Custom orders can be exciting… and daunting. Dyeing can be an unpredictable process — the slightest change in acidity, temperature, or concentration can create really noticeable colour changes from one dyelot to another. And it’s just the way life works that those unpredictable changes will always occur on that special order where the customer has a really specific result in mind!
So when a customer contacted me the other week and asked me to dye three custom orders for a birthday celebration for three knitting friends, I had a slight moment of trepidation. But when I asked her what she had in mind, she put back at my ease: “Just be creative!” she replied. That I can do!
The birthday girls’ favourite colours are red, purple, and green, and I spent all week letting my imagination run wild on that theme. I wanted to do a few different colourways of each, and then her choose whatever yarns she liked best.
It wasn’t an easy choice. Here’s what she picked…
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Kristen’s HeartBeat
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Jill’s Storm
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Natalie’s Steel Leaf
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I was having so much fun dyeing and just letting my creativity run free that I rather let it run away with me, and I now have quite a stash of exciting new yarns to put in the shop. Look for them to start appearing Monday or Tuesday of next week!
Facebook is where you catch up with your friends. And keep tabs on your workmates. And feed your curiousness about your old classmates… and maybe your old boyfriends (but, ermm… perhaps it’s best if you don’t look up old boyfriends — let those sleeping dogs lie).
And now, Facebook is also where you can keep up with everything to do with the SpaceCadet! The SpaceCadet Creations Facebook page is live at last and it’s filled with news, colours, fiber, and yarn, yarn, yarn. Is there anything better than that?
Well, yeah… there is. Free yarn is better! And so, to celebrate the launch of the SpaceCadet Facebook page, I’m giving away a $25 gift certificate to one lucky winner — and all you have to do to be entered is to like me. What, you already like me? Awwww, you’re so sweet! But, hey, let’s make it official: go to the SpaceCadet Facebook page and click on the “Like” button (see the big red arrow in the picture below). Everyone who clicks that button between now and Sunday 24 October will be entered to win!
(And if you’re already a fan and clicked that button, don’t worry — that just means you’re already entered!)
Once you’ve done that, I’m giving you four extra ways to earn additional entries:
And then leave a comment here to let me know and giving me your Twitter/Rav/Facebook name so I can tie it together.
So that’s five ways to enter — and the winner gets to pick $25 worth of SpaceCadet goodies to feed the fiber-addiction! Hey, who loves ya?
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Small print: Contest begins on 11 October 2010 at 00.01am and ends 24 October 2010 at 11.59pm. All entries must be made during that time to be valid, with the exception that “Likes” made previous to the start date will be considered valid as well. All entrants will be verified and must complete the mandatory entry (that is, clicking the Like button on the SpaceCadet Creations Facebook page) before completing the ‘extra’ entries. Completion of ‘extra’ entries must be mentioned in a comment on this blog post to qualify, and comments must include the commenter’s Twitter or Ravelry name (as applicable). Invalid entries will be disqualified. Winner will be announced on this blog and must respond within 72 hours or we reserve the right to choose another winner. SpaceCadet Creations reserves the right to substitute prizes. Prizes cannot be redeemed for cash.
When I tell people that I dye yarn, I get a variety of responses — from surprised to confused to intrigued. Occasionally, I find the person I’m talking to is a knitter, and that’s always a nice surprise for both of us. I love it when that happens.
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Sometimes the person asks if I can teach them to dye, or if they can come and watch the process. And I always struggle with that, because I’m not sure what I’d show them. The mechanics of dyeing are no secret — they’re well documented in books and websites — and it’s easy to learn how to do it.
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But the Process happens in my head — it’s when I think of the colours and the combinations I want to create, and I work backward to figure out how to mix the dyes to get exactly what I’m visualising. The Process is me experimenting with colours, making mistakes, learning from them, saving them at the last minute, and learning some more. And I honestly don’t know how I could show that to anyone without them actually getting inside my head.
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But there is something I can show you. It’s the most important part of dyeing.
It took me a while to figure it out, but it’s the one piece of equipment you really cannot be without.
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It’s not the wool. It’s not the dyes. It’s not the dyepots, nor a special magical stirrer that makes the colours come out just right…
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The most important piece of equipment a dyer possesses is…
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…her Sharpie pen, so she can write NO FOOD on every piece of dyeing equipment.
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Because poisoning your family by accidentally serving dinner out of the bowl you’ve been dyeing in really takes the shine off of achieving even the perfect colour!
I am a knitter and, to me, knitting is second nature. I knit without looking, I knit whilst reading and, when I’m really tired but I just have to finish one more row, I knit with my eyes closed. And I know that this looks like magic to non-knitters but, to me, knitting is easy.
The real magic is crochet. Crochet is knitting’s mysterious twin… It amazes me, it baffles me! I tried to teach myself to crochet once — I managed a little strip of fabric (that with the addition of some knitted flowers became quite a nice choker), but I quickly realised that it’s crocheters who make the real magic happen. Here are three patterns that really inspire me to pick up a hook and try my hand at crochet again.
Here is a crochet at its most spellbinding. I love the drama of Robyn Chachula‘s unusual cowl, the way the chain-stitched edging forms a striking cobweb that can be worn gathered up around the neck or draped dramatically across the body. I’d love to see this done in SpaceCadet’s Astrid yarn in a rich, deep colourway such as Desert Wine to bring a dash of glamour to a new winter coat.
