FAQ: But What Do I Do With Them?

21MarApril 14, 2015 By Stephanie

Doing a show is always exciting and energising, but one of the best things is that I come away with a better understanding of what our customers want. Just talking to the folks who walk into our booth is all it takes — when I hear the same question coming up again and again, I know it’s something that’s important to you guys.

“What Do I Make With Them?”

And so it was this weekend at the Pittsburgh Knit & Crochet Festival. Everyone was drawn to the big bowl of SpaceCadet Mini-Skeins, but we kept hearing the question, “But what do I make with them?”

To be honest, I struggle a little to answer this question — not because I can’t think of an answer, but because I can think of so many. The thing is, with Mini-Skeins, it’s not so much a matter of finding patterns for them as it a case of just finding inspiration, because Mini-Skeins don’t have to follow rules. You can use them all together in one project, you can use one on its own to add an accent, you can go for matching colours or you can mix them all up. Yes, Mini-Skeins are little bundles of yarn but, actually, I think of them more as yarn crayons that you use to add a punch of colour to your project in any way you fancy. And when you do that, it’s a whole different way of approaching colour in your knitting and crochet.

Get Inspired!

So where to go for inspiration? Probably the best place is the SpaceCadet Mini-Skein Ideas board on Pinterest. Jade and I have curated a fantastic collection of project ideas to get you started — everything from gorgeous striped cardigans to quick hats and mitts to adorable amigurumi. Some of the projects are constructed entirely from Mini-Skeins and many others are designed to use them as accents but, either way, there is a wealth of inspiration there just waiting to spark your imagination and get you thinking of creative ways to use Mini-Skeins in all kinds of different projects.

(If you’re not already a Pinterest user, let me tell you, it’s possibly one of the most addictive places on the web. But it’s one of the most useful as well. Almost every image, or “pin”, links through to the original source — just click on the image to go to the webpage it came from. And so as you pin images and build your pinboards, what you’re actually doing is collecting bookmarks …Bookmarks that are beautiful to look at, easy to peruse, and wonderfully inspiring. See how it could get addictive? To start using Pinterest, click here to join and then start following us at SpaceCadetYarn!)

And your next stop, of course, should be Ravelry. Add “mini skeins” to your pattern search, and it will give you all sorts of projects specifically designed to be made with these little bundles of yarny goodness.

Oh, and I just have to share with you… on the Singlehanded Knits podcast this week, my friend Mel and her sweet daughter Alana model their latest take on Mini-Skein creativity (fun spoiler: it includes pom-poms!). I think it might be my favourite episode ever because, as much as I love playing with colour and dyeing up all these wonderful little yarn crayons for you guys, absolutely nothing compares to seeing the innovative ways that folks turn them into completed projects!

Got some SpaceCadetMini-Skeins in your stash? Fantastic! Come over to the SpaceCadet group on Ravelry, and show us how you’ve used them to colour your world. We’d love to see!

Help Me Choose the Best Mini-Skein Colourway!

07MarApril 14, 2015 By Stephanie

We are crazy busy at the moment prepping club parcels and getting ready for our upcoming shows (Pittsburgh Knit & Crochet 14-16 March; HomeSpun Yarn Party 23 March; are you coming?), but I just wanted to quickly share this with you…

The Multicolour Mix

These are February’s Mini-Skein Club parcels and I think they may be some of favourites ever. First, let me show you the Multicolour Mix. Now, when I dyed it, I was just having fun — playing with the kind of wonderfully intense colours that I crave in the depths of winter. Bright and cheerful, I think they perfectly fit the bill.

But when Amy saw them, all twisted and gathered into bundles, she picked one up and held it up, so I was looking at it end-on. “You’ve dyed the Olympic Rings!” she declared. And she was right! Well, sort of. But there we were, right in the middle of the Olympic Games, and I’d unconsciously dyed a red, a green, a yellow, a blue, and… well, it’s actually a deep purplish colour, but it almost looks black. The Olympic Rings, in yarn form.

Maybe I’ll make it a reoccurring theme, every two years or so. …But, erm, in a completely not-copyright-breaching kind of way. It’s just, y’know, yarn.

