Crochet Club 2014

Just in time for the weekend I received a VERY exciting package; my Janie Crow Crochet Club 2014 pack.  In case you haven't heard of it, Janie Crow is a British crochet and knit designer who each year runs a mystery crochet club.  Over 6 months, a section of the pattern is delivered to you via email, and there is forum and online support to help you create the perfect blanket.  It allows you to develop your skills in new techniques and stitches and this year, you could buy the yarn bundle as well to make the exact blanket that Janie designed.  I have been waiting for this for a while, it seems like ages since I begun paying my monthly instalments to cover the cost of the club (it was a little expensive but I asked/told Coop about it conveniently when he was playing his Playstation so he agreed without hesitation!) before finally I received my email telling me that it was on it's way. I rushed to the post office with my little red ticket, hoping that it was my yarn stash and not something else I'd forgotten that I'd ordered, but once I saw the size of the pack and gave it a good squeeze, I was certain:

I ran my package straight up to my craft room to try and avoid Squitchy hair as much as possible.  It's moulting time again and unfortunately that hair gets everywhere!  I was a little bit stuck as to where I was going to keep it so that it was free from Squitchy and kept all together and safe, but luckily, the team at Janie Crow seem to have read my mind:

It all came superbly packaged in a neat linen bag to keep it safely stored away.  How charming!  Inside the bag was an even bigger delight:

28 skeins of Rowan yarn, 6 bags of beads and one crochet club sewing label.  Rowan yarn is the posh stuff I only treat myself to when I have been given a John Lewis voucher, and even then I might only buy 4 or 5 skeins before I felt like it was excessive, now I have 28 of these little bundles of colour!  

I lost track of myself pouring over the yarn.  I spent so long looking over the colours, giving them a squeeze, putting different colour combinations together to guess what the mystery blanket might look like.  I even popped my new macro lens onto my camera and snap snap snapped away, trying to master the blurry/focus balance to make the photos look extra professional.  I'm a little embarrassed to say I wasted  indulged for over an hour doing just this!  Taking a photo, rearranging and taking another.  Here's a little glimpse of some of my shots:

For now, I've safely tucked the stash back in the project bag and placed it high on top of my cupboards for fear of Sas getting hold of it.  Not that he's ever touched any of my yarn before, but I wanted to be on the safe side.  Now it's just a case of waiting for the email with the first pattern on the 6th, just 4 days away... ooohh I'm excited! x