Sharon Silverman conjured up something truly special when she designed this spectacular shawl. The magic is in the changing stitch pattern that creates distinct bands of lacy texture from top to bottom. Worked in lace weight yarn, this would look fresh and light in SpaceCadet’s Luna Laceweight in Old Money, or darkly dramatic in Luna Laceweight in Plum Wine.
The magic of Brittany Tyler‘s charming little hat in is the way it gathers up the colours of varigated yarns and distributes them in little pools across the crocheted fabric. Quirky and sweet with a flower detail, it would bring out the striking colours of SpaceCadet’s Astrid yarn in Sleep Deep or look cute as a button in Sailor’s Warning.
One thing I’ve discovered since opening SpaceCadet Creations is that I really love photographing yarn. I really love it. When I get the camera in there, in close, and the light is just right and colours are popping and I can almost feel the texture coming right through the picture, I get so excited. Mmmmm… yarn porn — is there anything better?
And I suspect that paragraph is completely incomprehensible to anyone who is not yarn-crazy… But you understand, don’t you? Yeah, you know exactly what I’m talking about.
But sometimes, it goes wrong. I’ve got my camera there, the light is right, the macro is doing its thing… but the colours just aren’t coming out right. It should be working, but it’s just not. And I can’t tell you how crazy-making it is when that happens — because I’ve put a lot of effort into the colours I put in my yarns, and it’s incredibly frustrating when I just cannot get the camera to capture those colours.
This week, I’ve put a bunch of gorgeous yarns in the shop. I love them! Some are sublimely coloured, some are subtle, and some are quirky, but they’re all beautiful to look at…
But see that one in the middle, down at the bottom? The one with a lot of blue and what looks like maybe black? That was one of those yarns that simply refused to be photographed. Flat out refused. Oh, it looks nice enough in the picture but, in real life, it’s just so much more — deep, vibrant purples, dark greens and browns, amazing blues. It’s so dark and rich and moody… truly stunning. But could I capture that on film? Could I heck! And it was driving me crazy!
So, if you can’t fight it, join it. So, here’s how I’m going to look at it: see that picture there in the middle, and the bottom of the page? That one is there to make all the other pictures look even better. Seriously — look at them. Doesn’t that one picture make the colours in the one above it look so subtle and soft? And doesn’t it just make the pinks in the one to the right look vibrant? See what I mean?
And so that bad picture serves a good purpose now. But what’s even better is what will happen when someone buys that yarn… Because when they pull it out of the box and see its true colours… they’re going to understand just how frustrating that camera can be!
Note from the SpaceCadet: My friend Natalie (npeace on Ravelry) is a prolific spinner who creates amazing handspun yarns almost exclusively on spindles. She’s been kind enough to write about a few of her favourites here.
A while ago, I wrote a bit about resources for a beginning spindle spinner. Since writing that post, a couple of people have come back to me saying: That’s all well and good, but what are the actual tools that a beginner needs?
It’s a good question. One of the appeals of spindle spinning is that it really doesn’t take much. A spindle is basically just a stick and a weight, in one configuration or another. Get one of those and add in some fiber – preferably prepared for spinning, but even that’s not completely necessary – and you should be good to go, right? Well, yes… and no. Yes because, well, yes; at a minimum that is what you need to spin. No because, like most activities, having good tools makes the process easier – especially in the beginning.
I recommend a high-whorl spindle to start with. There’s nothing intrinsically better about high whorls compared to low-whorls, or any other kind of spindle for that matter. All types have their advantages. However, the current spindle resurgence, in the US at least, has centered around the high-whorl spindle and this type of spindle is the most readily available, and the most generally used.
For a complete beginner, I suggest a spindle between 1 and 2 ounces. Something in this range should suit most beginners nicely, and will continue to be useful as a plying tool even if the spinner decides with experience that they prefer lighter spindles.
Whorl diameter is also something to consider. Generally, the broader the whorl is, the longer the spindle will spin. For a first spindle, look for something between about 2.5 and 3.5 inches.
With these basics in mind, let me show you the spindles I most often use to teach beginners to spin. These are only the tools that I have found to be effective – there are many other good spindle makers out there, and this list is by no means exhaustive.
My absolute favorite teaching spindle is this is a 1.3 ounce Kundert:
This spindle has a long, level spin that makes it easy for beginners to control as they first learn to draft. It also has a nice broad whorl which lends stability to the spin, and the shape of the hook captures yarn well, minimizing slippage.
With many of the advantages of a Kundert spindle, but at a lower price point is this spindle from Spinsanity:
This spindle does not have the hand-turned elegance of the Kundert, but it is well crafted and has a very similar kind of long, easy spin.
His spindles come in several size ranges, but a beginner would probably do well with a midi. The whorl here is much narrower. However, the way it is shaped still keeps the weight distribution towards the rim, which makes for a long, steady spin. The narrower whorl also makes it easier to carry around with you, so if you plan on spinning when you’re out and about, this might be a good choice.
Golding craftsmanship speaks for itself. If you’re one of those beginners ready to commit whole-heartedly to this spinning thing from day one, a Golding learn-to-spin kit would be an excellent way to start.
There are many other good makers out there and this list is just something to get you started. If you try one of my suggestions and find that it doesn’t suit you, by all means try something else. Check out the Spindlers and the Spindle Candy groups on Ravelry for other ideas. Your spinning will only be improved by experimentation!
