Lessons From the Pittsburgh Knit & Crochet Festival

15FebApril 14, 2015 By Stephanie

It’s been an incredible weekend — exhilarating, exciting, educational, an absolute whirlwind, and a lot of hard work. SpaceCadet Creations was at the Pittsburgh Knit & Crochet Festival, and we had the time of our lives! And now, as I get the chance to sit down for the first time in days, I realise just how many lessons there were from doing our first show.

Here’s what I learned:

How fantastic is it to finally get to meet my customers in person. Seriously, it is the best! These are people I see tweeting, people who leave comments on the blog and on Facebook, but there is nothing like meeting you guys in person, discussing your knitting, seeing your projects, and just being able to put faces to names. Meeting you all was fantastic fun!

How wonderful it is to talk to customers about my yarns and get that feedback. I mean, I do all this in isolation. Day to day, I work in my studio mostly on my own, with pots simmering quietly and yarns soaking… And when I pull them out, well, sometimes I think a yarn looks great and sometimes I’m not so sure. And it was just such an incredible experience to see customers making a beeline for the colourways that were calling out to them, and to hear their comments and get their feedback. Nothing beats that.

That every person has their own unique colour style, their own sense of what works for them… and you absolutely cannot judge a knitter or a crocheter by her cover. We had people come up who looked like they might choose calm, quiet colourways but who instead went straight for the brightest, craziest colours. And others whom I thought would go for the same wild yarns but who instead reached straight for the peace and serenity of the semi-solids. The truth is, crafters are unique and interesting people, and you can’t box them into categories!

That many hands make light work, and work doesn’t feel like work when it’s split out amongst friends. …With HUGE thanks to the Wednesday night knitters for bagging and tagging, knitting samples, brainstorming, and coming up with some great ideas that made the show a lot better for us.

That there is simply no way to show how beautiful, how smooshy, how fibery-lucious a yarn is over the internet. Great photography is all well and good, but absolutely nothing beats getting to snorgle that yarn in person!

And, following on from that, that the purples and blues that I absolutely cannot photograph will sell like hotcakes when people can see how lovely they really are!

The Vendor Hall was HUGE!

That when you get a look behind the scenes, you realise that the Pittsburgh Knit & Crochet Festival is a HUGE undertaking with a bazillion variables that really could all go disastrously wrong, but somehow Barb and her team keep everything under control and pull the whole thing off seamlessly. And they smile the whole time! I don’t know how they do it.

That you can’t actually go all day without eating.

Also, you can’t actually go without sleeping either. The body will revolt and shut you down. And that little factoid put a serious dent in my festival-prep schedule.

What fun it is to meet and finally get to chat with other fiberisti in person (Hello KnitPurlGurl! Hello StevenBe!)
StevenBe

That StevenBe’s mother and her friend are lovely, lovely women and so interesting that I could have sat and talked to them all day. Hallo Christa! Hallo Barbara!

That I go a bit giddy when I get asked if I’d like to be a guest dyer for a LYS’s yarn club. YesIwouldYesIwouldYesIwould!!!!

What an incredible rush it is to asked by LYSs whether I wholesale yarn …and how that plants interesting little seeds in my head.

That having friends there to show you the ropes, give you tips and ideas, loan you display furniture, and make change when you run out of small bills… that kind of professional camaraderie makes all the difference! (With big thanks to Amy, Bloomin Yarns, CosyKnits, Wren&Rita, and GwenErin)

How nice it is to be able to bring yarns out of the shop, give them a fresh airing, sell them at the festival, and then have brand new yarns to offer to all my custermers who couldn’t get to this festival. Look for new yarns to start appearing in the shop in the coming days and weeks!
All dyed in three weeks!

That you can increase your dyeing by 10 times your normal rate and fill a festival booth with stock in only three weeks, but everything else in your life will come to a complete halt. I really have to get some laundry done before I run out of clothes and some bills paid before they shut off the utilities!

