Are You Ready?

29AprApril 14, 2015 By Stephanie

I’m a little bit excited… I’m a lot excited actually. But I can’t tell you about it because what I’m excited about is the yarn club parcels, which are all finished and ready to be posted out. We’ve spent the whole evening gathering the bits and pieces for them, putting it all together…

And I want to tell you all about it! …And I can’t!!!

But… I can tease you! I can, for instance, show you this…

(I have to admit, I’m really really excited about that one!)

And I can tell you that this goes along with it too…

There’s some of this sort of stuff…

And some nifty stuff to read…

And something else… Something else….

Hmmm… Now, what was it?

Oh yeah! This!

(Wait, you didn’t think I was going to show you the colour, did you?!?)

So… are you ready? Are you ready?!? ‘Cause I totally am!!!.

(And… should I ring your postman and just warn him that you’re gonna be stalking him for the next few days?)

Things My Non-Knitting Sister Says: This Time, It’s Physical

22AprApril 14, 2015 By Stephanie

If you attended either the Pittsburgh Knit and Crochet Festival or HomeSpun Yarn Party this year, you might have met my sister. She was the one running the credit card machine and handing the cash, and she does a great job at that, but she doesn’t know anything about knitting. She lives her life blissfully unaware of all things fiber-related (though I’m not quite sure how that can possibly be blissful!), except when I call and ask if she’d lend a hand.

knitting, yarn, sock yarn, handdyed, indie dyer — Celeste yarn in Baroque

So the whole fiber-festival thing was completely new to her, and it took her pretty much completely by surprise. I think she might have been expecting sweet little old ladies and crocheted toilet paper covers…

Her first words, as we walked past the huge line of fiber-fanatics waiting for the doors to open, were, “People are here already?!? They’re waiting?!?” Her eyes were wide with surprise, and I stopped myself from giggling. She really didn’t know what she was in for.

But she got her second clue a few minutes after the festival got started. We were sitting near to one of the entrances and a woman walked in, went right up to my sister, with a face that looked almost frantic, and exclaimed, “I’m so excited!!!” before rushing off into the crowd.

knitting, yarn, sock yarn, indie dyer, handdyed — Celeste yarn in Cove

“These people are crazy!” my sister said, looking a little frantic herself. “That lady actually grabbed me when she said that! What’s going on?!?”

I couldn’t stop myself laughing now. When you’re a fiber-freak yourself, when you knit and spin every chance you get, when you’re surrounded by all this all the time, you forget that this doesn’t look normal to outsiders. You forget that it seems a bit, well.. yeah… crazy.

But it’s not. It’s perfectly normal. You and I know that. …And my sister will come ’round in time.

yarn, knitting, handdyed, indie dyer, sock yarn — Lucina yarn in Most Ardently

Shop Update: Yarns for Spring in All Her Guises!

12AprApril 14, 2015 By Stephanie

Spring is a conundrum. One day it’s gloriously sunny and warm, and the next has a chill wind and grey skies. Spring is a tease. Spring is frustrating! Spring is fickle…

And today’s shop update reminds me a lot of Spring. Some of the colourways are light and bright and sunny, full of the colours of newly opened buds and warm days to come. And some of the colourways are dark and brooding, the days of wet and drizzle that are so necessary to process of Spring’s unfurling…

From left to right, starting top-left: Celeste yarn in African Violets, Poppies in the Fields, and Tiger Lilies; Estelle yarn in a Dept of Rocket Science colourway, Celeste in Baroque, Celeste in Carnival; Estelle in Cold Flame, Translucence, and Grave Goods; Estelle in Hieroglyphics, a Dept of Rocket Science colourway, and Celeste in Grave Goods.

Last Day to Join the InterStellar Yarn Alliance!

31MarApril 14, 2015 By Stephanie

Sunday was the HomeSpun Yarn Party and we had a FABULOUS time!!!! Thank you to everyone who came out to Savage Mill — it was great to meet you all, and to talk about yarns and fibery things. You guys made it so much fun!

And SpaceCadet yarn was popular too. The booth was packed for most of the day…

spacecadet, space cadet, yarn, sock yarn, knitting, hand dyed — The booth was packed!

We really didn’t expect to be so mobbed — at times the line seemed to extend right out of the booth space itself!

hsyp, spacecadet, space cadet, yarn, sock yarn, knitting — The line!

.And it’s wonderful to get that kind of support, but we were very sorry that our customers had to stand in line so long to buy our yarn. So, we’ve all talked it through and come up with a couple of ideas that should make everything a bit faster and easier for our customers next year.

