A Yarn Club, a Yarn Club, and… Another Yarn Club!

15JulApril 14, 2015 By Stephanie

Now that everyone in the InterStellar Yarn Alliance should have received their latest parcels, I really want to show you what they got!

And as the weather turned hotter and hotter, I found myself inspired to dye a skein rich in the full-on colour of summer. The yarn is Stella, a really wonderful 80/20 merino/nylon mix and the colourway is Starved for Colour.

And then for fun, I created mini-skeins of Lucina, a lovely yarn in merino and nylon with a little added sparkle, and dyed them in coordinating colours — some Alliance members got purple, some blue, some green. I kind of fell in love with the idea of using it to knit socks with sparkly toes and heels (I mean, seriously, how cool is sparkly toes and heels?!?), but it’d also look great as a border on a shawl, or collar and cuffs on a child’s cardigan.

Now, onto the really cool stuff… the goodies. I was so in love with the custom SpaceCadet Tool Tins that Sarah Wilson, The Sexy Knitter, created for the last parcel, that I asked her if she could create a custom version of her adorable origami stitchmarkers… And she did! They were so cool that I squealed as soon as I saw them! They came packaged in their own little glass vial. Don’t you love them?!?

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Guest-Dyer for the Cultured Purl

“Guest-Dyer” has a pretty nice ring to it, don’t you think? I was thrilled when Shirani at The Cultured Purl asked me if I’d be a Guest-Dyer for their Spectacular Summer of Socks Club. She asked me to create a summery colourway, so I took inspiration from lazy summer lunches eaten under a bright blue sky… And dyed Picnic, a custom colourway designed to create fun bursts of colour throughout the knitted fabric.

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And… Another Yarn Club!

And, as if that wasn’t enough, I’ve been asked to dye for yet another club (squeee!). I don’t know yet if I’m allowed to tell you who I’m dyeing for or what colours I’m making, but I can tell you that I just sent a skein of the yarn to the (very fabulous) designer and I can’t wait to see what she creates with it. As soon as I know I have the go ahead… I’ll tell you all about it!

InterStellar Yarn Alliance Sneak Peek!

01JulApril 14, 2015 By Stephanie

The InterStellar Yarn Alliance parcels are on their way, and I don’t mind admitting I am crazy-excited about this shipment! I had so much fun dyeing it, and I just can’t wait for you guys to receive it.

Right, here are the spoilers!

First comes the inspiration…

Then there is the yarn. There’s a bit of this…

And maybe a little something else too…

And there’s always fun goodies…

I can’t wait to find out what you all think of it!!! Make sure you go to the InterStellar Yarn Alliance group on Ravelry to discuss how you like it and what you’re going to make with it.

(And if you really, really can’t stand it, and you really, really want to know what’s coming… if you click on one of the pictures above, you’ll get a full-colour sneak peek)

The Art of Hand-Dyeing

29JunApril 14, 2015 By Stephanie

I’ve been thinking about colour a lot lately — about what draws us to it, about what makes us shy away. And, most interestingly to me, what is it that pulls some knitters and crocheters time and again hand-dyed yarns?

yarn, knitting, hand-dyed, indie dyer, crochet — Lucina fingering weight yarn in Carnival

Hand-dyed yarns are very different from the rest of the yarn universe. One thing that struck me at TNNA is that there were only a handful of indie dyers scattered amongst the rows and rows of big yarn companies. And the big yarn companies were very impressive, with their extensive line-up of yarns in every colour imaginable. They sell dependability, repeatability, a yarn you can reach for time and again.

Whereas the magic of hand-dyed yarns lies in something completely different. It’s something about freedom, the pure abandon of colour that might submit to the knitter’s will or might… might just turn wild and uncontrollable. Hand-dyed yarns are about their untamed individuality, their uniqueness… With hand-dyed yarns, you never really know what you’re going to get.

knitting, hand-dyed, crochet, indie dyer, yarn — Celeste fingering weight yarn in Baroque

So, as I watched them for a while, the hand-dyers at TNNA, busy chatting with LYS owners, I suddenly saw the dilemma… For the indie dyer who wants to grow her business, there is the temptation to emulate the big yarn companies and to aim to pull those wild hand-dyed colours under control, to create legitimacy in a bigger marketplace by moving her line toward more predictability and controlled results. But I suspect that what initially drew every hand-dyer into her craft was a desire to delve into the colours and go where-ever took took her.

knitting, yarn, crochet, hand-dyed, indie dyer — Celeste yarn in African Violets

So, being pulled in both directions, which way does an indie dyer go?

