The Best Knitting is a Leap of Faith

10MayApril 14, 2015 By Stephanie

I know this will sound crazy, but I rarely allow myself to use my own yarn — well, not the good stuff, anyway. When I’m feeling itchy to cast something on, I always make myself dig through the seconds (we call them “Poor Plutos”… why? because just like poor old Pluto, they almost made the grade). I don’t know why but, even though I am practically swimming in beautiful yarn all day long, I feel incredibly guilty keeping any for myself. Isn’t that ridiculous?!? Yeah, I know, and yet there it is — every time I go to keep some yarn for myself, I end up feeling all guilty and putting it back.

But once the madness of March and April began to really heat up (oh, and it got so crazy, I can hardly tell you!), I knew I needed to cast on something relaxing and grounding just to keep my sanity. You know what I mean. And this time, I really really wanted to knit with the good stuff.

So when a little dyepot-experimentation produced an incredible blue-gray that made me swoon as soon as I saw it (and it was on Lyra too, a sproingy cabled 8ply sport yarn that I loooove), I decided right then to keep five skeins for myself. Never mind that little nagging voice in the back of my head telling me I had to stick to the Plutos, I wanted it and I was going to have it! And so before I ever had the chance to change my mind, I immediately wound one skein into a cake and cast on. Deed done.

Ever since then, everyone has been asking me to dye more of that colourway. Every time I pull my project out, someone says they’d like that same colourway. And to be honest, I wasn’t sure I could reproduce it because… I hadn’t written down what I’d done.

But when Mel of SingleHanded Knits told me she was using Lyra for her new design called Old Man and the Sea, based on the Hemingway book and being knit in combined KAL/RAL (knit-along/read-along, of course!) starting May 15, I knew this colourway would be perfect for it. Grays and blues, sea and sky, deep waters and deeper storylines… Spot on. I went back to the dyepots and began experimenting… again.

Y’know, I’m absolutely besotted with Old Man and the Sea. A straight-forward garter-stitch cardi with interesting touches of openwork and cables… What’s not to love? And the design elements represent something from the book. To hear Mel’s inspiration for the pattern and the details about the KAL, check out this video she put together.

Mel knit her cardi in Burnt Clay and, as you can see, it looks fantastic. There’s also some gorgeous Honey in the shop, and Dark Skies and Sage being tied and tagged right now. But recreating that amazing blue-gray… could I do it?

I did! After a couple of false starts, I nailed it — and I named Fathoms Down and put the first batch in the shop before I’d even had a chance to photograph it. And do you want to hear something fantastic? Two intrepid knitters jumped in feet first and scooped those skeins up almost immediately — a sweater’s worth of yarn each — even though they’d never even seen the colourway.

How’s that for daring?!? I loved it, to see knitters who were just so adventurous! It is the absolute essence hand-dyed, to just dive in and explore where-ever the colour takes you. Heck, it’s the essence of knitting itself, isn’t it? Knitters, crocheters, fiber-artists of all stripes… we take the raw materials and just go where they lead us.

Who’s in on this KAL with me? The Old Man and the Sea KAL starts May 15, and the pattern is at a special marked down price until May 10th. There’s Honey and Burnt Clay available in the shop, with more colourways (including Fathom’s Down!) to go up in the next few days. Keep your eyes open!

Laura Nelkin’s Juego Mystery KAL

01MarApril 14, 2015 By Stephanie

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’ve been hinting for a little while about something special that I’ve been cooking up with Laura Nelkin. She’s a Craftsy instructor and the designer behind some of the most beautiful beaded lacework patterns out there (as well as the lovely Mythos). And a few months ago, she rang me up with an idea for a little collaboration…

I was over the moon when she asked me to dye the yarn for Juego, her newest Mystery KAL. What fun! Lacework, beads, and beautiful kits of SpaceCadet Celeste yarn in three coordinating colour combinations — Translucence & Plume, Diaphanous & Honey, and Five Rings & Feather — all hand-selected by Laura for a design that only she had seen… I could not wait for this to go live!

Laura and I discussed how many kits we thought would sell, and agreed to have about half already dyed, with the other half prepped and ready to go as soon as they were needed. She went live with the KAL yesterday, and I planned to let you all know about it in my blog post today.

