A Colourway for Languid Days

22JulApril 14, 2015 By Stephanie

According to last night’s 11pm news, the temperature here in western Pennsylvania is about to get miserable: 92 degrees F (33 C) with humidity that you can cut with a knife. I’m no fan of hot weather and I know it’s not due to last long but, while it’s here, I’ll be taking shelter in the coolest spots I can find.

So, it seemed a perfect time to share with you the latest Yarn Alliance parcel, because the inspiration for this colourway is all about finding refuge from the hottest summer temperatures.

Inspired by a languid summer’s afternoon spent in the shade of a lush tree, its branches draping lazily above and letting the sunlight through only in little pools here and there. No matter how harsh the sun’s ray or how wilting the day, the shelter of that cool, dappled shade is the most refreshing place to be.

Y’know, if I’m honest, this is not a colouway that I feels natural to me — I am not often a yellow kind of girl — but the truth is that I just love this colourway! There is something about that just feels so summery and hot… a little singed around the edges… and yet with that wonderfully cool streak of blues and greens. I just cannot wait to see how this knits up!

And every Yarn Alliance parcel comes with a gift and, this time, it was a perfect match for the colourway. When those long, languid days turn into perfect summer evenings, there is nothing nicer than sitting out in the cooling air with a beer (or, in this case, a cool English cider). Renee from Knerd made us these custom beer cosies with the idea of “cold beer, warm hands, dry knitting”.

And y’know, no matter how hot and miserable the day, I think that just has to be the perfect way to end it. Don’t you agree?

The InterStellar Yarn Alliance will open in September for new subscriptions. Want to be the first to hear when it does? Click here to get on the mailing list and get early-bird notification of the opening dates!

I Had a Brainwave! Using Squares, Woven or Granny

18JulOctober 10, 2023 By Stephanie

Monday really should have been a bad day. I had to take my car in for unexpected repairs (urgh… the combination of those two words is always the worst, right?) and I ended up spending nearly six hours waiting for it to be finished. And then to top it off, I realised that as I left the house, I’d accidentally grabbed the wrong project bag. Yep, it should’ve been a bad day.

But when I unzipped the bag, I realised it contained my Zoom Loom — which I haven’t used in months — and a set of Mini-Skeins in some gorgeous purples and greens. So I started weaving …and suddenly remembered how much I love my Zoom Loom — and just how addictive it is making those sweet little woven squares!

Now, whenever I show people how to use the Zoom Loom, I always get asked, “But what do you make with those squares?” And on Monday, I started out making little flowers for a cool boho bracelet. But, let me tell you, you can weave a awful lot of those squares while waiting for your car to be fixed(!), so I started thinking what else to do with them.

What to Make with Zoom Loom Squares?

And I suddenly realised something… Something that was patently obviously but which felt like a brainwave because it had just never occurred to me before… You could use Zoom Loom squares with any pattern that would normally use granny squares!

Now, Zoom Loom squares are much, much lighter and airier than crocheted squares, so the whole feel of the project would change completely in to something far drapier and — woven in fingering yarn — absolutely perfect for summer. But, in the end, it’s just changing one modular building block for another, so the answer to the question is simple. What do you make with Zoom Loom squares? All the same funky, cool things that you make with granny squares!

The Zoom Loom Taught Me How to Make Granny Squares!

Wellllll… not really. But as soon as I had that brainwave, I went online to get inspiration for granny square projects that I could convert into Zoom Loom projects. I just wanted to fill my head with ideas, so I went straight to my Crochet Inspiration board on Pinterest and started looking through all the granny loveliness.

Now, I’m not much of a crocheter at all… Seriously, I can chain and single-crochet and that is it. But something about those granny squares started calling to me. I suddenly thought, I really want to learn to make those… And, even better, I actually heard myself say something I’ve never said about crochet before: I can do this!

Five minutes later, I was watching this (excellent) video on You-Tube and had started my first-ever granny square. And not long after that, I had this…

I have not knit a single stitch all week. I am totally addicted to weaving on my Zoom Loom and now obsessed with crocheting granny squares. Yep, Monday really should have been a bad day, but it ended up being the beginning of a week of fiber adventuring. How fantastic is that?!?