I think the answer comes back to the customer — to you. The real question is, why do you buy hand-dyed yarns? Why do you seek out indie-dyers when there are so many wonderful, established yarn brands in your local yarn shop? And I suspect the answer is that you are a very special kind of knitter or crocheter. You are an adventurer. And buying hand-dyed gives you a yarn that is like no other yarn in the world, which acts as a base on which to create your own art — the unique work of your two hands. I think that people who buy hand-dyed yarn do more than just follow a pattern — they see the creation before it is created, they see the colours intertwined, they are drawn to the challenge of taming a yarn that they’re not quite sure will bend to their will.

In short, I think the knitter or crocheter who buys hand-dyed yarns is an artist herself, no less dyer whose yarn she works with.

So tell me, why do you buy hand-dyed yarns? What is it that draws you to them? And do you believe that when you create with them, you are also an artist?

In a World of Colour, Are We Starving?

24JunApril 14, 2015 By Stephanie

Last night, I went round to a friend’s house and she showed me her knitting. The pattern is simple — just a stockinette cardigan — but the colour is spectacular. She has chosen a blue so deep, so intense, that I almost felt I was falling into it headlong. I felt energised just looking at it …just being near it, in fact.

Celeste Fingering Weight Yarn in Blue Horse

As adults, we shy away from colour. I first became conscious of this when my daughters were born. The clothes that they were given by friends and loved ones were full of colour: brimming over with wild, riotous combinations of shades that I would never (at the time) have had the courage to put together myself. Colours full of life, calling out with joy.

Shades of… Blah

By contrast, when I looked at my own wardrobe, it was made up entirely of drab. Sensible colours (yawn), muted colours (yaaaawn), black, brown, grey, beige (zzzzzzzz….). And I wasn’t alone — everyone around me dressed (dresses) this way. You know it’s true — and, next time you’re in a crowd, look at the colours you see on the people around you. Sure, there will be one or two red jackets, but that’s it — the rest will be a mass of greys, blacks, browns, and blahs that all merge into one big drab blob of blending-in. We all blend in.

We dress our children in glorious colour (and we are jealous of them), and then we dress ourselves to blend in …to disappear. If colour is primal, if it is the food that nourishes our visual souls, then we are all malnourished.

Stella Fingering Weight Yarn in Carnival

Colour Freedom

I’ve always considered the biggest appeal of knitting or crocheting was the zen-thing — that wave of calm that washes over as you fall into the moving meditation of stitch upon stitch. And then, of course, there is that wonderful rush of having created something — a garment, a pattern, a new stitch combination — from our own ingenuity and with our own two hands. Powerful stuff. But more and more, I’m coming to realise how much the fiber arts also set us free to embrace the glorious colours that we otherwise deny ourselves. Yeah, there are lovely yarns in neutral/natural shades and they can be formed into beautiful garments. But it’s rare for a knitter to walk into a yarn shop and choose black. We are called by the colour. It sings to us and we are drawn to it.

yarn, knitting, crochet, handdyed, indie dyer — Stella Fingering Weight Yarn in Sweet Dreams

And so here is the other great appeal of the fiber arts: in our knitting, in our crocheting (our spinning, our felting…), we are suddenly free to dive into the colour that our hearts desire, but which we so often deny ourselves. With the yarn in our hands, colours running through our fingers, we can envelope ourselves in the glorious colours that wake our senses, that make us feel alive and giddy with excitement.

…That let us escape from the blah of blending in.

knitting, crochet, yarn, handdyed, indie dyer — Celeste Yarn in Forgiven

Challenge: To Be Aware

So here is my challenge to you: let yourself become more aware of the colours around you — of the colours that nature presents to you each morning, of the colours that you see through the day, of the colours that call out to you. And more than that, become aware of the colours that you knit or crochet with, and of the colours that you wear. Do they match up? Do you adorn yourself (your home, your life) in the colours that you truly love? Or do you shy away? And if you do shy away, why? Or… perhaps more importantly, why not?

Because colour is primal, colour does feed the soul. And there is an absolute feast of colour out there, just waiting for you…

Members of the Interstellar Yarn Alliance: be ready for your feast…!

