From Skein to Swatch: How a Variegated Colourway Changes

11MarApril 14, 2015 By Stephanie

I was chatting with my assistant Jade last week about the process of turning full-sized skeins into Mini-Skeins, and she commented that she had been really surprised by how much a variegated colourway could change when the skein was rewound into mini size. And of course they don’t actually change but, the thing is, breaking the larger skeins down into mini-skeins redistributes the colours, mixes them up, so our minds perceive that the skein has changed colour. And that has a big impact not only on the skein itself, but what you eventually make with it. Jade wrote a post about it in the SpaceCadet Ravelry group and it was so interesting, I thought I’d share it here too.

Spoiler Alert: March Mini-Skeins

Now, before we move onto Jade’s post, let me warn you that it does contain images of one of March’s Mini-Skein colourways. If you’re in the club and you want to be surprised when your bundle arrives, don’t scroll any farther. But DO save this post to read later — it’s a really interesting topic. Ok, now, let’s turn it over to Jade…

Stephanie and I have been talking about exciting new things for Mini-Skein Club members, and an offshoot of that discussion revolved around how different full skeins and mini skeins look. Until I started really working with yarn (not just knitting, but seeing the whole process from dyeing to twisting, and especially making Mini-Skeins), I noticed but didn’t understand why the colors of the variegated yarns I loved never quite came out the way I thought they would.

I’d see lovely patches of color, and it would knit up as stripes. Pretty, but where were those beautiful pools? Or, I’d see yarn that looked like a soft, even blend of colors and, out of nowhere, there were the pools, but not where I wanted them. It was a mystery, and I wondered how the same skein managed to look so different.

Here’s where the spoiler alert comes in: One of the March Gradient skeins illustrates this perfectly, and I just had to show you. So, consider this a sneak peek at this month’s Minis…

In the pictures above, you can see the whole skein loose at the top, another skein of the same color that’s been twisted in the middle, and (still) the same color re-skeined as a mini. Each looks so different!

The loose skein at the top looks like two colors flowing evenly into each other. Twisting that skein makes the colors pool into beautiful bands, and the gradient effect is hidden. And in the mini skein, the colors are redistributed so that the skein almost looks striped (which is a big clue as to how it’s might knit up).

And, here’s how this color looks knitted in a swatch:

At this size (28 sts of stockinette with a 2 st garter border), it’s very nearly self-striping. From the whole skein, it looks like it should have been a smooth transition from blue-purple to deep pink, while the twisted skein made it look like it would have pools of purple, blue, and pink. Instead, the mini skein gave the best preview: nearly striped.

The things you learn when you start learning to dye yarn and make mini-skeins…!

So How Does a Variegated Skein Work Up?

This is a question we get asked all the time. A customer will pick up a skein of beautiful, variegated yarn at a show and say to me, “Now, how will this look when I knit it?” It’s an easy question to ask, but it’s got a far more complicated answer than you might think.

The reason is that there is no one way that a variegated yarn will work up in a project. Just as that same skein looked completely different loose, twisted, and reskeined (as in the three pictures above), so it will look completely different again depending on whether you knit or crochet with it; whether you choose plain stockinette, garter, slipped stitches, or openwork; whether you work a small circumference in the round or cast on a huge piece on straight needles. All of those factors (and more) will impact where and how the colours will move on your fabric. So it’s next to impossible for me to look at the skein in your hands and easily answer question.

But the good news? With a little forethought, you are in complete control of the colours!

The Impact of Different Stitch Types

Let me demonstrate. After Jade knit that initial inch or so of stockinette, I asked her change it up a bit, to do some different types of stitches.

You can see from the picture above that, after the stockinette at the bottom, she moved on to slipped stitches, then a simple yarn-over lace, and finally, a 2×2 rib at the top. And what do we see?

First, the striping that was so evident in the plain stockette almost completely disappears in the slipped stitch section. Moving the yarn out of the straight back-and-forth rhythm blends the colours much more evenly, so that almost every stitch appears to be a different colour to its neighbour. And if you knit a whole sweater that way, the overall visual impact would be of a fabric that appears to be a single colour.

In the yarn-over section above that, we see that the colourway’s appearance has changed yet again. The stretched out stitches act to highlight the individual hues of the variegated yarn, giving each one a solo moment in the spotlight. And even more interestingly, there’s even a kind of very subtle pooling happening on the left, where all the purple stitches have joined together. Beautiful!

