Hi First name / friend,

 

Normally people with email newsletters like this send more of them around Thanksgiving time, filled with holiday sales and updates. This year, I was finding myself in need of a little bit of an internet break after wrapping up the Spiral Hill Sweater Vest Knit Along. So for the past couple weeks, I posted a little bit less, I knocked out most of a sweater sample, and I spent some time thinking about how Hands Occupied has grown in 2023 and where it's headed in 2024. 

 

In 2023, I found my way back to sharing tutorials on Hands Occupied again as I booked an increasing amount of (mostly knitting) design work behind the scenes. As luck would have it, a major dream of mine came true in July - to have a design submission accepted for publication by one of the major print knitting magazines. Pom Pom Quartertly (I KNOW! I cried!) chose a sleeveless, cropped top featuring intarsia and stranded colorwork for their stained glass-themed 49th issue, set to publish summer 2024. 

Those of you who follow knitting industry news, or even just follow designers and magazines on social media, already know what I'm about to say next. On November 1, Pom Pom Quarterly announced they will be ceasing publication as of their 48th issue… and I had been selected for issue 49. (I know. I cried.) My fellow designers and I were contacted via email before the public announcement. Our design deadlines had passed, so we all had finished samples and first drafts of our patterns were complete. For those of us designing garments, we'd graded our patterns to 9 sizes.

 

Fast-forwarding to now, all is absolutely not lost with the Pom Pom design, as I'm allowed to independently release the pattern myself. A bunch of the designers from issue 49 have even connected and we are working to release our designs as a collection. (I mean, we all designed patterns based on the same mood board and theme after all!) We will have a lot of work on our plate to release these patterns in time for summer, but it's a good group. 

 

HOW YOU CAN HELP 

Here's where you might be able to help us out. 🙏🏼 The pattern draft is currently with my Technical Editor to review, and I've added a tenth size to the pattern, bringing the size range to 28"-64" (actual chest; finished measurements with positive ease: 32"-68").The big thing I'm going to need to help with is locating pattern testers. I'm looking for test knitters in ten sizes, 1-2 per size. I'll be posting the official public call soon, but I wanted to give newsletter followers the chance to express interest first. 

 

The details: The pattern test will run 3 months, starting in mid to late January. I'm waiting to hear back on a yarn discount for testers. Also, I don't require testers to post progress pictures on social media unless they would like to. My big goal with a pattern test is to have real knitters test-drive a pattern to ensure accuracy and clarity. If you're interested in becoming a test knitter - please email me heidi-at-handsoccupied-dot-com, and I'll follow up with you directly. If you don't get selected for this test, I have another sweater pattern that will be ready for test knitting this spring!

 

Suffice to say, I had a completely different design, testing and release schedule planned for 2024 than the one that's coming to fruition. In addition to PPQ closing, a few other knitting magazines have recently announced they're ceasing printing. As a designer, I confess that these changes in the industry, while far from spelling the end of it, have me feeling a little burned out. I promised myself after experiencing really terrible burnout a few years ago that if I started sensing that same feeling again, I'd take a break of some kind.

 

On that note, I'll be releasing just 2 YouTube videos & 2 corresponding blog post tutorials in December. Thanks to past me, they're already filmed/photographed and just need editing. I had a really cute YouTube series planned for the holidays, but I'll be saving that (and my sanity) for 2024. I'll send another newsletter when the videos are out, and I'll include the official "Pom Pom pattern" testing call with all the details. Thanks for your patience with this uncharacteristically long email with lots of updates!