The Ombre & Gradient Mix

Now let me show you the Mini-Skein Club’s Ombre & Gradient Mix, and I’m really excited about this one. This is a gradient set, meaning that the colours don’t fade as in an ombre set, but instead morph gently from one colour to the next across the set. Do you see how it moves from a lavendar into a gray and into a lemon colour? Imagine that gentle colour shift across the rows of your project — so lovely!

This is the Mini-Skein version of a colourway I’d asked you to help me name a few weeks ago. Do you remember that? We had tons of fabulous suggestions in emails, in blog comments, on Facebook… And my favourite came via Twitter from Amy at Ross Farm Fibers, who suggested a play on the saying, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” I really loved that idea, and the colourway is called… When Life Gives You Lavender.

Tell Me Your Favourite!

Now, I would love to hear which of these Mini-Skein colourways is your favourite. Is there one that you think we should offer as a Limited Edition? Or maybe as a permanent addition to our shop colourways? Let me know! Just click here to vote in the poll and join the conversation on Ravelry (use the numbers at the bottom of each picture). I’d love to know what you think!

Join the Yarn Alliance! 1-16 March

Don’t forget the Yarn Alliance — the SpaceCadet’s fabulous yarn club — is open for subscriptions right now and closes on 16 March. Spaces have been going fast — click here to learn more and join today!

Which is the Best Mini-Skein Colourway?

04FebApril 14, 2015 By Stephanie

Spoiler Alert: If you’re in the Mini-Skein Club and haven’t seen your January bundles yet, look away now!

One of the things I love most about the SpaceCadet’s Mini-Skein Club is that it’s designed to fit whatever size project you are making — you can join at any time, and then stop your subscription whenever you have enough yarn for your particular project. So we have a few new members each month (love it when they come to the Raverlry group and share their excitement!), and a few who’ve collected all the Mini-Skeins they need for now. And whenever someone leaves the SpaceCadet’s Mini-Skein Club, I always send an email to ask for their feedback on what we’ve done right, and their ideas about how we could make it better.

The answers are always so interesting and helpful. And the idea that’s been coming through the most lately is that folks would really love to be able to order full-sized skeins of their favourite Mini-Skein colourways. Such a fab idea! So I tested it out last month with three Mini-Skein colourways I offered as Limited Editions and…

WOW! You guys really meant it! We’re elbow-deep in the process of dyeing up all those orders right now (the studio is a sea of Malachite at the moment), but your amazing response has really got me thinking… You know that dyeing for the Mini-Skein Club is when I get really play with colour. I experiment, try new colour cominations, work on different dyeing techniques, and just let my creative juices flow. And the results can be amazing.

Now, sometimes the colourways are repeatable and sometimes they are not, but I thought, hey, why not ask you guys which are the best from each month’s bundles? After all, it’s your opinion that matters the most!

The SpaceCadet's Mini-Skein Club, Ombre & Gradient Jan 2014 — Clockwise from top left: Colourway 1, 2, 3, 4, & 5

The SpaceCadet's Mini-Skein Club, Multicolour Jan 2014 — Clockwise from top left: Colourway 6, 7, 8, 9, & 10

So here are January’s Mini-Skein bundles (Ombre & Gradient, and Multicolour). And I’d love it if you’d answer two questions for me:

Which one colourway called out to you the first — the one you loved as soon as you saw it?
And which one do you think would be the best to become a permanent addition to the SpaceCadet line-up?

(I know for a lot of you, those questions sound exactly the same, but they’re actually quite different. One cals for a gut-feeling kind of answer and the other for a more careful and strategic response. But if you have the same answer for both questions, I totally get it — some colourways are just like that!)

Click here to share your answers on Facebook , or click here to join the conversation on Ravelry. I know which of these colourways is my favourite… I can’t wait to hear which is yours!

Love those Mini-Skeins? Want to get in on the action? Click here to join the Club!

Five Fabulous Gift Ideas

03DecApril 14, 2015 By Stephanie

Thanksgiving is one of my favourite days of the year (and I hope yours was lovely!) but y’know, I find the days of shopping madness that follow just plain exhausting. I am never so organised that I am thinking about gift-giving the weekend after Thanksgiving — I’m still lying around trying to recover from dinner!

