Mauna Kea: Pattern, Kits, & Knit-Together

28AugApril 14, 2015 By Stephanie

Sometimes I find it hard to wait. When I think of an exciting new idea, I want to dive into it right NOW (hence my stash of 15 million started-but-never-finished knitting projects). When my friend Mel (of the With Mel podcast, formerly Singlehanded Knits) showed me her design ideas for the gorgeous Mauna Kea, I was dying to share it with you guys, but the timing wasn’t right. Do you have any idea how hard it was to keep quiet about such a stunning pattern?!? It was SO hard!

But some things are worth waiting for. Take a look at this…

Knit top down with raglan shaping, Mauna Kea features laid-back styling and ribbed 3/4 sleeves. But my favourite thing is the shape, created by some incredibly flattering rib detailing down each side.

Choose to make it in stripes using a SpaceCadet Ombre Kit (as shown here) for a sublime monochrome effect. Or pick a Gradient Kit for eye-catching stripes with real impact! And if stripes aren’t your thing? Skip them, and use any of the Ombre & Gradient Kits in order to create a sweater with colours that gently morph from top to bottom.

The Mauna Kea Knit-Together!

What’s even better than a fabulous new pattern? A Mauna Kea Knit-Together! Join Mel for a lively and fun knit-together from Oct 31 to Dec 5. There will be a support forum on Ravelry, video help for knitters, and lots of great camaraderie!

Important: The Mauna Kea Kits listed here are available for pre-order and will be dyed once the orders close on Sept 15. Delivery will be in mid-October, in plenty of time for the Knit-Together cast on day.

You can see why I was struggling to keep it a secret, right? It’s one of those designs that make you just itch to get started!

Kits are available until Sept 15th only — click here to order yours!

All the Important Details

The Yarn

Lyra is a beautifully spoingy yarn that’s a joy to use, with a cabled 8-ply construction gives it strength and durability.

Fiber Content:100% Superwash Merino; 8-ply
Weight: Each skein is approximately 3.5oz/100g, and the yarn contains approximately 270 yards per 100g

The Kits

Each kit includes five skeins of Lyra and a download code for a FREE copy of the Mauna Kea pattern (the code arrives in the parcel with your yarn).

A lively knit together begins on Halloween for Mauna Kea, with a support forum and video helps for knitters!

The Colourways

There are five colourways available:

Dark Skies Ombre — grays to create the perfect monochrome effect
South China Seas Ombre — sublime blues for the ultimate in laid-back casual
Gobsmack Ombre — from deep purple to the softest lilac
Fervent Start-Anywhere Gradient — this gradient morphs from deep gray > rich eggplant > stunning fuscia > bright orange > brick red > back to gray. Designed so you can Start Anywhere, it works perfectly as either a gradient or for stripes.
Zing Gradient Ombre — this gradient morphs from dark gray > vibrant purple > cobalt blue > zesty lime > back to gray. Designed so you can Start Anywhere, it works perfectly as either a gradient or for stripes.

Sizing

For striping sweaters:

For sizes S/M/L: use 1 kit
For sizes XL/XXL: use 2 kits (due to the way the stripes use the colours)

For ombre/gradient fading sweaters:

For all sizes: use 1 kit

Delivery

Kits will be dyed after the ordering period closes on Sept 15 and parcels will be sent out mid-October, in plenty of time for the Knit-Together cast on date of Oct 31.

Ready to join in? Click here to get your Mauna Kea kit!

Hana Hou Winners …and Gifts for Everyone Else!

19FebApril 14, 2015 By Stephanie

We’ve been super busy lately developing some fab new colourways, but I wanted to quickly pull myself away from the dyepots to give you the news that I know a ton of you have been waiting for…

Last week I announced that Mel of Singlehanded Knits had generously given me seven copies of her gorgeous new pattern, Hana Hou (perfect for SpaceCadet Lyra!) to give away to seven lucky readers. So, without further ado, the winners aaaaare…

Andrea (SeCoWi13 on Ravelry)
Dianne (cdccj on Ravelry)
Grace (tully on Ravelry)
Laura (tastefldiversns on Ravelry)
Dawn (Knithemiptera on Ravlery)
Dvora (dvorag on Ravelry)
Robin (pookiemonk on Ravelry)

Congratulations! Mel will be sending each of you your pattern shortly.

So You Didn’t Win? No Worries!

Even if your name’s not up on there in that list, I’ve still got a couple of treats for you! But hurry, they’re for today only.

First, if you click here to join the SingleHanded Knits mailing list today, and Mel will give you $2 off your own copy of Hana Hou. Which is pretty fabulous, and gets you halfway to getting cast on!

And then, to get you the rest of the way to casting on, I’m giving you a coupon code for $5 off SpaceCadet Lyra — the perfect yarn for Hana Hou — which means your Hana Hou pattern is essentially free when you make it in SpaceCadet yarn!

