The contest to win a $25 SpaceCadet Gift Certificate ends tonight, so — quick! — make sure you’re entered! All you have to do is go the SpaceCadet Creations Facebook page and click the “Like” button right at the top — and that’s it, you’re in with a chance!
After that, you can earn up to four additional entries by:
(I think this is the thing that I like most about the fiber arts community: the way that people work together — and really want to work together — to create beautiful things. Fiber people are great people.)
I began to think about colours — I wanted to give her something really special to work with. In my mind, I was seeing something lovely to drape around the shoulders, over a beautiful evening dress… something as soft as mist…
.
Sharon sent me a sneak peak at the design this week, and it’s as light and as gorgeous as the yarn it’s made for. I can’t share the design with you yet, but I can give you a quick glimpse of the yarn.
This is Evening Fog, a delicate mix of soft greys and the lightest misty blue, in Luna Laceweight 80% merino/20% silk yarn. And, if you like it, it will be in the shop in time for the pattern’s release.
When I reached into this pile of wonderful fibery goodness to choose the yarns I would put into the shop this week, my hand went straight to the brightest shades, the boldest colour combinations. Eye-candy!
Hidden for so long within its vibrant green stalk, when the Iris finally breaks through and reveals its bloom, the rich purple of the petals with its surprising splash of yellow is nothing short of breath-taking.
Grey the colour of cold and blustery — cloudy skies over unkind days. And Purple in asucculent shade of zing, a lively sparks that breaks through the grey and breathes life into the day. Together they blend beautifully into a Cold Harmony.
Pink slides lazily into Mauve and, hardly pausing to note the change, then dips softly into Purple. And in the end, which comes out on top? It doesn’t even matter — with colours so gentle and ripe, it’s all good.
A Ball of Fire, burning bright, slowly sinking below the horizon… Crackles, hisses, spits and burns… Red, yellow, and orange come flying out in great streaks of colour, escaping across the sky.
Deep reds and warm pinks like the oxygen-rich blood that carries life on every steady HeartBeat, and cool blue of that same blood as it returns to be replenished again in its life-sustaining circle.
Falling from the tree and caught on the wind in a flash of purple-blue and green and startling yellow, a reminder that there are no caged birds in a Flock of Parrots.
Custom orders can be exciting… and daunting. Dyeing can be an unpredictable process — the slightest change in acidity, temperature, or concentration can create really noticeable colour changes from one dyelot to another. And it’s just the way life works that those unpredictable changes will always occur on that special order where the customer has a really specific result in mind!
So when a customer contacted me the other week and asked me to dye three custom orders for a birthday celebration for three knitting friends, I had a slight moment of trepidation. But when I asked her what she had in mind, she put back at my ease: “Just be creative!” she replied. That I can do!
The birthday girls’ favourite colours are red, purple, and green, and I spent all week letting my imagination run wild on that theme. I wanted to do a few different colourways of each, and then her choose whatever yarns she liked best.
It wasn’t an easy choice. Here’s what she picked…
.
Kristen’s HeartBeat
.
Jill’s Storm
.
Natalie’s Steel Leaf
.
I was having so much fun dyeing and just letting my creativity run free that I rather let it run away with me, and I now have quite a stash of exciting new yarns to put in the shop. Look for them to start appearing Monday or Tuesday of next week!
Facebook is where you catch up with your friends. And keep tabs on your workmates. And feed your curiousness about your old classmates… and maybe your old boyfriends (but, ermm… perhaps it’s best if you don’t look up old boyfriends — let those sleeping dogs lie).
And now, Facebook is also where you can keep up with everything to do with the SpaceCadet! The SpaceCadet Creations Facebook page is live at last and it’s filled with news, colours, fiber, and yarn, yarn, yarn. Is there anything better than that?
Well, yeah… there is. Free yarn is better! And so, to celebrate the launch of the SpaceCadet Facebook page, I’m giving away a $25 gift certificate to one lucky winner — and all you have to do to be entered is to like me. What, you already like me? Awwww, you’re so sweet! But, hey, let’s make it official: go to the SpaceCadet Facebook page and click on the “Like” button (see the big red arrow in the picture below). Everyone who clicks that button between now and Sunday 24 October will be entered to win!
(And if you’re already a fan and clicked that button, don’t worry — that just means you’re already entered!)
Once you’ve done that, I’m giving you four extra ways to earn additional entries:
And then leave a comment here to let me know and giving me your Twitter/Rav/Facebook name so I can tie it together.
So that’s five ways to enter — and the winner gets to pick $25 worth of SpaceCadet goodies to feed the fiber-addiction! Hey, who loves ya?
.
.
Small print: Contest begins on 11 October 2010 at 00.01am and ends 24 October 2010 at 11.59pm. All entries must be made during that time to be valid, with the exception that “Likes” made previous to the start date will be considered valid as well. All entrants will be verified and must complete the mandatory entry (that is, clicking the Like button on the SpaceCadet Creations Facebook page) before completing the ‘extra’ entries. Completion of ‘extra’ entries must be mentioned in a comment on this blog post to qualify, and comments must include the commenter’s Twitter or Ravelry name (as applicable). Invalid entries will be disqualified. Winner will be announced on this blog and must respond within 72 hours or we reserve the right to choose another winner. SpaceCadet Creations reserves the right to substitute prizes. Prizes cannot be redeemed for cash.
Years ago, when I was a corporate buyer, I remember my boss explaining that buying was both an art and a science. I didn’t really understand what he meant at the time — surely it was just a matter of knowing how much should be in stock and plugging in the numbers, wasn’t it? It was simple. What was he on about “art”?
I didn’t really get it until I’d been in the job for some time, and I found myself explaining some of the basics to our intern. She was plugging in the numbers — just plugging in the numbers — and coming to conclusions that I knew would spend our money in all the wrong places. And as I explained that there was more to it than just the number, that was the moment that I realised what my boss meant by “art”. Over time, I’d been quietly and unconsciously learning to follow to my instincts as well as the numbers, learning to apply both art and science. And when I watched that intern making those simple, novice mistakes, I began to understand the value of staying tuned into both.
Today I tried to duplicate Westerly, the beautifully shaded colourway from the Tradewinds quartet that I showed you last week. And there I was, duplicating the recipe exactly when… I just suddenly didn’t trust it. My instinct told me the colours weren’t right. My instinct told me to add a bit of this, mix in a little more of that…
My instict wasn’t right. This is what came out of the dyepot…
.
It’s beautiful for sure, but it’s not Westerly. And though I think I’m going to love it when it’s dried and reskeined… there’s no denying that it’s not Westerly.
.
Which just serves to remind me that, even though dyeing is undoubtedly an art as much as a science, and even though a dyer’s colour sense is borne of instinct, it’s important to remember and never to forget the first rule of the second dyelot: even when you want to follow your instinct…
