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Hands Occupied

Colorful knitting, crochet, latch hook and macrame from craft book author & designer Heidi Gustad.

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A closer look at the RALCAL Prizes!

April 23, 2018 Leave a Comment

A closer look at the Read Along Crochet Along prize pack on Hands Occupied, featuring a Darn Good Yarn yarn bowl, bag handles from Jul Designs, a Love & Leche lotion bar, and yarn from Why Knot Fibers.
The prize pack for this year’s Read Along Crochet Along is our best yet! In fact, it’s so good that it deserves its own closer look blog post, so here we go! This set of prizes has a lot of goodies that would make any crocheter’s the day. :)

Why Knot Fibers’ Spunky Yarn Up Close

Why Knot Fibers' Spunky yarn is a sport weight, 100% superwash merino wool yarn with lots of spring. 
I haven’t yet had the chance to talk to you folks about the yarn that helped inspire the Worker Bee Bag design! Why Knot Fibers’ Spunky yarn is a sport weight, 100% superwash merino wool yarn with lots of spring. Why Knot hand dyes their yarns, and their semisolid colors are to-die-for pretty. As you can see in the photos of the swatches in particular (and if you’ve looked at the photos of the Worker Bee Bag), the variation in color intensity results in really visually interesting finished objects.

Why Knot Fibers' Spunky yarn is a sport weight, 100% superwash merino wool yarn with lots of spring. 
Colorways pictured: Magic for Margiold (yellow) & Smoke and Shadows (grey)
Skein details:
 100g / 3.5 oz. skeins / 271 yds / 100% superwash merino wool / sport weight
Knitting needles: US 5, 3.75 mm / 18 stitches & 24 rows over 4 inches
Crochet hook: US G-6, 4 mm / 19 sc & 24 rows over 4 inches
Cons: If you need to tear out a ton, Spunky can get a little splitty, so if you’re trying a new technique and anticipate a lot of tearing back, you might want to practice with some yarn ends first.
Pros: The color and the spring, friends! They’re really fun to work with – the spring makes it a tactile joy for sure. And the beauty of Why Knot’s semisolids can’t really be overstated. :)
Pattern ideas: For crochet, the Worker Bee Bag, of course! And for knitting, this would make a beautiful Outlander Chevron Shawl.

Why Knot Fibers' Spunky yarn is a sport weight, 100% superwash merino wool yarn with lots of spring. 

Our other prizes

Last week, we took a closer look at the wonderful lotion bar from Love & Leche (and over the weekend, two different varieties were added to the Shop!), so I’ll direct you to that post for just about everything you need to know about that prize. :)

Our Read Along Crochet Along prize pack for this go around also includes the very same yarn bowl I use in my everyday knitting – a handmade wooden yarn bowl from Darn Good Yarn. Yarn bowls are great because you simply run your working yarn through a coil-like shape and rest your yarn ball in the bowl itself. Then your yarn is in an easily accessible position to knit or crochet without you having to worry about it rolling away. One yarn bowl is included in the Read Along prize pack, but if you just can’t wait to hear who wins (or if you’re not a RALCALer), you can get one of Darn Good Yarn’s handmade wooden yarn bowls for 50% off using the code YB50. :)

In addition to the lotion bar, yarn bowl, and the yarn, there’s also a pair of handles from Jul Designs in the prize pack too! These are the very handles that helped inspire my Lopi Tote knitting design and, of course, the Worker Bee Bag crochet design. So if you’ve RALCALed along with us, you can finish your project with the same handles you’ve seen in the pictures. They are high quality and made with beautiful, durable leather. They attach to your work with screws so you can easily secure them to a finished knit or crochet project, and remove them to wash your handmade bag.

A closer look at the Read Along Crochet Along prize pack on Hands Occupied, featuring a Darn Good Yarn yarn bowl, bag handles from Jul Designs, a Love & Leche lotion bar, and yarn from Why Knot Fibers.

RALCALing? Don’t forget to enter the giveaway!

Let’s review. Our amazing prizes include: a skein of Why Knot Fibers’ Spunky yarn in Smoke and Shadows, a Sweet Sheep Lotion Bar from Love & Leche, a set of Jul Designs’ bag handles, & a handmade wooden yarn bowl from Darn Good Yarn.

You can enter the giveaway here or below. You must be participating in the RALCAL to win. Open to US, Canada, UK, Australia, Denmark & Germany. Entries close at 11:59 pm CST on April 30. Winner announced in the following Picks of the Week post. If you’re on mobile, you’ll have to click a button or visit this page to enter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Prizes provided by Why Knot Fibers, Darn Good Yarn, Jul Designs, and Love & Leche. Post contains affiliate links. 

PS: As an added extra special treat bonus, one of our Read Along Crochet Along sponsors, Love & Leche, gave us a bonus lotion bar to give away! Enter in last week’s review post.

Filed Under: Giveaways, Reviews & Sponsored, Knit Along Tagged With: cal, crochet along, ralcal, read along crochet along, worker bee bag

About Heidi

Heidi Gustad (she/her) is a craft book author & designer specializing in yarn crafts. Her work combines vintage and modern design elements, prioritizing color and graphic motifs. Her first book, Latch Hook: 12 Projects for the Modern Maker, is out now.

