Something Important I Want to Share

This is not going to be the post I had planned today, but there’s something important I want to share with you. No pretty pictures today, no big announcements… Just something I really need to say.

Yesterday I did a video interview with Johnny Vasquez of Fiberstory.tv and, while I suspect I blathered on like a complete numpty through most of the interview, there was one question that sparked such a moment of clarity for me that I just have to tell you.

Johnny asked what made me start my two yarn clubs (the InterStellar Yarn Alliance and the SpaceCadet’s Mini-Skein Club). And as I rambled my answer (and rambled and rambled…), I found myself talking less about why I started the clubs and more about how much fun I have doing them. Not just creating the colourways for the Yarn Alliance, but also coming up with the goodies for each parcel, and pulling together colourways for the Mini-Skeins club… I mean, those are fun — great fun — but it’s more than that.

Sure, it started out being about doing the yarn club stuff, but it quickly changed…

And the reason it’s changed is because of you guys. No seriously, look… This past Monday, the Mini-Skein parcels went out and within two days, I was reading this:

On Twitter: “LOVE my miniskeinclub shipment!!! I cannot WAIT to use these.”

And on Ravelry: “My mini-skeins arrived today and, Wow! They are lovely! Beautiful colors!”

“I had to open them in parking lot at work since i couldn’t wait to see what colors.”

Do you guys have any idea how happy it makes me to read this stuff? When I choose the colours and put together the mini-skeins, and I pack them in the boxes and send them out… I’m just hoping you all will like them. And then I get feedback like that. Oh man!

And you know I released the SpaceCadet’s ebook last week, Launching Into Hand-Dyed: a basic guide to knitting and crocheting with hand-dyed yarns. And the feedback was equally heartwarming. Here’s what I was reading:

“What a helpful guide! I learned a bunch of new things… Thank you!”

“Love the ebook! …Love all the drool-worthy photos too.”

And I even got a Christmas card this week from a customer who’d asked me to create a custom colour for her. I sent off the yarn with my fingers crossed that I’d created the shade she’d been seeing in her mind’s eye. And she’d actually send a card just to tell me how happy she was with the result!

And then, when I go on Ravelry, and see all the fantastic stuff you guys are making with SpaceCadet yarns… Ohhh, it just makes me want to squee! Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous projects! You guys have no idea how much I love seeing what you all create with the yarns I send out to you.

So there I was answering Johnny’s question about why I do the yarn clubs and, as I was fumbling to say something clever (or just plain coherent), I began to realise that the real answer has absolutely nothing to do with yarn and nothing to do with clubs.

The real reason is actually about you guys, and how much it means to know that you love the yarns and colourways that you receive.

So when I sat down to write a blog post today, I knew I had to scrap what I’d planned and write this instead… You guys are great customers. Your feedback and your support mean the world to me. And as we near the holidays, I just wanted to take a moment and tell you all that. You guys are what make all make all this worthwhile.