fiber arts

Ahhh! Now This Feels Good…

By Stephanie

Getting ready for the Pittsburgh Knit & Crochet Festival was great fun (and exciting, and crazy, and chaotic) and it took over my life for a few weeks.  And in a way, that was a lovely break — everyone needs a change from their day-to-day routines now and again — but one thing I really missed was the excitement of putting new yarns in the shop, of sharing new colourways with my customers.  Sometimes, it takes a little break like that to remind you how nice your day-to-day really is!

So last night I filled the shop with just a few of the mountain of new yarns and colours I have ready to go in…

sock yarn, hand-dyed, hand dyed, knitting, yarn, crochetClockwise from top left: Silk and BFL in Spice Trade, Celeste in Cove, Estelle in Sunshine, Estelle in Goodbye Blue Sky, Celeste in Rubble, and Celeste in First Love

Ahhhhh…  It feels soooo good to be back to normal again!

Lessons From the Pittsburgh Knit & Crochet Festival

By Stephanie

Pittsburgh Knit & Crochet Festival, knitting, crochet, yarnIt’s been an incredible weekend — exhilarating, exciting, educational, an absolute whirlwind, and a lot of hard work.  SpaceCadet Creations was at the Pittsburgh Knit & Crochet Festival, and we had the time of our lives!  And now, as I get the chance to sit down for the first time in days, I realise just how many lessons there were from doing our first show.

Here’s what I learned:

  • How fantastic is it to finally get to meet my customers in person.  Seriously, it is the best!  These are people I see tweeting, people who leave comments on the blog and on Facebook, but there is nothing like meeting you guys in person, discussing your knitting, seeing your projects, and just being able to put faces to names.  Meeting you all was fantastic fun!
  • How wonderful it is to talk to customers about my yarns and get that feedback.  I mean, I do all this in isolation.  Day to day, I work in my studio mostly on my own, with pots simmering quietly and yarns soaking…  And when I pull them out, well, sometimes I think a yarn looks great and sometimes I’m not so sure.  And it was just such an incredible experience to see customers making a beeline for the colourways that were calling out to them, and to hear their comments and get their feedback.  Nothing beats that.
  • That every person has their own unique colour style, their own sense of what works for them…  and you absolutely cannot judge a knitter or a crocheter by her cover.  We had people come up who looked like they might choose calm, quiet colourways but who instead went straight for the brightest, craziest colours.  And others whom I thought would go for the same wild yarns but who instead reached straight for the peace and serenity of the semi-solids.  The truth is, crafters are unique and interesting people, and you can’t box them into categories!
  • That many hands make light work, and work doesn’t feel like work when it’s split out amongst friends.  …With HUGE thanks to the Wednesday night knitters for bagging and tagging, knitting samples, brainstorming, and coming up with some great ideas that made the show a lot better for us.
  • That there is simply no way to show how beautiful, how smooshy, how fibery-lucious a yarn is over the internet.  Great photography is all well and good, but absolutely nothing beats getting to snorgle that yarn in person!
  • The Vendor Hall was HUGE!

    That when you get a look behind the scenes, you realise that the Pittsburgh Knit & Crochet Festival is a HUGE undertaking with a bazillion variables that really could all go disastrously wrong, but somehow Barb and her team keep everything under control and pull the whole thing off seamlessly.  And they smile the whole time!  I don’t know how they do it.

  • That you can’t actually go all day without eating.
  • Also, you can’t actually go without sleeping either.  The body will revolt and shut you down.  And that little factoid put a serious dent in my festival-prep schedule.
  • What fun it is to meet and finally get to chat with other fiberisti in person (Hello KnitPurlGurl!  Hello StevenBe!)

    StevenBe
    StevenBe
  • That StevenBe’s mother and her friend are lovely, lovely women and so interesting that I could have sat and talked to them all day.   Hallo Christa! Hallo Barbara!
  • That I go a bit giddy when I get asked if I’d like to be a guest dyer for a LYS’s yarn club.  YesIwouldYesIwouldYesIwould!!!!
  • What an incredible rush it is to asked by LYSs whether I wholesale yarn   …and how that plants interesting little seeds in my head.
  • That having friends there to show you the ropes, give you tips and ideas, loan you display furniture, and make change when you run out of small bills…  that kind of professional camaraderie makes all the difference!  (With big thanks to Amy, Bloomin Yarns, CosyKnits, Wren&Rita, and GwenErin)
  • How nice it is to be able to bring yarns out of the shop, give them a fresh airing, sell them at the festival, and then have brand new yarns to offer to all my custermers who couldn’t get to this festival.  Look for new yarns to start appearing in the shop in the coming days and weeks!