Shop Update: Yarns for a Sleepy Dyer

21JunApril 14, 2015 By Stephanie

Sleep, as it turns out, is not optional. For over a week, I’ve been trying to knock this bug from TNNA on its head. For ten whole days. And the bug is beating me because it’s figured out my weakness: I need sleep.

I cannot sleep when I am coughing. And I am coughing pretty solidly from about 11pm to 4am, when I finally slip into a slumber from nothing more than sheer exhaustion. But until then,I lie in bed and keep very very still and breathe very very slowly, just willing this cough into submission long enough for me to sleep. It doesn’t work.

And so, the past ten days have felt like a total loss to me. Almost nothing done, almost nothing achieved. *sigh…* All I want in my bed, and that lovely, dreamy, delicious feeling of just slipping under the surface of sleep…

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Is it any wonder that the yarns I’ve put in the shop today are all of the softest, gentlest colours? Cool blues and sleepy greys that make me think of an inviting bed, of soft, dreamy light falling through sheer white curtains…

From left: Estelle fingering weight yarn in Translucence, Goodbye Blue Sky, a Dept of Rocket Science colourway, and Translucence.

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KnitCircus Pattern Collection Giveaway

But there’s something far more exciting for the rest of you than going to sleep. Today is the day that I draw the three winners of the KnitCircus Summer 2011 Pattern Collections! First, a huge thank you to everyone who participated — I really enjoyed reading your comments and find out your favourite patterns and articles.

And now, the winners are…

vitpil

Dawn Hays

PandaLark

Congratulations! You’ve won the complete Pattern Collection from the Summer 2011 issue of KnitCircus!

Please email me at spacecadetcreations (at) gmail (dot) com with your email address (and remind me of your Ravelry name), and I’ll pass your details onto Jaala Spiro at KnitCircus so she can send you the collection. Enjoy!

TNNA — The Place To Be

17JunApril 14, 2015 By Stephanie

My throat is sore, my nose is stuffed and my head is pounding, pounding, pounding. And, under normal circumstances, I’d be feeling pretty sorry for myself. Probably tucking myself up in bed with a nice a cup on tea and my vapours nearby. But, actually, I’m not feeling so sorry for myself. What I’ve got is TNNA flu, and it’s the sort of ailment that is so much fun to catch, it’s almost worth having.

TNNA is the The National Needlework Association, the trade organisation for all things fibery, and this past weekend was their biggest tradeshow of the year. The official reason to go is because it’s the place to scout out new suppliers, spot new trends, and learn new skills. But the reason is because it is just SUCH a blast. Imagine a knit night where where every where around you are the designers you admire the most, the editors of your favourite knitting magazines, and the dyers whose yarn you covet… Can you see that in your mind? Doesn’t just the very thought of it feel delicious? That’s TNNA.

I loved talking with Jaala Spiro, editor of KnitCircus (on the right). She is so much fun! And a genuinely nice person — I’m so pleased I got to meet her. And next to her, that’s Michelle Miller, the Fickle Knitter, whose pattern I wore at HomeSpun Yarn Party and featured here.

I finally got to meet Sarah Wilson, the Sexy Knitter, who made those fabulous custom Knitter’s Tool Tins for the InterStellar Yarn Alliance, and who designed and knitted this amazing jumpsuit. And next to her is Stacey Trock of Fresh Stitches — we ended up having a really interesting conversation in the bar that evening, and she is just a delight.

And I got to chat with so many others that I never got any pictures of: Amy Singer, Clara Parkes, Lisa Shroyer (editor of Knitscene), Stefanie Japel, Andi Smith, Shannon Okey, Ysolda Teague, Mary-Heather Cogar, StevenBe, Nicky Epstein, Rebecca Velasquez, Melissa Leapman, and… and… Oh! There were so many knitterati, I’m sure I’ve forgotten some…! But, suffice to say, it was a fantastic weekend.

And on a more serious note, regarding the actual business of bringing you beautiful yarns to knit with, I discovered some gorgeous new yarns that I am… erm… dying to dye. And a bunch of fun notions and accessories that just might end up in a Yarn Alliance parcel or two…

So when I got home and my throat began to get sore, and my head started to ache, I knew exactly why. Big events with lots of people like that… they always bring on the lurgy, don’t they? There’s just too much chatting with too many people, too much shaking of hands, not to catch something. But… was it worth it?

Abso-stinkin’-lutely!