The Biggest News of the SpaceCadet’s Year

This week, very quietly, the biggest event of the SpaceCadet year happened.  It wasn’t a show, it wasn’t a big order, it wasn’t a feature in a knitting magazine.  But it was something I’ve been working toward slowly — inch by inch — for a looooong time.  And then this week, it happened.  Quietly, and with no fanfare, just as if it was the most unimportant thing in the world.

And, y’know, to you, it probably is — but to me, it’s huge.  So when I tell you what it is, please do me a little favour, ok?  Just for a moment, give a little squeal for me — I am just so excited!!!!!

Ok, you ready?  Here it is…  See that shop link right there on the right?  The one for the SpaceCadet shop?  Last week, it took you to an Etsy shop.  But today, when you click on it, it will take you to…

The Brand-New SpaceCadet Shop!!!!!

Click to see the SpaceCadet's new yarn shop!

(go on, click it!)

I’ve designed this shop to give you everything I wasn’t able to give you before — and I am just so tickled about that.  You can start by browsing all the yarns in one place on the Yarn Info page, where you can easily compare them by fiber content, weight, and yardage.

And there’s a lot to compare — the SpaceCadet’s fleet of yarns has increased from eight yarn types to… eighteen.  Everything from laceweights (silk! sparkles! linen!) to bulkies.  And in between, a beautiful array of choices.  I’m sooooo excited —  check it out!

The SpaceCadet's Yarn Info Page, with full details fo all eighteen yarns!

When you’ve chosen your yarn, you can click through to see which standard colourways are in stock.  Or, if you’re feeling adventurous, there’s a link to show you that yarn in all the fabulous experimental colourways in the Department of Rocket Science.

My goal is to make it as simple as possible for you to find exactly the yarn you need for your project.  Or…  if you’re in a mood to just wander through the yarns and explore until you find one that captures your heart, you can do that too!

There’s still improvements I want to make — little things to tweak here and there, and a few big things too — but even though I want to keep going until it’s perfect, I know that, really, it’s perfect enough.  And so, after months and months of preparation, the new SpaceCadet shop is ready at last.  And while it feels like a HUGE thing to me, I know I’m biased.  But secretly, I am really hoping that it’s pretty darned exciting for you too.  So… will you squeal with me?

Browse the SpaceCadet's new shop by Yarn Type, Standard Colours, Experimental Colours, or check out the Clubs!

(Now, at the moment, there are only a select number of yarns in the new shop.  I’ll be doing a shop update on Wed Sept 19 — see the banner on the main shop page — but, for now, most of the yarns are coming with me to…  )

A Trunk Show at KNOTS on Saturday Sept 15

As soon as I walked into KNOTS in Chardon Ohio (for a class with Brenda Dayne earlier this summer), I knew it was exactly what a yarn shop should be.  Cosy, welcoming, and packed with fibery goodness, I was thrilled when Kate asked me to do a trunk show there!

I’ll be bringing a ton of yarn, including lots of wonderful experimental and one-of-a-kind colourways.  So if you’re in the area, please do come.  I’d love to meet you!

SpaceCadet Trunk Show from noon to 5pm at
Knots – Knitting on the Square
153 Main Street
Chardon, Ohio 44024
(click here to map it!)

Only 3 Days Left to Join the InterStellar Yarn Alliance

Subscriptions to the Yarn Alliance have been going  like hotcakes and there are only a few spaces and three days left before subscriptions are closed.  If you’ve been thinking of joining and haven’t subscribed yet, grab your place quick before it goes!  Click here for all the details.

Only 3 days left to join the SpaceCAdet's InterStellar Yarn Alliance yarn club!

Exciting News: Upcoming SpaceCadetYarns & a New Shop

Summer is a lazy time — long days, blue skies, and sunlight dappled through the trees.   Maybe some cold drinks and, if you’re very lucky, a hammock.  Boy oh boy, I need to grab me some of that!

But, I have felt anything but lazy!  While summer is going great guns* outside, I am busy preparing for the cooler months that will follow.  I have several hundred pounds of yarn to dye, some great LYSs to send orders to, and some fabulous yarn festivals to prep for (including….  Rhinebeck!!!! Squee with me!!!).

Yep, it’s a busy time here.  But as well as all that, there are a few other exciting things that I’m working on, and I am dying to share them with you.  So, before I go back into the studio, let me just give you a sneak peek…

A Brand New SpaceCadet Shop!

I have been dreaming about this for nearly two years now and I can’t believe it’s almost here!  My Big Summer Project is to put together a brand new SpaceCadet shop — one that I can totally customise to make it super-easy for you to search for the yarn you know you want  …or browse for the one that you never knew you needed so much!  Easy and adventurous — isn’t that the way that yarn shopping should be?

As soon as the new shop is ready, I’ll make sure you know about it (believe me, I’ll be singing it on the rooftops!).  In the meantime, it’s still very much a Work In Progress but here’s a quick look:

A Sneak Peek at the SpaceCadet's New Shop

(Please, do a little happy dance with me, will you?)

 

Fabulous New Yarns!

Ok, this just has me giddy with excitement!  As I started laying out the new shop, I realised what I really, really wanted to go along with it is a truly great fleet of yarns.  So we’ve spent these last few months auditioning new yarns: dyeing them up, trying them out, (and, of course snorgling them!).  And, after a really difficult elimination process, we’ve finally decided which we liked best.

The result is a fleet of yarns that is going to make your fingers itch to cast on!  Folks, we’re going from seven yarns to 18.  There will be some beautiful heavier yarns —  sport, DK, worsted, and bulky — and a fantastic line up of lighter yarns, including four laceweights and no less than eight fingering yarns!  Wanna see them?  Welllll…  they’re not dry enough to photograph yet, but the tags might give you a little clue.  Here, have a quick look…

A quick look at the tags for the new SpaceCadet yarns

(Intrigued…?  Stay tuned, they’ll be available very soon!)

 

The Yarn Harlot’s Omlet Could Be Yours!

Ok, this last one has nothing to do with my special summer projects, but I just have to share it with you!  As you might know, the Yarn Harlot, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, picked up a skein of SpaceCadet laceweight yarn from one of my trunk shows in Cleveland and has been knitting it in a beautiful pattern called Omelet.  She finished it this week and I have to admit, when she posted the photos on her blog, I was blown away.  It’s a stunning shawl.

And it could be yours!  Yep, that’s right — the Yarn Harlot has knit the most intricate, ethereal, gorgeous piece of lacework that nobody should ever dream of giving away and… she’s auctioning it off to the highest bidder!  It’s all to raise funds as she takes part in the 14th Annual Friends For Life Bike Rally in support of Toronto People With AIDS Foundation.  Through the amazing generosity of knitters, she has already raised thousands of dollars — but she’s doing this one last push before the bike rally begins this weekend.

If you’d like a chance to win the Omelet shawl knit by the Yarn Harlot, click here to find out how to bid for it.  As for me, I am so just thrilled that she’s chosen to make such a beautiful project out of a skein of SpaceCadet yarn (which I honestly thought she was buying just to be polite!).  …And then is using it for such a good cause.

 


*Do people say “going great guns” over here?  Is that a phrase you use in the States?  If not, it means everything’s going along just fine.