That none of this is possible without the support of a great team. And I had a great team (With more thanks than I can express to my husband, to Natalie, to meine kleine schwester, and to my mum …and to my dad, who apparently hasn’t eaten in weeks because my mum has been here the whole time!).

And, finally, that I love love LOVE doing festivals!!!!!

Continuing your Sock Knitting Journey

08FebApril 14, 2015 By Stephanie

Note from the SpaceCadet: My friend Amy (DPUTiger on Ravelry) is a knitting teacher, a quilter, and a newly-minted weaver. And she’s been kind enough to write a series of posts about her favourite ways to start new sock knitters on their journey…

So you’ve tackled Fuzzy Feet and are ready to move along and try something else. Where is a good place to start with that beautiful fingering weight yarn and the toothpick-sized needles?

My first pair of fingering weight socks were generated by my sock class teacher with Sock Wizard. They had crazy-long cuffs (hello, 7” of 2×2 ribbing!) and took a really, really long time to knit. I did a second pair with the same yarn, on needles that I hated, and with short-row heels and toes. That experience nearly put me off of socks completely.

So, you ask, what turned things around for me, and what would I recommend to you so you don’t suffer the sock blahs right out of the gate?

Knitting Rules. If you aren’t familiar with Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, aka the Yarn Harlot, you should be. Stephanie is a terrific writer with a sense of humour. And whether you are an experienced knitter or especially a knitter that’s just starting to branch out into the world of Not Scarf Knitting, Knitting Rules is a valuable addition to any knitter’s library.

So just as I was finishing the Socks from Hell, the Yarn Harlot began blogging about the step-out socks that she was knitting for an appearance on Knitty Gritty. I was intrigued, picked up a copy of Knitting Rules and hit the jackpot.

And while Stephanie provides a perfectly awesome 64-stitch sock pattern, she also provides a good basic sock recipe. I love this pattern and recommend it because it gives you the tools to create a sock in any size to fit any foot. She gives you permission to stockingette that leg after a couple inches of ribbing. She has great information on how to start with hats, sweaters, all kinds of things. The book is a great foundation for wherever you want to take your knitting.

There are a few little tidbits I’ll throw in before I leave you in suspense waiting for my final salvo on sock knitting:

I have one rule in my classes: No Eeyores. If you attack something new with a positive, can-do attitude, you will succeed! If you are convinced sock knitting is too hard for you, then it will be. Period. Attitude is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Lifelines are your friend! (What is a lifeline? Click here) If you’re new to sock knitting, throw a lifeline in before you start something new. My ideal lifeline material is DMC Perle Cotton, commonly used for cross stitch and embroidery. If you use lifelines, you really can knit fearlessly, because it will be simple to rip out and re-start if you screw up or get confused.

Every single sock pattern in existence can be knit using any of the three small-circumference knitting methods: double-pointed needles (DPNs), two circular needles, or the Magic Loop. All three methods are interchangeable. Always. No exceptions.

I’ll be back again to discuss the one book that changed my knitting life. Until then, enjoy your foray into sock knitting!

Pattern Roll-Call: Trifecta Perfection

02FebApril 14, 2015 By Stephanie

There’s snow on the ground and ice on the way, and the wind is bitter and cruel. I think no month can be called Deep Winter more than February, and it takes all our woolly armory to stave off the cold.

So when I saw the Sweetly Worn trio by Natalie Selles, I knew I had to show it to you. I mean, it caught my eye first because of the way it will show off a hand-dyed variegated yarn so beautifully by alternating it against contrasting solid yarn. And I love that the stripes travel across the fabric to form intriguing shapes and angles.

But today,on this cold, grey, snow-locked February day, I think I just really love the fact that this is a complete set — hat, shawl, and mitts — that will go a long way toward keeping this bone-chilling winter at bay.

