**Last date for Christmas orders - Wednesday 18th December**
Welcome to Janiemade and my little corner of Folksy where you can buy my crocheted creations. If you're looking for skilfully handmade gifts and home decor I hope you'll find something you love. I enjoy crocheting with natural fibres, mainly cotton, and many of my home decor items use recycled braided cotton cord or recycled cotton T shirt yarn. All items are ready to post and I only charge postage on your first item. Your order will be sent by Royal Mail 2nd class post.
Happy shopping, Jane :)

Crochet makes me happy

I grew up in Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire, but have lived in a village near Northampton for the last 20+ years, after time spent studying and working in Northampton, Birmingham and Nottinghamshire. I didn't realise as a child how lucky I was to grow up surrounded by family who were good with their hands and, out of necessity I suppose, were very keen on the philosophy of 'make do and mend'.

I was taught to knit by my Mum when I was about 7, but it was Grandad who had the time and patience to help me knit my first (very holey!) scarf for my Sindy doll. In the 1970s crochet became very popular, Mum couldn't get the hang of it when she tried to teach herself, but we came across a simple child's book of crochet and muddled our way through together until we finally mastered granny squares. I continued to crochet and knit, and had a cross stitch craze in my twenties, but crafting wasn't cool, so it was always a bit of a guilty secret!

I'm so glad that crochet is having another popular moment and this time round there are a wealth of yarns and patterns to explore. Crochet is perhaps not the easiest craft to learn, but once you know the basics it’s easy to experiment with, (and to undo mistakes!). I love that crochet provides me with opportunities to be creative and, as my skills have increased, to start designing items from scratch. Crochet can also be a very mindful activity; following a simple, repetitive pattern induces a sense of calm and being busy with your hands really seems to benefit mental health and wellbeing.

I'm so pleased I discovered the Folksy community, it seems a friendly and positive place, and there are so many wonderful sellers and handmade items to discover. Thanks for dropping by, Jane x

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