Finally, we have the rib stitch at the top. Like the stockinette, rib is primarily a side-to-side stitch, so there is striping but this time it’s broken up — and made more subtle — by the stitch texture. Showing that even a very simple stitch pattern can have a big impact on the look of a variegated yarn.

But How Do You Know?!?

There are many more ways that your choices can impact the way your yarn colour will behave. Be it your choice to knit or crochet, your pattern selection, stitch type, needle size, or any number of other things, one skein of variegated yarn can come out looking incredibly different depending on what you choose to do with it.

But how do you know? Well, I have great news: there are ways to decode an untwisted skein just by looking at it, so that you can accurately predict how it will behave and which choices will bring out its beauty best. And I’m going to be putting together a series of blog posts (and perhaps some videos) to help walk you thought that process. They’ll be coming in the next few months, so click here to get on the mailing list and make sure you don’t miss them!

But That Won’t Be Until…

…until after these great Spring Events that we’ve got coming up!

Fri March 13 — The SpaceCadet’s InterStellar Yarn Alliance opens for Subscriptions!
The InterStellar Yarn Alliance is the SpaceCadet’s premiere yarn club, known for its amazing colourways and fantastic gifts. It’s open for subscriptions twice a year for two weeks only — from March 13 to 29 — and spaces always go fast. Set your alarm and then click here to grab your spot first!

Sun March 22 — HomeSpun Yarn Party, Savage MD
Possibly our favourite-est yarn show of the year, this super-fast, super-furious event is always pure crazy and intense fun for anyone who craves hand-dyed and hand-made yarny goodness. A one day show that features only small and indie makers, it’s so worth the trip to the beautiful Savage Mill — if you live in the DC-Baltimore area, please come and see us!

HomeSpun Yarn Party

Sunday, March 22 from 12-5pm
Historic Savage Mill 8600 Foundry Street, Savage, MD 20763 Just off I-95, plenty of parking!
Admission is FREE!

Fri-Sun March 27-29 — Pittsburgh Knit & Crochet Festival, Pittsburgh PA
Our hometown festival just gets better and better each year! Having rapidly outgrown all its previous venues, we are super excited that this year’s festival will be at the Westin Convention Center hotel in downtown Pittsburgh. Three glorious days of yarn and fiber fun, plus we are thrilled to be hosting festival headliner Alasdair Post-Quinn (author of “Extreme Double Knitting” from Coop Press) for book-signings in our booth. If you’re in the western PA area, we’d love to see you!

The Pittsburgh Knit & Crochet Festival

Fri-Sun, March 27-29
Westin Convention Center hotel, next to the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in downtown Pittsburgh

Announcing… Full Skeins and Sweater Kits of Mini-Skein Colourways!

06MarApril 14, 2015 By Stephanie

The Mini-Skein Club is always wonderful fun for us at SpaceCadet — we love coming up with exciting colours for the Multicolour Mix, and developing the next step in the Never Ending^™ colour story of the Gradient Mix. I know how much you guys enjoy it, because you share your wonderful projects with us on Ravelry, but I have to tell you, it’s just as fun for us creating the yarns for those projects.

But what we hear the most from Club members and other customers is how much they’d like to be able to buy larger skeins of some of the Mini-Skein colourways. And I agree — there are some fabulous colourways in those little bundles of yarny goodness! It wasn’t something we could accomplish last year (some day I will tell you the saga of moving into our new studio… and it is a saga) but, now that we are moved into our new space at last, we have a lot more freedom to bring you all those amazing colours. And so I am delighted to announce …

Full Skeins and Sweater Kits of SpaceCadet^® Mini-Skein Colourways!

Each month, we will pick our favourite colourways from both the Multicolour and Gradient Mixes, and offer them to you as full skeins and sweater kits on a selection of SpaceCadet bases. Some will be exclusive to the Club members and some available to everyone, so you can order one skein or a sweater’s quantity — it’s up to you — to make a gorgeous, full-sized project with those fantastic Mini-Skein colourways!

Here’s how it works:

If you are a member of the Club that month, you have access to all the colourways we are dying that month, including exclusive access to

The Full Gradient Mix as a Sweater Kit!
Each month, our gorgeous Gradient Mix will be available as a full sweater kit exclusively to the Club members who received a bundle that month. If you’re in love with the Gradient Mix’s wonderful colour shift and are dying to use it in a larger project, you can order it as a breathtaking five-skein sweater kit.

