Come to the Rav Meet-Up at Pgh Knit & Crochet!

24JanApril 14, 2015 By Stephanie

One thing I really really really ought to learn is that after Christmas comes January. Christmas is not the end. Christmas is not a wall. Christmas is just a point in time and then… January comes.

And if something important is happening in early in the new year, you really have to be able to see past Christmas to get ready for it. I really need to learn this because I do it every year!

Please tell me you do too. Tell me I’m not the only one who has trouble seeing past Christmas… please?

Pittsburgh Knit & Crochet Feb 10-11-12

The Pittsburgh Knit & Crochet Festival is coming up on Feb 10, 11, 12. It’s a fabulous event — the entire (enormous) ballroom of the Four Points Sheraton in Mars PA* is turned into a dreamscape of fibery goodness. And I am soooooo looking forward to it!

There are wonderful classes, a fabulous market, and some incredible cool events. But more important than that — and by far the coolest thing about doing a festival like this — is that I get to meet so many SpaceCadet customers! I love it when people come up and introduce themselves, show off their wonderful SpaceCadet projects, and I can finally put faces to names. It is such a treat, getting to meet so many people who are almost already old friends. How often in life do you get to do that?!?

So if you live anywhere in the Western Pennsylvania area, please come! And please wear your SpaceCadet project. I may have seen the pictures, but I would love to see it — and you — in person! Here’s the info again:

Pittsburgh Knit & Crochet Festival
February 10,11,12, 2012
at the Four Points Sheraton, North, Mars, PA 16046

The Ravelry Meet-Up

And if you are coming on the Friday (Feb 10), please do come to the Ravelry Meet-Up! It’s being organised by my friend Natalie, my sister-who-now-knits-a-bit, and me, and I know there’s going to be some pretty cool fiberistas attending: I can’t wait to meet up with a bunch of fiberista friends: the lovely Karrie of the KnitPurlGurl video podcast; Stacey Trock of Fresh Stitches; Cosy Cornelius-Bates and Gwen Erin with whom** I did Pittsburgh Indie Knit & Spin

Please come! We’d love to have you there! Here are the details for the Meet-Up:

Ravelry Meet-Up
Friday, Feb 10 at 6.30pm
in the Cranberry Room (located off the main atrium via the hallway to the left of Legends pub)

It’s by RSVP only and today is the LAST DAY to reserve your space, so please go and send me a Ravelry PM (private message) right now!

So there you go — the Pittsburgh Knit and Crochet Festival is only about three weeks away. And I am so excited about it!

But am I ready for it? No. Did it sneak up on me after Christmas? Yep, yep it did. Am I presently dyeing like a woman possessed? Ohhhhh yes!

Because I really, really, really need to learn that after Christmas comes… January.

*Did you spot that? It’s in Mars! Mars! Makes a SpaceCadet feel right at home, that does.

**My high-school English teacher would be so proud.

InterStellar Yarn Alliance Launch Winner!

18MarApril 14, 2015 By Stephanie

The response to the SpaceCadet’s InterStellar Yarn Alliance Launch contest was FANTASTIC! I so enjoyed reading all your comments, and seeing all your posts on Ravelry. Thank you all so much for participating!

I have just run the numbers through Random.org‘s online random number generator and it has chosen a winner. BUT, before I tell you who it is (because suspense always makes these things so much more fun, don’t you think?)…

SpaceCadet Yarn Reviewed by KnitPurlGurl

So before I give you the winner’s name, I want to tell you all that I recently got the chance to meet the wonderful KnitPurlGurl at the Pittsburgh Knit & Crochet Festival, and she’s absolutely lovely — I really wish we’d had time to grab a cup of coffee and sit and knit together for a while! I gave her a skein of SpaceCadet Estelle yarn and she’s posted a review of it on her website. If you’ve never used SpaceCadet yarn before, please pop over and see what KnitPurlGurl thinks about it.

