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Hands Occupied

Contemporary yarn crafts by Heidi Gustad. Knitting, crochet, latch hook and macrame.

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A Few Good Yarns

March 12, 2015 1 Comment

A Few Good Yarns - A review of A Good Yarn Sarasota's custom colorways. A yarn review from Hands Occupied.

There’s nothing like happy yarn mail to make your day. Indie yarn shop A Good Yarn Sarasota sent me a few yarns to review recently, and I was so excited when they arrived! I received one hank each of Dream in Color Jilly yarn, Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock and Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sport. Being the swatch addict that I am, I knit up a little 4×4 inch stockinette swatch in each yarn and blocked them. The photos are of each swatch post blocking.

A Few Good Yarns - A review of A Good Yarn Sarasota's custom colorways. A yarn review from Hands Occupied. A Few Good Yarns - A review of A Good Yarn Sarasota's custom colorways. A yarn review from Hands Occupied.

A Good Yarn is located in Sarasota, Florida, but thanks to their large online presence, they’re a shop I was a fan of despite being a Chicagoan. One of the unique things A Good Yarn Sarasota offers is exclusive colorways of yarns that knitters know and love. All three of the yarn colors featured in this post are among their exclusive colors. What’s seriously cool is that all of these colors are either inspired by the underwater photos taken by the owner’s husband, places around the Sarasota region, or teams local to the area (or call the area home during spring training).

Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock Yarn in Scarlet and Grey / Bucs (Exclusive colorway for A Good Yarn Sarasota)

The yarn above is Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock in Scarlet and Grey (a.k.a Tampa Bay Buccaneers colors). I am a native of a state (North Dakota) that’s entirely lacking a pro team, I never really got into sports. Sports chick or not, I really dig the red and grey striping in this yarn! Lorna’s Laces is a favorite yarn company of mine (they’re based in my adult hometown, Chicago!), and their sock yarn is yummy to work with. (Sorry for all the parenthesis here! Ha!) It’s so soft, and the really even striping has me hankering to make a fantastic baby sweater, hat, or of course, socks. I really can’t wait to cast on some selfish socks with this ASAP.

Dream in Color Jilly Yarn in Cabbage Patch (Exclusive colorway for A Good Yarn Sarasota)

Next , I tried the lovely Jilly from Dream in Color in the custom Cabbage Patch colorway. If you visit the custom colorway page for this one, you can see the photo this yarn is inspired by, and it’s so good! You can absolutely see the color connection between the fascinating photo and the finished yarn. You can see in the swatch I knit with this how the color changes throughout in a nice, subtle way. This yarn is single ply, which would be great to show off some nice lacework. With 880 yards per skein, you could knit an impressive Stevie Nicks-style shawl! (#personalknittingbucketlist)

Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport Yarn in Grape Jelly (Exclusive colorway for A Good Yarn Sarasota)

Lastly, I tried Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sport in Grape Jelly. Oof, I love me some grey and purple, you guys! This yarn, much like Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock, is nice and soft. With the more modest yardage compared to the 800+ yards of the Jilly, I’m really leaning toward a baby project with this yarn. Last year I blogged a couple baby blankets (here and here) during a 14-baby baby boom among my friends and relatives, and now that all those babies are turning one, this yarn might need to turn into a baby raglan pullover for one of them.

A Few Good Yarns - A review of A Good Yarn Sarasota's custom colorways. A yarn review from Hands Occupied.

The yarn featured in this post was provided by A Good Yarn Sarasota in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. 

Filed Under: Giveaways, Reviews & Sponsored, Knitting & Crochet Tagged With: a good yarn sarasota, dream in color, exclusive colorways, jilly, lorna's laces, shepherd sock, shepherd sport, yarn review

About Heidi

Heidi Gustad is a craft book author & content creator in love with primary colors & vintage vibes. She specializes in knitting, crochet, latch hook and macramé, and her first book, Latch Hook: 12 Projects for the Modern Maker, is out now!

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Comments

  1. Marilyn

    March 13, 2015 at 10:26 am

    Sock yarns are simply yummy! Thanks for introducing us to these three yarns/colorways. Stunning!

    Reply

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Heidi Gustad from Hands Occupied / Craft Book Author and Knitting, Crochet, Latch Hook and Macrame Designer

Hi! I’m Heidi, an author, yarn craft designer and content creator specializing in knitting, crochet, latch hook & macrame. My work unapologetically features primary colors and vintage-meets-modern style. My first book, Latch Hook: 12 Projects for the Modern Maker, is now available!

Professionally I’m most known for: advanced intarsia knitting design & modern latch hook design.