And then… then… it just went NUTS! Within a couple of hours, she had pages of sign-ups on her Ravelry thread. Juego was flying up the ‘Hot Right Now’ pattern list. And the orders started coming in…

Every. single. one. of the dyed kits sold out by mid-day. I couldn’t believe it! I released kits for pre-order… They sold out within hours. As I was having dinner, people were emailing to ask if there were more, actually jostling for reserve kits. I released still more pre-orders… and they flew! By the end of the first day, we’d sold more kits than we had expected to sell for the entire run up to the KAL. Laura and I were both stunned!

So, I had planned on announcing this to all of you this morning, and hoped a few of you would go grab a kit and join in the KAL fun. And I still hope you will but, crickey, it’s going to be a lot harder to nab one of those kits than I’d thought! There are a few kits left at the moment, if you run over there quick.

And then I’m going to get to dyeing, and Laura and I are going to regroup, and we’ll release more pre-orders as we assess how much can be dyed and delivered before the KAL starts.

But there is one thing that this has shown me beyond any shadow of a doubt: that knitters and crocheters are an amazing force when they they know what they want, and that is an awesome thing to witness. Yesterday was just so wild… so exciting… absolutely mind-blowing!

Thank you all for giving me this job — honestly, I can’t imagine any job I could love more.

Annoucing the Love Actually KAL

01FebApril 14, 2015 By Stephanie

I’ve been dyeing(!) to tell you about this… and hinting about it on Twitter and Facebook… and now, at last, it’s February 1. Today is the day!

This is knit-designer, and my lovely friend, Sara Bench. And that fantastic cowl is Love Actually, her new pattern that was released on Knitty last week.

Isn’t it gorgeous? Double-knit, so it’s thick and warm, and totally reversible — the hearts that you see on one side appear (with the colours reversed) on the other side. How cool is that?

So I was thinking… a pattern like that deserves celebrating! And what better way to celebrate a knitting pattern than a Knitalong?

The Love Actually KAL

With Valentine’s Day coming up, this is the perfect quick (yet interesting) knit to keep your fingers flying through those cold February days.

And here’s the best bit: Sara is going to do the KAL with us, and guide us every step of the way. So even if you’re unsure about colourwork, or have never done double-knitting before, you can join with confidence. Not only will you have all your fellow knitters there to help you, you’ll also have the designer knitting right alongside you!

Oh! And there are giveaways! Each week of the KAL, everyone who posts a picture of their progress will be entered in a random drawing to win some really great swag. That’s right — free stuff… just for knitting!

C’mon! Wouldn’t you love to make one with us?!?

The Details

Here’s everything you need to know:

The cast-on date is Valentine’s Day, February 14, and the KAL will run through March 14.
To join the KAL, just click here and leave a message telling us you’re in! Please, no chit-chat in that thread, so that it’s easy for us to keep track of who has joined — just give us your name and your Rav name, and we’ll make sure we’ve got you in.
The KAL will be coordinated by Natalie (peacethrufiber). If you’ve ever come to see us at a show, then you’ve met Natalie: she’s the one whose hands are always knitting — she knits while she chats, answers questions, helps you choose your yarn… She’s an amazing knitter! So if you have any questions during the KAL, either about how it runs or about the knitting, she’s another great resource to go to.
Click here and meet your fellow KALers! Tell us about yourself… who you’re making your project for, what yarn you’re going to use, what you’re looking forward to about the pattern. Don’t forget to include where you’re from and if you’ve ever done double knitting before. And, hey, while we’re at it, tell us what the world looks like outside your window right now (it’s snowing here and looks ever so wintery!).
Make sure you tag your project on Ravelry with “LoveActuallyKAL” so all your fellow KALers can find it.
Spread the word! Let others know about the Love Actually KAL by sharing it on Twitter, Facebook, and maybe posting about it on Ravelry. The more we have in the KAL, the merrier it will be!
Tweet #LoveActuallyKAL
Grab your Love Actually pattern here.
Choose your yarn! You’ll need two skeins of DK yarn in two colours. You can buy fresh yarn, choose from your stash or… or….

SpaceCadet’s Love Actually KAL Kits

…Or you can choose the yarn we’ve dyed especially for this KAL, in the most perfect-for-Valentine’s-Day colours. And as a special thank you for joining the KAL, we’re even knocking 10% off the price!

There’s Tainted Love, a gorgeous grey and red combination, where the grey is gentle and the red is bold. But look closely, there’s a lot of depth of shade there — see how the colours move and change through both skeins? These ain’t no flat colourways! And life in those colours are going to look amazing in Love Actually.

Or go for the Chocolate & Roses combination! These are the colours from our popular Beguile colourway, pulled out into two separate skeins specifically for this KAL. The first shade is the deep rich brown — Valentine chocolates, anyone? And the second is a beautiful vibrant pink that would make the most perfect rose. Together, they are simply stunning.

