Rain and Reds, a Shop Update, and a Treasury

24AugApril 14, 2015 By Stephanie

It’s raining today — a nice, warm, gentle summer rain, but rain nonetheless. And I know I promised you sunshine for this week, but the reason it’s raining today is because the lovely yellows I dyed over the weekend are still drying and if they are wet, then there is no sunshine to be had and the world must be wet too.

But even if your day is rainy like mine and there’s no yellow to brighten it up, let me offer you instead something as deliciously dark and moody as the clouds above.

First, I was delighted to discover that myhideway included my Red Brick yarn in a treasury called Rosé Wine. It’s so inspiring to see all those beautiful rosy reds together.

So inspiring, in fact, that I went and filled the shop with warm colours from pink to burgundies. Have a look…

Fingering Weight Yarn, Superwash Merino and Nylon, in Pink Autumn

If autumn leaves turned pink instead of red, it would be this pink. If they shunned the sophisticated golds and the russets, all the subtle shades of brown, and chose instead to wear a girly hue — something wild and unpredictable — it would be this. An explosion of pink tinged with the warmth of the season, this is the colour that autumn leaves secretly wish for. This skein is over 100g of Stella, a beautiful and distinctive 2-ply fingering weight yarn in 80% Superwash Merino and 20% Nylon.

And four yarns in Desert Wine: one in Stella Fingering weight, one in Celeste Fingering weight, and two in Astrid DK weight.

This is a bottle of burgundy wine, rich and deep and smooth, poured out on the brown of the parched desert earth, there amongst the green cacti, where the merciless sun dries it to dark, dusty stain. A waste of good wine, but worth it just to see the amazing colour.

And a lovely new colourway, DK Weight Yarn in Superwash Merino, in Sleep Deep, that I simply cannot get my camera to capture accurately. It looks all blue-red in the pictures, but as I hold it here in my hands, it’s swirls of deep red and purple.

Here are the colours of dreams, at the moment when you slip from the dark of the room into unconciousness, surrendering to the safety of bed and the soft of pillow behind your head. These are the colours of a mind freed to wander, a psyche unencumbered, your true nature as you let yourself submerge into the deep deep of sleep. This skein is over 100g of Superwash Merino in Astrid, a beautifully smooshy 4-ply, DK (double knitting) weight yarn. There are two skeins available, sold separately.

And watch the shop for those sunshine yellows too! As soon as they appear, the weather is sure to change for the better.

Sunshine Today, More Forecast For Next Week

20AugApril 14, 2015 By Stephanie

When I discover my yarns featured in an Etsy Treasury, I get such a rush of excitement, I can’t tell you. And so it was yesterday when I found Sunflowers had been picked for a treasury called “My Sunshine“, put together by ThePlumTree.

Sunflowers sold pretty quickly after that, and I am so excited to send it off to its new home. But if you loved all these golden colours, don’t worry — I’m going to be dyeing a lot more beautiful yellows over the weekend.

The forecast for next week? Bright Sunshine!

New Yarns in the Shop

18AugApril 14, 2015 By Stephanie

I’m really excited to show you some of the new colourways I’ve put in the shop this week! I have to say, I just cannot get my camera to really capture them, but I hope you get a good idea here.

Dragonfly

Dragonfly flitters by, catches the light and throws back iridescence — greens, lilacs, pinks that shimmer in the sun for only a moment… and then are gone. This skein is over 100g of Superwash Merino in Celeste, a wonderfully soft 3-ply fingering weight yarn.

Mountain Mist

These are ancient mountains, gentle and rounded, that seem to go on forever, ridge upon ridge disappearing into the distance as the night falls and the mist rolls in — deep blue fading into soft purples that stretch as far as the eye can see. This skein is over 100g of Superwash Merino in Celeste, a wonderfully soft 3-ply fingering weight yarn

Sunflowers

Happy yellow that welcomes the sunlight, stretching skyward, petals open to catch the rays. Yellow petals, deep brown seedheads — happy sunflowers basking in the mid-day sun. This skein is over 100g of Superwash Merino in Celeste, a wonderfully soft 3-ply fingering weight yarn, which has been dyed using a technique to create random, short bursts of contrasting colour.

Midnight Swim

Dark waters, dark night. Soft waters, cool and still, flashing deep blue, purples, greens. Water dark as bruise, quiet as the night, so cool on the skin… Irresistible. This skein is over 100g of Stella, a beautiful and distinctive 2-ply fingering weight yarn in 80% Superwash Merino and 20% Nylon.

These skeins are over 100g of Superwash Merino in Celeste, a wonderfully soft 3-ply fingering weight yarn. There are two skeins available, sold in separate listings.

And there are more new colourways going into the shop later this week. Keep your eyes open for them!

What Happened Nest…

16AugApril 14, 2015 By Stephanie

This summer, a pair of robins built a nest on top of my back porch light, right outside my backdoor, and consigned me to using only the front porch for the whole month of June. And I (and you) got to watch as the eggs appeared, and the babies hatched and grew. It was magical thing to witness so close.

