Pattern Roll-Call: Is Garter Stitch the Answer to Everything?

20JulApril 14, 2015 By Stephanie

Sometimes less is more, sometimes simple is best. And so often I forget about that and all caught up in fancy and complicated and intricate and time-consuming… And then someone pulls out their project and I go over to smoosh it and I realise it’s garter stitch. Garter stitch! So simple, so easy, and — I forget this every time — so lovely and smooshy.

I love the feel of garter stitch fabric between my fingers. It feels thick and firm and, when I squeeze it, it resists, pushes back, holds its ground. Soft, delicate, drapey fabrics are all well and good, but there’s something about garter stitch… It holds a special place in my heart.

And it’s easy! And versatile! And because it tends to hide every other row, it does really interesting things to hand-dyed and variegated yarns. And did I mention easy? At the end of long project slogging away at some complicated lacework, coming back to garter stitch feels like going home to an old friend.

We have three samples that we take to shows that never fail to get people’s pulses racing. “What is this pattern?”, they ask. “Where can I get it?” They’re all three are by Martina Behm, they’re all eye-catching, and every one of them is simple, straightforward, and garter-stitch. It’s no wonder everyone makes a beeline for them!

They are Lintalla, with its lovely frilled edge; Trillian, with an intriguing eyelet edging; and Hitchhiker which, if you finish it, will actually teach you the answer to the ultimate question of life (…the universe and everything). And even though they’re all garter stitch, the construction itself is intriguing: you cast on just a few stitches at one corner, and then grow the shawl by knitting longer and longer rows until it forms an asymmetrical triangle. How cool is that?!?

But as much as I love those three, Martina’s newest design has got me positively swooning. This one has all the hallmarks of her other shawls — a corner start, asymmetrical shaping, and lovely garter stitch — but Leftie is… wait for it… designed to feature mini-skeins! Mini-Skeins!!!

The mini-skeins are worked as stripes that travel diagonally across the shawl to create a lovely border of little leaves along one side. Use only a few colours for a subdued shawl or grab as many mini-skeins as you can to create a riot of colour. Leftie will look gorgeous either way.

And if you need a little colour inspiration, how about a supply of mini-skeins delivered right to your door? Join SpaceCadet’s Mini-Skein Club and every month you’ll receive a beautiful bundle (or two!) of five 20g skeins made from a mix of the SpaceCadet’s fingering yarns. Play with the colours, try out the yarns, and stay in only until you have enough mini-skeins for your project size. Click here to read more!

The One I Very Nearly Didn’t Come Through On

12JulApril 14, 2015 By Stephanie

I want you to pity me, ok? I mean, if you’re a knitter or crocheter, you’ll get what I saying. Because last week, we sent the InterStellar Yarn Alliance parcels to the club members and, while I was so excited to send them out, you have to consider the situation I was in only the day before…

The day before the parcels went out, I was surrounded by an enormous pile of smooshy, wonderful yarns in a colourway that I loved. …That I just loved. Oh, and right next to that pile? There was a stack of goodies that were making my whole house smell incredible and which made me just want to sit there and breathe… breathe… Mmmmmm…

So the pity… Well, that comes in because I knew that the very next day, I’d have to send all that loveliness away. And I wanted them all. I wanted them all for meeeee. My dear members of the InterStellar Yarn Alliance, you very nearly never got your parcels!

But you’re a yarn addict too, so I know you understand.

The colourway for this parcel is called Juicy, and it is inspired by all the colours of the fruits and flowers that the heat of summer produces. And the gift is hand-made candles from Debbie at Divine Scentsations, in one of three sets of delicious scents perfect for the season: Fruits, Florals, or Clean & Fresh.

See what I mean? Reallllly hard to send away.

The InterStellar Yarn Alliance will open for subscriptions for two weeks only in September. If you’d like to be one of the first to hear about it, make sure you’re signed up for the SpaceCadet Creations mailing list. Click here to join it.

A Super-Cool New Swag Shop and a Shop Update!

