Knit & Stitch 2012

We had an amazing show at Alexandra Palace last week and were so pleased to see so many of you.

Because I work from home almost all the time and don't get out all that often it always feels like a big adventure for me to give up my hermit like life style for a few days and share what I do with other people. Thanks to everyone who made the effort to come along to the show - its always nice to put names to faces and meet new people - its also always lovely to see the familiar faces too though!

I was very fortunate to have both Erica and Donna with me on the JANIE CROW stand and even Mr C gave up some of his precious time to come along and help. The stand was double the size of last year and whilst I had imagined we would feel a bit swamped, the space worked really well and we even managed to fit in the lovely Nicky Hale to help us on Saturday.

After a steady start on Thursday and Friday the show went completely mad on Saturday followed by a totally bonkers Sunday where we were inundated by customers from show opening time at 10.30am right through to the 'last call' at 5pm when our final customer tore round the corner and demanded that we allow her to sign up for the crochet club there and then despite the fact that lights were being turned off and stall holders were packing away! Now that's the kind of customer we really like!

It has taken me most of the week to get things back in their rightful places and rearrange the studio to fit everything in. I love doing all the prep for the show, but am equally happy when everything gets put away for a while and life returns to normality. It's been a struggle to sit down and design this week and so far I have managed to distract myself from what really needs doing by emptying bags and putting stock away, but come next week I won't have any excuses and will have to settle down to design work. Top of my list is finalising the crochet club project as the yarn order needs to go to Rowan and after that I am looking to spend some time on a new crochet garment collection which I hope to have out for next Autumn. 

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NEW! Autumn Collection

We have just launched our new collection of knit & crochet designs for scarves, wraps, shawls and collars designed with the Autumn and Christmas party season in mind.

The collection is made up of 6 pieces - 5 designed by 'in house' designer Jane Crowfoot and one by the talented Nicola Hale. There are 5 crochet designs along side one knitted project and the designs are all relatively easy - the beaded collar uses just a single ball of yarn and a lone pack of beads so your pocket wont disapprove too much either.

Patterns are downloadable and cost just £3.25. Kits will be available for some of the designs soon.

For more information check out the JANIE CROW web site

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Fairisle Workshop @ TWIST

On Saturday I spent the day with a lovely group of 12 ladies at Karen Moggridge's shop in Woodbridge Suffolk. TWIST is the kind of yarn shop your dreams are made of - lots of lovely yarn, beautifully tidy and displayed in lovely cases; comfy sofas to sit and browse the patterns and of course great knowledgeable staff at the ready to give you as much help as possible.

Karen has a great eye for good design and not only has fantastic yarns such as Rowan, Noro and Jamiesons, but equally good pattern support including new designs from the legendary Kate Davies, which of course never fail to grab a knitter's undivided attention!

Karen has a dedicated workshop room at the back of the store big enough to accommodate 12 participants with ease and a lovely day was spent amongst the yarn, beads and the two handed fairisle technique!

Karen has asked me back for another workshop in the New Year and hopefully Debbie Abrahams and myself will be down there together in the Spring to show you our new home collection - watch this space for more information and check out Karen's lovely store - its worth a day trip if you don't live nearby - Karen had to virtually kick me out of the shop at the end of the day as I didn't want to leave!

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Chateau Workshop

Debbie Abrahams and myself were very privileged to be asked once again to tutor the week long residential workshop at Chateau St Julien L'Ars near Poitiers in France.
Sue Culligan has run 5 of these workshops over the past 4 years, but has sadly decided that this workshop would be the final one based at the Chateau, however Sue will be running more workshops in France next year, some from her home and a few from some Gite accommodation nearby.
With Sue's wonderful catering and hospitality the new workshop programme cannot fail but be a success, but it was still a little sad to know that we would not be visiting the Chateau again (not unless we win the lottery anyway!)

Debbie and I offered workshop participants the chance to work through a set project or work on their own ideas. We had 19 ladies with us for the week, plus a few additional (and very brave) men all of whom made the week an unforgettable experience. Along with a lot of familiar faces Debbie and I also got to meet some great new knitters and crocheters - Amanda and Danny even put their faith in us and included the workshop within their itinerary for a 4 week holiday from Canada! Using the church at Poitiers as inspiration participants worked with lots of yarn shades and beads to create some really lovely designs.

