As always it’s all go here at JANIE CROW and in the lead up to Christmas things are no different – in fact it’s all getting a bit ridiculous! As always I have given myself far too much to do over the next few weeks and have a list as long as my arm of things that need to be done in time for the BIG DAY. I do this every year – overload myself with an impossible number of things, all of which need to be juggled about and squeezed in so that we can enjoy a few days of holiday over the festive season without having to think of anything work related.
I am sure I am not alone in overloading myself with things to do over the next few weeks. Christmas is an ideal opportunity to set a fantastic deadline, after all, what could be nicer than starting a whole New Year with a clean slate and a whole new list of things to do? Having deadlines and working on a tight schedule is a good thing, but the fact that I always decide to add something ridiculous into the mix is just so annoying - and to make it worse I do it every year!
The stupidity of the decision to do some decorating over the next few weeks is the thing that is in danger of tipping me over the edge - especially as I got a bit carried away with my great idea and tore quite a large amount of wall paper away from the wall, revealing cracked plaster and a rather large hole! There is another daunting looking bit of dodgy ceiling coving that obviously (now I look at it a bit more closely) needs rather a lot of attention and the 1970s ‘Anaglypta’ ceiling paper is even more of a sod to paint than I had remembered!
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| Overtly Olive Paint - Dulux |
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| Delphine Wallpaper Nina Campbell |
Of course I’ve sorted all the nice bits – the lovely wallpaper that I want to hang on the chimneybreast is here, the new glass fire screen has arrived, I have decided on the new floor lamp and I have chosen the shade of paint. I’ve got the fabric for the new Roman blinds and have been looking through flooring catalogues. It’s all going to look so lovely when its done, especially as I am planning to have some of my knitted cushions scattered about – but before I get to play with the ‘nice bits’ I need to do the horrible bits = the painting, the sticking, the cleaning, the sawing and the sewing. Ugghh!
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| Cushion Collection |
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| Echino Fabric For Roman Blinds |
A week on from my first day of decorating I can see that I have a mammoth job ahead of me. There is so much to do and less and less time in which to do it. Unfortunately I also have less and less enthusiasm and energy and so have become an expert in distraction tactics. Rather than get on with the decorating or one of the jobs on my list I have been crocheting these lovely baubles designed by Greta Tulner of Atergcrochet. I really love her cute little designs and these are just so lovely to do. Making these is a lovely way of playing with yarn colours and using up small bits and bobs from my stash. I have been using the Rico Essential Cotton that I bought at Manfield Crafts a couple of weeks ago – I’m really impressed by this yarn, the colours are fantastic and it has a really good feel, especially considering it is such good value at just over £2 for a 50g ball.
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| Atergcrochet Baubles |
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| Pouch and Wrap Collection |
Amazingly (amongst all the chaos I have created recently) Andy and I have finally got around to adding the JANIE CROWrange of wraps and pouches to the web site. Just in time for Christmas, these handmade pieces of loveliness would make a great present for any knitter or crocheter. We have 3 sizes of project pouch - small, medium and large - and 3 wrap sizes – crochet hook, dpn and straight knitting needle. All pieces are hand made in the UK from vintage woollen felted blankets and have velvet ribbon and a crochet flower detail. All pieces are ‘one offs’, so we have had to add them to the site one at a time. There are only about 12 left so you need to be quick if you fancy one, although we do hope to put some more on the web site soon and if you place any web site orders between now and the 18th December and your total spend comes to more than £50 we will send you one of my crochet baubles by way of a ‘thank you’ (this gives me the excuse to make even more and ignore the decorating for even longer!)
Better go and at least take a look at the mess I have created in the living room before I settle down for my day of crochet. Perhaps we could start a wager on whether or not I get it all done in time – odds in my favour are not good!