06JulApril 14, 2015 By Stephanie

The heat’s getting to you too, right? We’ve been in the high 90s for weeks now (…well, it feels like weeks anyway) and the longer it goes on, the less I seem to be able to think. I mean, I’m squirreled away in an air-conditioned office so I shouldn’t even notice the heat and yet… oh, as that mercury climbs, my ability to focus just seems to vapourise.

It’s not just me, right? It’s you too…? Tell me it is, because the temperature is set to hit 100F (37C!) this weekend and I think I’m just going to melt into a little puddle of uselessness right there on the floor — and I kinda need to know you’re right there with me!

Tour de Fleece

So when your brain is melting into mush it’s probably best to concentrate on the simple things, right? Tour de Fleece couldn’t have come at a better time, and I’ve given myself permission to spend a little quality time with my (most beloved) Lendrum. I’m spinning some top that I dyed absolutely ages ago that, when I pulled it out of the dyepots, I didn’t like at all. I shoved it in a bag and promptly forgot about it. When I finally came across it again about a month ago, I realised I can’t even remember what the fiber content is…. merino? superwash? merino/alpaca? I have no idea but — I’ll tell you what — I am loving these colours now. What was I thinking?!? Here’s my progress, day by day…

The SpaceCadet’s Swag Shop

Wait!, you say. You’re in an office? You’re not in the studio? Well, in truth, this job is split pretty evenly between the dyepots and the computer. And while most of the time I’m elbows deep in yummy yarns and dye, summer is the ideal time to get a little behind-the-scenes work done on all the great ideas I come up with throughout the rest of the year.

And I’ve been working on some really exciting stuff too — I can’t wait to show you! Most of it’s only in the beginning stages, but I can share one really cool thing with you… At every festival we do, at every trunk show, people are always telling us how much they love the SpaceCadet (we love him too!), and then someone always asks, can I get a SpaceCadet t-shirt? I’ve never be able to offer them one before, but I now I can! Check this out — the SpaceCadet Swag Shop! SpaceCadet t-shirts, tank tops, tote bags, and all kinds of cool stuff… Squeeeeee!!!!

Shop Update

Oooh, and there’s one other thing I can do even when I’m melting in this insane heat… How about a shop update? There’s some incredibly rich colours in this one, and a few one-of-a-kinds, so click here to have a look before they disappear.

I Couldn’t Help Myself! Project Bags from CristineCreates

22JunApril 14, 2015 By Stephanie

I’m mad busy at the moment getting ready for TNNA this weekend. If you don’t know what that is, it’s The National Needlearts Association’s Summer Show, and it’s one of the most fiber-fantastic (and fiberista-fantastic) events of the entire year. We’ll be shopping for new yarns, so we can do a major revamp and extension of the SpaceCadet line-up later in the season. Exciting or what?!? Stay tuned for updates.

So today, I was packing my bags and — as any self-respecting knitter does — choosing my knitting projects. And as I lined my current WIPs up on the bed, I realised they were all in the lovely new project bags that I’ve totally fallen in love with. And I suddenly thought, hey, I ought to share them with you…

I love the gorgeous vibrant patterns — I mean, who wants to hide her knitting away? A busy floral on the outside and, inside, stripes or polka dots to balance. I’m kind of a sucker for dots — they make me happy! — so I turned this one inside out.

Yep, they’re fully reversible! And with a drawstring that I’ve tied in a loop so I can knit with the bag over my arm.

I got them from CristineCreates on Etsy. I meant to only get one… but I kinda couldn’t help myself. You know what I mean… right?

Y’know, I… I couldn’t just have my projects sitting there naked, could I?

Our Most Ambitious Projects: What Holds Us Back?

15JunApril 14, 2015 By Stephanie

There’s a project that you’ve been thinking about for a long time now, isn’t there? It’s there, sitting quietly at the back of your mind, waiting for you to work up the courage to start it. It something you’d love to make, that you really want to conquer, but… but… oh! It’s ambitious. It’s bigger than anything you’ve tried before. Or it’s more complicated and… and… oh!