Rather than add to all the craziness of the Thanksgiving weekend, it made sense to me to wait a few days, to let things calm down and get back to normal a bit before we even thought about holiday shopping. So if you’re like me and are just now starting to come up with gift ideas, let me share a few of mine…

For the Knitter who is Branching Out*

Leftie is a simple yet intriguing pattern that incredibly popular with knitters of all skill levels. A perfect holiday gift, you can use it to knit a quick last minute present, or just give the kit to your favourite knitter and let them have all the fun!

Each SpaceCadet Leftie kit includes one 100g skein of fingering weight yarn in a semi-solid colourway and five 20g mini-skeins of fingering weight in an assortment of colourways and fiber content — easily enough to complete the pattern with your own combination of colours. Create your leaves with all five colours or choose just your favourites. Or, switch it up by using the Mini-Skeins for the main colour and the semi-solid for the leaves!

Each kit is unique and when they are gone, they’re gone. Click here to see the colourways and grab your favourite quick.

*(get it?!?)

For the Knitter or Crocheter who Deserves Months of Smooshy Yarny Goodness

There is nothing in the whole world like a skein of lovely, smooshy, thick yarn, and the SpaceMonster Mega Yarn Club is specially designed for the knitters and crocheters who can’t get enough of them! Every other month, members receive a fantastic parcel containing a beautiful skein of SpaceCadet^® Creations worsted or bulky yarn, the SpaceCadet’s Log exploring the inspiration for each colourway, and a fantastic SpaceMonsters gift tucked into every third parcel.

Membership in the SpaceMonsters is a very special gift. But you have to hurry — subscriptions are available only until Dec 15. Click here to learn more.

For the Fiber Adventurer or for the Crafty Kid

The Zoom Loom is an incredibly addictive and quick way to create something new and exciting with that huge stash of yarn! For a knitter who has always wanted try weaving, or the crafty kid who loves to try new things, this is a perfect gift. Click here to grab one!

For the Knitter or Crocheter who is Right On-Trend

Ombre is one of the hottest trends going right now, and the SpaceCadet’s Ombre & Gradient kits are designed to bring excitement to your favourite knitter’s project as the colour morphs gently from the dark into light or from hue to hue. Each kit contains either 3, 4, or 5 full size skeins of SpaceCadet® yarn, in coloursthat gently change along a spectrum from skein to skein. Click here to choose your colour.

For the Truly Creative Crafter

The SpaceCadet’s Mini-Skeins are more than just little bundles of yarn. They’re like a box of crayons or an artist’s palette of paint that the truly creative knitter or crocheter can use to set the imagination free… to combine colours as subtly or as wildly as she like… to really explore the ideas in her head. If you are shopping for someone whose fiber artistry knows no bounds, then a subscription to the SpaceCadet’s Mini-Skein Club is the perfect gift. Click here to find out more!

Oh, What to Cast On?!? Ombre Mini-Skeins!

04OctApril 14, 2015 By Stephanie

I had a little dilemma last week: it was knit night, but both of my current WIPs* were at either the point of dividing for the sleeves (that’d be my Vitamin D) or joining in the sleeves (that was my The Old Man and The Sea). I knew I wouldn’t really enjoy trying to do either whilst carrying on the kind of lively conversations we always have at knit night, so I needed to cast on something that was simple and would be fun to work on while nattering the evening away.

I wandered through Ravelry a bit (…a bit? Is it even possible to wander through Ravelry’s pattern library just a bit?), and asked for suggestions on Twitter. And though I found so many gorgeous patterns, nothing was jumping out at me as the perfect knit night cast-on. Maybe, I thought with a shrug, maybe I’ll just have to deal with it and do the sleeves at knit night.

And then, as I turned to go up the stairs, I suddenly spotted the extra bundles of our first ever Ombre Mini-Skein Club parcels and instantly knew what I needed to do.

Aren’t they gorgeous? The colourway is Tranquility**, which is a mix of deep purples, red purples, and a very intriguing splash of gray-purple. I’ve loved this colourway since the moment I pulled it out of the dyepot and, yet, I’d never grabbed a skein for myself. But I suddenly thought, now that all the Mini-Skein Club parcels had gone out… why not?

I have to tell you, I think they might be even more adorable once they’re wound into teeny tiny balls. Don’t you agree?

