InterStellar Yarn Alliance

A Look at the InterStellar Yarn Alliance Parcel

By Stephanie

Ok… (looks around)…  ok, I think everyone’s got their parcels by now, so I think I’m safe to share the latest InterStellar Yarn Alliance parcel…

The light has changed recently, as summer turns into autumn.  There’s something more golden about its cast, it falls at gentler angle.  The aura of the end of summer is unmistakeable, and I wanted to capture that in a yarn.

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Merino/Bamboo/Nylon fingering yarn in End Of Summer

So I chose this gorgeous 80% Superwash Merino, 20% Bamboo, 10% Nylon fingering weight, because Bamboo really captures the light to create a beautiful sheen across the yarn.  And then I dyed it in the shades of summer fields, as the grass turns to a deeper shade of green, and then begins to fade to gold.

To me, these colours perfectly capture the End of Summer.  And so that’s exactly what I named it!

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Colourway: End Of Summer

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And here’s something really fun:  this month, I had Debbie at Divine Scentsations create some wonderful, hand-made soaps for the Yarn Alliance members.  She did four scents — Lavender, Peppermint Leaf, Lemongrass Tea, and Citrus Lavender — and they are incredible!  I can show you pictures but… oh! If only you could smell them!

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Soaps from Divine Scentsations

One of the Alliance members said she knew she had Lavender even before she opened the package.  These soaps smell amazing!  I kept trying to pick my favourite scent but… it’s impossible.  They’re all really different but soooo delicious.

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Yay for InterStellar Yarn Alliance goodies!

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Don’t forget, the InterStellar Yarn Alliance is open for subscriptions right now (and will close again after September 17).  To find out more about the great stuff that Alliance members get, click here.  And if you want to join the Alliance and be a part of all this fun, just click on the button below…Click here to join the InterStellar Yarn Alliance

The InterStellar Yarn Alliance is OPEN for Subscriptions!

By Stephanie

I am so excited about this!  It’s the 2nd of September and that means…

(drumroll please)…

The InterStellar Yarn Alliance is open for subscriptions!

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What is the InterStellar Yarn Alliance?  It’s the SpaceCadet’s fantastic yarn club, and it’s a hell of lot of fun.  If you like SpaceCadet yarns, you’ll love being in the Alliance.

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Each member will receive an exciting parcel delivered every other month containing:

  • SpaceCadetTM Creations yarn (light to medium weight) in an exclusive Yarn Alliance colourway (guaranteed not to be offered on the SpaceCadet website for at least 6 months)
  • A great Yarn Alliance gift tucked into every parcel!
  • The SpaceCadet’s Log exploring the inspiration for each colourway.
  • An InterStellar Yarn Alliance group on Ravelry where you can discuss WIPs, ask questions, and share FOs with fellow members.
  • The InterStellar Yarn Alliance newsletter with periodic special offers exclusively for members.
  • A 15% off coupon every six months

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Subscriptions: 6 months (3 parcels) $125; or 12 months (6 parcels) $235

Parcels will be sent out in late October, December, February, April, June, and August. Subscription openings will be available in March and September. Shipping within the United States is included in the price; extra charges apply for shipping outside the US.

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September Events You Don’t Want to Miss!

By Stephanie

I looked at the calendar today and realised that September follows August… I don’t know that happened, but apparently, that means September is next month!  And that’s great because there’s a lot of super fun stuff happening in September…

PLY Party in Baltimore

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First, we’re going to the PLY Party at Lovelyarns in Baltimore on Sept 11th.  Lovelyarns is a cool little LYS in Hampden that began carrying SpaceCadet Creations yarns over the summer and we’re delighted that they invited us to be part of the Peace Love Yarn (PLY) party, their yearly gathering of indie hand-dyers and spinners.  And they just posted a really cool little SpaceCadet bio on the PLY website.
If you’re in the Baltimore area, please do come out and join us! We’d love to meet you.

Ply Party
Sunday, September 11, 2011
12:00 – 6:00 PM
Lovelyarns 846 W. 36th Street  Baltimore, MD 21211
(click here for a map)

It’s going to be so much fun!

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InterStellar Yarn Alliance Subscriptions Opening

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And the other thing that September means is… subscriptions open for the InterStellar Yarn Alliance!  If you’ve watching all the fun stuff that Alliance members have been receiving in their parcels and want the chance to join in, keep your eyes open.  More details will be coming soon, but be sure you are signed up for the SpaceCadet newsletter to be the first to hear when subscriptions go live!

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A Yarn Club, a Yarn Club, and… Another Yarn Club!

By Stephanie

Now that everyone in the InterStellar Yarn Alliance should have received their latest parcels, I really want to show you what they got!

And as the weather turned hotter and hotter, I found myself inspired to dye a skein rich in the full-on colour of summer.  The yarn is Stella, a really wonderful 80/20 merino/nylon mix and the colourway is Starved for Colour.