…Ok, so now that you’re thinking of using Zoom Loom squares as if they were granny squares, what modular pattern would you use for them? Got any suggestions?

Creative Colour: Two Projects that Inspire

10JulOctober 10, 2023 By Stephanie

One of the things that I find so seductive about hand-dyed yarn is way it is just so full of possibilities. Every knitter or crocheter looks at a skein and sees a completely different destiny for it — and no two people are ever going to create the exact same thing. Even if they were to use the same yarn and the same pattern, their gauges will be slightly varied and so the colours will arrange themselves in different ways across the stitches… With hand-dyed yarn, there is always that element of what-if, a kind of energy wrapped up in the colour and fiber and twist. I find that so intriguing!

And so I get crazy excited to discover what SpaceCadet customers make with our yarn. I loooove seeing finished your objects in the SpaceCadet group on Ravelry, or posted on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (make sure you tag me, ok? @spacecadetyarn or #spacecadetyarn).

You know how I much I love hunting out interesting ways to use SpaceCadet Mini-Skeins, right? (If you don’t, just check out the Mini-Skein Ideas board on Pinterest — some really amazing possibilities there) Well, I’ve just got to share this one with you, because sometimes it’s the littlest thing that makes a project really come to life.

Using Mini-Skeins on Mini-Skeins

Now first, if you don’t know Martina Behm’s Hitchhiker pattern, let me show you:

It’s a simple garter stitch shawl — easy to knit but intriguing because of its diagonal construction and fun sawtoothed edging. So far, so good.

But now check out this little modification that Megan/Arthjarna made to her Hitchhiker — and what a massive impact it has on the finished product!

Megan used SpaceCadet Ombre Mini-Skeins so her Hitchhiker shifts from the intense rust of Headstrong at one end to a gorgeous shades of terracotta at the other. But here’s the thing that I think is pure genius… instead of having the colours blend into each other, Megan went bold and chose a contrasting Mini-Skein in a gorgeous chartreuse to highlight each colour shift.

She actually added a second Mini-Skein element to her Mini-Skein project. How awesome is that?!?

Using the Start-Anywhere Gradient Mix

You remember last month I created Space-Cadet’s Start-Anywhere Gradient Mini-Skein Mix? Here’s how it works:

And I just have to share with you this gorgeous project, knit by my assistant Jade/jadeish. It’s the Quaker Yarn Stretcher Boomerang by Susan Ashcroft and it’s got a very similar diagonal construction, but this time with the added texture of alternating knit and purl ridges.

What I love about about this is how the individual Mini-Skeins work together. Look closely… Do you see the gray flecks in the burnt-orange along the edge? Those are there so that skein can blend back into the gray of the first skein if you wanted to start at another point in the Mini-Skein bundle.

But in this shawl, what it actually does is tie the whole thing together, by picking up the colour of the gray at the other end of the shawl, and making the whole piece come together. Even though the first and the last Mini-Skein aren’t physically joined, there’s still a connection in the colour, and that brings the whole shawl full circle.

See what I mean? So many possibilities in each skein of yarn! So come on and show me — what will you make with yours? I’m dying to see!

1.. 2… 3… Wait, 1.. 2…

01JulApril 14, 2015 By Stephanie

Counting from one to five shouldn’t be tough, but this month I totally stumped my assistants Jade and Amy, and had them counting… and then recounting… and then starting over again.

They were bundling the June Mini-Skeins and, for the Ombre & Gradient Mix, the rule usually is that the most intense skein is number one, working to the gentlest skein at number five. Easy, right? But this month, I did something a little different.

But first, let me show you the Multicolour Mix. June always feels like such a bright, clear month — no snow, bright skies, blazing sun — that it felt right to dye clean, clear, happy colourways. Don’t they make you smile?

Now, which of these do you think I should do as Limited Editions? The pink and green? That happy yellow with pops of peach and green? Leave a comment and tell me which ones are calling your name!

But it was the Mini-Skein Club Ombre & Gradient Mix that was giving the SpaceCadet assistants pause… You see, most months, the Mini-Skeins have a definite start and a definite end, and Amy and Jade know exactly where to start.

But this month, I did something a bit different. I dyed five skeins that formed a complete circle, and all blended into each other. So, instead of starting a project at Skein 1 and working through to Skein 5, you could start a project anywhere in the set, and the skeins will still all work together.

