fiber arts

“Just Be Creative!”

By Stephanie

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!

The SpaceCadet’s Facebook Page — and Free Yarn!

By Stephanie

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:

  • Share this contest with your friends on Facebook
  • Tweet a link to this contest on Twitter
  • Mention this contest in a post on Ravelry
  • Subscribe to this blog, if you haven’t already.

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.

Scenes from a Fiber Life: the Art and Science of Hand-Dyeing

By Stephanie

Years ago, when I was a corporate buyer, I remember my boss explaining that buying was both an art and a science.  I didn’t really understand what he meant at the time — surely it was just a matter of knowing how much should be in stock and plugging in the numbers, wasn’t it?  It was simple.  What was he on about “art”?

I didn’t really get it until I’d been in the job for some time, and I found myself explaining some of the basics to our intern.  She was plugging in the numbers — just plugging in the numbers — and coming to conclusions that I knew would spend our money in all the wrong places.   And as I explained that there was more to it than just the number, that was the moment that I realised what my boss meant by “art”.  Over time, I’d been quietly and unconsciously learning to follow to my instincts as well as the numbers, learning to apply both art and science.  And when I watched that intern making those simple, novice mistakes, I began to understand the value of staying tuned into both.

Today I tried to duplicate Westerly, the beautifully shaded colourway from the Tradewinds quartet that I showed you last week.  And there I was, duplicating the recipe exactly when…  I just suddenly didn’t trust it.  My instinct told me the colours weren’t right.  My instinct told me to add a bit of this, mix in a little more of that…

My instict wasn’t right.  This is what came out of the dyepot…

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It’s beautiful for sure, but it’s not Westerly.  And though I think I’m going to love it when it’s dried and reskeined…  there’s no denying that it’s not Westerly.

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Which just serves to remind me that, even though dyeing is undoubtedly an art as much as a science, and even though a dyer’s colour sense is borne of instinct, it’s important to remember and never to forget the first rule of the second dyelot: even when you want to follow your instinct…

FOLLOW THE RECIPE!

This Way the Tradewinds Blow

By Stephanie

Last week I asked you all to help me choose one of the four Tradewinds to go forward with as a colourway for the shop.  As the responses rolled in, I was so pleased to see so many of you reply and it was really interesting to see which ones you picked.  Thank you all for your comments!  And please do remember to mention your comment on your next SpaceCadet order, so I can be sure to give you that $4 credit.

And so now, which one will it be…?  Well, technically, The Sea Below got the most comments — by one, to be exact.

The Sea Below

However, as the week went on and I was visiting the post again and again to read your responses, and I kept seeing the pictures… and looking the yarns here on my desk…  I realised that it was Westerly that was really calling to me.  So my vote would be for Westerly — one extra vote that brings the count to even for Westerly and The Sea Below.

Westerly

So I think the only fair thing to do is to call it a draw and say that they both deserve to be in the shop!  The next step is to do a few more test runs and make sure that the recipe that worked for the first skein will produce consistent results for future skeins.  One that’s done, you can look for them to appear in the shop over the next couple of weeks!

Trade Winds — Help Me Choose the One

By Stephanie

I dye because I love playing with colour.  And when I free myself from the (usually self-imposed) requirement to create a specific hue or shade, and instead just let myself be drawn into pure experimentation, I find real joy in the process.

Last week, I did just that.  I created a basic colour recipe, and then tweeked it, and tweeked it again, and then once more…  and dyed one skein in each, just to see how they’d come out.

The Trade Winds Clockwise from top left: Westerly, Northeasterly, Southeasterly, and The Sea Below

Trade winds blow great ships across the sea, their sails billowing, their hulks lying heavy in the blue and green waters, laden down with trunk upon trunk of brightly coloured silk fabrics, and barrels filled with the warm shades of precious spices.

Because the recipes (and the resulting colourways) are so close, I’m going to choose only one colourway to dye for the shop in future.  But… I’m not sure which one to pick.   And so I’d like to ask you, dear readers, for your help.  Which one would you pick?  Please tell me!

And, just to add a bit of fun, I’ll give a $4 credit on your next order from SpaceCadet Creations to everyone who leaves an answer in the comments here before midnight on Friday.  Howzat then?  Sound good?

So, go on then!  Tell me which colourway you’d pick!

Small print:  Comments must be left on this blog post before midnight on Fri Oct 1 2010.  Limited to one $4 credit per household.  Comments must name a colourway chosen from the four listed to be valid.  Multiple comments will not count for multiple credits. Commenter must list a valid email address when leaving the comment and then use that same email address when placing the order with SpaceCadet Creations, in order to be properly credited. The $4 credit must be claimed via the message section when placing the order on Etsy, in order to be properly credited.

The Most Important Piece of Equipment for Dyeing

By Stephanie

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!