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And then for fun, I created mini-skeins of Lucina, a lovely yarn in merino and nylon with a little added sparkle, and dyed them in coordinating colours — some Alliance members got purple, some blue, some green.  I kind of fell in love with the idea of using it to knit socks with sparkly toes and heels (I mean, seriously, how cool is sparkly toes and heels?!?), but it’d also look great as a border on a shawl, or collar and cuffs on a child’s cardigan.

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Now, onto the really cool stuff… the goodies.  I was so in love with the custom SpaceCadet Tool Tins that Sarah Wilson, The Sexy Knitter, created for the last parcel, that I asked her if she could create a custom version of her adorable origami stitchmarkers…  And she did!  They were so cool that I squealed as soon as I saw them!  They came packaged in their own little glass vial.  Don’t you love them?!?

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Guest-Dyer for the Cultured Purl

“Guest-Dyer” has a pretty nice ring to it, don’t you think?  I was thrilled when Shirani at The Cultured Purl  asked me if I’d be a Guest-Dyer for their Spectacular Summer of Socks Club.  She asked me to create a summery colourway, so I took inspiration from lazy summer lunches eaten under a bright blue sky…  And dyed Picnic, a custom colourway designed to create fun bursts of colour throughout the knitted fabric.

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And… Another Yarn Club!

And, as if that wasn’t enough, I’ve been asked to dye for yet another club (squeee!).  I don’t know yet if I’m allowed to tell you who I’m dyeing for or what colours I’m making, but I can tell you that I just sent a skein of the yarn to the (very fabulous) designer and I can’t wait to see what she creates with it.  As soon as I know I have the go ahead…  I’ll tell you all about it!

InterStellar Yarn Alliance Sneak Peek!

By Stephanie

The InterStellar Yarn Alliance parcels are on their way, and I don’t mind admitting I am crazy-excited about this shipment!  I had so much fun dyeing it, and I just can’t wait for you guys to receive it.

Right, here are the spoilers!

First comes the inspiration…

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Then there is the yarn.  There’s a bit of this…

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And maybe a little something else too…

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And there’s always fun goodies…

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I can’t wait to find out what you all think of it!!!  Make sure you go to the InterStellar Yarn Alliance group on Ravelry to discuss how you like it and what you’re going to make with it.

(And if you really, really can’t stand it, and you really, really want to know what’s coming…  if you click on one of the pictures above, you’ll get a full-colour sneak peek)

Stuff to Love: The Knitter’s Tool Tin

By Stephanie

The magic of knitting is in the knitting — we all know this, don’t we?  It’s the feel of the yarn, the click of the needles, the hypnotic meditation of the motion.  But no knitter can honestly deny that there’s a lot of fun in all the stuff that goes along with knitting.  You know, the stuff — the needles, the project bags, the jewelry… er, I mean stitchmarkers.  The stuff is fun!

And I want to show you some stuff that I really love.  It’s the Knitter’s Tool Tin, from The Sexy Knitter, Sarah Wilson.  Sarah’s cool and funky knitting patterns have appeared in The Knitter, Yarn Forward, Knitty, and Knitting Today, but when I was searching for the perfect gift to go in the very first parcels for the Yarn Alliance, it was her Knitter’s Tool Tin that caught my eye…

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And you can see why, can’t you?  Is it great or what?!?  Everything a knitter might need, right there in a nifty little tin.  Perfect.

Of course, I wanted the Yarn Alliance to get something special and exclusive, so I asked Sarah if she’d customise some of her tins just for us.  And they turned out fabulous!  Check it out…

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Sarah put her calling card on the bottom, and a magnet in the lid…

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Now, because I didn’t want the Alliance members to be able to guess what was coming in the second or third parcels, we’ve changed the contents of the tin from Sarah’s standard Tool Tin.  Yarn Alliance members received the first part of the contents in their April parcel, and will get more in future parcels to built up the full Yarn Alliance tin.

Win Patterns from The Sexy Knitter!

And here’s the best bit — when I told Sarah I’d be blogging about her stuff,  I suggested we run a giveaway and she very generously offered two of her patterns as the prizes!

And here’s all you have to do to enter:

That’s it!  Easy, huh?

But if you’d like a second entry (and who wouldn’t like a second entry?),  leave a comment here telling us which Sexy Knitter design is your favourite, and why.  And there you go, you’ve got two chances to win two patterns from The Sexy Knitter!  How cool is that?!?

The Small Print (because I know you love it!): Contest closes on Sunday May 15 2011 at 11.59pm EDT and all entries must be made before the close. All entrants will be verified and must complete the mandatory entry (that is, being a follower of SpaceCadetCreat on Twitter and retweeting the tweet mentioned above) before completing the ‘extra’ entry (leaving a comment on this blog post). Tweet must be exactly as shown in the post above (to facilitate tracking of entries) in order to be valid. 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.  Prizes are not transferable. There, that wasn’t too bad, was it?