For now, I’ve dyed only 20 kits. If they sell out, I may dye more, but time is short so there are no guarantees. If these colours are calling to you, click here to grab yours — at 10% off and before they’re all gone!

January Brings… Lots of Exciting News!

18JanApril 14, 2015 By Stephanie

2013 has started off with a bang! We’ve been so busy getting ready for all the great stuff we’ve got coming up that I’ve hardly had a chance to stop and tell you about it.

Which is totally dumb, because what is the point of having all kinds of cool stuff in the pipeline if I don’t share it with you? Let’s fix that right now!

SpaceCadet is at the Loopy Ewe!

I’ve kept quiet about this for a couple of months now because… ooooh, I was afraid if I said anything, maybe it wouldn’t come true. But it has! I am so excited to announce that SpaceCadet yarn is now available at The Loopy Ewe. Sheri is well known for her fantastic customer service, her free shipping on orders over $75, and her ability to create a collection of the most amazing indie dyers out there. I can’t tell you how excited and deeply honoured I am to be part of that collection!

And the most amazing thing about this? Sheri told me she’d first heard about SpaceCadet from her own customers, who were asking her to start carrying our yarn. So thank you for that — it’s proof positive that I have the most awesome customers a girl could possibly ask for!

Now please, go and buy some SpaceCadet from The Loopy Ewe, and show Sheri and her team that you guys were right!

Exciting Mystery KAL with Laura Nelkin!

Here’s something else to go squeeeeeeee about: the fabulous knit designer and Craftsy teacher Laura Nelkin has asked me to create the kits for her exciting new mystery knit-along! Now, I’ve seen some of the sneak-peeks of her design and it’s so gorgeous I wish I tell you all about it but… well, it is a mystery, so I can’t say much right now. But her last KAL was such a runaway success, I just cannot wait to see this one get started!

What to be the first to hear when it goes live? Make sure you’re on her mailing list, in her Ravelry group, or following her on Twitter or Facebook. And then… just you wait, you’re going to love it!!!

New Intense Colours on the Way

I don’t know what it is about January, but as soon as the holidays ended and the new year began, I was suddenly craving some seriously deep, intense colours. And even though I have a ton of other dyeing to do, I took a couple of days and just indulged myself in some wonderful, soul-enriching colour experimentation.

The result is such intense colour that I just cannot stop looking at it. And honestly, I can’t seem take a picture that does it justice. But believe me, that blue on the right there? It almost pulsates with colour!

I’ve never explored colour this intense before and, suddenly, I cannot stop exploring it. I am totally inspired, and you are going to be seeing the results that inspiration popping up all over the place soon! Keep your eyes open.

And if you’re in the SpaceCadet’s Mini-Skein Club, you’re going to get some of the first tastes of this experimentation. Not to spoil anything but… well, the “wildness” of this month’s Wild Mix colourways is less about variegation and more about deep, intense, gorgeous colour. I know it’s a bit of a departure from the norm, but I think you’re reallllly going to like it!

And if you’re not in the club but you love these kinds of colours, now is one of the best times to join, because the Mini-Skein Club is the place where I really let my imagination come out to play! One-of-a-kind colourways, experimental yarns, and a good mix of SpaceCadet favourites too… all wrapped up in the sweetest little tiny skeins. It’s a great way to see what all the fuss is about!

So tell me… what do think of them?!?

You Guys Just Blew Me Away

14DecApril 14, 2015 By Stephanie

Sometimes, good things rise up out of bad. Sometimes, sad events spur us onto something beyond the ordinary. And when that happens, it is a wonderful thing to see. Heartwarming. Hope-restoring. The knitting community did exactly that last week.

When my friend and colleague Karrie Steinmetz of the KnitPurlGurl podcast passed away suddenly on Nov 26, her husband asked me to create a colourway in her honour. I knew that the loss of a wife and mother, so suddenly and unexpectedly, would send any family reeling in practical ways as well as emotional, so I decided to use this colourway as a way for the knitting and crochet community to help Karrie’s family through this time. I decided to dye her yarn in Aurora and called it “A Colourway for Karrie”, and offered it for pre-orders with 50% of the sales price going to Karrie’s family. Not know what sort a demand there might be, I limited it to an initial run of 24 skeins.

They sold out within 90 minutes. And I suddenly began getting tons of emails and Rav messages asking for more. So I ran over to the studio to see if I had any more Aurora in stock… 10 skeins. I put them up and they sold out almost immediately.

