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Hands Occupied

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

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Life

Occasional blog posts about my life. Everything from work life balance to how yarn crafts help combat anxiety is fair game here.

Heidi (Hands Occupied) reacts in horror to the time.

It’s 2022 already?

February 9, 2022 1 Comment

An update about what’s next from Hands Occupied!

Heidi Gustad from Hands Occupied holds up a pair of wooden knitting needles. She's wearing a t-shirt that reads "Midwest Crafter."

Hands Occupied, 11 years on 😳

September 16, 2021 6 Comments

A look back on 11 years of Hands Occupied, and a look ahead at what’s to come.

Heidi from Hands Occupied wearing her primary colored version of the So Faded sweater by Andrea Mowry.

Stop, it’s recharge time!

January 8, 2021 4 Comments

A quick update on taking a short break to recharge for the new year!

What's up, 2020? Check out this brand new blog post about what Heidi has been up to on Hands Occupied hiatus, and plans for the rest of the year to come, including some surprises!

What’s up, 2020? (No seriously, what is going on?)

April 4, 2020 Leave a Comment

What I’ve been up to on my book hiatus besides writing a book), and plans for the rest of the year to come, including some surprises!

A quick look back at a year of growth for Hands Occupied, and creative dreams for the year (and decade) to come!

Almost a decade of Hands Occupied

January 6, 2020 2 Comments

A quick look back at a year of growth for Hands Occupied, and creative dreams for the year (and decade) to come!

Listen & subscribe to the Very Serious Crafts podcast, available wherever you get your podcasts!

The Very Serious Crafts Podcast

May 7, 2018 4 Comments

Learn about the new Very Serious Crafts podcast, a collaboration among Mollie Johanson of Wild Olive, Haley Pierson-Cox of Red Handled Scissors, and Heidi Gustad of Hands Occupied.

Love & Lopapeysas: All about knitting an Icelandic sweater

Love & Lopapeysas

March 5, 2018 9 Comments

In honor of my wedding anniversary today, I’d planned to share with you some pictures of my husband modeling my gift for him, a lovingly knitted Icelandic sweater, but, uh, about that…

Spring Meadow Scarf Knit Along - Hands Occupied for All Free Knitting

The Hands Occupied Story

February 8, 2018 11 Comments

A pretty thorough reflection on how the heck Hands Occupied came about and why. Suffice it to say, none of this was planned.

Get your hands on the Rhombuster Scarf pattern, a colorful new design from Heidi Gustad. Don't think scarf patterns can surprise you? Give the Rhombuster a shot to try something new!

Allow me to reintroduce myself.

September 25, 2017 7 Comments

One of my goals for Hands Occupied this year is being less buttoned up. Today I want to share more about what my first year as a full time knit & crochet designer looked like. Brace yourselves – it was a doozie!

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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

Yarn craft designer & author. Into intarsia knits, latch hook, color & vintage-modern style.
❤️ Email for pattern support
👇🏻 Book, Patterns, Tutorials

Heidi Gustad 🧶✂️
Sneaking in a few stitches in the shade. 😎 Sneaking in a few stitches in the shade. 😎
Another morning of filming! One of the knitting vi Another morning of filming! One of the knitting videos I’d like to release soon is a big overview of how to swatch and why - if you have any questions or favorite tips, let me know. 
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To be honest, I want to be able to link to this video as a resource when I get angry gauge questions, so please don’t hesitate to share your best tips. Together, we can tame the knitting Karens. 😆
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#stopswatchandblockit #handsoccupied #knitting #knittersofinstagram
A big issue I've had in the last year is putting t A big issue I've had in the last year is putting together new design work but not doing any independent releases of them. Chalk it up to anxiety, burn out, or whatever but here we are. 
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Last week I turned 35, so in honor of that here’s 3 things: 
❤️ a picture of me at my most stylish 
💛 a little glimpse at some of the design things I've recently been working on
💙a promise that I will be releasing some of the pictured designs this year. Getting back in the swing of things after taking it easy is hard 😆 - wish me luck!
Like a riding a bike! June guarded the neighborhoo Like a riding a bike! June guarded the neighborhood while I shot a new crochet tutorial today. With any luck, editing will go smoothly & I’ll be posting new videos to YouTube regularly soon! Got any requests for tutorial topics? 
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#handsoccupied #crochet #studiodog #crochettutorial
This yoke deserved a mid-blocking closeup, don’t This yoke deserved a mid-blocking closeup, don’t you think? ❤️💛💙
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Pattern: modified #soldotnacrop sweater / yarn: various from my stash
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