APRIL NEWSLETTER

Hello, my friends! I’m so glad you’re here.

April has me settling into a steady rhythm. There’s always a project on my hook these days, and I’ve been enjoying watching several new designs come together. The days are a little brighter, and the pace is picking up in a really satisfying way.

In this month’s newsletter, I’m sharing a new blanket pattern coming later this month, a sneak peek at another blanket currently on my hook (releasing in June), and the inspiration behind the next design in my Wildflower Series.

Here’s what’s new.

New Blanket Pattern Coming Soon: Hand in Hand Blanket

The Hand in Hand Blanket is named for the stitch pattern it celebrates: a forked cluster stitch that resembles rows of people holding hands. Each cluster begins where the previous one ends, sharing a stitch to create a continuous, interlinked design.

This construction creates a dense, soft, and beautifully textured fabric. Worked lengthwise, the stitch pattern forms gentle ridges that run the full length of the blanket. The simple two-row repeat offers a steady rhythm that’s perfect for mindful, meditative stitching, and it’s easy to memorize, making it a great choice for advanced beginners and beyond.

The pattern will include instructions for 16 sizes, so you can make the perfect fit for any space or recipient. This warm, luxurious blanket is sure to become a favorite—both to stitch and to curl up under when the weather turns chilly.

On My Hook: My Little Nest Blanket

I always like to have a special project on my hook for evening crochet. At the end of the day, I tend to gravitate toward rhythmic stitch patterns that are easy to memorize—projects where the stitches just roll off the hook without much effort, so I can unwind and maybe catch a few episodes of a favorite show (I’m currently rewatching Portlandia).

The My Little Nest Blanket fits this role perfectly. For this design, I chose a V-stitch variation that incorporates puff stitches, creating a fabric that’s soft, squishy, and fully reversible. The puff stitch pattern forms a built-in border, while the center panel will be worked in double crochet for a clean, balanced look.

Like the Hand in Hand Blanket, My Little Nest will include instructions for 16 sizes. The border is carefully proportioned for each size, so no matter which you choose, you’ll get just the right amount of those eye-catching puff stitches. Stay tuned! If all goes to plan, this pattern will be released in June.

A New Addition to the Wildflower Series: Fireweed

This week, I’ve been hard at work refining and finalizing the next design in my Rocky Mountain Wildflower Series: Fireweed. I’ll have more behind-the-scenes details to share next week, but in the meantime, I thought it would be fun to take a closer look at what makes this plant so special in the environments where it thrives and for the animals and people who rely on it.

Fireweed (Chamaenerion angustifolium) is a fascinating wildflower. It’s a resilient, fast-growing perennial (reaching heights of up to 9 feet) with vivid magenta blooms. It’s best known for being one of the first plants to colonize areas after wildfires, landslides, and logging. Blooming from June through September, fireweed plays an important role in stabilizing ecosystems by helping to prevent soil erosion.

Fun Facts:

• Fireweed thrives in higher-altitude temperate and boreal regions around the world.

• It’s known by several common names, most notably rosebay willowherb in Britain and Europe, and willow herb in Canada. Other common names include bombweed, blooming sally, and Saint Anthony’s laurel.

• It’s commonly found along roadsides, forest edges, and in subalpine meadows.

• It flourishes in disturbed soil, using deep rhizomes (underground stems) to spread quickly, often blooming within weeks after a fire.

• A single plant can produce up to 80,000 seeds, each with silky, cotton-like fibers that allow them to travel long distances by wind.

• Both the young leaves and flowers are edible and are often used in teas, jellies, and salads.

• Fibers from the stems can be used for cordage, and the fluffy seeds can be spun.

• It’s an important source of nectar for bees and butterflies.

Further Reading:

“Fireweed: The Fire Follower” from the Colorado Native Plant Society: https://conps.org/fireweed-the-fire-follower/

Coming Soon: April’s Special Features

• Wildflower Project Update: Fireweed

• New Stitch Tutorial: Forked Cluster Stitch

• New Pattern Release: Hand in Hand Blanket (16 sizes!)

Saw This and Thought of You

Curious about Superwash wool? In this YouTube video, Tayler from Fiber for the People explains what it is (and isn’t), why it exists, how it’s made, and what you can realistically expect from it in the real world: https://youtu.be/bqPah158Z58?si=0Qkih-ol2jTRN5Fa

If you share my penchant for all things miniature, you’ll enjoy Franklin Habit’s latest Letter from Paris c/o Modern Daily Knitting: https://www.moderndailyknitting.com/community/i-dream-of-teeny

Maker Spotlight

This month’s Maker Spotlight celebrates a gorgeous Ribbon Lace Cowl made by Cindy.

I immediately recognized the colorway Cindy chose—it’s the very same one I’ve been wearing all winter! We both used Freia Handpaint Yarns Ombré Shawl Ball in the Aurora colorway. What makes this especially fun is that we worked our cowls from opposite ends of the ball, so they turned out slightly different. It was such a treat to see her version, with light green at the center shifting through the greens to dark blue along the outer edge. In fact, I think I might even prefer Cindy’s!

In her project on Ravelry, Cindy notes that this is a wonderful project for travel and that it’s a lot of fun to watch the colors shift as you work outward from the middle of the cowl.

She also says, “I really enjoy it when I find a pattern that shows this kind of gradient to its best advantage.”

Thank you so much, Cindy, for the kind words and for allowing me to share your work with the community. Your cowl is absolutely beautiful!

Want to make a Ribbon Lace Cowl of your own? You can find all the details here: https://jenniferolivarez.com/ribbon-lace-cowl

If you’d like to be featured in a future newsletter, email your project photos to crochet@JenniferOlivarez.com — or create a project page on Ravelry to share your yarn choices, notes, and photos!

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Having you in my crochet circle means so much to me. This newsletter is sent on the first Friday of the month. Additional special mailings are sent each Friday after that, featuring new patterns, new stitch tutorials, tips and tricks, hot topics in the yarn industry, book and yarn reviews, and a peek into my design process. But I’ll only send you crochet content that I think you will enjoy. In the meantime, you can contact me by replying to this email or crochet@JenniferOlivarez.com. I would love to hear from you!

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