One Multicolour Mix Colourway as a Club Member Exclusive
You know the Multicolour Mix is an explosion of colour! Each month, we’ll pick our very favourite Multicolour Mix colourway (or perhaps two?) and make it available exclusively to our Club members who received a bundle that month. The Multis are always so much fun — which one will we choose for you this month?

If you’re not a member of the Club that month, we still have something wonderful for you! How about this?

One Gradient Mix Colour in Full Skeins There’s always one colour out of the Gradient Mix that we pull out of the dyepots, gasp, and think, “I want a whole sweater in this colour!” And if you do too, then great news: we’re going to pick our favourite and offer it in full skeins! It might be exclusive to the Club members or it might be available to everyone — we’ll refine this as the months go by — but it’s always going to be mouth-watering

One Multicolour Mix Colourway as Full Skeins Each month, the Multicolour Mix is an adventure in colour and we never know how many of its colourways we’re going fall head over heels for. We’ll pick one (or occasionally two) that we really enjoyed dyeing and offer to dye you some more!

But you’ve gotta be fast! They’re available for two weeks only!

Because we’re always getting ready for the next month’s dyeing, these full skeins will be available for a very limited time — two weeks only — to allow us to get them dyed, prepped, and out to you as quickly as possible. So make sure you’re watching the blog or — even better — get on our mailing list so you never miss the announcement!

Ready to see this month’s full skein picks? Here they are!

Parallax Aphelion — Gradient Colourway #3

A parallax is a displacement in the apparent position of an object viewed along two different lines of sight.

The Aphelion Sweater Kit shifts from a deep-space purple through to a rich sun-gold, and where the two come together, it forms this amazing colourway. We let the hues run over and into each other where-ever they like, which creates pockets of unexpected — and unpredictable* — colour that will turn your knitting or crochet into a multi-chromatic adventure!

*Please note: this is one of those very unpredictable colourways — we had many skeins come out like this one, and several come out with a beautiful rose tinge to them. We’ll do our best to reproduce the colour you see here but, if you buy this colourway, be prepared to go into it with a sense of adventure — which is truly the essence of hand-dyed yarn!

Cetus — Members’ Only Multicolour

Cetus is a constellation named after a sea monster in Greek mythology.

Dyed in intense shades of deep blues and blacks, with undertones and wild pops in pinks and rusts, Cetus reflects something unexpected that may rise from up from deep waters — or out of the deepest night skies.

Where’s the order button? This colourway is exclusive to February Club members. If that’s you, look for an email arriving shortly with your members-only link!

Flare Star — A February Multi

A flare star can undergo unpredictable dramatic increases in brightness for a few minutes.

A wonderful combination of soft gray contrasted against vivid magenta, Flare Star will create stitches that play with colour right in your hands, as they bounce back and forth between the sublime and bright. The result is a project that is not only tons of fun to work on, but a eye-catching to wear as well.

Aphelion Gradient Sweater Kit

Aphelion is the point in an object’s orbit when it is furthest from the Sun.

The first is our Gradient Mix Sweater Kit. Shifting from a deep-space purple through to a rich sun-gold, it morphs into some amazing hues along its journey. Breathtaking in a full sweater, it would be equally stunning paired with black or a contrasting colour for gradient stripes.

Where’s the order button? This kit is exclusive to February Club members. If that’s you, look for an email arriving shortly with your members-only link!

What to get access to all the colourways next month? Join the Club!

Working with mini-skeins is like drawing with yarn, and each little bundle of colour becomes a new and exciting addition to your palette! The SpaceCadet’s Mini-Skein Club is a wonderful way to discover all the amazing, creative things you can make with these gorgeous little skeins — delivered straight to your door! Click here to learn all about it.

I Just Have to Show You This! (Plus: Mini-Skein Pattern Picks)

30JanApril 14, 2015 By Stephanie

We’ve got some beautiful Mini-Skein Pattern Picks for you this month but, before we get to that, I’ve just gotta share something with you. We’ve had so many awesome changes to the Mini-Skein Club lately (such as the innovative 360° blend of the Start Anywhere™ Ombre&Gradient Mix and the stunning month-to-month flow of the Never Ending™ Gradient) that I really wanted to update the club page to reflect that.