I think this pattern would look wonderful with a deep, wintery colourway such as this Celeste in Stewed Cranberries (which went into the shop today) or Estelle in Spice Trade:

sock yarn, yarn, knitting, hand-dyed — Celeste in Stewed Cranberries, Estelle in Spice Trade

Or, if you are looking out at the snow and find yourself in need of a boost of bright summery colour, perhaps you could try these zesty yellows and greens that I’ve just put into the Dept of Rocket Science:

knitting, yarn, sock yarn — Estelle and Stella in Dept of Rocket Science 110120-010

A First Step in Sock Knitting

28JanApril 14, 2015 By Stephanie

Note from the SpaceCadet: My friend Amy (DPUTiger on Ravelry) is a knitting teacher, a quilter, and a newly-minted weaver. And she’s been kind enough to write about her favourite way to start new sock knitters on their journey…

Socks seem to be part of the “Magical Mystery Tour” of knitting. Somehow, people get all freaked out with sock heels, short rows, gussets, kitchener stitch … the list goes on.

And with all these amazing hand-dyed yarns to choose from, why not add sock knitting to your repertoire?

I teach sock knitting at Bloomin’ Yarns, my LYS. On Ravelry, I’d say one of the questions I see most often is how to get started with sock knitting. I have a prefab answer that I use over there, but you lucky folks get the expanded version with the why’s and wherefores behind my answer.

The number one thing that I recommend for a first sock is usually Fuzzy Feet. It’s a free pattern from the Winter, 2002 issue of Knitty.com. Why do I like it so much for a first sock?

The first reason is that it calls for a worsted weight yarn. I believe that using fingering weight yarn and sock-sized needles is a skill all by itself. When you are used to using worsted weight yarns and needles in the neighborhood of a US 8, it’s a big change to go down to 8 sts/inch and a 2.5mm needle. And it’s better to learn one thing at a time, not two.

If you already do enjoy small needles and want to jump right in with that set-up, then you can go wind your next skein of SpaceCadet so you’re ready to roll with my next guest post.

So what else is so great about Fuzzy Feet?

They are knit with a worsted weight feltable wool (like Cascade 220) on US 10.5 needles, which makes them very quick to knit. I usually use a 16” circ, so I don’t even have to mess with a small-circumference technique like DPNs (double-pointed needles), two circular needles or Magic Loop. The construction is identical to a traditional top-down sock so you can learn the process with great big comfy needles. And the best part? It doesn’t matter in the least if you mess up, because when you’re done… you felt the slippers.

Have you ever felted anything before? There is virtually no stitch definition left after the felting process so those wonky short rows to turn the heel? Those gusset stitches that you picked up that are a little loose and open? The kitchener stitch at the toe that isn’t quite perfect? Gone. All of it.

You wind up with a pair of comfortable, warm slippers. And you learned the mechanics of sock knitting! Even my uber-picky husband likes his Fuzzy Feet. He’s on pair #2, since he walked through his first pair by the end of Winter #3.

So what’s the next step after you’ve finished your Fuzzy Feet? I’ll be back to talk about that next time!

Inspiration for Colour in Knitting and Dyeing

07JanApril 14, 2015 By Stephanie

A few years ago, I took a class with Brandon Mably that completely changed the way I thought about colour. It was an intense 2-day course which challenged us to think about how we see and use colour from the minute we arrived in the morning, until we left at the end of the day. Brandon had us doing a lot of crazy things to shake up our brains, from throwing all our balls of yarn into the center of the floor and mixing them all up, to free-knitting swatches that contained 10… 15… 20 different colours. It was a great weekend (and if you ever get a chance to take Brandon’s Design in Colour class, I highly recommend it).

And there’s one technique that he taught that has translated particularly well from knitting to dyeing. He suggested that we use artwork that we love — paintings that really spoke to us — and use the colours as inspiration. If those colours work in the painting, then they would work in our knitting too. He walked around the room and let us choose from a stack of fine-art postcards and greeting cards, whichever painting called out to each of us the most.