Fancy that gorgeous Skein 3? Start there! It will blend into Skein 4, which blends into Skein 5, which blends into… and here’s the trick… Skein 5 blends neatly back into Skein 1. So you can start anywhere and still work your way right through the full bundle, creating a beautiful gradient effect no matter where you choose to begin.

Such a simple change, and yet it has a really big impact on your project. And I am so chuffed with the result! Don’t you just love it? So tell me, which skein would you start with?

Wanna get Mini-Skein bundles delivered straight to your door? Click here to find out more!

So Cool! The Latest SpaceMonster Parcel

20JunApril 14, 2015 By Stephanie

I was soooooo excited while we were packing the latest SpaceMonsters parcel that I thought I was going to burst! I think this might be my most favourite SpaceMonsters colourway ever, and the gift… oh, I love it so much and I’d be waiting for weeks to send it out to my club members. I just couldn’t wait to hear what they think of it!

First, the Colourway

Now, this is one that didn’t go right the first time I dyed it, but isn’t that how you get sometimes get the best results?!? Inspired by a beautiful day in late May, it started as glorious swirls of blues and greens, highlighted with touches of gold, the colours flowing and blending gently across the yarn. But once the yarn was hanging up to dry, I knew it wasn’t right — I needed to rework it, to add more colour, more layers, more depth. When I pulled it out of the dyepots the second time, I knew it was right! It was far more interesting and nuanced — everything I could have hoped it would be.

Then, the Gift

Do you remember a few weeks ago when I told you about the fabulous Knerd bags we found at TNNA? The ones that had us squealing with excitement right there on the show floor?

Well, what I couldn’t tell you at the time was that I’d already got Renee secretly working away creating the most awesome custom-printed project bags for the SpaceMonsters. And why were they so awesome? Well, besides having that fabulous rough-edged Knerd coolness, and besides having the adorable SpaceMonster printed on the bag, Renee did something extra special for us…

wait for it…. wait for it…

The SpaceMonster glows-in-the-dark!!! I know, right?!? So cool! So fun! Now you can see why I was barely able to contain myself?

SpaceMonster Subscriptions Close on Sunday

We have such a fab time in the SpaceMonster Mega Yarn Club. I don’t know what I love more — developing the gorgeous colourways, choosing the fab gifts, or seeing all the members’ projects on Ravelry. If you’d like to join us for the next session*, the SpaceMonsters Club is open for subscriptions until Sunday June 22 only, so click here to grab your spot now!

*the colourway and gift shown here are exclusively for members in the club during the Dec2013-June2014 session. New joiners won’t get these same items but don’t worry, we’ve got equally fabulous stuff in store for you!

Limited Editions: The Glorious Summer Sky

13JunApril 14, 2015 By Stephanie

It’s Friday the 13th and, though I’ve never really been fazed by that particular superstition (it’s Monday the 13th that seems like a bad combo to me — I mean, Friday the 13th is still a Friday), I know it might not feel like the friendliest of days*. But I’ve got a little something that will cheer things up a bit…

When we put together the SpaceCadet’s Mini-Skein Club bundles, it’s usually the Ombre & Gradient Mix that really calls out to me. But, when we were packing May’s parcels, I found myself falling head over heels for the Multicolour Mix. Here, see for yourself.

Seriously, as we were packing, I just kept picking the bundles up and staring at them. It was so hard to send them all away!

But there are three particular colourways that I loved so very much and were so much fun to create, I just knew I had to dye more. So… I am!

June Limited Editions

For the next seven days, we’re offering three stunning colourways inspired by the glorious summer sky — Nightwatch, Gaze Skyward, and Horizon Fire — as Limited Editions for custom dyeing. Available from June 13th to 19th only, they’re sure to go quick. Click here to nab yours!
Nightwatch is the incredible blues and purples of twilight, fading into deep gray-black as night falls.

Gaze Skyward is the glorious mid-day sky, so intense directly above and burning out to white along the edges of perception.

Horizon Fire is all the heat and shadows streaking across the breathtaking summer sky as the sun sinks slowly beneath the horizon.

Aren’t they gorgeous?!? I just love them, can’t wait to get dyeing them for you! Want one? Click here!

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*What else? It’s also a full moon. shudder!