And what I really wanted was to to show it all off in a new video: something bright, happy, bouncy, and fun — everything that the Mini-Skeins bring to our club members every month.

Now, the trouble was that I really didn’t know much at all about creating videos. But I decided to try to teach myself Premiere Pro and, after a really steep learning curve on and a lot of frustration(!), I finally got the video I was hoping for. And I’ve been dying to share it with you ever since! I hope you’ll forgive me just a little showing off, but I’m just so darned proud of it. Here is our new Mini-Skein Club video:

(Squee with me?)

January’s Mini-Skeins

This month, we took our Mini-Skeins in a moodier direction. Both the Multicolour and the Ombre&Gradient went a little darker and pensive — and I have to tell you, I loooove the way that plays into the Never Ending spectrum. After all those bright colours, a little depth looks really amazing. Where do you think we’ll take it next month?

(click here for a larger image)

Jade’s Mini-Skein Pattern Picks

Ok, you’ve waited long enough! So, without further ado, let’s turn it over to Jade for her Pattern Picks for this month’s Mini-Skeins…

Happy Colours Blanket & Tutorial by Just-Do

Maybe it’s the shorter days, or that everything outside has gone gray, but I’ve been craving bright pops of colour lately – and this crocheted blanket has plenty! With options for large and small circles, varying yarn weights, and adjustable dimensions, it’s an extremely versatile way to use 3 (or more!) bundles of minis and a contrast colour. The colours (either the new never-ending ombres or bright multis would be stunning) will pop against a white or pale shade (like Sliver) or dazzle against a black or dark shade (like Dark Skies). And the best bit from our point of view? They look a bit like planets in space!

Abyss by Marnie MacLean

I came across this shawl in early November, and knew it would be perfect for ombre or gradient minis, if it just didn’t require so much yardage (960 yards, which would be at least a double subscription!) That very problem, though, is exactly what makes it so perfect for the never-ending ombres – the delicate drape and smooth stockinette stitch would showcase all the subtle shifts in colour, and the size of the shawl ensures that you’ll flow through at least two full gradients and into a third!

Coquettish by Asja Janeczek

And if you’re looking for something for just one bundle of minis, try this gorgeous pullover that features a feather-and-fan accent at the yoke, cuffs, and hem. It looks great in two contrasting colours, but how much fun would it be with an ombre or gradient bundle against Sliver, Drizzle, or Dark Skies? You’d only need 1 bundle of mini skeins, and depending on size, 3-4 skeins of a contrast colour.

Last Chance to Enter our Giveaway!

Don’t forget to enter our fabulous giveaway for a copy of Curls, Hunter Hammersen’s stunning new book of patterns, and a skein of SpaceCadet Oriana yarn to cast on with. All you have to do is click here and leave a comment at the bottom of the post, telling us what you love most about Hunter’s designs. But hurry — the giveaway closes Sunday night!

Giveaway! Win a copy of Curls, the new book of patterns by Hunter Hammersen, and a skein of SpaceCadet Oriana yarn!

For full official rules, go to http://wp.me/p1TnPQ-1Uf

Never-Ending Gradients! And Yarny Gift Ideas too.

03DecApril 14, 2015 By Stephanie

You guys you guys you guyyyys, I’ve been dying to show this to you!!!! We did something so cool with the November Mini-Skeins and I’ve had to keep quiet about it but I am just bursting!…

(SPOILER ALERT if you’re in the Mini-Skein Club and don’t want the surprise ruined, look away now…)

You remember that a few months ago we developed the Start-Anywhere Gradient Mini-Skeins? Here’s an image of the July bundle in case you missed it:

The idea, of course, is that the last colourway flows back into the first colourway, so that you can customise your gradient to start with any yarn you choose. So far, so cool, right? Well, we’ve kept that sweet little feature and, in November, we added something that is just crazy-exciting. Are you ready?…

So the last skein of October’s Mini-Skeins blend into the first skein of November’s. And this month, the last skein of November’s Minis will flow right into the first of December’s… and on and on, each bundle adding to the Never-Ending Gradient as the colourways morph and change from one month to the next.

Use the bundles individually or together. Work them in their colour changes or mix them up in stripes. Let the colours flow or contrast. Use a few to create something small and sweet or gather a bunch of them for a project that’s dramatic and eye-cathing. The possibilities are endless!

(Want to get in on the Mini-Skein action? Click here to join the club)

Jade’s Mini-Skein Pattern Picks

Now, do you need a little help picking a project? Don’t you worry — our Jade has got some fantastic ideas for you!