So there it stays, tucked away in the back of your mind… no closer to being cast on than it was the day your first saw it and fell in love. Ambitious projects can be wonderful, motivating, exciting… But they can also be paralysing, can’t they?

Yeah, Me Too…

When I first started knitting, waaaaay back in the late ’80s, I opened a book one day and fell head-over-heels for Kaffe Fassett’s Romeo and Juliet Coat. I desperately wanted to make it but… I was new knitter and it just frightened the life out of me then. How could I possible knit something as amazing as that?!? I didn’t think I’d ever be a good enough knitter to create that.

These days, it’s not the skill level that would stop me from starting it so much as the fact that the late ’80s and I parted ways quite a while ago. The projects that I aspire to now are much more intricate — when I go to knit night and see my friends pull out masterpieces like Honeysuckle by Sarah Hatton or 2011 KALendar by Carmen Oliveras, my heart goes pitter-patter. But I wonder if I could ever make something so amazing myself…

What intimidates me most now, be it Kaffe Fassett’s coat or those amazing shawls, is the sheer the amount of time it would take. It’s time, not skills (or courage!), that I lack. And I find I bypass as many projects now for that reason and I did back then for the other.

Is It The Same For You?

I’ve been thinking of this a lot lately — the projects we aspire to and what it is that holds us back from making them — and wondering if your experience is like mine. Are there projects that you aspire to but have never yet had the courage to start? What is it that’s stopping you? And do you think you will ever get past it and cast your project on?

So I tweeted that question last week…

(Hey, retweet that for me, would you?)

And the responses told a real story… Some of you are intimidated by new techniques; some, like me, just too time crunched; a few have too many ambitious projects on the needles already. And one response I love more than any, because it took that story and turned it into a real conversation…

(Also, does he have the coolest mustache or what?!?)

Tell Me About You

So tell me, what projects do you aspire to? What do you have on your maybe-someday list? And — the most important part — what is it that’s holding you back?

Tweet me, tell me on Ravelry, or leave a comment right on the blog. Because I’d really love to know!

Pattern Roll Call: Perfect for Laceweight

07JunApril 14, 2015 By Stephanie

Did you hear that almighty THUD the other week? That was me, hitting the floor when I discovered that… wait for it… the Yarn Harlot, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, was knitting with SpaceCadet laceweight yarn. Not just knitting with it, she found herself actually being called by the colour, and I honestly don’t think a dyer could hope for any higher praise than that!

The second thud — you heard that one too, right? That was me when all my laceweight sold out in what seemed like only minutes. It was crazy to see the awesome power of the Yarn Harlot”s influence! But also so cool because I love these laceweights and it was exciting to see them take center stage at last.

Stephanie chose to knit Omelet, a beautiful and intricate lace shawl. It was a great choice for the yarn — and it’s exactly what most people think of first when they pick up of skein of laceweight yarn. But I also know that a lot of people end up putting that skein right back down again, because lace like that can be really intimidating.

So I wanted to show you a beautiful alternative: this is Mythos by Laura Nelkin and, knit in a laceweight yarn, it is the most perfect light summer cardigan to slip on whenever the evening brings the slightest chill.

Mythos is one of the samples we take to our trunk shows and it’s amazing how almost everyone falls in love with it on the spot. It can be knit in either a fingering yarn or, as shown here, a laceweight yarn held double. And with simple stitchwork and straightforward shaping, it’s a really appealing way to use those gorgeous laceweights that sometimes seem so inaccessible. What could be better for laid-back, lazy summer knitting?

Shop Update!

I’ve been busy dyeing to get those laceweights back in the shop! So, here’s the first batch — some of the 100% Merino that the Yarn Harlot has been knitting, and some of the gorgeous Silk and Merino Luna Laceweight — all in those rich, gently undulating colourways that are perfect for these delicate yarns. Click here to see them!