Who is the SpaceCadet?

Inspiration: Fellow Fiberistas

By Stephanie

I was standing at a booth at a knitting festival, admiring the handspun yarn and trying to figure out why I hadn’t spun in so long.  It’d been since we’d moved the year before…  No! It’d been longer — since before the babies were born!  New babies and major house moves can push lots of things off the rails — even stuff that a girl really loves, like fiber arts.

The lady running the booth came up and asked me what I was interested in, and I explained that I was a spinner but my wheel was in storage,buried amongst all the unpacked boxes in the garage, but looking at her spinning was… Oooh! Oooh, it was inspiring me!  I was going to go home and dig out my wheel and get spinning again.

And just like that, she invited me to come round to her house for a spin-in.  She didn’t know me from Adam but she didn’t hesitate for a moment.  That was well over a year ago and, through her, I’ve met a whole group of incredibly inspiring fiberistas — women who have taken their passion and really built it into something.  They spin and dye and knit, they sew and felt, and make bags and buttons, art, images, and jewelry…  Most of all, they inspire, they inspire, they inspire.  Without them, I never would have believed that I could take this love of fiber that I have, and all these years of experience from doing it as a hobby and turn it into something real.  All they did was be their fiberista-selves, but they were encouragement to me the whole time, and I don’t think they even know it.  I’d like to introduce you to them.

Cosy is the lady who first invited me to come spinning.  She is a full-time fiber artist, spinner and dyer, knit designer, teacher, and published knitting author.  More than that, she is laid-back, fun to know, and generous with her time and expertise.

Gwen has fabulous style, tells mad and hilarious stories, and  dyes the most sublime colours.

Lauren is an artist who does beautiful felted jewelry but, mostly, she just totally cracks me up.

Ana makes fabulous things out of gorgeous fabrics — bags, bracelets, covered button hair accessories.  And she and I always seem to have so much to talk about — I love chatting with her.

Behind Julia‘s quiet demeanor is a hugely talented knitter and dyer, whose self-striping sock yarn has been featured in Vogue Knitting.

And Alex is an amazingly talented photographer who has just launched her own business.  She took some shots of my family recently, and she was brilliant — so full of energy and ideas — and the results are fantastic!

Podcasts: Fibery Goodness Whispered in Your Ear

By Stephanie

When I finally bought an MP3 player last year, I thought I’d be using it to listen to music, but it turns out that what I really listen to are fiber podcasts.   I love ’em!  Ever since I discovered there were these people out there just talking away about knitting, spinning, weaving, and dyeing, I’ve been addicted.  Who wouldn’t be?  A nearly endless source of people who get it and are right there, on tap, ready at any time of day or night to whisper in my ear about all thing fibery — while I’m doing the dishes or sweeping the floor or stuck in traffic or inexplicably wide awake in the dead of night.  Who wouldn’t be hooked?!?

Well… ok, I know there are a lot of people who wouldn’t be, but that’s only because they’re not fiber freaks like you and I.  In fiberista terms,the people who matter are the people who understand the allure of fiber, and that’s me, and you …and the podcasters.  Here are some of my absolute favourites:

Cast-On from Brenda Dayne is the first fiber podcast I discovered and I think it is the absolute best — a benchmark for all other podcasters to work toward.  Thoughtful, whimsical, educational, and always so beautifully put together, Cast-On is always a treat.  Brenda is taking a sabbatical at the moment to recover from some health issues but, if you’ve never listened, it’s worth working your way through the archives while we wait for her return.

FiberBeat is what I imagine the B-52s would come up with if they decided to record a fiber podcast.  WonderMike has created a zany podcast that, while always full of interesting interviews, news, and information, is also chock full of crazy random audio madness that has me laughing out loud.  You’ll have to listen to see what I mean, but that’s no hardship.

Insubordiknit from spinning artist  Jacey Boggs is a rare treat — rare because she produces episodes randomly and seldom, but a treat because they are so completely worth the wait.  Jacey is famous in the fiber world for her art yarns — unique, creative, and stunning… but always stable and balanced.  Listening to her talk through their creation is wonderfully inspiring.

These great podcasters keep me wrapped in fibery goodness even when I can’t be spinning or knitting — a wonderful thing.    And you know what?  I’d like to find more fiber podcasts just like them!   What are your favourite podcasts?   Who should I be listening to?  I’d love to know.

Adventure, Day 1

By Stephanie

When I was a kid and I’d do something dumb (the way kids do), my dad used to call me a “Space Cadet”. It was usually said with love, often with exasperation… but I knew it was always meant with affection. There was a lot of love in the house while I was growing up, even as we tried our parents’ patience time and again. But I did a lot of dumb things, and I got called a Space Cadet a lot. Eventually the nickname started to really stick, and I began to feel like I really was a space cadet, that I did a lot of things wrong. Sometimes I still do.

So I decided a long time ago that when I finally worked up the courage to break out of the mould of ordinary work and do something creative — something I wanted to be proud of — I was going to call my little venture “SpaceCadet”.  I could baptise that old nickname with a new meaning.

Opening SpaceCadet Creations on Etsy is my new venture — my adventure! — where I hand-dye yarns and roving for knitters, crocheters, spinners, and felters.  I hope you find something there that sparks your excitement, because it’s been very exciting for me creating all these yarns and rovings, watching all the colours develop.

I can say, at last, that I am proud to be the SpaceCadet.