crafting

Spotted in the Wild: Socks Knit with SpaceCadet Creations Yarns

By Stephanie

The thing that never fails to take me by surprise me is the way that the colour of a yarn can change as it is knitted up.  As beautiful as it looks in the skein, when the colour repeats are all long and stretched out, is nothing compared how to it looks as you start knitting and the stitches join the colours together in unexpected ways.  It’s so exciting to watch each row unfold!

So exciting, in fact, that it’s sometimes a bit hard for me to send my yarns off to customers…  because I want to knit them up myself and see how they come out.  And so the thing that never fails to absolutely delight me is when customers share pictures of their finished objects and I get to see my yarns all knitted up.   Let me show you two that I think worked out beautifully.

Cindy won this skein of Garden In Spring in the SpaceCadet Creations May Giveaway…

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And she used it to make these fabulous Dancing Diamond Socks by Wendy D. Johnson.  I love how knitting subdues the wild variegation of the colours but still allows the yellow to pop.  The result is just gorgeous!

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When I lifted my first skein of Plumberry out of the dye pot, I loved it — loved it — but I knew that it was the kind of wild variegation that needed a carefully chosen pattern to really bring out the best in the colours.

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And when Sarah chose to knit Pomatomus by Cookie A. with it, I don’t think she could have picked a better pattern for the yarn or a better yarn for the pattern.  These socks are absolutely stunning!

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Thank you so much, Cindy and Sarah, for sharing your beautiful socks with us!

And everyone else, when you finish a project with one of my yarns, please do share it — I just can’t get enough of seeing how those colours turn out!

Pattern Roll-Call: Something Gorgeous Around Your Shoulders

By Stephanie

Y’know, even though it’s still August and that usually means high temperatures and hot days, the weather has taken on a slightly cooler tinge this week, and that’s got me thinking about autumn.  I’ve been day-dreaming about turning leaves, that crisp smell in the air, and lovely lovely autumn knitting.  Is there anything better?  And the first thing you need as the weather starts to change is something gorgeous to drape around you to keep that chill at bay.

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Abby by Amy Singer

©Amy Singer, Used by Permission

I’m crazy about cowls.  They’re so easy — there’s no tying, no arranging, no fussing or adjusting…  they just pop over your head and perfectly fill up the space around the top of a jacket to keep you toasty warm.  Abby by Amy Singer has a beautifully simple stitch pattern that will work perfectly with any yarn from a Semi-Solid to a Wildly Varigated.  I think it would look amazing knitted up in the gentle blues and purples of Mountain Mist.

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Mirth by Stefanie Japel

©Stefanie Japel, Used by Permission

The lace pattern on Mirth is gorgeous, just gorgeous — what could look more elegant draped around your shoulders on a cool autumn day?  But the real beauty of Stefanie Japel‘s pattern is that it’s written in both text and charts, and the size of the shawl can customised by completing as many chart repeats as the knitter likes.  The allover lace pattern will really shine in a Gently Varigated yarn such as Pink Autumn or Desert Wine.

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Eventide by Laura Nelkin

©Laura Nelkin, Used by Permission

Now here is a pattern that makes you want to grab that crazy-gorgeous yarn that’s been calling your name and just cast on.  The long criss-cross floats of Laura Nelkin‘s Eventide really showcase the colours a variegated yarn such as the cool blue/green/purples of Midnight Swim or the gentle pinks and olive-greens of Bramble Rose.  And the beautiful openwork creates a pattern that is perfect for those not-too-warm, not-too-cool days that autumn brings.

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So, yeah, I know…  it’s still August.  And the sun in still high in the sky and we’re all still wearing our summer clothes.  But one of these days, the weather is going to change suddenly and summer will be gone…  And now is the perfect time to cast on so that, when that happens, you’ll have something gorgeous to see in the autumn.

Sunshine Today, More Forecast For Next Week

By Stephanie

When I discover my yarns featured in an Etsy Treasury, I get such a rush of excitement, I can’t tell you.  And so it was yesterday when I found Sunflowers had been picked for a treasury called “My Sunshine“, put together by ThePlumTree.

Sunflowers sold pretty quickly after that, and I am so excited to send it off to its new home.  But if you loved all these golden colours, don’t worry — I’m going to be dyeing a lot more beautiful yellows over the weekend.

The forecast for next week?   Bright Sunshine!

Beautiful One-Skein Knitting Patterns for Hand-Dyed Yarns

By Stephanie

One of the most exciting things about buying yarn from small, indie dyers like SpaceCadet Creations is that each skein is hand-created and unique, dyed on its own or in a very small dyelot, and not like any other skein in the world.  But now and again, someone will look at my shop and then contact me to say that they love my colours but… what can be made with yarns from such small-batch dyelots?  What can be knit out of a single skein of yarn?