Debbie and I will be tutoring another week long French residential trip together from 8th - 14th September 2013 and I will be doing a week long knitting & crochet retreat at Sue's between 9th & 15th June. For more information look at Sue's web site or the calendar pages on JANIE CROW

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Crochet Club 2013

Crochet Club 2013 has now been launched and there are teaser images of the project on the JANIE CROW web site.

The design is based on the shapes, patterns and colours of persian and islamic ceramics and mosaics and once again uses the lovely Rowan Cotton Glace range and beads from Debbie Abrahams.

The club will start in February 2013 when the first set of patterns will be sent out, but you can register now so that you can secure your place in good time. Places are already selling well following the success of the club in 2012 and we expect to see more of a demand for places in the lead up to Christmas. Applications for membership will not be accepted after the end of December.

For more information take a look at the dedicated crochet club pages on the web site.

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Crochet @ Mansfield Crafts

I am just back from a lovely day at Mansfield Crafts in Rushden (Northamptonshire) where I spent the day with a group of lovely ladies in the workshop room within Emma's lovely shop.

The workshop was based on the crochet club and gave members and other participants the chance to work on the 2012 project or make the front for a small cushion cover based on the crochet club design. The day went really quickly (as workshops always do) and the group created some really lovely colour ways of the Coronet Rose pattern using some shades from the Rowan Cotton Glace range.
Emma provided a lovely lunch and the break gave us all a chance to take a look around her treasure trove.

Emma has a way of making all her merchandise look lovely - her displays are beautiful and you can see how much work and thought has gone into them. She obviously has a love for all things cute and there are lots of knitted rabbits and toys dotted around the store - I even found a knitted dormouse asleep in a tea cup within one of the yarn fixtures - just so cute!

You can tell that Emma runs a very tight ship - the shop is immaculately clean and her yarn displays are pristine - no messy balls of yarn here! Emma has been busy putting together some great little kits for toys and accessories, including the Rowan sheep Breeds Ram and Ewe toys.

Emma also has some great little knit kits for mitts, boot toppers and knitted decorations - all of which I wanted to bring home with me. After much deliberation (and after considering the lack of time I have to crochet let alone knit) I decided to come home with 2 of the Herdy mugs which I have been hankering after for ages - so they have been washed and put along side my other mugs ready for the next cuppa.

I will be back at Mansfield Crafts in November to do a Christmas workshop. The workshop is for knitters this time and I am currently thinking along the lines of a Christmassy cushion, or perhaps a table runner/place mat. There are still places on this workshop so if you can make it to the store I can tell you for sure its well worth the trip.

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Stitchtopia

Arena Travel have released the dates and prices for this exciting event which will take place at Wybostson Lakes in February 2013. It is destined to be a really amazing event, with the likes of Kaffe Fassett, Brandon Mably and Karin Hellaby on the bill - not to mention Debbie Abrahams and myself along with other Rowan tutors.

Kaffe Fassett

The venue is lovely and there is a huge array of classes to choose from - I will be doing lots of crochet classes (surprisingly enough) and will cater for beginners and those wanting to learn new skills - I will be doing a beaded crochet class and a 'working with colour' crochet class along with a more experimental 'fun with crochet' which will talk about freeform and more unusual crochet techniques.

Debbie will be concentrating on knitting (she can't crochet, so this hardly surprising) and has a lovely range of classes on offer too. Debbie will be teaching beaded knitting, design your own knits, fair isle and intarsia knitting and of course 'finishing techniques' - I will also be doing a finishing techniques workshop for crocheters on the final day.

Knit with Debbie

There will be evening presentations - can I recommend seeing Kaffe if you haven't done so already, he says that 'being the dinosaur of patchwork and quilting guarantees that people will come and listen to me', but he is selling himself short as i have always really enjoyed seeing him give his presentations - seeing Kaffe in the flesh is another of those 'rights of passage' for knitters and patchworkers so you will kick yourself if you miss it.

Crochet with Jane

Arena received some bookings within an hour of launching the information on their web site and my feeling is that it is going to fill up very quickly, so you may want to give yourself a very early Christmas present or reward yourself for all your hard work over the last few months by booking early and securing your place at this exciting event. I for one can't wait!!

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