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

Hi! I’m Heidi (she/her/hers), and I’ve been helping yarn crafters untangle various techniques on the internet since 2010. I got my start here, as a blogger, and since then I’ve shared more than a few tutorials here and on YouTube as I’ve grown as a pattern designer. 🧶 

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Heidi Gustad 🧶 knitting & yarn crafts

handsoccupied

Knitting & yarn crafts designer 🧶
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Stay up-to-date 💌 & shop new patterns ⤵️

POV: Showing you how my new Bevelled Tank pattern POV: Showing you how my new Bevelled Tank pattern fits with no ease vs. 4” of positive ease. There’s a bit more length to the cotton (brighter color) sample, but both are cropped and feature shoulder seams designed to sit an inch back onto the shoulder instead of on top, giving it a little swing. Length is easily adjustable for folks looking for less of a crop. 
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Pattern: Bevelled Tank by @handsoccupied for @pompommag x @hobbii_yarn summer 2024. Available for free from Hobbii at the 🔗 in my profile.
Yarn pictured: @kelbournewoolens Skipper and Camper. 
Dress form is adjusted to a 36” chest and ~5’3”ish in height. 
Human has a 40” chest and is 5’5”.
Both skirts are vintage.
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#pompomxhobbiisummer2024 #handsoccupied #intarsia #handmade #knitting #colorwork
Let’s talk about fit and ease! . During the Beve Let’s talk about fit and ease!
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During the Bevelled Tank design process for @pompommag, I knit 2 samples using 2 different @KelbourneWoolens yarns. One was in Skipper (100% cotton, second photo) and the other was in Camper (100% 2 ply wool). The Skipper sample was knit for a 36” bust, which measures in at 40” with 4” of positive ease. And I knit the Camper Sample for my 40” bust with a 44” finished measurement. (BTW, I’m 5’5” for folks that find that measurement helpful in visualizing fit.)
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Based on the size chart for the Bevelled Tank, that means I knit one size 3 sample and one size 4. As designed, I conveniently fit a size 4 as intended with 4” of positive ease. When I wear the 3, there is no ease at all because the garment and my body are both 40” in size. Comparing the 2 garments, you can see how the fiber content (cotton vs. wool) and fit (no ease vs. 4” of positive ease) makes a difference in the look and feel of the finished garment. 
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These samples are a great way to compare what ease looks like on different bodies. While I can fit both a size 3 and 4, the garment with no ease feels more like pajamas or a bralette when I wear it. On the other hand, when I wear the one with 4” of positive ease, I feel comfortable enough to wear it to work, even as a crop top. Plus, it leaves me with enough room to layer it with a nice button down if I’m not feeling the cropped look one day. 
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I’m curious - how would you style this tank? Would you modify it with a few stockinette rows for added length? I’m so curious now that this pattern is finally out in the world. :) 
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#pompomxhobbiisummer2024 #bevelledtank #handsoccupied #knitting #intarisa #handmade #kelbournewoolens #croppedsweater #summerknits
After a 6 month hiatus, I am happy to say I’m ba After a 6 month hiatus, I am happy to say I’m back with a brand new pattern in 9 sizes, and it’s FREE as part of @pompommag x @hobbii_yarn’s summer design collection! (Link is in my bio.)
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In my December newsletter, I announced that I was soliciting test knitters for a pattern that had originally been selected for the summer ’24 issue of Pom Pom Quarterly magazine. However, the magazine ceased publication after its spring ’24 issue, leaving in-progress designs unpublished. (It happens.) As a result, I’d begun the long process of editing, testing, and photographing the pattern for independent release through the Hands Occupied pattern shop and Ravelry.
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Before I was done with that process, Pom Pom Quarterly’s former editors reached out with an exciting proposal for the pattern. Post-magazine, they’ve begun to partner with yarn companies to produce high quality pattern collections. They wanted to include designs from the would-be current issue of Pom Pom Quarterly in a new collection for Hobbii yarn, including my Bevelled Tank. I worked with the same technical editors I would have for the magazine on this one, and as you can see from the photos, Pom Pom’s team did an amazing job of styling the garment to the beautiful standards they’re known for.
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You can learn more about the pattern on my blog and get the free pattern from Hobbii yarn - links to both in my profile. I’ll post sizing info in the comments for quick reference too. 🧶
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#pompomxhobbiisummer2024 #knitting #intarsia #sponsored #colorworkknitting 
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Photos: @dianascarrunz 
Model: @angel.jade_
Here’s a nice throwback for you: my take on a vi Here’s a nice throwback for you: my take on a vintage knitting pattern from 1938 called the Fernlace Pullover. A pattern so nice, I knit it twice.
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Yellow version 💛: knit with Despondent Dyes’ Vintage Vixen Sport after attending a @squidneyknits vintage knitting retreat in 2019 & learning *so much*. Paired with a self-drafted circle skirt pattern. 
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Blue version 💙: knit with @eweeweyarns Ewe So Sporty in Sky Blue. Paired with the 1940s Boardwalk Duet sewing pattern from @decades_of_style 
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Head to my stories for 🔗🔗 to the handmade wardrobe blog posts I wrote about each take on the Fernlace Pullover, working with a vintage pattern, where to find vintage patterns (including the one I used), & some thoughts on sizing. 
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Image descriptions available in alt text. 
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#handsoccupied #handmadewardrobe #fernlacepullover #vintageknitting #vintageknittingpatterns #knitting_inspiration
Frogging is a word in the knitting world that mean Frogging is a word in the knitting world that means to rip out your knitting. It’s called frogging because frogs say “ribbit,” and when you’re tearing out your knitting, you will “rip it” out, and that sounds like ribbit. No really. 🐸 Did you know this fun fact? 
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P.S. I did like this design concept, but to make the pattern more knitter friendly as well as more wearable, I am making some tweaks to the construction. Excited to share when it’s ready! 🥰🧶
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Yarn: @blueskyfibers Woolstok North in Morning Frost & Highland Fleece 
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#handsoccupied #knitting #frogging #blueskyfibers #knittersofinstagram #blueskymakers #knittingvocabulary #bsfmakers #knitdesign
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