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Recap: The Very Serious Crafts Podcast Live from Chicago!

February 27, 2019 Leave a Comment

The hosts of the Very Serious Crafts Podcast (from left to right): Heidi Gustad (Hands Occupied), Mollie Johanson (Wild Olive) & Haley Pierson-Cox (Red-Handled Scissors)
The hosts of the Very Serious Crafts Podcast: Heidi Gustad (Hands Occupied), Mollie Johanson (Wild Olive) & Haley Pierson-Cox (Red-Handled Scissors)

A couple of crafty friends and I started a podcast last spring called the Very Serious Crafts Podcast. Every other week, you can listen to Mollie, Haley and I talk about everything from translating knitting gauge into graph paper to shameful tales of crafts gone wrong. Nine months into this adventure, we managed to book and sell out (!) our first live show. Since the show took place a month ago and the recording is officially available in our podcast feed (season 2, episode 4 to be specific), I figured it’s about time I shared a bit from that fun and somewhat terrifying day!

Part 1: Live Recording

Recap: The Very Serious Crafts Podcast Live from Chicago

First up, shout out to Chicago Public Library (And Librarian Amanda especially) for having us! Our show was at the Harold Washington Library Center, a.k.a. the main branch of Chicago Public Library, on Saturday 1/26. The first hour of our program consisted of a live recording of an episode (which you can listen to here). Mollie, Haley & were all a little intimidated, but we had so much fun. We kicked off the episode by discussing & passing around our favorite weird vintage craft items. As a nod to our venue, we next shared some of the craft books that informed our development as makers. Then we wound things up with a round of our beloved Train of Shame series, which basically consists of sharing stories about crafty failures (think perpetually unfinished projects, disastrous outcomes – that sort of thing).

Recap: The Very Serious Crafts Podcast Live from Chicago

Part 2: Serious crafting with our audience

When we brainstormed what exactly a Very Serious Crafts live show would look like, it was important to all 3 of us to include some sort of make and take craft project. In retrospect we were probably a little ambitious to tackle recording an episode PLUS three separate crafting tables at a single live show, but it was fun! We are all craft designers, so we each came up with something that could be sewn or appliquèd onto a felt coffee sleeve.

Recap: The Very Serious Crafts Podcast Live from Chicago

Mollie not only made all the sleeves everyone got to work with and take home, but she designed an embroidery transfer in the Very Serious Crafts font. It’s SO GOOD!

Recap: The Very Serious Crafts Podcast Live from Chicago
Recap: The Very Serious Crafts Podcast Live from Chicago

Just for fun, I wondered if it would be possible to make latch hook a very cozy coffee sleeve. It is! ;) Some day my latch hook evangelizing will make everyone as excited about making shag rugs as I am, haha!

And Haley, being a whiz with English paper piecing, designed a cute coffee sleeve featuring appliquè hexagons. Her corner of the room was a rainbow fabric lover’s dream!

Recap: The Very Serious Crafts Podcast Live from Chicago

Truly, it’s been a whirlwind month since the Very Serious Crafts live show in Chicago, and I can hardly believe it happened at all! Thank you so much if you were able to come out on that cold day. Hopefully we can do one again soon. <3

Don’t forget to listen to the live show! And check out our show notes for the live show to see pictures of our vintage crafts and find links to the crafty books that made us!

Filed Under: Inspiration Tagged With: chicago public library, craft podcast, live podcast, podcast, very serious crafts

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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