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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.

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!

The Hat Hat | Hands Occupied

Big Changes!

September 6, 2016 17 Comments

After much deliberation, I recently decided that I’m ready to move on from Librarianship. It’s officially official – Friday was my last day of working as a Librarian. Learn about what that means for Hands Occupied in today’s post!

Iceland trip collage

A knitter in Iceland

April 4, 2016 4 Comments

Last month, my husband and I visited Iceland for ten days to celebrate our anniversary. Since it turns out that there’s yarn just about everywhere you look in Iceland, I thought I’d share a roundup of all the wooly highlights (and a bit of scenery) from our trip.

Get a free knitting pattern for an Outlander-inspired shawl, the Outlander Chevron Shawl from Hands Occupied

A look back at 2015 & what’s in store for 2016

January 5, 2016 2 Comments

Let’s start 2016 by taking a look back how I did with my 2015 goals, and then we can look at the year ahead and what I’ve got in store for all you yarn lovers!

Balancing Two Careers | HandsOccupied.com

Two Careers

January 21, 2015 4 Comments

Last week I talked about my 2015 plans & goals in an uncharacteristically personal (and long, sorry!) post for me. Dare I do it again? One of my 2015 goals is to open up a little more and stay on top of reader questions and such, so in a first step toward keeping my word, this post is all about how I balance being a Librarian as well as a blogger/knitting designer.

Plans & Goals for 2015 | Hands Occupied

Plans & Goals for 2015

January 14, 2015 3 Comments

I feel really good about finding my feet as a designer in 2014, so of course I want to keep growing and improving with this momentum. On that note, I have a few 2015 goals I want to share with you guys.

Red Hats for Newborns Pattern at handsoccupied.com

Red Hats for Newborns + A Free Pattern

August 18, 2014 98 Comments

The story of one of the most critical moments of loss in my life, how you can help raise awareness for this all-too-common issue, and a free knitting pattern to help you contribute to helping the cause.

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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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