Gorgeous Pattern Picks for Firebrand, the Yarn Alliance’s Latest Colourway

09DecApril 14, 2015 By Stephanie

(*spoiler alert* Close your eyes if you don’t want to see the latest Yarn Alliance colourway!)

When I first started dyeing, I worried a little that I might run out of colours. Seriously, I did. I mean, Roy G Biv is only seven letters… There can only be so many combinations, right? And I kind of wondered what happened when you get to the end of the list.

I know. I know!

Five years later and colour is still a fabulous cosmic adventure. Take the latest Yarn Alliance colourway — I knew I wanted to use it to explore reds, but I didn’t want it to be flat or monochromatic. I wanted to let red bloom from pink, from plum, from rust and from yellow. I wanted to let the colour do its thing and just see where it led. And I loved, loved, loved the result! This is “Firebrand”…

Isn’t it gorgeous?!? Now, before we get to Jade’s fantastic pattern picks for Firebrand, let me quickly just share with you the gift we included in the parcel, but I’m over the moon about it. How adorable are these little buttons custom-made for us by Remember Wynn? I can’t wait to see what our club members make with them!

Jade’s Pattern Picks for Firebrand

Speaking of things to make, Jade has put together a fabulous collection of pattern ideas for this yarn. Such beautiful designs! Which one is your favourite?*

Nineteen Twenty Shrug – Liisa Nieminen

With just a touch of lace and beautiful all-over drapey fabic, this pattern is perfect for showing off the Firebrand Colourway of this month’s Yarn Alliance parcel. The glowing ember tones and floaty drape of the Celeste make the perfect fiery cocoon – two skeins will be enough to ward off the winter chill.

Magpie Cowl – Judy Marples

This month’s ISYA colourway was actually a bit of a challenge for me to pick a pattern. The colors are gorgeous and glow-y and vivid, but they need just the right amount of showing off… The Magpie Cowl delivers, with an interesting, but easy, lace pattern to bring out Firebrand’s variegation and the perfect amount of yardage for one smooshy skein of Celeste. (And check out your shiny – it even calls for buttons to close!)

Dark Pearl – Carol Feller

If cowls and shrugs aren’t quite what you’re looking to knit, or you’re more in the mood for a show-stopper, try Carol Feller’s amazing Dark Pearl cardigan. It has it all – a fitted silhouette, smooth stockinette to show off the vibrant variegation of Firebrand, and a stunning lace front panel that can be draped open, or worn closed with your SpaceCadet buttons! And because Celeste has such great yardage, you’ll only need 3-4 skeins for the whole sweater, depending on size.

(*I love all three but I think my favourite is Dark Pearl. Such intriguing construction!)

Want to Get in on the Fun?

If you think being part of the InterStellar Yarn Alliance looks like fun, you are so right! Now, the Yarn Alliance isn’t open again until March but its sister club, the SpaceMonster Mega Yarn Club, is open for subscriptions right now.

And it’s an awesome club! Focusing on smooshy worsted and bulky yarns, it’s a fantastic adventure for these cold winter days — or the perfect holiday gift! The SpaceMonster Club is open until Dec 21, so click here now for all the details and to grab your spot.

Never-Ending Gradients! And Yarny Gift Ideas too.

03DecApril 14, 2015 By Stephanie

You guys you guys you guyyyys, I’ve been dying to show this to you!!!! We did something so cool with the November Mini-Skeins and I’ve had to keep quiet about it but I am just bursting!…

(SPOILER ALERT if you’re in the Mini-Skein Club and don’t want the surprise ruined, look away now…)

You remember that a few months ago we developed the Start-Anywhere Gradient Mini-Skeins? Here’s an image of the July bundle in case you missed it:

The idea, of course, is that the last colourway flows back into the first colourway, so that you can customise your gradient to start with any yarn you choose. So far, so cool, right? Well, we’ve kept that sweet little feature and, in November, we added something that is just crazy-exciting. Are you ready?…

So the last skein of October’s Mini-Skeins blend into the first skein of November’s. And this month, the last skein of November’s Minis will flow right into the first of December’s… and on and on, each bundle adding to the Never-Ending Gradient as the colourways morph and change from one month to the next.