Leventry – Sarah Jordan

This shawl literally stopped me in my tracks when I spotted it in the wild at the Pittsburgh Indie Knit & Spin, and it’s beautiful with two coordinating colors. But…it would be absolutely amazing with the Never-ending Ombre Minis! Work it in a straight up ombre for amazing color and a subtle stitch texture, or put two of the bundles together with a contrast color for the garter ridges and border, and it would just POP!

Loop – Casapinka

Now, this one’s a bit different. It’s meant to feature a variegated yarn against a plain background, but I think it would be stunning in reverse as well. Can’t you just see the stockinette background cycling through a set of ombre or gradient minis, and the ‘loops’ in a highly contrasting color? Depending on the yarn base, one bundle of minis and a contrasting color is all you’d need!

Helix Mitts – Sybil R

When I saw these mitts on the pattern suggestion thread on Ravelry, I thought they looked like so much fun to make! The garter stitch attach-as-you-go construction is exciting but not too complicated, and shows off the colors beautifully. They’d be great in either this month’s gradient or a bright set of multis, and they use only a little bit of yarn. You could even get 2-3 pairs out of a bundle… great for any last-minute holiday gifts you need!

Need More Holiday Gift Ideas?

Two easy gift ideas for yarn lovers (or for… you!). Order one and the rest is easy — no waiting in line, no wrapping, and all that yarny goodness is delivered straight to the recipient’s door!

The Outlandish Clan Kit

Three gorgeous accessory patterns, four breath-taking yarns in exclusive colourways, and a project bag handmade in the Scottish Highlands, and tons more goodies, the Outlandish Clan Kit is just what you need to see in the next season of your favourite show. Kits are available until Dec 5th only, so click here to grab yours quick before they sell out!

The SpaceMonsters Mega Yarn Club

SpaceMonster Club Dec 2014 525x237 for MailChimp

The SpaceMonster Mega Yarn Club all about bigger yarns and is perfect for those who love to work bulky. Every other month, you’ll receive a skein of worseted or bulky yarn in an exclusive SpaceMonster colourway, and a fabulous gift in every third parcel (we’re known for our awesome gifts!). Open for subscriptions from Dec 5 – 21, click here and get on the mailing list for early-bird registration!

October Mini-Skein Pattern Picks — and 20% Off!

31OctApril 14, 2015 By Stephanie

I have a really special place in my heart for projects made with yarn from the SpaceCadet’s Mini-Skein Club. I think it’s because every single month, I develop ten new colourways — some soft and sublime, some screaming and wild — and, after the planning and test runs and dyeing are done, I find myself just itching to see how those gorgeous colours will look in your projects. The dyeing is just the first chapter and it’s almost like I really want to see how the story finishes, y’know?

And as my assistant Jade and I go through patterns on Ravelry to add to our Mini-Skein Ideas Pinterest board, the colours from each bundle are popping into head. Ooh, this one would be perfect for this month’s Gradient skeins! And Jade is replying with, But wait, wouldn’t the Multicolour skeins look amazing in this pattern?

So this month, when I asked Jade to pick her two favourite patterns for October’s Mini-Skeins to share with you guys, she jumped at the chance. This month’s Minis are gorgeous — wonderful sea-colours in the Ombre&Gradient mix, and amazing pops of colour in the Multicolour Mix. Here’s what Jade chose for both of them…

Jade’s Mini-Skein Pattern Picks

Sea Dragon Shawl by Ambah

As soon as I saw this month’s Gradient Mini-Skein colours, I knew they’d be perfect for this pattern – the blue-gray-greens just scream ‘sea monster’! Pair 1 mini-skein bundle (or 2 bundles for the large) and a contrast color to make your very own Sea Dragon. The sea-greens and blues of the Gradient minis would pop against a bright green like Fizz or a glint of gold like Honey, and the pattern would work equally well with bright multis and Dark Skies.

Seashore by Isabell Kraemer

If you’re looking for a bigger project, this fingering weight pullover by Isabell Kraemer is a great way to use 2 bundles of Mini Skeins and 2-3 skeins of a contrasting color. It would look stunning with two gradients that flow into each other for the stripes… or for something really exciting, try an ombre effect with the main color as well – maybe choose Dark Skies, Drizzle, and Sliver against some bright minis like the deep purple Gobsmack Ombre from a few months ago or the stunning Autumn Leaves Gradient we dyed in September.