Also this summer, the family next door moved away. As she was in the middle of the chaos of packing up her house, my neighbour mentioned to me one day that she always collects a bird’s nest from every house that she lives in. But her husband had already started his new job on the other side of the country and she was having to pack up the house and move the (5!) kids all on her own, and I suspected that she never got a chance to collect a bird’s nest.

And I have a beautiful nest sitting empty right outside my back door…

So today, we very carefully took it down.

It came away without too much difficulty and all in one piece. It was made from sticks and leaves, as you’d expect, but I was intrigued to see string, yarn, and bits of dried grapevines (complete with old grapes!) tucked in there as well.

We put the nest into a bag to keep it safe.

And then wrapped it in tissue paper… just because.

And packed it up with all the love and care that I package my yarn. More, probably — this is precious cargo!

And, just like that, the little nest that gave three baby robins their happy start in life was ready to travel all the way to the other end of the country.

Where, I do believe, it will be absolutely cherished.

Beautiful One-Skein Knitting Patterns for Hand-Dyed Yarns

11AugApril 14, 2015 By Stephanie

One of the most exciting things about buying yarn from small, indie dyers like SpaceCadet Creations is that each skein is hand-created and unique, dyed on its own or in a very small dyelot, and not like any other skein in the world. But now and again, someone will look at my shop and then contact me to say that they love my colours but… what can be made with yarns from such small-batch dyelots? What can be knit out of a single skein of yarn?

Now, there are legions of addicted sock knitters who could probably jump in with an answer that question (“Socks!”) but, in reality, there are just so many beautiful projects that can be created from just one or two skeins of hand-dyed yarn! Let me share a few patterns that have caught my eye…

Simple Things by Mary-Heather Cogar

© Mary-Heather Cogar, Used With Permission

This beautiful shawlette was designed to show off the colours of a of a single skein of sock yarn. Mary-Heather chose simple stitchwork to compliment the colours of even the most wildly variegated colourway, such as those in Sunset over a Stormy Sea, and the regular increases help reduce the chance of pooling. The shawlette looks fantastic tucked into the top of a jacket — stylish and functional at the same time. And I think it’s a perfect first project for anyone who is experimenting with hand-dyed yarns.

SweaterBabe.com’s #87 One Skein Lace Fingerless Gloves

I fell in love with these the minute I saw them! The lace pattern is delicate without being fussy, and the gloves look warm and lady-like at the same time. Using just a single skein of yarn, I think this pattern would look stunning knit up in an autumn colourway.

Dalia by Ariane Caron-Lacoste

© Ariane Caron-Lacoste, Used with Permission

This little cowl is so sweet, so perfect, that I every time I see the picture I just want to cast on for it RIGHT NOW. It’s always at a moment when I’m busy dyeing or blogging and so I can’t cast on but… still, as soon as I see it… I want to start it RIGHT NOW! I love the simplicity of it, how quick it would be… how it would be a little gift just for me. I’m seeing it in a warm colourway such as Bramble Rose. You know… I really am seeing it.

In fact, I may just have to stop blogging and go cast it on. Right now.

Maybe I’ll Become a Cook

09AugApril 14, 2015 By Stephanie

Sometimes it’s good to push yourself outside your comfort zone. And if it works, it’s such a boost to the ego! And when it doesn’t… well…

Well, indeed. Last week I pushed myself right out of my comfort zone and straight into yellow. I don’t do yellow a great deal — it’s just never been a personal favourite of mine. But yellow is a great colour — sunny and bright, and filled with warmth. It was time to tackle yellow.

And, while I was pushing outside my comfort zone, I decided to shake things up even more by trying a new dyeing technique. It was something I’d never tried before — indeed, I’d never even seen it done before — and I got excited about it as soon as I thought of it. The technique would create very short bursts of colour — just one, two, maybe three knit stiches long — and unusual blends of shades. I couldn’t wait to try it.

And so I took a deep breath and mixed up my yellows… and in went the yarn.

And what came out did not thrill me. The yellows were beautiful, but The Technique had not worked the way I had expected at all. The short bursts of colour were there, but were much more ragged at the edges than I had hoped, and the shading was simply too haphazard for my tastes. I pursed my lips and shrugged… Chalk it up to a learning experience and be done with it, I thought.

“I like them! They’re interesting. They’re… earthy!” Turning these yarns over in her hands, my friend clearly saw something in them that I hadn’t spotted at first. And she was right. The shades are earthy, and the colour changes aren’t ragged as I first thought, they’re organic. And the yarns, I suddenly realised, are beautiful. Even if they weren’t what I was expecting and are completely outside my comfort zone.

So here they are!

The idea behind this one started as Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, but when it finally dried, I realised it makes me think so much more of Sunflowers, of their lovely golden yellow petals and dark seed-centers, of the earth they sprout from and the sun that nourishes them…

And this one… this one… I am trying to think of a good name for it, but time and again, all I see is Pasta in a Garlic Pesto. Even though the colours are exact, no matter which way I turn it, no matter how I look at it, that’s the only thing that comes to mind.

You know, if this dyeing gig doesn’t work out, maybe I could become a cook…