We’ve got a ton of Lyra tied up and ready to dye, but you have to hurry — this is a spur-of-the-moment thing that I just thought of, so the code is good on orders placed today only. To get your $5 off, just click here to choose your colours, and enter the code LyraForHanaHou during check out, and the rest of your Hana Hou pattern will be on me!

New Colourways

And you know I said we’d been hard at work in the studio developing new colourways? It’s a really long process — first there’s the original colour idea, then the development of the recipe, then dyeing up test batches and checking quality, the photography and image editing, and then finally getting the new colouways up on the website.

But our new colours are slowly making their way into the shop, one by one — and I’ll be working on putting a few more of them in later this week and over the weekend. But for now, have a look for fabulous four new shades in Lyra. And, hey, leave a comment and let me know which is your favourite — I’d love to know!

The Yarn Alliance Opens in March

Are you signed up for the Yarn Alliance mailing list? Available to new subscribers only twice a year, the InterStellar Yarn Alliance — the SpaceCadet’s premiere yarn club, known for fabulous fingering yarns, gorgeous colourways, and awesome gifts — will be opening again in March for two weeks only. If you want to be the first to know when it does, click here and get on the Yarn Alliance mailing list!

The Gorgeous, Intricate Designs of Hunter Hammersen

08NovApril 14, 2015 By Stephanie

One of the best things about my job is getting to meet our customers and to see what they create with SpaceCadet yarn. We’ll be getting to do just that next weekend at Indie Knit & Spin, and I am sooo looking forward to it.

And one of the other best parts of my job is collaborating with some really fabulous designers (really, sometimes I have to pinch myself when I look at the collection of designs that have been created for SpaceCadet yarn!). And I wanted to take a minute to introduce you to a designer whose work I think you’re going to love..

I had been a fan of Hunter Hammersen‘s stunning botanical knits for a long time before we met. You can see why, can’t you? I’m captivated by the intricacy in her stitch patterns and the delightful details of the construction. Each nature-inspired pattern seems more beautiful than the next.

So I’m afraid went all fan-girl on her when she came into our booth at a show and introduced herself. She handed me her card and, before she even had a chance to say her name, I practically shouted, “You’re Hunter! I LOVE your stuff!” Fortunately for me, she was all grins at that.

Turns out, she’s pretty keen on SpaceCadet too! And to my absolute delight, she’s used our yarn for the very first design in her brand-new book, Ne’er-Do-Well Knits, a delicious little collection of patterns that are both quick and intriguing — perfect for holiday gifts!

(And if you’re in the Yarn Alliance, you’re in for a treat! The parcels went out this week so, as tempting as these patterns are, you just sit tight until your parcel arrives, ok?)

And here’s something to really get excited about: right now, Hunter is running a super fun giveaway –a skein of SpaceCadet Astrid DK yarn in your choice of colours! All you have to do is go and leave a comment on her blog, telling her which SpaceCadet colourway you’d choose for your yarn, and you’re in. But hurry, because entries are open only until the end of today — and you don’t want to miss your chance!

A Sneak Peek at the Dublin Tee!

05OctApril 14, 2015 By Stephanie

If you ask me what day it is, I don’t know. If you ask me what time it is, I’ll be no help to you. And if you ask me which way is up, I might end up pointing in any direction. Rhinebeck is only two weeks away and, though life keeps trying to derail the whole thing, I am keeping my nose to the grindstone and powering through.

And you know I love it but… well, if you’re not made of either yarn or dye, I probably have no idea what to do with you right now!

But just before I run back into the studio (run, SpaceCadet, run!), I just want to quickly share with you a sneak peek at the Dublin Tee by Melissa Jean Designs. It’s debuting at Rhinebeck, but I got to see one of the sample being knitted up and snapped some pictures for you guys.

In a way, it’s a simple tee. But the beautiful cable work gives it stretch and shaping that takes that tee to whole ‘nother level. It is just stunning.

The yarn in these photos is SpaceCadet Lyra, an incredibly sproingy sport weight yarn in 100% superwash merino. What? You didn’t know “sproingy” was a word? There is no other way to describe it! When you squish it between your fingers, it just goes sproing right back into shape!

The Dublin Tee will be available at the Melissa Jean Designs booth at Rhinebeck, so please do stop by and see it… see us… see the sproing! And if you can’t make it to the festival, it will be available through the Melissa Jean website after its debut.

Don’t those pictures make you want to cast on right now?!? Yeah, me too. And you know what? As soon as I’ve got all this dyeing done and the festival is over, that is exactly what I’m going to do!

Selfish Knitting Month

10JanApril 14, 2015 By Stephanie

It was Brenda Dayne — she who creates the fabulous podcast Cast-On (you do listen to it, don’t you? Don’t you?!?) and who just knit this hat with SpaceCadet yarn — who introduced me to the concept of January as “Selfish Knitting Month”.

