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Hands Occupied

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

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Celebrate Heart Month with Knitting & Crochet!

February 15, 2016 2 Comments

Learn how a simple donated baby hat can help save lives - click through for more information and three free patterns to get you started!

By now you’ve likely read or seen something from me about the American Heart Association’s Little Hats, Big Hearts campaign. In the few short years since the project’s inception, the AHA and volunteer knitters and crocheters have made thousands of red hats to help raise awareness about infant heart health and congenital heart defects. My family and friends have been touched by some of these issues, so every year, I do what I can to help drum up as many donations as possible.

Support the Little Hats, Big Hearts knitting program with a Well Wish! Click to learn how you can help this exceptional charity knitting program with more than knitting or crochet.
To avoid being too redundant, I’ll direct you to my blog posts featuring information about the campaign, and three free patterns that are perfect for donating to next year’s Little Hats, Big Hearts drive.

  • Baby Hearts Hat Pattern & My Family’s Story
  • Preemie Baby Hearts Hat Pattern
  • Little Hats, Big Hearts in the News
  • Declan’s Story & A Baby Pixie Hat Pattern
  • Help Support Little Hats, Big Hearts with a Well Wish

In addition to the patterns and updates, I recently wrote an article about the campaign in a feature article for this month’s issue of I Like Knitting magazine.* Here’s just a taste of the article:

We knitters tend to be a charitable group, and one excellent way we can give back this month, American Heart Month, is by knitting little red hats for newborns. The American Heart Association’s Little Hats, Big Hearts campaign sends newborns home from the hospital with red hats and some lifesaving information during the month of February. […]

To read the whole article, you’ll have to check out I Like Knitting magazine this month. If you already have a subscription, here’s direct link to the article. To learn more about the Little Hats, Big Hearts campaign, be sure to visit heart.org/littlehatsbighearts. The American Heart Association’s website lists donation information for all of the states currently participating in the program. We’d love to have you on board as a volunteer knitter! Just let me know in the comments if you have any questions about how to get involved. :)

Knit red hats to help raise awareness about preemie heart health with the free Declan Hat pattern!

*Conveniently and coincidentally, I Like Knitting magazine subscriptions are 43% off this week, from 2/15 to 2/21/16. I had already planned to share this blog post as a reminder of the campaign during Heart Month, but I thought the sale worth mentioning while I was on the topic of the magazine & article I wrote. This post is not sponsored, though there are affiliate links above.

Filed Under: Knitting & Crochet Tagged With: american heart association, baby heart hats, baby hearts, charity knitting, free pattern, heart month, little hats big hearts, red hats

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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Comments

  1. Ruth

    February 27, 2016 at 4:59 pm

    Where is instructions for a doible crochet baby’s hat? Please send a link. Thanks

    Reply
    • Heidi

      March 3, 2016 at 6:21 pm

      If you visit heart.org/littlehatsbighearts and click on any one of the states, each page features a variety of hat patterns for knit, crochet or loom knitting.

      Reply

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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

Craft book author & pattern designer ❤️💛💙
knitting, crochet, latch hook & macramé
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Please email for pattern support. 🧶

Heidi Gustad 🧶✂️
How to to knit throwing (a.k.a. English) style . How to to knit throwing (a.k.a. English) style 
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In knitting, there are a few common knitting styles. Most often you’re going to encounter continental style and English (throwing) style on your knitting journey. I recently had an old video teaching continental style get a lot of views. Based on the comments, it was clear the people wanted to also see a throwing tutorial, so here you go! 🧶
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Please note that there is a LOT of variation in knitting styles, and one isn’t necessarily better than another. Most often, I’ve found it comes down to two things: how you were taught and whether or not you’re really into colorwork knitting (which can involve a mix of styles). 
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Longer-term knitters who’ve made it this far: do you prefer one over the other? And why? 
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#handsoccupied #englishknitting #learntoknit #knitting #howtoknit #knittersofinstagram #knitting_inspiration
How to do a one-step provisional knitting cast on How to do a one-step provisional knitting cast on / a.k.a. crochet provisional cast on, scrap yarn cast on
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I read recently that tiktok and Instagram are being used as search engines more and more. 🤔 I thought since I’m going to all the work of making tutorials on YouTube, I should experiment with making a quick version of them for other platforms. There are obvious teaching limitations to vertical video, short-form content like this, but I think I covered the gist of this cast on in a minute. The YouTube version also covers how to unzip this cast on because there was time for it 👍🏻 L1nk is in my profile. 
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I’m very much looking for feedback as I continue to make instructional knitting & craft videos. Sometimes good tutorials are hard to find, and (ideally polite) feedback helps me improve. 
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#handsoccupied #provisionalcaston #knitting #knititngtutorial #knittersofinstagram #crochethook #knittingtutorial
For the first time in a long time, there’s a new For the first time in a long time, there’s a new tutorial from Hands Occupied! 🎉 The video is live on YouTube & the blog. 
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The post covers what provisional cast ons are & how they differ, and the video covers how to work a one-step provisional cast on using scrap yarn and a crochet hook. (This is a great one to save for future reference.)
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I learned several names for this method while researching this video & post. Crochet provisional cast on, one-step cast on, scrap yarn cast on - if you know even more names for this technique, please share! 
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#handsoccupied #provisionalcaston #knitting #scrapyarn #crochethook
Working on a sample for some upcoming videos. It’s an overcast day with intermittent sunshine & I have a scruffy little sidecar. 🐶 Can’t complain! 
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What’s on your needles this week? 
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Yarn: @debbieblissknits Cashmerino Aran 
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#handsoccupied #knitting #knittinglife
Peg boards and craft room organization go together Peg boards and craft room organization go together like peanut butter and jelly. So, as you can see, do latch hook tools and screwdriver organizers! 🪛 
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I think this trick translates to any tool with a thick handle, so leather working tools, punch needles, print making tools, etc. should work! What other tools am I, a needlecrafter, blanking on right now? 
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#craftorganization #handsoccupied #latchhook #latchhooking
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