The Winner

Ok… ok… I’ve made you wait and you’ve been patient, so here we go… The winner of a skein of SpaceCadet Creations yarn in the the InterStellar Yarn Alliance Launch giveaway is…

robkat317

Congratulations! Please send me an email with your name and postal address, and I’ll get yarn out to you asap.

Thank you to everyone for participating. And if you didn’t win and you’re feeling down about that, please do come join us in the Yarn Alliance, where you’ll get the excitement of a mystery parcel of yarn again and again!

LAST CHANCE to enter for a $25 Gift Certificate!

24OctApril 14, 2015 By Stephanie

The contest to win a $25 SpaceCadet Gift Certificate ends tonight, so — quick! — make sure you’re entered! All you have to do is go the SpaceCadet Creations Facebook page and click the “Like” button right at the top — and that’s it, you’re in with a chance!

After that, you can earn up to four additional entries by:

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 leaving a comment to let me know that you’ve done it.

Full details on how to enter can be found in this post here. Thanks for entering and GOOD LUCK!

The SpaceCadet’s Facebook Page — and Free Yarn!

11OctApril 14, 2015 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?

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.

A Little Lift for your Wednesday

14JulApril 14, 2015 By Stephanie

Wednesdays are hard, I know. You’re still two long days away from the weekend, and too far from last weekend to go back. You’re stuck right there in the middle of the work week. There’s no where to go.

This week, I’ve been attempting to create some new graphics — an ad for Ravelry, and a new banner for the blog and my shop. It’s all part and parcel of running a small fiber arts business and, while it’s something I’m having to figure out entirely from scratch, I have to say I am really enjoying the learning. It feels good to stretch …most of the time. Sometimes it seems to morph from a learning experience to an exercise in pure frustration, and I am reminded that I am a dyer, a spinner, a knitter — not a graphic artist.

And so it was this week. I took the pictures, loaded them onto the computer, opened up the software and… nothing. Nothing worked the way I wanted it to, nothing would cooperate. I couldn’t get the graphics to come out the way I’d envisioned them for love nor money …and so I stopped, and set it all to one side and decided to tackle afresh on another day.

So today is Wednesday, and Wednesdays are hard. And at some point today, you will come across something that isn’t working for you either, and is just driving you crazy no matter which way you go at it. When that happens, stop. Set it aside. You can tackle it tomorrow, when you are feeling a little fresher. …When it’s Thursday and you’re that bit closer to the weekend.

And in the meantime, treat yourself to a momentary mid-week pick-me-up, and have a little peek at the one thing that did go right in my little foray into self-taught graphic design: the pictures — just a wee bit fiber eye-candy, to lift your Wednesday.

Last Chance to Enter the Giveaway!

30MayApril 14, 2015 By Stephanie

It’s the last few days to enter the giveaway to win a skein of SpaceCadet Creation’s hand-dyed Sock Yarn or two 2oz braids of hand-dyed fiber! The giveaway will come to a close at the end of Monday (11.59pm on May 31st to be exact) so, if you’re not entered, make sure you get entered before the end of the holiday weekend!

All you have to do is put your email address in the subscription box over there on the right, just above the SpaceCadet’s head. And, once you’ve done that, there are six ways to earn extra entries — for all the details, click here.

But remember, those extra entries will count only if you’ve subscribed to the blog using the subscription box right over there at the top of the right-hand column. While I am sincerely grateful for all my followers, I can’t see the people who subscribe through other feed aggrigators (such as Google Reader, Bloglines, etc) and so I’m afraid those subscriptions can’t count as entries. If you prefer to follow me through another feed aggrigator, please go ahead and do that, but also subscribe through the blog just for a few days, so your entry can be counted for the giveaway.

Thank you to everyone who has subscribed and entered so far. It’s been so exciting to “meet” all of you! Now go out there and tweet, post, follow, and friend your way to extra entries. And GOOD LUCK!