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Hands Occupied

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

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5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Things

August 11, 2011 1 Comment

Craftzine recently featured a series of posts called 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Things. They encouraged other bloggers & crafters to answer their series of question at their own sites, so I thought I’d hop on board. Here are my 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Things:

Heidi & Ed Sign

One Project You Are Particularly Proud Of

The project I think I’m most proud of is probably the light up banner at my wedding. That project was an original idea, and it’s one of the first tutorials I did for Hands Occupied that was featured at a widely-read blog. I can’t wait to see other people (not just brides) take the idea and run with it.

Two Mistakes You’ve Made in the Past

1. Not realizing the necessity of great photography in craft blogging. My biggest goal for the remainder of 2012 is to stop using my iPhone 4 camera for blog content.

2. Working too fast. Sometimes my most exciting ideas come while I’m working, but in particular, they come when I’m taking enough time to self-reflect while working.

Choc eggs

Three Things That Make Your Work Unique
1. I have only being crafting in the quasi-public sphere for 11 months. My newbieness helps inform a fresh perspective on blogging & crafting.

2. My family is from the plains and has a long, long history of crafting and making. I have this piece of my personality that is insatiably practical, which leads ms to look at nontraditional materials and think of interesting ways to use them in crafts.

3. I love learning how to use new mediums and techniques. This helps keep my crafts interesting.

Hole punch

Four Tools You Love to Use
1. My iPad: my new favorite way to search for inspiration online. Getting to touch the screen helps me feel more connected to what I’m seeing than a mouse and keyboard.

2. Hardware & building tools: there’s something about making something small & cute that involves a hammer that makes me laugh every time.

3. Nontraditional supplies: whenever I can recycle or upcycle stuff I have around the house, I am happy. It’s that North Dakotan practicality thing at work. I also keep a “goody bag” of crap I don’t want to throw away that might have a craft use some day. But also being a librarian, I make sure to weed the goody bag from time to time to avoid a total mess.

4. My hands! ;)

The Making of the Pinup Girl at Fashionising

Five Inspirations
1. Andrea of Blonde Bedhead. A fashion blogger who moved to Chicago from Lansing, MI around the same time I did. Seeing her really make an impact from Lansing inspired me to finally take the plunge in to blogging.

2. Megan from Studio MME: my 5th grade friend-turned brilliant illustrator & artist. Nothing gets her down.

3. Craftzine: I started reading Craftzine a number of years ago they really turned me on to what was happening in the modern world of crafting. They are always sharing innovate & creative ideas.

4. My family. This fall, I’m going to start featuring “my family’s crafts.” My parents, grandparents and great-grandparents made everything from DIY wine & rosaries (Catholic upbringing what what!) to gorgeous quilts and woodworking. Guess which grandchild is winding up with a lot of the trinkets accumulated over the years? I think this will be a great way to preserve and share their history and work. The best part? One of my grandmas asked me one day, “so what’s this Internet I hear so much about?” Now, she’ll be featured on it.

5. This isn’t supposed to be a cop-out, but I’m really inspired by people who work really hard. Other bloggers, Etsy sellers and silent readers all make this weird, crafty circle of the Internet keep going. I rarely run in to spammers, plagiarists, or haters (knock on wood). Everyone in the crafting community is so nice and supportive. It’s awesome.

5.4.3.2.1. things about...

Filed Under: Inspiration Tagged With: 5 4 3 2 1 things, craft magazine, Craftzine, inspiration, make, work

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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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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