    All dyed in three weeks!
  • That you can increase your dyeing by 10 times your normal rate and fill a festival booth with stock in only three weeks, but everything else in your life will come to a complete halt.  I really have to get some laundry done before I run out of clothes and some bills paid before they shut off the utilities!
  • That none of this is possible without the support of a great team.  And I had a great team (With more thanks than I can express to my husband, to Natalie, to meine kleine schwester, and to my mum   …and to my dad, who apparently hasn’t eaten in weeks because my mum has been here the whole time!).
  • And, finally, that I love love LOVE doing festivals!!!!!

Continuing your Sock Knitting Journey

By Stephanie

Note from the SpaceCadet:  My friend Amy (DPUTiger on Ravelry) is a knitting teacher, a quilter, and a newly-minted weaver.  And she’s been kind enough to write a series of posts about her favourite ways to start new sock knitters on their journey…

So you’ve tackled Fuzzy Feet and are ready to move along and try something else. Where is a good place to start with that beautiful fingering weight yarn and the toothpick-sized needles?

My first pair of fingering weight socks were generated by my sock class teacher with Sock Wizard.  They had crazy-long cuffs (hello, 7” of 2×2 ribbing!) and took a really, really long time to knit. I did a second pair with the same yarn, on needles that I hated, and with short-row heels and toes.  That experience nearly put me off of socks completely.

.

.

So, you ask, what turned things around for me, and what would I recommend to you so you don’t suffer the sock blahs right out of the gate?

Knitting Rules.  If you aren’t familiar with Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, aka the Yarn Harlot, you should be. Stephanie is a terrific writer with a sense of humour.  And whether you are an experienced knitter or especially a knitter that’s just starting to branch out into the world of Not Scarf Knitting, Knitting Rules is a valuable addition to any knitter’s library.

So just as I was finishing the Socks from Hell, the Yarn Harlot began blogging about the step-out socks that she was knitting for an appearance on Knitty Gritty. I was intrigued, picked up a copy of Knitting Rules and hit the jackpot.

And while Stephanie provides a perfectly awesome 64-stitch sock pattern, she also provides a good basic sock recipe. I love this pattern and recommend it because it gives you the tools to create a sock in any size to fit any foot. She gives you permission to stockingette that leg after a couple inches of ribbing. She has great information on how to start with hats, sweaters, all kinds of things. The book is a great foundation for wherever you want to take your knitting.

There are a few little tidbits I’ll throw in before I leave you in suspense waiting for my final salvo on sock knitting:

  • I have one rule in my classes: No Eeyores.  If you attack something new with a positive, can-do attitude, you will succeed!  If you are convinced sock knitting is too hard for you, then it will be.  Period.  Attitude is a self-fulfilling prophecy.
  • Lifelines are your friend!  (What is a lifeline? Click here)  If you’re new to sock knitting, throw a lifeline in before you start something new. My ideal lifeline material is DMC Perle Cotton, commonly used for cross stitch and embroidery. If you use lifelines, you really can knit fearlessly, because it will be simple to rip out and re-start if you screw up or get confused.
  • Every single sock pattern in existence can be knit using any of the three small-circumference knitting methods: double-pointed needles (DPNs), two circular needles, or the Magic Loop.  All three methods are interchangeable.  Always.  No exceptions.

I’ll be back again to discuss the one book that changed my knitting life. Until then, enjoy your foray into sock knitting!

Pattern Roll-Call: Trifecta Perfection

By Stephanie

There’s snow on the ground and ice on the way, and the wind is bitter and cruel.  I think no month can be called Deep Winter more than February, and it takes all our woolly armory to stave off the cold.

So when I saw the Sweetly Worn trio by Natalie Selles, I knew I had to show it to you.  I mean, it caught my eye first because of the way it will show off a hand-dyed variegated yarn so beautifully by alternating it against contrasting solid yarn.   And I love that the stripes travel across the fabric to form intriguing shapes and angles.

© Natalie Selles, Used with Permission

.

