Green leaves on trees, green grass in the park, a barefoot lunch hour sitting in the sun. Summer knitting.
Dappled light through the leaves, warm breeze, songbirds calling through the green oasis in the city. Needles softly clicking.
Bright blooms bursting from neat flowerbeds, calm amid the bustle, soaking up sunlight and softening the city-grey. Stitched meditation.
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.
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
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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!
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?!?
I am so excited about the InterStellar Yarn Alliance, the SpaceCadet’s new yarn club which opened for subscriptions on Monday, that I can’t wait for the fun to start! The first parcels will go out in April, but I really want to do something to kick it off right now…
So I’m going to give away a free skein of lovely SpaceCadet Creations yarn to one of you this week, and all you have to do to enter is talk about the Yarn Alliance in a post on Ravelry! It can be anywhere on Ravelry except the SpaceCadet Creations and Interstellar Yarn Alliance groups. Once you’ve done that, leave a comment here with your Ravelry name, and you are entered to win a free skein of SpaceCadet yarn!
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And if you’ve like to earn a second entry after that, just retweet a link to the Yarn Alliance webpage or link to this blog post in a post on Ravelry (and please be sure to mention your Twitter name here if it’s different from your Raverly name).
The giveaway opens now, and closes at the end of Thursday, so you have to be quick! I’ll announce the winner here on Friday.
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Which means that by the end of the week, one of you will be the owner of a new skein of SpaceCadet yarn. Because you need more yarn in your stash, don’t you? Don’t you?!?
Of course you do!
The details (they’re not difficult, I promise!): Contest closes on March 17 2011 at 11.59pm EDT and all entries must be made before the close. All entrants will be verified and must complete the mandatory entry (that is, mentioning the SpaceCadet’s InterStellar Yarn Alliance in a post on Ravelry) before completing the ‘extra’ entry (tweeting a link to the Yarn Alliance). Completion of entries must be mentioned in a comment on this blog post to qualify, and comments must include the commenter’s Ravelry or Twitter 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. See, that wasn’t too bad, was it?
The first few days of January are probably supposed to be about looking forward, but I cannot help looking back. 2010 was a great year here at SpaceCadet Creations — it’s been exciting, it’s been educational, sometimes it’s been a bit scary, it’s always been colourful!… And most of all, it’s been successful. And ladies and gentlemen, I know that success is entirely down to you. You’ve been encouraging me, supporting me, talking to me… and buying my yarn and fiber. I am incredibly grateful.
For a little while now, I’ve been thinking about how I can show you my thanks, how I can make it real. And so I am very excited to introduce SpaceCadet’s Cadet Credits, a way to reward my loyal customers and let them know how much I appreciate them. Here’s how it works: I will give you a $10 credit every time your purchases accumulate to $150 (minus discounts, taxes, and shipping costs). Your credits will never expire, you can use them right away or saved them up to be used all together, and they can be used on anything in the SpaceCadet Creations shop. It’s my way of showing you how much your support has meant to me throughout 2010.
And that last sentence up there… that’s not just some kind of marketing waffle to make you feel good. I really mean it. So I’m not going to implement Cadet Credits from just today onwards, I’m going to give credit to my customers for all their purchases throughout 2010. Don’t worry — you don’t have calculate a thing. I’ll kept track of all the numbers and will be emailing you shortly to let you know how much credit you have, or how close you are to earning one.
And with that, it is time to look forward to 2011 — it’s going to be an exciting year! There are a lot of great things planned here in the SpaceCadet studio — some I’ll tell you about as they develop, and some that will stay top-secret until they’re ready for their reveal. I can’t wait to get started.
But you… You can start celebrating 2011 right away. So go on! Go spend those credits!
For full details of the Cadet Credit Programme (it’s not complicated!), click here.
A couple of weeks ago, I changed the theme of my blog (the “theme”, for anyone who is not familiar, is the template that creates the layout of a blog, the way it looks visually). Previously, I’d been using a theme called Vigilance, which I chose for its clean lines, minimalist style and simple appearance. I liked it a lot, but I was never happy about the sidebar — I always felt it was hard to see where one item ended and the next began.
So a couple of weeks ago, I went hunting for a new theme and found one I just loved — it’s called Under the Influence and I think it looks great! It has the same clean lines and simple style that the blog had before, plus a few really cool features like the nifty footer at the bottom of the page (You hadn’t see the footer? Ooh, quick!… scroll down and have a look! I’ll wait for you here). And I’m really happy with the new sidebar — much, much better.
But then, about four days after I installed the new theme, I realised it had one drawback: it’s really hard to see where to leave a comment. It’s in the small print and it’s just doesn’t stand out that much.
And that’s a huge drawback, because a blog is a two-way conversation, and the comments are the lifeblood of that conversation. I love hearing from you, reading your comments, and getting your feedback. And if it’s hard for you to see where to leave a comment, then all that is going to grind to a halt pretty quickly.
When I first realised, I thought about going back to the old theme …or maybe looking for yet another one. But I really like this theme in every other way besides the comment issue, and I’d really like to stay with it.
And I probably will, but I thought I’d ask you guys as well. Do you think the new theme makes it difficult to leave a comment? To read others’ comments? Do you find it confusing …or did you not even notice the change? Please leave a comment and let me know. Just click where it says “Leave a Comment” (or shows the number of comments) right at the end of this post.
Right there… No, it’s right there. See it? Down a bit, and over. Small type, in red. See it? There you go!
In an attempt to encourage Spring to return, I’ve dyed some BFL combed top in all the lovely colours of Garden in Spring:
Hand-dyed BFL Combed Top, in Garden in Spring
Like an English garden in the full bloom of spring, this wool is a gentle explosion of colour. The pinks are a riot of foxgloves, buzzing with the sound of busy bumblebees collecting pollen. There is the deep bluey-purple of delphiniums, and the impossible green of new spring grass, called to life again by the sun and fresh rain.
This is over 4oz of wonderfully soft Blue Faced Leicester combed top that spins up beautifully.
Fiber Content: 100% Blue Faced Leicester wool
Weight: Approximately 4.10oz / 115g
Colourway: Cottage Garden in Spring, 100328-001
Care Instructions for the final item: Handwash only in tepid water, Lay flat to dry.
Each item is individually hand-dyed by the SpaceCadet, using professional grade acid dyes, using professional grade acid dyes which are mixed by hand from primaries. 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.