20% off the Sea Dragon Shawl!

And guess what? To make these picks even more exciting, Ambah is offering you 20% off the Sea Dragon Shawl until November 9^th! Download your copy of the pattern from Ravelry and use the code spacecadet to get your discount!

SoCal, Come to the SpaceCadet’s Trunk Show!

I am so crazy-excited to being doing a SpaceCadet Trunk Show on the YarnOver Truck during the month of November! We’ve chosen four yarns — Celeste, Oriana, Maia, and Thebe — that are perfect for SoCal knitting and crocheting, and dyed them in amazing colours. There are wild brights, sublime semi-solids, warm southwestern spice colours and… a special collection of amazingly gorgeous one-of-a-kind colourways that you may never see again!

Click here to get the YarnOver Truck’s schedule and then head over to see the coolest trunk show on wheels!

Better Project Photos: Backgrounds for Detail Shots

21OctFebruary 11, 2018 By Stephanie

In my previous post, I shared some great ideas for improving your project portraits by choosing backgrounds that really make your finished object shine. If you haven’t read it, click here — it’s amazing what a difference the right background can make!

But you want to take some detail shots too right? Because sometimes the things that make our project just amazing are in the details — the intricate stitchwork, the seam that you sewed so beautifully, the subtle stitch-by-stitch colour changes in the yarn. For those shots, you need to get your camera in close to your project and, to really show the details off to their best, the background you choose will make a huge difference.

We started the portrait-photo post with a pet peeve of mine (Don’t Stand in Front of that Bush!) and we’re starting this one with a pet peeve too — one I see all over Ravelry and that always gives me the sads…

Don’t Shoot on that Blocking Mat!

I know your project looks amazing when you finally get it blocked out and all the stitchwork opens up. I know you’re excited (and you should be!) and you just want to grab your camera and take photos now. Or maybe you don’t want to actually model it yourself (and that’s ok) but, please, put your camera down. To me, taking pictures on a blocking mat is a little like getting all dressed up for a family photo — you in your best outfit, your hair fabulous, you’re looking amazing — and then… wearing your house-slippers in the photo.

It’s the same with a blocking mat — that dull surface and the hundreds of pins are a total mood-killer for your photos. And the thing is, your stitchwork is going to look just as gorgeous once it’s dried and off the mat — even more gorgeous in fact, because you can lift it up and let the stitches really shine in the light and the breeze. So go ahead and love your project while it’s blocking, but wait to take the photos until you unpin it and set its beauty free!

Choose a Simple Background

Just as we discussed with project portraits, your eye gets confused about where to look when the background is cluttered or complicated — whereas a simple background will make your project really pop.

And here’s some great news: the simplest background is super easy and super cheap! So yesterday, I grabbed a bundle of the SpaceCadet’s September Mini-Skeins and, literally 30 seconds, I had a “studio” set up and snapped these images.

Don’t they look great? Clean, crisp, and professional. Want to see what the “studio” looked like? Ok, here ya go!…

It’s a piece of 75¢ posterboard propped up against a wall outside. That’s it! The sun provides amazing light, the posterboard keeps the picture clean and uncluttered, and by propping it up (instead of laying it flat), it creates a never-ending backdrop. Can you believe you can get such beautiful photos with something so simple and cheap? Try it — you’ll be amazed at the results!

And remember, this set-up is for your detail shots, so you’re not trying to fit your entire project spread out on the posterboard — it probably won’t be big enough for that. But if you use it when focus in on your lace edging, the collar, your beautiful seams, your stitches will pop and your project will look amazing!

Now, to take it up a level, let the smaller space encourage you to get creative with the way you display your work. Try folding your sweater up neatly as if it were on a shelf and take some snaps like that. Or instead of laying a scarf out flat, go for an accordion-fold to emphasise the colour progression. There are so many possibilities!

Try a Different Colour to Make Your Project Pop

Neutral is nice but sometimes white doesn’t do your project full justice. Just like we saw that darker backgrounds can work wonders for your project portraits, sometimes a background of a contrasting colour can make your project really pop. Working in a light coloured yarn? Try posterboard in black or gray so the stitches stand out. Warm colours jump off of purple or olive green. Cool colours can look amazing against dark spice shades. The best way to find out? Experiment! Grab your project and hold it against different colours to see what works. And be bold — the best combinations can be quite surprising!

