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Hands Occupied

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

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Announcing the Exquisite Mystery Knit Along!

December 27, 2016 3 Comments

Join the Exquisite Mystery Knit Along starting January 1. Designed collaboratively by three designers: Heidi Gustad, Christopher Salas & Sarah Abram, this knit along is not to be missed!

What happens when three knitwear designers come together to create a mystery knit along design? Lots of fun, it turns out. Fellow designer Sarah Abram (aka sarahbearcrafts) approached Christopher Salas (aka alternaknit) and I several months ago with a proposal: help design a pattern where each of us is given three balls of yarn and two weeks to design a third of a finished pattern. Inspired by the exquisite corpse storytelling model, each designer would build on the previous designers’ section, not knowing at ALL what to expect from the other sections until the finished designs were in their inboxes. Kind of crazy, right?

Yes, yes it was totally crazy, but it was also the most satisfying creative collaboration I’ve ever been lucky enough to be a part of! At the end of the design process, we all got together in Chicago (Sarah’s and my home turf) to shoot some photos of each of our finished pieces, to shoot videos with tips for success and behind the scenes tidbits about our clues, and of course, to edit the pattern as a whole. Here’s the first little video that may be familiar to Facebook followers.

That’s right! Preorders of the Exquisite Mystery Knit Along pattern are open now through January 1 for just $5 before jumping to $7 when the first clue drops. Here’s the schedule we put together for this knit along:

January 1 – Clue 1 by Heidi Gustad/me drops
January 8 – Clue 2 by Christopher Salas goes live
January 15 – Clue 3 by Sarah Abram is published, completing the pattern

All three of us designers will be active on the Ravelry thread for the duration of the KAL, ready to help answer all of your questions. I’ll also be releasing video tutorials for the particularly tricky stitches on my YouTube channel throughout the process, and all will be available on this playlist if you’d like to bookmark it to get ahead on things. :)

How to get ready for the #exquisiteMKAL

Speaking of getting ahead on things, there are a few things you can do besides bookmarking the Ravelry thread & playlist. Before we cast on January 1, pick out your yarn and swatch! We recommend 3 skeins of Dream in Color Jilly with Cashmere or Jilly, in a light color, a dark color, and a bright color. Swatch with the dark color to make sure you choose the right needle for your project! (Spoiler but important: we built enough yardage into the design to accommodate swatching with the dark color. Gauge is important only with regard to yardage. Knit a swatch of stockinette in DC and gently wet block it to measure your gauge.) For now, this is all I can tell you, but soon, all will be revealed!

Join the Exquisite Mystery Knit Along starting January 1. Designed collaboratively by three designers: Heidi Gustad, Christopher Salas & Sarah Abram, this knit along is not to be missed!

Yarn support for this design was provided by Dream in Color yarn. To learn more about the Exquisite Mystery Knit Along and get tips for choosing color combinations before the first clue goes live, check out the Exquisite Mystery KAL Ravelry Thread and preorder the pattern here.

Filed Under: Knit Along, Knitting, Knitting & Crochet Tagged With: alternaknit, christopher salas, dream in color, exquisite mystery knit along, exquisitemkal, handsoccupied, knit along, mkal, sarah abram, sarahbearcrafts

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. Sarah Abram

    December 27, 2016 at 9:03 am

    So excited!!!

    Reply
  2. Kelly davis

    December 27, 2016 at 11:04 am

    Cant wait have three Cashmere jilly grey,purple DC, teal. Love mystery kal.

    Reply
    • Heidi

      January 9, 2017 at 11:25 am

      Those colors sound amazing! (and pretty close to what I designed with too!)

      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 🧶✂️
“You’re telling me words can be pronounced in “You’re telling me words can be pronounced in different ways and mean the same things?!” 👀 Posting this here, just to make it clear: when anyone says skayne, skeen, or skyne, it can be safely assumed we’re talking about a bundle o’ yarn,  a SKEIN. It’s not necessary to shame someone for using a word that is known to have MULTIPLE common pronunciations. 🧶
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Can you plz comment sharing how you say SKEIN and where you learned it? The OED happens to say SKAYNE, but it’s not a personal attack if someone says SKEEN and you say SKYNE or even Saskatoon. I’m legitimately curious. We don’t all knit or crochet the same way, and craft evolves a bit like language - it is passed on. There is so much value in having conversations about & embracing these variations! ✌🏻
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Pictured: A blond woman holds a skein of mustard yellow yarn up to her head like a phone, looking shocked. She’s wearing glasses & a knit sweater. 
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#handsoccupied #heidigustad #skein #yarn #yarncraft #knit #crochet #yarnaddict #knitincolor #soldotnacrop #language #englishisweird #oed #oxfordenglishdictionary
Sometimes my weekend projects involve hair rather Sometimes my weekend projects involve hair rather than yarn. Here’s the latest mediocre-but-improving result of my slow quest to learn to set vintage inspired curls. 💇🏼‍♀️ I’m hoping to be able to wash my hair less using a regular vintage set, but we’ll see if it ends up being practical. 😆 Hair frustrates me so much more than crafts! 
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Do you also style your hair using vintage methods? If you have any tips for vintage hair styling or good resources to share, please do!
I suppose this is one way to decide what yarn colo I suppose this is one way to decide what yarn color suits your pooch. 😆 Navy really might be Woodrow‘s color - what do you think? 
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Pictured: A medium sized, brown, senior dog asleep on a green bed. For some reason a donut ball of navy wool yarn sits on his head.
The first stitch tutorial of the new year is live The first stitch tutorial of the new year is live on YouTube! Diamond Brocade is a great knit+purl only stitch for beginners or anyone wanting a classic look for their knitting project. Find the video with a written stitch pattern on the blog or head directly to the video on YouTube. Both are linked in bio. ✌🏻 
#kpambassadorsfeb21 #sponsored
When your WIP loves ya back! 🥰 This may or may When your WIP loves ya back! 🥰 This may or may not be the third sample I’m making for an upcoming YouTube series on knitting seamed & vintage sweaters. I figure I’ll get to wear them all at the end, so why not? 🧶🤓 
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Pictured: A few rows of knit ribbing on long circular needles arranged in the shape of a heart on a cream background. The yarn used is @knit_picks Twill worsted weight in Crabapple (wine red). The glasses stitch marker was a diy. 
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#kpambassadorsfeb21 #sponsored #handsoccupied #vintageknitting #sweaterknitting #redyarn #knitinspiration #knitincolor #wool #redheart #handmadewardrobe #knit #heidigustad #knitpicks #knitpickstwill
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