and I hope to get a little video filmed to coincide with this. As soon as this is ready I will let you know.
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'Life throws challenges and every challenge comes with rainbows and lights to conquer it.'
Amit Ray - World Peace: The Voice of a Mountain Bird

 
To get our daily exercise we have been walking into work. The weather has been dry, so walking has been really nice, especially as being out and about early in the morning means we get to spot more wildlife than usual. Have you seen the videos of the Mountain Sheep heading into towns in Wales and the clear canals in Venice?  What a wonderful bonus at such a difficult time to think that the birds and animals are thriving!

Lots of people have been putting pictures and messages in their windows and it has been lovely to see all the rainbow paintings in particular on our walks. On Instagram I have been tagged quite a few times over the last week by people sharing images of crochet rainbows they have made to display. Many of those who have tagged me have used the half circle motifs that feature in my Magic Circles blanket or scarf pattern.
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Sarah has made a couple of lovely beaded versions from the Magic Circles pattern that you can see above. If you fancy having a go you can find a free step-by-step illustrated ‘Crochet with Beads’ technique download by following this link. I think the rainbows would make a lovely project for using up scraps of yarn and would look really lovely hanging in the window for children (like me) to spot and count on their walks!
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As I said last week, I know from posts on Instagram and on Facebook that many of you have been rooting through your stashes to see if you have yarn you can put to good use, so don't forget that I have now made my Emily shawlette pattern free. Emily is the perfect pattern for using up single 100g skeins of 4ply yarn – you will need in the region of 400m of yarn to make the shawlette, which also features some Debbie Abrahams beads.
 

Knit & Crochet Along
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Looking at social media and stories popping up over the last week it has been amazing to see how many knitters and crocheters are rallying around and helping each other. There have been loads of people on Zoom and Skype based chats and lots of groups have been getting together in a virtual way to knit and crochet. It is at times like these that knit-along and crochet-along type projects can be a really good way to feel like you belong to a crafting community. Of course the Fruit Garden CAL doesn’t start for a few more weeks, but you will find an abundance of free projects you can get involved in before it begins. Scheepjes Blogger Esther from ‘It’s all in a Nutshell’ has launched her 'Grannies for Grannies' project, which you can find here and, if you are looking a little further forward in time and fancy the idea of getting involved in a lovely hand knit project for the autumn, then why not take a look at Debbie Abrahams ‘Mystery Cushion Club’.

Debbie’s next club starts in June and Debbie says of the club:
 
‘The Mystery Cushion Club is a unique one-off ‘knit-along’ project that is split across 5 months (15th June – 15th October 2020). Members receive monthly patterns and one parcel containing the necessary yarn and embellishments to knit and assemble a cushion-cover. The mystery is that you won’t be told the theme of the project, so part of the fun is to discover this while you are knitting it up!'

This year Debbie is using Rowan Baby Cashsoft Merino DK yarn for the project (although it is not a baby themed project), in a vibrant mix of colours including jade, fuchsia, tangerine and lime. The kit also includes Debbie Abrahams Beads and is enhanced with sparkling rhinestone studs.
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Cooking is Love Made Visible
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I happened to catch a few minutes of Steve Wright in the afternoon on the BBC Radio 2 yesterday afternoon. He was asking people to text in if they have been using this time at home to learn a new skill. This is a feature he has been doing for the last couple of weeks and it is great to hear that lots of people are taking up some traditional crafts such as knitting, crochet and sewing. A lot of people have also been saying that they have been using the time to learn how to cook.

I have always loved cooking and have been making my own sourdough bread for a couple of years now (although getting scarily low on bread flour now) and love making cakes and savoury meals, so I wouldn’t say we have been using this time as an opportunity to learn to cook, but we have certainly been doing much more home cooking rather than eating out or grabbing something quick from the Supermarket on the way home from work.

We have also had a couple of vegetable boxes delivered from the companies who work out of Covent Garden Market as they have been struggling to make a living from their usual wholesale trade. Having a selection of vegetables delivered has forced us to look for new recipes and we have really enjoyed getting home to cook in the evening.
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On our search for new recipes we have become avid followers of the Pret (a Manger) feed on Instagram. We have always loved a Pret sandwich and now that we eat very little meat we really like their new veggie products in particular, so it has been great to discover some tasty easy recipes on their feed. The chocolate chip cookie recipe that was posted yesterday looks really tasty and you can also find a lovely selection of recipes on the Pret web site here.

'College friends Julian Metcalfe and Sinclair Beecham were sick of processed food and impersonal service so they opened the very first Pret A Manger in 75B Victoria Street, London. It promised simple, delicious food served by friendly, motivated staff.'The founders set up the charity 'Pret Foundation' in 1995. The Foundation’s aim is the alleviation of poverty, hunger and homelessness and it is usually funded by donations made from the sale of some products, plus generous contributions to the collection boxes in shops. While the Pret stores are currently closed the foundation continues to operate their charity runs and have been incredibly busy dropping off food and drinks to those in need both on the streets and working within homeless charities. They have also been providing meals, snacks and drinks for front line workers including those in the NHS. If you want to make a donation to the Pret Foundation you can do so by following this link.

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It's the Weekend!
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In case you have lost track of what day it is - yes it is Saturday and not Friday afternoon. I am not trying to mess with your head by dropping into your emails a day late, it is just that I ran out of time to get the newsletter out yesterday!

Despite the fact that it is Saturday we are here at the studio packing orders ready to leave here on Monday, but we are looking forward to getting home this evening to celebrate the fact that it is the weekend. Last Saturday we got dressed up for dinner and organised a Zoom catch up with the family beforehand so that we could enjoy virtual 'drinks on the terrace' together. It was good fun, but not like seeing everyone in the flesh. I am really beginning to miss my family and friends as I am sure we all are.

We haven't yet decided what we are going to do tonight, but thought we might have a theme just to make today a little different to all the others..... I would love to know what you guys might be doing to mix things up a little. Have you seen the trend in Australia where people are dressing up to take their bins out? Not sure we will go quite that far! 

I hope you all have a good weekend, or what is left of it anyway. I urge all of you to stay home if you can (that means no trips to the beach or national parks!!) even tough the weather is set to be good here in the UK and I hope that wherever you are you are safe, well and happy.

If you want to let me know about any of your home based plans you might have over the next week, please hit reply....

PS: The nomination stage of the Let’s Knit Awards for 2020 is now open and of course I would really love it if you could take a few minutes to take a look at the web page. By submitting your nominations you can be entered into the prize draw and win some fabulous yarny goodies, so do take a look!

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A Reminder about Postage
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At Janie Crow and Just Knots Yarns we use Royal Mail as our postal service provider. Royal Mail continues to operate most worldwide postal services and we have not yet been hugely affected by issues with the post. Things can change quickly, so if you are wondering about the mail service to your country, you can check up via the Royal Mail ‘Personal Help’ page here
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