Here I grabbed those same gradient Mini-Skeins and set them against a gray background. Do you see how much the colours of the bottom row jump out of the gray rather than the white? It’s an optical illusion — the colours are the same — but the contrast makes all the difference.

And do you want to see what this background actually was? I didn’t have any gray posterboard to hand, so I just popped them onto an old storage tub that was sitting in the grass! Sure, you can see a few scuff marks and imperfections, but the finished image looks really good, don’t you think?

Try a Little Texture — But Just a Little

Texture is another great option for enhancing detail shots, but it’s a wee bit tricky. Remember that a busy background confuses the eye and can detract focus from your project, so choose carefully. The best textures are subtle — not too detailed and fairly mono-chromatic.

For this image, I just crumpled up a piece of tissue paper and then spread it out on top of my white posterboard. The overall effect is still very neutral, but the tissue gives a little bit of subtle texture that adds interest without taking away from the main object.

Carefully Combine Colour And Texture

A carefully chosen combination of texture and colour together can create a wonderful effect too. Nature can provide these in abundance but, again, the emphasis is on carefully chosen. A project plonked down in some grass or stretched across a bush* will be competing for your eye’s attention with a hundred individual blades of grass or tiny leaves, and the effect will mostly be disappointing.

*Augh! That bush again!

Instead, go for a background where the texture is simple and the colour is complimentary to the project. Here, I set the Multicolour Mini-Skein bundle (top) on a large, flat rock in my garden, and I just love how it brings out the sublime ocean colours of the blue skeins — and yet makes the pink skein sing out loud. Then I set the Gradient Mini-Skein bundle (bottom) against the wood of my back porch. It’s true the texture in the grain is more pronounced, but it’s dark enough that it doesn’t overwhelm the yarn and the golds look just amazing against it, don’t you think?

Get Creative!

Ok, so now you have some great tricks up your sleeve, it’s time to get a little creative. The next time you’re on Ravelry, look past the projects and notice the backgrounds. Which ones work and which ones don’t? When you see a project picture that really jumps right out at you, take a moment to note the setting (I’m going to bet it’s not a blocking mat!). Is it plain? A little textured? An unusual colour?

And start looking at your surroundings and seeing new possibilities. Would your weathered wooden cutting board look good as a backdrop? How about the floor tiles in the hallway? Dianne always photographs her SpaceCadet stash against the pattern of her SpaceCadet project bag — and it looks both awesome and amazingly on-theme! And Jade made the super-funky choice of photographing her project on a tyre. I love that kind of creative thinking!

And just to get your creative juices flowing, let’s try this: Come on over to the SpaceCadet group and share your favourite close-up project photograph (click here). It can be one that you took awhile ago or a new one inspired by these tips.

Share with us why you like the background, or what you would do to change it. And then… tell me your best guess at what the background is for the photograph below. And I’ll give the first person to guess correctly free shipping on their next SpaceCadet order. Sound good? So get snapping — I can’t wait to see your photos!

Spoiler Alert: March Mini-Skeins

So How Does a Variegated Skein Work Up?

The Impact of Different Stitch Types

But How Do You Know?!?

But That Won’t Be Until…

Full Skeins and Sweater Kits of SpaceCadet® Mini-Skein Colourways!

Here’s how it works:

Ready to see this month’s full skein picks? Here they are!

Parallax Aphelion — Gradient Colourway #3

Cetus — Members’ Only Multicolour

Flare Star — A February Multi

Aphelion Gradient Sweater Kit

What to get access to all the colourways next month? Join the Club!

January’s Mini-Skeins

Jade’s Mini-Skein Pattern Picks

Last Chance to Enter our Giveaway!

Jade’s Mini-Skein Pattern Picks

Leventry – Sarah Jordan

Loop – Casapinka

Helix Mitts – Sybil R

Need More Holiday Gift Ideas?

Jade’s Mini-Skein Pattern Picks

20% off the Sea Dragon Shawl!

SoCal, Come to the SpaceCadet’s Trunk Show!

Don’t Shoot on that Blocking Mat!

Choose a Simple Background

Try a Different Colour to Make Your Project Pop

Try a Little Texture — But Just a Little

Carefully Combine Colour And Texture

Get Creative!

Full Skeins and Sweater Kits of SpaceCadet^® Mini-Skein Colourways!