But today,on this cold, grey, snow-locked February day, I think I just really love the fact that this is a complete set — hat, shawl, and mitts — that will go a long way toward keeping this bone-chilling winter at bay.

I think this pattern would look wonderful with a deep, wintery colourway such as this Celeste in Stewed Cranberries (which went into the shop today) or Estelle in Spice Trade:

sock yarn, yarn, knitting, hand-dyed
Celeste in Stewed Cranberries, Estelle in Spice Trade

.

Or, if you are looking out at the snow and find yourself in need of a boost of bright summery colour, perhaps you could try these zesty yellows and greens that I’ve just put into the Dept of Rocket Science:

knitting, yarn, sock yarn
Estelle and Stella in Dept of Rocket Science 110120-010

Forgetting Everything, Except This..

By Stephanie

There is a mountain of laundry in the family room waiting to be sorted — seriously, a mountain.  And a mountain of dirty dishes collecting in the sink.  I suspect there are a few bills I’ve forgotten to pay too…    Real life has come to a complete halt while I get ready for the upcoming Pittsburgh Knit & Crochet show, and there are a lot of things that are getting pushed to one side — or getting forgotten altogether! — while that happens.

 

Yarn Drying in the Studio

But while I’ve been dyeing at rate to make my head spin, you’ll be pleased to hear that one thing I haven’t forgotten is…   to grab some of that yarn and put it in the shop for you guys!

 

Stella Fingering Weight Yarn in SeaFoam

 

Stella Fingering Weight Yarn in WinterBerries

 

Stella Fingering Weight Yarn in Plumberry

.

And just because it’s flippin’ FREEZING out there, I’ve included some Astrid DK too, which is incredibly soft and smooshy — perfect for lovely warm hats and gloves.  Stay warm, everybody!

 

Astrid DK Yarn in WinterBerries

 

Astrid DK Yarn in the Dept of Rocket Science

SpaceCadet At The Pittsburgh Knit & Crochet Festival!

By Stephanie

His Vision: He is having surgery this week — nothing major, but enough to keep him on off his feet and off work for a few weeks.  And in his vision, he sees himself sitting comfortably in bed — or perhaps on the couch, remote control in hand — where pillows will be lovingly fluffed for him, and cups of tea brought on a tray  …perhaps with a plate of cookies to soothe his suffering.  He sees himself waited on hand and foot, while he gently recovers in peace and serenity.  A bit like man-flu, but fittingly multiplied.

The Big News: SpaceCadet Creations has manged to get a last-minute spot at the Pittsburgh Knit and Crochet Festival!  This is so exciting, I can hardly tell you!  If you’ve ever wanted to see the SpaceCadet’s yarns in person — if you want to see the colours in real life instead of in pictures, or just want to pet all the lovely fibers — please do come.  We’d love to see you!

The Reality:  There is an enormous amount of work to be done — an enormous amount! — and only three weeks to do it.   There are kilos (and kilos and kilos…) of yarn to be dyed.  And then to be reskeined and twisted and tagged.  I’ve got to get a sign made, and cards printed, and get bags sourced.  I’m trying to figure out how to dress the booth — baskets? shelves? racks? what?!? — so that everything looks good (and nothing comes tumbling down!).  And then, of course, there is the shop to keep stocked as well, the custom orders to fill, and a few special projects that I already had up my sleeve.

I am so excited and so looking forward to the Festival but — oh! — there is so much to do!  And only three weeks to do it!  Did I mention there’s only three weeks?!?

So.

Sooooo…  back to his vision…

He will get good care, and he will get love.  And cups of tea.  No really, he will!

But when I should be waiting on him hand and foot, I… um…  I’ll probably be out in the studio dyeing.  And when I ought to be fluffing his pillows, I’ll be… yeah… out in the studio dyeing.  And when his dinner should be arriving on a tray, or his teacup being refilled (again), I might be out getting the sign made, and the cards printed, and finding those baskets and shelves…

I’m afraid his peaceful and serene recovery isn’t going to be anything like what he envisions, and I feel terrible about that.  The poor lad.  But, hey, SpaceCadet’s gets to go to the Pittsburgh Knit and Crochet Festival!  And you get to come and snorgle all the fibery goodness in person!

Soooo… are you going to tell him, or am I?

.

.

(…I vote you!)