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Hands Occupied

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

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Knitting

All of the knitting patterns, tutorials and inspiration from the Blog. There's a lot of it, so if you're looking for something in particular, the search bar at the top left might come in handy.

A round Intarsia Flower Pillow sits on a rocking chair.

The new Intarsia Flower Pillow pattern is here!

September 11, 2023 Leave a Comment

Learn where you can get your hands (and needles) on the new Intarsia Flower Pillow knitting pattern, featuring intarsia colorwork, a combination of knit and purl stitches, and seaming with mattress stitch.

Learn how to knit a right lifted increase (RLI) and left lifted increase (LLI) in knitting, and why you might want to use them instead of a make 1 right (M1R) or make 1 left (M1L), depending on what you're knitting. Video tutorial and photo tutorial included.

Lifted Increases: How to Work RLI, LLI & When to Use Them

September 7, 2023 Leave a Comment

Learn how to knit a right lifted increase (RLI) and left lifted increase (LLI) in knitting, and why you might want to use them instead of a make 1 right (M1R) or make 1 left (M1L), depending on what you’re knitting. Video tutorial and photo tutorial included.

Coming this October: A knit along (KAL) featuring Heidi Gustad’s pattern from the new Nightmare Before Christmas knitting book from Tanis Gray and Insight Editions.

Nightmare Before Christmas Knit Along Coming This October!

August 11, 2023 2 Comments

Coming this October: A knit along (KAL) featuring Heidi Gustad’s pattern from the new ‘Disney Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas: The Official Knitting Guide to Halloween Town and Christmas Town’

Learn about the magic loop method for knitting in the round. Using the magic loop allows knitters to work in the round a single, long circular needle at a range of circumferences. This post features a video tutorial as well as information explaining the technique, how and why to use it, and when it came to be.

Magic Loop for Knitting in the Round with a Long, Circular Needle (with Video)

May 31, 2023 Leave a Comment

Learn about the magic loop method for knitting in the round. Using the magic loop allows knitters to work in the round with a single, long circular needle at a range of circumferences. This post features a video tutorial as well as information explaining the technique, how and why to use it, and when it came to be.

Learn how to knit a buttonhole over the course of a single row of knitting, also known as a one-row buttonhole. In this technique, a combination of binding off and casting on stitches on opposite sides of the work creates a symmetrical, stretchy buttonhole.

How to Knit a One-Row Buttonhole

May 3, 2023 Leave a Comment

Sweater knitters, listen up! Learn how to knit a buttonhole over the course of a single row of knitting, a.k.a. a one-row buttonhole. In this technique, a combination of binding off and casting on stitches on opposite sides of the work creates a symmetrical, stretchy buttonhole.

Join two pieces of garter stitch knitting invisibly with the kitchener stitch - learn how to do garter kitchener stitch. (with video!)

Garter Kitchener Stitch / How to graft garter stitch knitting + Video

April 14, 2023 Leave a Comment

Join two pieces of garter stitch knitting invisibly with the kitchener stitch. Learn how to work garter kitchener stitch with video.

Learn how to do Norwegian purling to help improve your continental knitting tension with this quick tutorial. (Includes video!)

Norwegian Purling for Continental Style Knitters + Video

March 22, 2023 2 Comments

Learn how to do Norwegian purl to help improve your continental knitting tension with this quick tutorial. (Includes photo, video and animated GIF tutorials.)

Learn the difference between continental (picking) and throwing (English) style knitting.

Knitting Styles: Continental vs. Throwing (with Video)

March 1, 2023 Leave a Comment

Learn the differences between picking and throwing style knitting.

Learn how to fix common knitting mistakes with a beginner-friendly video tutorial. Topics covered: stockinette and garter stitch, tinking, frogging, and picking up stitches.

How to Fix Common Knitting Mistakes + Video Tutorial

February 15, 2023 2 Comments

Learn how to fix common knitting mistakes with a beginner-friendly video tutorial. Topics covered: laddering down, tinking, frogging, and picking up stitches.

