children

Of Christmas, Ballet, and Good Friends

By Stephanie

Do you remember these funky little slippers by Kate Atherley?  Do you remember I said they’d be perfect for two ballet-mad little girls I know?

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I had planned to knit them in time for Christmas morning, but as December wore on, the whole month got crazier and crazier and seemed to be flying by at an alarming pace.  One day I looked up at the calendar and realised I had only one week left before Christmas, a bazillion things left to do…  and the wonderful little slippers weren’t even cast on yet.

Is Christmas about gifts or about friends?

My friend Natalie was ridiculously organised and had already finished all her Christmas knitting well before crunchtime.  “Would you like me to knit them for you?, she asked.  “So they’re ready for Christmas Day?”  I was floored!  How could I possibly say yes?  They were supposed to be gift from me!  But looking at the calendar…  oh, how could I not?  Without Natalie’s help, there’d be no Christmas ballet slippers at all.  I said yes.

Natalie knit like a fiend, and got all four slippers done in a week.  …In that last manic week before Christmas.  They were wrapped and under the tree for Christmas Eve.  They were opened on Christmas morning.  They were beautiful!  …And loved.  And danced in.  And danced in… and danced in…

The most perfect Christmas gift!

Knit in Celeste yarn in Funky Ballet Shoes

 

With deep thanks to Natalie for knitting the slippers.  And genuine thanks for Kate Atherley for the pattern and her incredibly kind offer to resize it for tiny feet.

And my deep apologies to both for not blogging about it until now.  That crazy December pace?  Yeah, it’s March and yet the pace still hasn’t let up!

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.