For knitters and crocheters, the months leading up the holidays are almost always about making things for other people. All our own projects come to a screeching halt as we realise there’s only a few months left(!) and begin to work like mad on our gifts instead. And then, come January, all that is over. And it is time to return to our own projects, our own knitting and crochet. The idea of Selfish Knitting Month magically turns January from cold and dull into something welcome, warm, and cosy. Time to knit for ourselves again!

And I have really taken the Selfish Knitting concept to heart in 2012, in two ways. The first was actually at the end of December, as I was coming up with the newest colourway for the members of InterStellar Yarn Alliance. I wanted to create a something that would be a real treat for the members… to welcome in the new year with something so luxurious and indulgent that it would single-handedly banish January’s cold and grey post-holiday funk.

I saw cold days ahead and they transformed into a warm, moody plum; I felt a bitter wind, and it was a streak of blue-purple; the welcome respite of a cosy fireside became a rich vein of copper gold; and the whole colourway shot through with dramatic streaks as dark as the blackest night. And to make it extra special, I laid all these colours down over the sparkles of Lucina.

The colourway, in honour of the month, is called “Selfish”. …Well, would you give it away?!?

And the other way that I took Selfish Knitting concept to heart? Well, it wasn’t voluntary, and it wasn’t so much me as my body that made the decision. After a December which was just insanely busy and in which everyone except me seemed to come down sick, my body decided enough was enough. This past week, I’ve been sliding ever-so-slowly downhill, until finally this weekend, I succumbed to cold chills, shakes, and muscles that made my neck and shoulders seize up solidly. I have spent the past two days mostly in bed, propped up gingerly on pillows, moving as little as humanly possible.

Except, I could knit. And as painful as my shoulders and neck were (oh, and they were!), it’s been a truly welcome respite to just sit quietly and knit — without having to stop for work-demands or family-demands or… well, not for anything except for another round of painkillers. Selfish or what!? Yep, deliciously so, and it felt great. I took my skein of Selfish and cast on Karrie Steinmetz’s Walnut Grove. When I can sit up well enough to take photos, I’ll let you see how it looks.

So, Happy Selfish Knitting Month! What are you doing to celebrate? Have you cast on something fresh and new, just for you? Leave a comment and let me know, or even link to you project on Ravelry — I’d love to see!

Oh, there was supposed to be a shop update today, but — for obvious reasons — it will have to come a bit later this week. Keep your eyes open for it. And if you liked the look the of this yarn and would like get in on the Yarn Alliance yourself, spaces will open sometime around the end of the February or beginning of March. Make sure you’re on the mailing list to be the first to hear about it!

…And if you’re in the Alliance, your exclusive email with a chance to get extra skeins of Selfish will be coming soon, so watch your inbox!

The Colour in the Picture: How Much Does It Influence?

18AugApril 14, 2015 By Stephanie

Do you remember I told you the story about “Nobody likes Green”? It’s a running joke in my knit group: one day, one of the members went into a LYS to buy some green yarn to finish a project she was working on. She couldn’t find any green at all and asked the owner where it was, and the reply came back, “We don’t carry green because nobody likes green.” And my friend left and went to another LYS where her colour preferences made her a bit more of a somebody.

Now, every time I dye green, I can’t help but chuckle. Nobody likes green.

On Wednesday, Lisa Shroyer, the editor of Knitscene magazine, tweeted this:

And the link leads to the Ravelry page showing Knitscene’s patterns sorted by popularity. Sure enough, the top five are green. When I put “Knitty” into the search box, I couldn’t narrow it down to just patterns from Knitty magazine but, interestingly enough, the first four patterns that did come up were green too. In fact, most of the top 10 were green and, as you scroll down, green is the dominant colour across the whole page.

Clearly, somebody likes green!

So this got me thinking, how much are we influenced by the colour of the sample on a pattern? How good are we at actually looking a pattern that is shown in one colour and imagining it done in another colour? It seems easy enough — we’re all smart enough to look at a picture of a blue jumper and imagine it in yellow — but does the colour in the picture still influence whether we decide to make the pattern or not?

And, is the best default colour green? Is green the new black? Are you a somebody, or a nobody?

knitting, crochet, yarn, handdyed, indie dyer, sock yarn, spacecadet, space cadet — from left to right: Celeste in City Park, Estelle in Lost, Stella in City Park

So here’s what I want you to do: Go to Ravelry and have a look through your favourites and your queue. Is there a dominant colour? And when you made the items in your finished objects, how far did you stray from the colours in the pattern picture?

Then come back here and tell me. I really want to know! Can you see a theme, a link between the colours you use and the colours in the pictures of the patterns you choose? Are you choosing patterns because of the colour in the picture?

Oh, and while you’re at it… How do you feel about green?