Use the bundles individually or together. Work them in their colour changes or mix them up in stripes. Let the colours flow or contrast. Use a few to create something small and sweet or gather a bunch of them for a project that’s dramatic and eye-cathing. The possibilities are endless!

(Want to get in on the Mini-Skein action? Click here to join the club)

Jade’s Mini-Skein Pattern Picks

Now, do you need a little help picking a project? Don’t you worry — our Jade has got some fantastic ideas for you!

Leventry – Sarah Jordan

This shawl literally stopped me in my tracks when I spotted it in the wild at the Pittsburgh Indie Knit & Spin, and it’s beautiful with two coordinating colors. But…it would be absolutely amazing with the Never-ending Ombre Minis! Work it in a straight up ombre for amazing color and a subtle stitch texture, or put two of the bundles together with a contrast color for the garter ridges and border, and it would just POP!

Loop – Casapinka

Now, this one’s a bit different. It’s meant to feature a variegated yarn against a plain background, but I think it would be stunning in reverse as well. Can’t you just see the stockinette background cycling through a set of ombre or gradient minis, and the ‘loops’ in a highly contrasting color? Depending on the yarn base, one bundle of minis and a contrasting color is all you’d need!

Helix Mitts – Sybil R

When I saw these mitts on the pattern suggestion thread on Ravelry, I thought they looked like so much fun to make! The garter stitch attach-as-you-go construction is exciting but not too complicated, and shows off the colors beautifully. They’d be great in either this month’s gradient or a bright set of multis, and they use only a little bit of yarn. You could even get 2-3 pairs out of a bundle… great for any last-minute holiday gifts you need!

Need More Holiday Gift Ideas?

Two easy gift ideas for yarn lovers (or for… you!). Order one and the rest is easy — no waiting in line, no wrapping, and all that yarny goodness is delivered straight to the recipient’s door!

The Outlandish Clan Kit

Three gorgeous accessory patterns, four breath-taking yarns in exclusive colourways, and a project bag handmade in the Scottish Highlands, and tons more goodies, the Outlandish Clan Kit is just what you need to see in the next season of your favourite show. Kits are available until Dec 5th only, so click here to grab yours quick before they sell out!

The SpaceMonsters Mega Yarn Club

SpaceMonster Club Dec 2014 525x237 for MailChimp

The SpaceMonster Mega Yarn Club all about bigger yarns and is perfect for those who love to work bulky. Every other month, you’ll receive a skein of worseted or bulky yarn in an exclusive SpaceMonster colourway, and a fabulous gift in every third parcel (we’re known for our awesome gifts!). Open for subscriptions from Dec 5 – 21, click here and get on the mailing list for early-bird registration!

Five Fabulous Gift Ideas

03DecApril 14, 2015 By Stephanie

Thanksgiving is one of my favourite days of the year (and I hope yours was lovely!) but y’know, I find the days of shopping madness that follow just plain exhausting. I am never so organised that I am thinking about gift-giving the weekend after Thanksgiving — I’m still lying around trying to recover from dinner!

Rather than add to all the craziness of the Thanksgiving weekend, it made sense to me to wait a few days, to let things calm down and get back to normal a bit before we even thought about holiday shopping. So if you’re like me and are just now starting to come up with gift ideas, let me share a few of mine…

For the Knitter who is Branching Out*

Leftie is a simple yet intriguing pattern that incredibly popular with knitters of all skill levels. A perfect holiday gift, you can use it to knit a quick last minute present, or just give the kit to your favourite knitter and let them have all the fun!

Each SpaceCadet Leftie kit includes one 100g skein of fingering weight yarn in a semi-solid colourway and five 20g mini-skeins of fingering weight in an assortment of colourways and fiber content — easily enough to complete the pattern with your own combination of colours. Create your leaves with all five colours or choose just your favourites. Or, switch it up by using the Mini-Skeins for the main colour and the semi-solid for the leaves!

Each kit is unique and when they are gone, they’re gone. Click here to see the colourways and grab your favourite quick.

*(get it?!?)