Now, there are legions of addicted sock knitters who could probably jump in with an answer that question (“Socks!”) but, in reality, there are just so many beautiful projects that can be created from just one or two skeins of hand-dyed yarn!  Let me share a few patterns that have caught my eye…

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Simple Things by Mary-Heather Cogar

© Mary-Heather Cogar, Used With Permission

This beautiful shawlette was designed to show off the colours of a of a single skein of sock yarn.  Mary-Heather chose simple stitchwork  to compliment the colours of even the most wildly variegated colourway, such as those in Sunset over a Stormy Sea, and the regular increases help reduce the chance of pooling.  The shawlette looks fantastic tucked into the top of a jacket — stylish and functional at the same time.  And I think it’s a perfect first project for anyone who is experimenting with hand-dyed yarns.

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SweaterBabe.com’s #87 One Skein Lace Fingerless Gloves

© SweaterBabe.com, Used with Permission

I fell in love with these the minute I saw them!  The lace pattern is delicate without being fussy, and the gloves look warm and lady-like at the same time.  Using just a single skein of yarn, I think this pattern would look stunning knit up in an autumn colourway.

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Dalia by Ariane Caron-Lacoste

© Ariane Caron-Lacoste, Used with Permission

This little cowl is so sweet, so perfect, that I every time I see the picture I just want to cast on for it RIGHT NOW.  It’s always at a moment when I’m busy dyeing or blogging and so I can’t cast on but… still, as soon as I see it…  I want to start it RIGHT NOW!  I love the simplicity of it, how quick it would be…  how it would be a little gift just for me.  I’m seeing it in a warm colourway such as Bramble Rose.  You know…  I really am seeing it.

In fact, I may just have to stop blogging and go cast it on.  Right now.

Scenes from a Fiber Life: Reskeining Freshly Cut Grass

By Stephanie

After the skeins are dyed, we reskein them into smaller, more manageable skeins to go in the shop.  And we do it outside, if it’s a nice day…  in the dappled sunlight with a glass of chilled mimosa.  This was my Sunday.

Freshly Cut Grass on the swift

From the swift onto the skein winder
The swift moving at high speed

And the result is one of my favourite colourways, Freshly Cut Grass

Silk is for Spectacular

By Stephanie

You know, I forgot how exciting pure silk is. I used to spin it a lot …but then I moved onto other fibers and I haven’t spun it in a while.  And I’d just forgotten. But I bought some pure silk at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival — on a bit of a whim, just to play with — and when I dyed it… Oh! OH! Yes, now I remember what I love about silk.

There is no fiber that can rival pure silk.  It takes ordinary colours and gives them an intensity and luster that is just amazing to see (and which, unfortunately, pictures cannot capture!).  And then you reach out and touch those colours and…  oh, there’s just nothing like silk.  After I dyed these braids, I showed them to a friend and she actually grabbed them out of my hands and began to squeal and dance across the room.  Really, they are that exciting!  And I was that excited as I pulled them out of the dyepot, so I understood her reaction.  If you love fiber, if you’re a spinner, this is what pure silk does to you.  And if you’ve never spun it before, you gotta try it!

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Hand-dyed Combed Top, Tussah Silk, in SouthWest

Shimmering in the light, here is the burnt orange of desert rock, of terracotta walls, of the parched earth. And here beside it is the startling blue of turquoise, the desert’s own true jewel. Two bold colours that reach out and vie for attention. But there, nestled between them,is the softest of dusty roses, quiet and gentle and tempering them both, so that all three can sit together in harmony, and evoke the essence of the SouthWest.

This is over 2oz of the most incredibly soft Tussah Silk, which spins up beautifully into a lustrous and luxurious yarn.

Fiber Content: 100% Tussah Silk
Weight: Approximately 2.20oz / 60g
Colourway: SouthWest 100505-001
Care Instructions for the final item: Hand wash, Lay flat to dry.

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Hand-dyed Combed Top, Tussah Silk, in Oil on Water

Where steam rises from the puddles that form in the road after a sudden summer storm, and the standing water lifts the grease from the tarmac and carries it like little oil slicks across its surface… there, as the sun breaks through the clouds, the light dances across the oils and creates a delicate rainbow — its shimmering greens, pinks, blues at once both murky and crystal clear — that always takes you by surprise and draws your eye back again and again, just to check that it is still there.

This is over 2oz of the most incredibly soft Tussah Silk, which spins up beautifully into a lustrous and luxurious yarn.

Fiber Content: 100% Tussah Silk
Weight: Approximately 2.05oz / 55g
Colourway: Oil on Water, 100504-001
Care Instructions for the final item: Hand wash, Lay flat to dry.

Each item is individually hand-dyed by the SpaceCadet, using professional grade acid dyes. Please be sure to buy enough for your project as the colours may not be able to be reproduced exactly.
SpaceCadet Creations is a smoke-free, pet-free environment.
Please remember that the colours in pictures may vary depending on your computer monitor. The colours in the photos are as accurate as possible.