PROFILE: JANE CROWFOOT
Award-winning designer and author Jane Crowfoot talks about her inspirations and challenges, and her plans for 2019
Having always been surrounded by craft as a child, it was only natural that Jane Crowfoot would find her feet as a crochet designer. “My great-grandmother was an avid crocheter,” says Jane. “I loved how she used to arrange her squares on her lap while she planned her blanket layouts. And as a little one, I was particularly attracted to her yarn bits, and her button box.” However, it wasn’t until later in life when she was studying for her degree in Textile Design at Winchester School of Art that Jane learnt the basic techniques.
“Even at this time, I was still very much a beginner,” she explains. “I could only do very basic stitches in order to add simple edgings to my garments. I didn’t really get to grips with the craft properly until about 10 years ago when its popularity started to gain momentum.” Jane was working as a Design Consultant for Rowan at the time and was able to attend workshops provided by them to perfect her skills. In 2010, she was asked to author The Ultimate Crochet Bible by Collins and Brown, “A book that I think is all the better for the fact that I was a relatively new crocheter!” Jane admits.
ORGANIC GROWTH
Jane’s first crochet pattern collection of her own designs was quite simple and focused on beaded stitches. The set included a range of cushion covers and a beaded table runner – sticking to a basic stitch like double crochet and making patterns out of the beads was something she found gratifying and quite easy as she didn’t have to push her skills too much. “The thing I have always loved about crochet is the fact that it is brilliantly portable and easy to play with – starting small in order to create something far bigger in a really organic way is the major appeal of the craft for me. I love the fact that when I start thinking and playing, I often have little idea of what I am going to end up with, so I guess my early designs were simply a manifestation of my messing around with yarn and hook.”
MAGPIE WORKFLOW
Jane takes inspiration for her beautiful designs from things she comes across in everyday life – describing herself as “a bit of a magpie”. She saves images from all over the place, interior magazines and art galleries, taking note of everything around her she finds aesthetically pleasing – a colour palette in a photograph here, a geometric pattern on a carpet there. She then takes the elements, and plays with stitch combinations and patterns. “I also love looking at greeting cards, postcards and wallpaper samples for surface pattern ideas. I often look at existing
textile designs, too, and am particularly drawn to sari designs and kelims. My finished designs are often influenced by more than just one thing – some designs come quickly, while others can take months!”
DISCOVERING DELFT
One of Jane’s most beautiful and well-known designs is the Delft blanket. Having always been a fan of blue and white pottery designs, Jane wanted the pattern of the blanket to reflect this, but to remain relatively simple at the same time; keeping the motifs consistent, but mixing up the order of shades to create a more interesting layout. “I love Cornishware striped jugs and as a child I remember many older family members having Willow pattern dinner services. A few years ago I was looking at the new fashion design trends and saw that British brand Preen had focused on Delftware for their Spring/Summer collection. Justin Thornton, who designs the Preen brand alongside his wife Thea Bregazzi, was in the same year as me at art school, so I often look at and admire their work. Anyway, the collection was really fabulous and led me to look at the iconic traditional Delft pottery designs from The Netherlands.”
TAKE A BOW
In 2018, Jane was awarded the Crochet Designer of the Year award at the British Craft Awards from Immediate Media. “I knew I had been shortlisted for it, but when I looked at the other finalists and saw that I was listed alongside some huge names in the crochet world, it really hit me how big a deal it was!” While the accolade was a huge personal achievement for Jane, she also felt the prize had wider implications. “Winning the British Craft Award was huge for me because I felt that it finally gave recognition to the growing craft of crochet and firmly put it on the map, so to speak. Since then, many other awards have included crochet as a prize category and I think that is really cool!” (We’ll be announcing 2019’s winner soon, too!)
NEW YEAR PLANS
With the whirlwind of highs that have happened over Jane’s career, it’s safe to say that 2019 is set to bring yet more adventures.
“We have some exciting plans ahead for 2019, including the new Janie Crow branded website – an offshoot of our retail site, which I hope will help people differentiate between my own work and that of other designers and yarn brands which we also promote. The new site, which launches this month, will include my blog and lifestyle pages, free technique downloads, links to our YouTube channel, patterns and books to buy, stockist lists and of course, information about all my designs. Separating the brand out in this way should mean that crocheters can find what they are looking for more easily than when they had to browse through our retail site. Hopefully, they will be able to find great hints, tips and techniques as well as inspirational ideas and more information about my new and existing designs.”
“STARTING SMALL IN ORDER TO CREATE SOMETHING FAR BIGGER IS A MAJOR APPEAL OF CROCHET”
CREATIVE RECHARGE
With such a busy lifestyle and lots of exciting business developments in the pipeline, Jane knows how important it is to take time to focus on the craft itself, to research new design ideas and get inspired. “I do often feel like we are playing catch up, so over the forthcoming year I am hoping to find more time to really focus on some new design work at the studio. I have an urge to design a new Crochet Along project and have a budding idea for a new book, so let’s wait and see what happens…” Watch this space!
Written by Colette Earley
Turn the page to read about our exclusive competition with Janie Crow and Stylecraft, to create a whole new colour palette for Jane’s Delft blanket for 2019!