Rowan Weekend Workshop

Rowan were kind enough to invite Debbie Abrahams and myself to tutor a Kaleidoscope inspired workshop at Green Lane Mill in Holmfirth West Yorkshire last weekend.

We took all the projects form the book and made a lovely display in the Mill show room which was the perfect setting for our bright home projects.

Debbie and I have designed a little bag project to accompany Kaleidoscope workshops - Debbie has designed the knitted version and I have designed the crochet one. Both projects use many of the techniques used in the book and workshop participants can choose which craft to work on. 

25 ladies came along to what turned out to be a really lovely fun workshop and we were even lucky enough to have a guest appearance from the lovely Sarah Hatton who gave up a few hours of her Saturday afternoon to come and see us.  

The projects from Kaleidoscope went down really well with the workshop group and many of them found the time to do a little bit of sampling too. Giddy - my crochet 'optical illusion' blanket - appears to be a favourite, as does Debbie's bed runner 'Zap' which uses a lovely star stitch.

The Zig Zag cushions 'Dazzle' and 'Wiggle' also seem to be really popular and - with no shaping or complicated instructions - they really are the kind of thing you can make over the course of just a few weeks if knitting or crocheting in front of the TV in the evening! 

Debbie and I had such a lot of fun naming the projects. We originally thought we would choose french sounding names which echoed the design inspiration which was a church in Poitiers - but in the end we opted for fun quirky names - below is Debbie's table runner called 'Quiver'. I love Debbie's 'Groovy' knitted round cushion cover which is made using the short row shaping technique, beading and intarsia.

The image below is of my crochet chair pad 'waffle' (so called because it really reminded me of one) and below that is an image of 'Crackle' - my round crochet cushion cover. This is made using 2 shades of yarn at a time and has some added embellishment in the shape of little bobbles. Hopefully 'snap' and 'pop' will make it into another book!

Debbie and I both have stock of signed copies of the book and you should now be able to get them through independent yarn stockists. We have more exciting events and workshops coming up over the next few months, so make sure you keep and eye on our web sites. You can see my web site JANIE CROW here and Debbie's web site here.

Kaleidoscope

The knitting and crochet skills of Debbie Abrahams and Jane Crowfoot are combined together in this must-have collection of sophisticated designs for the home. There are many projects to choose from including cushions, blankets, bed runners and bags, all of which have been designed with a contemporary flair making them ideal accessories for the modern home. Each design is fully illustrated with fabulous colour photos though out and the hard back format gives the book perpetual appeal. Kaleidoscope is an inspiring collection of home accessories that are fun to knit and crochet, with projects to suit all abilities.

Debbie and myself were lucky enough to be invited to attend an official book launch event at the lovely TWIST yarn store in Woodbridge Suffolk at the weekend. I have said before what a lovely store this is and we were both treated to an absolutely wonderful event. There were lots of lovely knitters and crocheters, sparkling wine and posh canapés to make the evening just that bit more special and the surroundings of Karen Moggridge's lovely store and the hospitality of her family, friends and colleagues made us feel very special!

TWIST is a fantastic yarn shop with lots of lovely yarn and accessories and lots of space, so it made the prefect location for us to display the projects from the book. We have included 24 projects for the home including cushions, blankets and throws as well as bags and ipad covers within Kaleidoscope. There are 12 knit project designed by Debbie and 12 crochet projects designed by Jane, all using a vibrant Rowan colour palette.

Debbie and I gave a short talk about the inspiration for the book and how we went about conceiving and designing the projects and answered any questions people had.

Over the course of the weekend we tutored a 2 day workshop where participants worked through an exclusive bag project based on some of the designs from the book. Participants could choose whether to knit the project or work on an alternative crochet one.

We were extremely lucky that Karen at TWIST put her faith in us and organised this wonderful event. If you haven't made it to the shop already it really is a MUST for any knitter or crocheter - whatever the distance you need to travel to get there! Not only does Karen have a wonderful staff team of knowledgable and friendly knitters and crocheters to help within the store, but she also makes every single item in her store look utterly scrummy! 

There are rows and rows of gorgeous yarns and stacks of books to browse theough on the comfy sofas. Karen runs a range of exciting workshops and is looking to increase her events programme in the future. Why not give TWIST a call to find out what is going on? 

Kaleidoscope is available now! Get your hands on a copy by visiting the JANIE CROW web site.

Crochet Easter Egg Kits

We went to Germany for the first time about 4 years ago, it was early April and many of the houses were decorated with the most beautiful Easter decorations. There were painted eggs hanging from trees and lovely mossy wreaths with ribbons and bows on the front doors. I totally fell in love with this tradition of decorating for Easter and have been collecting my own bits and bobs over the last few years.

Its great that here in the UK we are slowly adopting this lovely tradition of decorating - if not for Easter then perhaps the arrival of the Spring. Its freezing here in London today - we have had snow and strong winds, the heating is turned up high and the thick duvets are still on the beds - but hopefully warmer Spring weather is not too far round the corner and Easter is only a few weeks away.

I designed some small crochet eggs for the current edition of Simply Crochet Magazine and they have also featured the larger version which I designed for JANIE CROW. The design is available in kit form and they come in 3 colour ways - blue, bright & pink. Each kit contains 6 shades of yarn, a length of ribbon, a styrofoam egg and of course the pattern. The egg measures approx 14cm from top to bottom & has a 14.5cm diameter and costs £7.50 plus P&P - the kit does not include the 3mm crochet hook needed.

Spring Knitting & Stitching Show

We will be at the Spring Knitting & Stitching Show at Olympia next week. The show starts on Thursday 14th March and runs through until Sunday 17th.

We will be showcasing the projects from Homespun Vintage and will have signed copies for sale. The book is selling really well and it is great to see just how many people like the idea of a book which combines both knit and crochet projects. My personal favourite design 'Madeleine' is proving very popular.

It is always so lovely to hear from people who are working through my designs. Receiving pictures of projects worked in different colour ways or with alternative yarns is just so exciting to see. I know that quite a lot of people have made the 'Victoria' doilies too. This is a really speedy project and I think they would look great worked in lots of colours. They are made from Rowan Siena 4ply which is one of my favourite yarns in the Rowan palette and comes in such a gorgeous range of shades.

At the Spring Knitting & Stitching Show we will also have lots of crochet hooks and knitting needles for people to have a play with and of course purchase - including the new Clover Amour hooks which are just so lovely you may just want to collect the whole set! I am a bit addicted to these new hooks and keep getting told off by Mr C for 'borrowing' them! If you get sore hands when you crochet then you might find these help - they have a rather 'squidgy' ergonomically designed rubber handle which does feel really comfortable.

I am a really big fan of Easter and just love the German tradition of decorating houses with Easter inspired decorations. My Simply Crochet Magazine article for March focuses on this and I have designed some crochet egg kits which will be available both at the Spring Show and on our web site within the next week or so.

If you have not taken a look at Simply Crochet Magazine yet then you don't know what you are missing! Its a really nice magazine, put together by the team responsible for The Knitter, The Simple Things and the very popular Mollie Makes magazines. You can win a copy of Issue One by entering the competition here.

Hope to see you at the Spring Knitting & Stitching Show next week - our stand number is E69 - please come along and say hello!