Speaking of fast… The opening time for subscriptions to the SpaceCadet’s yarn club has flown by: Today is the last day to sign up for the InterStellar Yarn Alliance!!! If you’ve been thinking about it, wanting to do it…. but haven’t made it happen yet, sign up TODAY! You can click here to read all the details of the club, or click here to go straight to the shop and sign up. Come on! We’d love to have you join us!

And finally, we’ve been busy this week getting things organised and getting yarns back in the shop. There are some in there now, but lots and lots more to go in over the next few days — and lots of new colourways. Keep your eyes open for them!

(And, just between you and me, if you liked Beguile and Sugared Violets — the chocolate-and-pink and chocolate-and-purple yarns that sold out at Pittsburgh Knit&Crochet — make sure you keep checking in!)

Welcome to Monday! No, Tuesday. No… Wait…

23MarApril 14, 2015 By Stephanie

Is it Wednesday already? Wednesday?!? Ach! I meant to blog yesterday! Errr… I mean Monday. And do a shop update. Have I done the shop update?!?

It’s been crazy here the past week. There are only a few days left before Homespun Yarn Party and we are working like mad to finish the dyeing and get the last of the loose strings tied up (ha ha — no pun intended!). And, as well, I’ve been putting together the Welcome Packs for the the new members of InterStellar Yarn Alliance. It’s been so much fun seeing people sign up, that I can’t wait to get started on the first parcels in April! Busy busy days… but exciting too.

yarn, knitting, handdyed, hand-dyed, spacecadet, space cadet, sock yarn — Shop Update, clockwise from top left: Celeste yarn in Sincerity, Stella yarn in Heartthrob, Estelle yarn in Avarice, and Lucina yarn in Swollen

HomeSpun Yarn Party

So, if you live in the DC-Baltimore area and you’re looking for something fun to do this weekend, please come see us at the HomeSpun Yarn Party. It is a fantastic event, a showcase of over 30 indie dyers and spinners, so you know you’ll have a fab time. And we’d love to meet you!

Homespun Yarn Party

Sunday March 27, 12noon – 5pm

Historic Savage Mill 8600 Foundry Street, Savage, MD 20763

InterStellar Yarn Alliance

Don’t forget, there’s just over a week left to sign up for the SpaceCadet’s InterStellar Yarn Alliance! It’s been wonderful fun watching people join and introducing themselves in the Yarn Alliance group. It’s going to be a great yarn club, so if you like the idea of having a parcel full of yarny goodness arrive on your doorstep every other month, come and join us!

And finally, the shop update

yarn, knitting, sock yarn, spacecadet, space cadet, hand-dyed, handdyed — Shop Update, clockwise from top left: Celeste yarn in Cove, Stella yarn in SeaFoam, Estelle yarn in Translucence, and Estelle yarn in Petrolhead

With everything going on, I’ve managed to sneak in a quick update! Here’s a bit of colour to brighten up your Wednesday.

…Is it Wednesday already? Wait! How did that happen?!?

InterStellar Yarn Alliance Launch Winner!

18MarApril 14, 2015 By Stephanie

The response to the SpaceCadet’s InterStellar Yarn Alliance Launch contest was FANTASTIC! I so enjoyed reading all your comments, and seeing all your posts on Ravelry. Thank you all so much for participating!

I have just run the numbers through Random.org‘s online random number generator and it has chosen a winner. BUT, before I tell you who it is (because suspense always makes these things so much more fun, don’t you think?)…

SpaceCadet Yarn Reviewed by KnitPurlGurl

So before I give you the winner’s name, I want to tell you all that I recently got the chance to meet the wonderful KnitPurlGurl at the Pittsburgh Knit & Crochet Festival, and she’s absolutely lovely — I really wish we’d had time to grab a cup of coffee and sit and knit together for a while! I gave her a skein of SpaceCadet Estelle yarn and she’s posted a review of it on her website. If you’ve never used SpaceCadet yarn before, please pop over and see what KnitPurlGurl thinks about it.

The Winner

Ok… ok… I’ve made you wait and you’ve been patient, so here we go… The winner of a skein of SpaceCadet Creations yarn in the the InterStellar Yarn Alliance Launch giveaway is…

robkat317

Congratulations! Please send me an email with your name and postal address, and I’ll get yarn out to you asap.

Thank you to everyone for participating. And if you didn’t win and you’re feeling down about that, please do come join us in the Yarn Alliance, where you’ll get the excitement of a mystery parcel of yarn again and again!