For the Knitter or Crocheter who Deserves Months of Smooshy Yarny Goodness

There is nothing in the whole world like a skein of lovely, smooshy, thick yarn, and the SpaceMonster Mega Yarn Club is specially designed for the knitters and crocheters who can’t get enough of them! Every other month, members receive a fantastic parcel containing a beautiful skein of SpaceCadet^® Creations worsted or bulky yarn, the SpaceCadet’s Log exploring the inspiration for each colourway, and a fantastic SpaceMonsters gift tucked into every third parcel.

Membership in the SpaceMonsters is a very special gift. But you have to hurry — subscriptions are available only until Dec 15. Click here to learn more.

For the Fiber Adventurer or for the Crafty Kid

The Zoom Loom is an incredibly addictive and quick way to create something new and exciting with that huge stash of yarn! For a knitter who has always wanted try weaving, or the crafty kid who loves to try new things, this is a perfect gift. Click here to grab one!

For the Knitter or Crocheter who is Right On-Trend

Ombre is one of the hottest trends going right now, and the SpaceCadet’s Ombre & Gradient kits are designed to bring excitement to your favourite knitter’s project as the colour morphs gently from the dark into light or from hue to hue. Each kit contains either 3, 4, or 5 full size skeins of SpaceCadet® yarn, in coloursthat gently change along a spectrum from skein to skein. Click here to choose your colour.

For the Truly Creative Crafter

The SpaceCadet’s Mini-Skeins are more than just little bundles of yarn. They’re like a box of crayons or an artist’s palette of paint that the truly creative knitter or crocheter can use to set the imagination free… to combine colours as subtly or as wildly as she like… to really explore the ideas in her head. If you are shopping for someone whose fiber artistry knows no bounds, then a subscription to the SpaceCadet’s Mini-Skein Club is the perfect gift. Click here to find out more!

You Guys Just Blew Me Away

14DecApril 14, 2015 By Stephanie

Sometimes, good things rise up out of bad. Sometimes, sad events spur us onto something beyond the ordinary. And when that happens, it is a wonderful thing to see. Heartwarming. Hope-restoring. The knitting community did exactly that last week.

When my friend and colleague Karrie Steinmetz of the KnitPurlGurl podcast passed away suddenly on Nov 26, her husband asked me to create a colourway in her honour. I knew that the loss of a wife and mother, so suddenly and unexpectedly, would send any family reeling in practical ways as well as emotional, so I decided to use this colourway as a way for the knitting and crochet community to help Karrie’s family through this time. I decided to dye her yarn in Aurora and called it “A Colourway for Karrie”, and offered it for pre-orders with 50% of the sales price going to Karrie’s family. Not know what sort a demand there might be, I limited it to an initial run of 24 skeins.

They sold out within 90 minutes. And I suddenly began getting tons of emails and Rav messages asking for more. So I ran over to the studio to see if I had any more Aurora in stock… 10 skeins. I put them up and they sold out almost immediately.

And that was it — that was all the yarn I had. But the emails and messages kept coming — some offering straight donations –and I realised, by limiting the run, I was also limiting how much we could raise for Karrie’s family. So I opened it up for a second run to be delivered somewhere in January and, this time, I put no limit on the number of orders before the deadline.

The response was phenomenal. Phenomenal. And as the orders came flying in and the responses were being posted on Ravelry, I realised what you all are made of. You are made of compassion, of kindness, and of generosity. You are made of love for a fellow knitter and crocheter, and of genuine concern for her husband and children. I watched the orders coming in and I was blown away.

Ninety-four skeins sold. One thousand, five hundred, and ninety-eight dollars raised. I am deeply thrilled to write this cheque for Karrie’s family. And humbled because, though it is my name at the bottom, it is all of you who made this happen. Thank you all so very much.

Yarn Update

The first run is all dyed up and currently drying. If you nabbed one of those 34 skeins, expect your yarn to go in the post sometime next week! And for those of you who got in on the second run, your yarn is being spun at the moment and is still looking good for a mid-January delivery.

The SpaceMonster Club Closes in Three Days!

And, hey, don’t forget that there are only three days left to grab a subscription to the SpaceCadet’s newest yarn club, the SpaceMonster Mega Yarn Club! If you love the fabulous smooshiness of big yarns (not to mention the quick knits they produce!), then this is the club for you. It’s all worsted, chunky, and bulky — and exclusive colourways designed to bring out the best in them. But subscriptions close on Sun Dec 16, so — quick! — click here to find out more.