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Hands Occupied

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

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The Read Along Crochet Along is here!

April 2, 2018 3 Comments

Crochet the Worker Bee Bag & Worker Bee Clutch during the Read Along Crochet Along, April 1-30! This adorable bag uses filet crochet, baubles, and elongated stitches to create a fun, textural piece perfect for spring!

Get the Pattern / Join the Ravelry Group / Does your library have The Beekeeper’s Apprentice?

As promised, the Read Along Crochet Along is here! Folks who preordered the Worker Bee Bag received the pattern in their inboxes yesterday, some people have been chatting in the Ravelry Group, and books have been opened. For those who missed the announcement last month, we have just kicked off the first-ever Read Along Crochet Along, so throughout the month of April, everyone is welcome to crochet the Worker Bee Bag and read & discuss The Beekeeper’s Apprentice by Laurie R. King. The pattern was inspired by the book we’re reading too – it’s really fun!

Say what now?

What’s a crochet along?

For any folks out there who are new to “-alongs” (meaning a knit along or crochet along or stitch along), let me give you a brief overview of what’s happening here. First off, these things are often abbreviated CAL or KAL, for Crochet Along or Knit Along. What happens during an “-along” is this: for a predetermined period of time, a group of crocheters (or knitters or sewists) make the same project/pattern at the same time. It’s a fun way to share in the making experience with fellow craft nerds enthusiasts, and you can share progress and ask for help if you run into issues during the crafting process. Hands Occupied -alongs have been everything from how to make cuff down socks from start to finish to last fall’s mystery knit along inspired by The Night Circus. (BTW, mystery “-alongs” are very popular and add an extra layer of fun. You receive part of your pattern every week or so, so you can’t work ahead of the rest of the group doing the KAL.) In the end “-alongs” are a fun way to make crafting more social and help hold you accountable with a deadline to motivate a speedy finish to your project.

Where does the Read Along part come in?

The Read Along concept is an original of mine. I feel like it’s time to say that in print based on the amount of times people message me on my Ravelry or Instagram saying, “I’ve never done a Read Along before! Do you know of any other folks who do these?” Love the enthusiasm, but no I don’t, because I invented this idea. ;) There are so many knitters and crocheters who also love books, and I love listening to audiobooks while I craft. After leaving my career as a Librarian (more on that here) to focus on running Hands Occupied full time, I wanted to do something to capture the fun feeling of running library book groups, but give it a yarny twist. And the Read Alongs were born.

Each fall and spring, I now release a pattern inspired by the book we read & discuss during the RALCAL. As of this year, I’ve decided each fall will be our Read Along Knit Along, and we’ll do our RALCAL every spring. PS: I’m in the midst of finalizing details for the fall RALKAL already, and in planning stages for spring 2019. To see past Read Along posts, check out this blog post archive. :)

RALCAL Logistics

Reading/Discussion

To help us avoid spoilers and keep up with our reading pace, below is a schedule of where to read in The Beekeeper’s Apprentice each week. It breaks down pretty nicely in our one-month timeline (April 1-30). Just make sure not to discuss anything past the listed stopping point in the Ravelry Group until the appropriate week. For example, please don’t discuss anything that happens after Book 1 until April 18.

  • April 1-7: Prelude & Book 1
  • April 8-14: Book 2
  • April 15-21: Book 3
  • April 22-30 Book 4 & Postlude

PS: In The Beekeeper’s Apprentice, the book is broken up into “books” instead of parts.

Overall

Just as a refresher, here’s an overview of how the RALCAL will all be paced out:

  • 4/1: Worker Bee Bag crochet pattern goes live
  • Throughout the RALCAL, I’ll be publishing blog posts related to the pattern, including tutorials, inspiration and a fun look behind-the-scenes at the design process.
  • The RALCAL giveaway (more on that below) runs 4/1 through 11:59 p.m. on 4/30. The winner will be contacted 5/2 and announced in the 5/4 Picks of the Week post.
  • The RALCAL runs during the month of April, having kicked off Sunday, April 1, and it ends on Monday, April 30.
  • This is NOT a mystery crochet along, so when you buy the pattern, you get the whole thing all at once.
  • Read Along In Real Life meetups will be at Chicago’s Firefly Fiber Arts on Fridays from 4-8 p.m. during the crochet along: 4/6, 4/13, 4/20 & 4/27. We’ll wrap up the RAIRL at our 4/27 meet up and draw the in-person prize winner. (If you’re in the Chicago area, visit this post to read all about our Read Along IRL meetups.)
  • Official hashtags for the Read Along are: #readalongIRL & #RALCAL, and the pattern hashtag is #workerbeebag.

Crochet the Worker Bee Bag & Worker Bee Clutch during the Read Along Crochet Along, April 1-30! This adorable bag uses filet crochet, baubles, and elongated stitches to create a fun, textural piece perfect for spring!

A HUGE Giveaway!

We have some really spectacular prizes for everyone participating in the Read Along Crochet Along this spring. Why Knot Fibers donated a skein of their Spunky yarn in the Smoke and Shadows colorway, Love & Leche gave us one of their lovely lotion bars (appropriately made with beeswax), Jul Designs contributed a set of their amazing bag handles, and Darn Good Yarn donated one of their handmade wooden yarn bowls (the very yarn bowl I myself use)!

To enter the giveaway, use the box below. If you’re on mobile, you’ll have to click a button or visit this page to enter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giveaway prizes provided by Why Knot Fibers, Darn Good Yarn, Jul Designs, and Love & Leche. 

Filed Under: Crochet, Knit Along Tagged With: crochet along, ralcal, read along crochet along, the beekeeper's apprentice, worker bee bag

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. Cindy G

    April 2, 2018 at 9:16 pm

    I am so excited to get started! But, I’ll be a week behind because I have grades due and a HUGE stack of papers that need grading. I also haven’t located my book, so if I can find my library card (or get to the library for a replacement), I can borrow it… Although I might buy a new copy and then pass it along when I’m finished (if I find my original copy, I’ll pass that one along as a gift). Now that I know it’s a series, I have a feeling I’ll want to keep a copy for myself anyway. I’ll make sure to pop in to Ravelry once I’m caught up :)

    Reply
    • Heidi

      April 3, 2018 at 9:58 am

      Great! We’ll be ready for you. :)

      Reply
  2. Laurel Robbins

    April 7, 2018 at 10:16 am

    My very first ever CAL – love it!

    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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