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Craft book author & content creator in love with primary colors & vintage vibes. / #latchhookbook out now!
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knitting, crochet, latch hook & macramé

Heidi Gustad 🧶✂️
Happy Wrestlemania weekend, folks!!! 🎊 It’s c Happy Wrestlemania weekend, folks!!! 🎊 It’s coincidentally International Punch Needle Rug Hooking Day today, so I’d be remiss not to share a first look at this project finished JUST in time to wear while I watch some rasslin’ on a pirate ship in a football stadium in Tampa! 💪🏻 I’m excited to watch tonight’s women’s matches the most. Eee!
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Pictured: A blond woman in a denim dress and glasses wearing a giant belt made with punch needle. The belt is made with wool in primary colors and was inspired by the WWE Universal Championship title belt. 
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This is just a preview - after jab 2.0 tomorrow (feeling grateful 🙏🏼), I’ll be editing together a vlog about the design process for this wooly waist cover. Sometimes it’s hard to know how to make some of your wilder craft ideas come to life. Stuff you’ll never find a pattern for, you know? I’ll finish editing that ASAP, but I might take a few days to edit if I feel like trash from 💉 and only want to watch wrestling and wrestling YouTube for a day or two. 😂
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#ipnrhd #punchneedle #wwe #wrestling #championshipbelt #wool #yarn #handmade #universalchampionship #universalchampion #rugmaking #wrestlingfan #wrestlemania37 #wrestlemania
A look at the halo on the back of my wrestling-ins A look at the halo on the back of my wrestling-inspired punch needle project! It’s interesting to see how fuzzy the handspun beige yarn is compared with the primary color sections of @knit_picks Wool of the Andes Bulky. ❤️💛💙🤎 
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Pictured: The back of an in-progress punch needle project. A wooden punch needle tool sits on the work.
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#punchneedle #woolrug #rugmaking  #kpambassadorsapr21 #sponsored #griefproject #handsoccupied #wrestlingfan #universalchampion #yarn #yarncraft #wool #needlepunch
Happy Easter / One week til Wrestlemania! Finishin Happy Easter / One week til Wrestlemania! Finishing up the punch needling part of this crazy @wwe inspired project by tonight. 💪🏻🧶 Anybody else have crafty plans for this fine spring day? 
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Pictured: A blond woman sits, smiling and holding an in-progress punch needle project inspired by the Universal Championship belt. Houseplants are in the background and there’s lots of sun. 
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#punchneedle #griefproject #handsoccupied #heidigustad #wrestlingcrafts #wwe #universalchampion #universalchampionship #wool #wooloftheandes #primarycolors #oxfordpunchneedle
I'm finally starting to get some of my energy back I'm finally starting to get some of my energy back from the past few weeks, and as I dip my toe back into production mode, the long-promised seamed sweater knitting YouTube series is at the top of my list. I've got FOUR versions of a simple sweater I've been playing with since last JULY to feature as a free pattern for folks who want to knit along during the series. Pictured is the first prototype for the series, knit in 2 colors of @knit_picks Mighty Stitch yarn. I imagine this soon-to-be short sleeved number will come in handy as an emergency Waldo costume or Christmas sweater. 🌲 
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I've got my own list of topics I think folks would like to see in a series like this: things like tips for construction, working with vintage patterns, how to seam as invisibly as possible, and more, but as always, I'd love to hear from you: What scares you about knitting seamed sweaters? What would be helpful to cover, especially since we'll be doing more long form video content. I get so much positive feedback on my series of 20 minute+ intarsia tutorials, so I'm using those as a starting point as I produce this series. Seamed sweaters using vintage or self-improvised patterns are one of my favorite things on the planet, so I'm eager to share some seamed sweater skills with y'all super sweet folks. 😉 
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Pictured: A red and white striped, short sleeved sweater knit in pieces that have yet to be seamed. They are laid out on a yellow and orange colorblock background and one sleeve is yet to be bound off. 
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#handsoccupied #seamedsweater #kpambassadorsmar21 #sponsored #knitpicks #waldo #waldosweater #wip #yarncraft #yarn #knitting #knittersofinstagram #heidigustad #vintageknitting #sweaterknitting
Work continues this evening on my absurd punch nee Work continues this evening on my absurd punch needle pro wrestling inspired championship belt project. I’ve finished most of the front pretty quickly thanks to the @knit_picks Wool of the Andes Bulky yarn I’m using. For now, I’ve got a couple more weeks until Wrestlemania, & I’m on track to finish this in time! 
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The biggest question I have is what to do with the “plates” - the open circles in the picture. Should I try to closely replicate the Universal Championship belt or go rogue and make it wool themed? Please advise in the comments. ☺️🧶🙏🏻🐑 
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Pictured: The front of an in-progress punch needle project. A wooden punch needle tool with navy yarn running through it rests on top of the work. 
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#kpambassadorsmar21 #sponsored #knitpicks #punchneedle #rugmaking #primarycolors #punchneedlerughooking #punchneedlelove #wool #wip #yarncraft #yarn #yarnaddict
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