The thing about using this technique is that you suddenly realise how many colours you don’t see, even as they are right in front of your eyes. When you first look at a painting, you may see what you think of as a “yellow painting”…

But when you take the time to really immerse yourself into the colour, you suddenly see so much more — little spots of red that jump out at you, the grays that fade into the background, subtle greens that you didn’t even notice. They all work together — these colours that you never would have thought of putting side-by-side — and they create a depth and complexity that pulls you back again and again.

Just realising that really began to set us free in that class, and we dove into the pile of yarn in the middle of the floor. Using our cards as a guide, everyone’s knitting exploded into wild colour — combinations of shades far more daring than we would have tried before.

And then Brandon showed us a something else that I hadn’t noticed: different areas of the the same painting contain their own micro-colourways, and give off completely different moods from what you felt when you first saw the painting. So if you take a painting that you think of as mostly sunny and yellow, and cover part of it up, you might find an area that’s completely different… that’s moody and blue…

And when you switch your hands around again, the whole mood changes back to the sunny and yellow you saw before. Or maybe to a different section, and a different colourway and mood. Here are little colourways that you can pull out for inspiration in your knitting, and that I use in my dyeing — a whole world of colourways in one painting, just waiting to inspire you, if you stop and look closely enough! And once you start seeing them, you really can’t wait to start using them yourself… to start knitting as though you’re painting.

(When I lived in the UK, fine art cards like this one from Woodmansterne were available in any card shop for just a couple of pounds. But here in the US, I don’t regularly see cards like this — the shelves seem to filled with the standard assortment of greetings cards with nice-but-not-overly-interesting artwork. I’d love to find a good supplier of art cards like this one to inspire me… Can anyone suggest where I might find something similar here in America?)

A First Day, Knitting

10DecApril 14, 2015 By Stephanie

I remember the moment I decided I wanted to learn how to knit. I remember the very moment — and I have no explanation whatsoever. It was the weirdest thing. It was Thanksgiving morning, I was 19 and home for the weekend from university, and when I woke up — even before I sat up in bed — the first thought that entered my mind was, “I want to learn to knit.” I have no idea why — this was long before knitting hit its recent popularity and long before the internet existed. I knew no one who knit, I had no knitting influence whatsoever… and yet, when I woke up that morning, I just knew in my bones that I wanted to knit.

I padded down to the kitchen in my bare feet and PJs. The Macy’s parade was on television in the other room, and my mother already had the turkey in the oven and seemed to have fifteen other dishes on the go at once. If I’d have had any sense, I’d have got stuck in helping her, but I can remember standing there, at the corner of the kitchen island, next to a bowl of stuffing and an uncooked pumpkin pie and announcing as if it were the most important thing in the world, “I want to learn to knit.”

My mother probably wanted to throw a wooden spoon at my head and demand to know why I wasn’t helping her, but she didn’t. She first promised she would teach me — later. And then she ordered me to help with dinner. Quite right too.

After Thanksgiving dinner, my mother and I sat down with some mismatched metal needles she’d found in cupboard and some cheap acrylic yarn. I can remember my excitement even now. But it had been years since my mum had knit and it turned out that she could hardly remember how… She couldn’t work out how to cast on and then, when she did, she realised she could knit but couldn’t remember how to purl! And she had no recollection of binding off at all. But, none of that mattered to me: I had stitches on the needles and, as I discovered that lovely rhythm of making knit stitch after knit stitch, something magical began to happen… That special magical thing that knitting does, that all knitters know. And so that day — my first glorious day of knitting — I worked acrylic yarn into endless rows of garter stitch, and I was happy. Deeply, meditatively, knitterly happy.

I think the moment that any knitter or crocheter first picks up needles or hooks and learns how to turn yarn into fabric is something special. No one ever realises it at the time — they’re just “trying it out” — but they have started on a journey… One that goes from cheap yarn and simple scarves and eventually moves onto more challenging projects, more beautiful yarn, sometimes works of art and, most importantly, that need to create — at least a little — every single day. It’s a wonderful thing …and no one ever realises on that first day.

When was your first day?