Month: March 2012

A Sneak Peek into the Yarn Alliance’s Latest Parcel

By Stephanie

I’ve been dying to share with you the inspiration for the latest InterStellar Yarn Alliance parcel and, as I sent them out a week ago today, I think it’s safe to show you.  But if you’re a member and for some reason you haven’t opened your parcel, close this page now — I don’t want to ruin the surprise!

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…Ok?

Ok, I think we’re safe.  shhhh…  Let’s have a look at the parcel.  But first, I want to show you the picture that inspired the colourway.  The thing is, just lately I have become obsessed with Spring.  I am soooo ready to shed the grey, dull end of winter and welcome the sweet arrival of fresh green grass, new blooms, and warm warm days.  So when I saw this picture on Pinterest, it just sang out to me.

Still Pond Photography's image of green and blue eggs, inspiration for SpaceCadet Creations yarn for knitting and crochet

It was taken by Mattie of Still Pond Photography and I just love it.  Love it.  For days, the mood of this photo stayed in my head, and I found myself returning again and again to just gaze at the colours of those eggs.

So when it came time to dye the Yarn Alliance colourway, there was no doubt what it would have to be.

The SpaceCadet's Log, dyer's notes for the EggShells colourway from SpaceCadet Creations InterStellar Yarn Alliance

I’ve been dyeing Spring greens and blues for the shop but, when I started designing this colourway, I wanted to take those colours to another level.  Just like the eight eggs, I wanted to have myriad shades of blues and greens, so that the yarn would seem to change every constantly — from row to row, stitch to stitch.  I began with one blue and one green, and then layered on another shade, and another shade, and another until I had depth and tone I was looking for.  I called the colourway “EggShells”.

Doesn’t it sing Spring to you?

SpaceCadet Creations Celeste yarn for knitting and crochet, in the colourway "EggShells", for the InterStellar Yarn Alliance

And as excited as I am about EggShells — and I am! — I think that I might be just wee bit more excited about the goody.  It was a long time in the making, but the effort was sooooo worth it.  Check it out — every member got a fabulous custom SpaceCadet project bag!!!

Custom SpaceCadet project bag, for SpaceCadet Creations InterStellar Yarn Alliance yarn club

I’ve had such a blast doing the InterStellar Yarn Alliance this past year — so much fun.  And I can’t wait to get started on next year’s yarns and goodies!

The InterStellar Yarn Alliance will open for subscriptions March 16 to 31 ONLY

You can join for either 6 months or 12 months.  Every other month, members of the InterStellar Yarn Alliance receive fabulous parcels delivered to their door containing:

  • SpaceCadet ® Creations yarn (light to medium weight) in an exclusive Yarn Alliance colourway (guaranteed not to be offered on the SpaceCadet website for at least 6 months)
  • A great Yarn Alliance gift tucked into every parcel!
  • The SpaceCadet’s Log exploring the inspiration for each colourway.
  • An InterStellar Yarn Alliance group on Ravelry where you can discuss WIPs, ask questions, and share FOs with fellow members.
  • The InterStellar Yarn Alliance newsletter with periodic special offers exclusively for members.
  • A 15% off coupon every six months

If you’d like to join, remember to mark your calendar: the Yarn Alliance will open for subscriptions from March 16 to 31 only.  And when it does, get yourself over to this page to grab your spot!

SpaceCadet Creations InterStellar Yarn Alliance yarn club will open for subscriptions from March 16-31 only

This Yarn into That Project: Rebecca’s Submerge Socks

By Stephanie

If you’ve bought a skein of SpaceCadet yarn from the shop, you may have received a note from me, asking you to please come to the SpaceCadet group and show me what you made with it.  Or, if you bought from us at a yarn show, I probably grabbed you before you left the booth and told you how much I’d love to see your project.  Sometimes I wonder if people think I really mean it.

Oh, but I do!  I honestly love seeing what my customers make with my yarn.  Because here’s the thing:  when I create a colourway, I have an idea in my head of how it will knit up but, more than any other kind of yarn, every skein of hand-dyed is something really special.  The same colourway will work up completely differently from one pattern to the next — each project a wonderful adventure.  And so often, entirely different from what I’d imagined when I dyed the yarn!

Here, check out this colourway.  It’s called Submerge and I love it.  Loved it from the very moment I pulled it out of the dyepot.  It’s vibrant, exciting, and fabulously wildly variegated.

SpaceCadet Creations hand-dyed yarn for knitting and crochet in "Submerge"

And there are just so many ways this colourway could work up in a project!  The possibilities are almost endless, so I was dying for someone to send me photos of their finished object.

So I was delighted when Rebecca posted photos of her Submerge socks in the Ravelry group.  Especially because she chose a pattern I never would have had the guts to use for this colourway:  a pair of stockinette socks.  Don’t get me wrong, I love simple patterns that let the yarn shine through, but I think I would have worried that this colourway would just be too bold for such a simple stitchpattern.

Rebecca's Submerge Socks, knit from SpaceCadet Creations yarn

I would have been completely wrong!  The stockinette was a bold choice, but it totally worked.  The colours formed mini-stripes that played against one another beautifully and, where they came together, really made each other really pop.  Here, see if this doesn’t get your fiber-lovin’ juices flowing…

Rebecca's Submerge Socks, knit from SpaceCadet Creations yarn

One of the reasons I would have shied away from stockinette is that, with such a highly variegated yarn, there’s a potential for pooling or flashing.  Now, there are always ways to avoid it if it starts (don’t know how? Download the SpaceCadet’s free guide) but, as these socks show, sometimes it’s best to just throw out the rules (are there rules really?) and just go where the yarn leads you.

And in this case, the yarn led Rebecca to some of the coolest diagonal pooling I’ve ever seen.  “I loved seeing the colors start to spiral around each sock,” she said.  “I’m more of a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants knitter, so it was pure luck that the socks ended up with those fun spirals.”

Seriously, how subtly funky are these socks?!?

Rebecca's funky spiralled Submerge Socks, knit in SpaceCadet Creations yarn

So, if you meet me at a yarn show and I ask you to send me photos of your project…  or you open your parcel and find a little note from me asking you to share your project in the SpaceCadet Ravelry group…   know that I mean it.  I love seeing what you guys create with my colourways into and I really do want to see your projects.  Quick! Grab your camera and show me your work!