I needed another skein for the main colour, and chose Sliver, an incredibly gentle and ethereal gray that looks stunning against the dark purples and then almost disappears into the lightest purples. I know I could have picked something contrasting for more impact (Sage? or maybe even Fizz?), but I really liked that subtle synchronicity that Sliver brought to the Mini-Skeins.

And so I cast on… Leftie by Martina Behm — the perfect simple and fun knit night project! So straight-forward and so addictive… Just increasing along one side, adding leaves on the other, and counting quick progress stripe by stripe.

And I went off to knit night a very happy girl indeed!

We are getting super excited for the Pau Hana KAL starting on October 17! A gorgeous new design by Mel of Singlehanded Knits, Pau Hana uses the SpaceCadet’s Ombre & Gradient Kits to create a casual, laid-back sweater that’s perfect for chilling out when the work day is done. And the KAL is a fab opportunity to knit it in camaraderie and support of a whole community of great knitters! Want to join us? Click here for all the details!

*in case WIP is new to you, it means “work in progress” …and I usually have a lot more WIPs than FOs (“finished object”). It’s just how I roll.

**There’s also a colourway called Tranquility Blue. It’s much the same as Tranquility but, y’know… more blue. I was just playing with different colourways one day, and came up with them and liked them both so much I decided to dye more of each. But then I got confused somewhere along the line and called them both Tranquility. Oops. So I added “Blue” to one of them. It’s confusing, I know. But better than if I hadn’t added “Blue” and just let you all join me in my confusion. Right? …Right?

Exciting Changes to the Mini-Skein Club!

23AugApril 14, 2015 By Stephanie

Y’know, sometimes I live up to the SpaceCadet moniker just a little too well (…I say “sometimes” mostly because it makes me feel better, but I suspect there are a number of people reading this who are thinking, “Really, Steph? Just sometimes?”).

But I digress. Sometimes I live up to the SpaceCadet name just a bit too much, and this week would be one of those times*. Because early this week I sent out a pretty big announcement to the members of the Mini-Skein Club. And then I happily went about my week — dyeing, twisting, packing for shows — and I totally forgot that I should probably tell the rest of you about it.

So let me put that to rights right now. The big news in the Mini-Skein Club is….

Ombré & Gradient Mini-Skeins!

I’m sure you’ve seen the ombré and gradient kits that have been flying out of the shop lately. I absolutely adore dyeing ombré kits — not only are the results gorgeous but, as a dyer, the process is endlessly fascinating to me. But it was when I was looking through Mini-Skein project ideas that I realised how perfect the two would be together. Projects such as Mercedes Tarasovich-Clark’s Sweet Hexigon Cowl (below left) and Emily Ross’s Burano (below right) are just begging to be made in ombré and gradient yarns.

And really, so many Mini-Skein patterns would not just work beautifully in ombré and gradient colours but, in many cases, would work so much better, whether the bundles were used individually or as several months’ worth combined together.

The more I thought about it, the more I realised that I would be much better serving the members of the Mini-Skein Club (particularly those who prefer a gentle colour mix) if I offered an Ombré & Gradient option. I put a few feelers out on Twitter and Facebook, and the response was overwhelming: everybody said yes the ombré mix!

So, from the September parcels onwards**, the Mini-Skein Club is going to change.

The Gentle Mix will become the Ombré & Gradient Mix — five Mini-Skeins that morph gently from dark into light or from hue to hue.
And the Wild Mix will become a Multicolour Mix — essentially very similar to what it is now: an assortment of variegated and semi-solid yarns that work together and yet still provide exciting contrasts.

Isn’t this exciting?!? I think it’s going to be great fun for all the club members and I can’t wait to see the projects they come up with. I am already searching Ravelry for patterns that will work beautifully with the two new mixes (have you seen something that would be perfect? Do tell!).

And, maybe most of all, I’m kinda really relieved that I finally remember to tell you guys…

*sigh* SpaceCadet indeed.

*Really, Steph? Just one…?

** Is this a permanent change or temporary? I’m not sure, but we’ll try it for a while and then change it later if that feels right. The Mini-Skein Club has always been something of an adventure of discovery, so let’s just go with it and see!