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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), a craft book author & pattern designer specializing in knitting, crochet, latch hook & macrame. Really anything with yarn! ❤️  My work combines vintage and modern design elements, featuring bold colors and graphic motifs.

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handsoccupied

Helping yarn crafters untangle various techniques on the internet since 2010
🧶 Really into intarsia
Stay up-to-date 💌 & shop the latest patterns ⤵️

Heidi Gustad 🧶 knitting & yarn crafts
It’s time for the monthly review and giveaway! T It’s time for the monthly review and giveaway! This go around, get to know two new sister yarns from @manosyarnsusa, Marla and Sami, and enter to win a skein of each to try for yourself. 
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What makes these yarns sisters is that, while dyed differently, they’re the same weight and come in intentionally coordinating color palettes. For my review, I opted for a sky-inspired combo of Sami in Natural and Marla in Nube. 🌧️ 
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Check out the full review & enter the giveaway at the link in my bio. 
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#handsoccupied #yarnreview #manosdeluruguay #knitting_inspire #crochet #yarngiveaway #knitters #yarn #crochetersofinstagram
If only knitting a whole project took 39 seconds… 😮‍💨 
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In this video, you can see how the Intarsia Flower Pillow pattern knits up - two flat panels, one with intarsia, both are blocked, and then they’re seamed. Find the pattern on @hi.ravelry & my website, just search Intarsia Flower Pillow. 🌸 
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P.S. I’m really smiling in this video while seaming the pillow, so I guess I’m proving last week’s claim that I truly enjoy that sometimes-dreaded task. 😆🫣
In knitting, a Left Lifted Increase (LLI) lets you In knitting, a Left Lifted Increase (LLI) lets you add a stitch in between two columns of stitches that leans to the left. Similar to an M1L, LLIs allow you to increase nearly invisibly.
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To learn more about lifted increases, including when to use them and how they differ from Make 1s, head to the 🔗 in my profle. 
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Have you ever used lifted increases? I used M1’s almost exclusively for a long time when I needed to inc between stitches, but when I designed the Intarsia Flower Pillow pattern, I needed something that would allow me to increase a lot near my cast on, and M1’s resulted in edge curling. The more you know! 🌈 
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Yarn: @lionbrandyarn Wool Ease from my Stash / Neddles: @boyeyarncrafts - Just remembered these are the needles I learned to knit on at age 8. 😂
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#handsoccupied #knitting #learntoknit #howtoknit #sweaterknitting #knitinspiration #knittersofinstagram #liftedincreases
Last week I got to hang out with my family & helpe Last week I got to hang out with my family & helped babysit my red-headed niece and nephew. So here’s some plane knitting, and a couple pictures (shared with permission) of my babysitting adventures.
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Lessons learned: 1️⃣ Trying to knit around 2 toddlers, 2 cats & 2 large dogs is pretty hard. 2️⃣ I learned during water color time that pink and black make “colorful black.” 🩷🖤 3️⃣ Toddlers do NOT care about your rainbow sorting of their toys. 4️⃣ Toddlers are very good at finding mischief in a very short amount of time, what a surprise. 😂
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#handsoccupied #knitting #placesyoucanknit #knitters #knitinpublic #handmadelife #knitting_inspiration
Weaving in ends & seaming with mattress stitch are Weaving in ends & seaming with mattress stitch are both so useful for garment knitting! But for me, weaving in ends can feel like a chore while the latter feels like I’ve successfully done magic. 🧙🏻‍♀️ Does anybody else run into this phenomenon? Are you the opposite? Any theories as to why they feel different? 
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In this video, I’m finishing my brand new Intarsia Flower Pillow. 🌸 I’m working with @universal_yarn Uni Merino & the pattern is available at the 🔗 in my b1o. 
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#handsoccupied #intarsiaflowerpillow #intarsia #intarsiaknitting #knitting #colorwork #knitpillow #knittinginspiration #knittersofinstagram
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