And that was it — that was all the yarn I had. But the emails and messages kept coming — some offering straight donations –and I realised, by limiting the run, I was also limiting how much we could raise for Karrie’s family. So I opened it up for a second run to be delivered somewhere in January and, this time, I put no limit on the number of orders before the deadline.

The response was phenomenal. Phenomenal. And as the orders came flying in and the responses were being posted on Ravelry, I realised what you all are made of. You are made of compassion, of kindness, and of generosity. You are made of love for a fellow knitter and crocheter, and of genuine concern for her husband and children. I watched the orders coming in and I was blown away.

Ninety-four skeins sold. One thousand, five hundred, and ninety-eight dollars raised. I am deeply thrilled to write this cheque for Karrie’s family. And humbled because, though it is my name at the bottom, it is all of you who made this happen. Thank you all so very much.

Yarn Update

The first run is all dyed up and currently drying. If you nabbed one of those 34 skeins, expect your yarn to go in the post sometime next week! And for those of you who got in on the second run, your yarn is being spun at the moment and is still looking good for a mid-January delivery.

The SpaceMonster Club Closes in Three Days!

And, hey, don’t forget that there are only three days left to grab a subscription to the SpaceCadet’s newest yarn club, the SpaceMonster Mega Yarn Club! If you love the fabulous smooshiness of big yarns (not to mention the quick knits they produce!), then this is the club for you. It’s all worsted, chunky, and bulky — and exclusive colourways designed to bring out the best in them. But subscriptions close on Sun Dec 16, so — quick! — click here to find out more.

Sharon Silverman’s Crochet Scarves

01NovApril 14, 2015 By Stephanie

A couple of months ago, I recieved a lovely, lovely, lovely parcel. Amid all the massive boxes of yarn that were arriving in the run up to Rhinebeck, there was one small manilla envelope waiting on the doorstep. I honestly couldn’t think what it might be but, when I ripped open the package, I was immediately over the moon!

Sharon Silverman is a wonderful crochet designer and I’ve really enjoyed working with in the past. She contributed to the SpaceCadet’s Guide to Using Hand-Dyed, and do you remember when she designed her stunning Moonmist Shawl in my Luna Laceweight yarn? So when she told me she was writing a new book of crocheted scarves and asked if she could use SpaceCadet yarn, I jumped at the chance!

So when my copy of Crochet Scarves: Fabulous Fashions – Various Techniques arrived, I couldn’t wait to settle myself right down into a comfy chair and crack it open. And it is — as expected — fantastic. Twenty-one brand new designs, covering everything from traditional crochet to Tunisian (I love Tunisian!) to broomstick lace. And all with really wonderful step-by-step visual instructions and easy-to-read charts.

Now, can I tell you something? I don’t care what kind of a day you’ve had — whether it’s been a facepalm kind of day or wildly successful. And I don’t care what kind of week you’ve had, or month or year or life… no matter how things are going for you, when you see your name in print, in a book, it sends such a thrill down your spine, I just can’t tell you. So, I turned to the Cactus Scarf and saw SpaceCadet yarn right there on the page and… I squeed! Alone in the house, still sitting in my comfy chair (well, jumping out of it actually), I was squeeing my heart out.

One of the hardest things about selling yarn online is that it’s incredibly difficult to express the tactile elements of each yarn. It’s one of the reasons I love doing shows so much. When customers can come and see the yarns in person — smoosh the yarns in person — everything changes. For the Cactus Scarf, Sharon chose SpaceCadet Luna, a merino and silk cobweb laceweight that gives a stunning 1300 yards per skein (that’s nearly 3/4ths of a mile!). It’s so fine and yet so smooshy, and the silk gives it an amazing sheen that I can never seem to do justice to in photographs! That just kills me, because this is one special yarn.

But you know what? I think the Cactus Scarf would look great in any of the other SpaceCadet laceweights too. Pyxis is 100% superwash merino and a great, straightforward laceweight yarn — or for anyone taking their first steps into open stitchwork. But I think this scarf would be amazing in Thebe — it’s a heavier laceweight in silk and linen that has an almost rustic feel and fabulous drape. And then there’s Venus, with its incredibly subtle sparkles blended into merino and silk — now that would be one eye-catching scarf!

So, are you as excited about Sharon’s new book as I am? Check out Crochet Scarves: Fabulous Fashions – Various Techniques and the rest of Sharon’s fantastic crochet designs here on her website.