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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 with Disney… and Me!

October 20, 2021 Leave a Comment

The Magic Carpet Throw Blanket by Heidi Gustad can be found in the new Knitting with Disney book by Tanis Gray! (Insight editions, 2021)

You read that title right, folks! I have a new knitting design coming out in the brand new, official Knitting with Disney book. Mine is just one among dozens of awesome Disney-inspired projects in the collection, all brought together by the book’s publisher, Insight Editions, and its author Tanis Gray.

Knitting with Disney (knitting pattern book) by Tanis Gray 28 Official Patterns Inspired by Mickey Mouse, The Little Mermaid, and More!
The cover, so cute!

With more than a dozen published knitting titles under her belt, I was excited to have the opportunity to work with Tanis on a project like this! This project came about when things were kind of crazy last year (as if all of 2020 wasn’t “kind of crazy” 😆 ). When they reached out, the book was coming together, but they were looking for someone excited about designing an intarsia colorwork pattern, specifically a life-size take on the Magic Carpet from Aladdin. … Gulp, right?

But it turns out I’m a happy little weirdo when it comes to designing and working with intarsia, and I absolutely enjoyed brining this character to life. Every time you bind off a knitting project, there’s a little feeling of having created some magic (at least for me). But when I bound off a life-size take on the Magic Carpet, a sentient being y’all!, it really thought for a second I’d quite literally woven magic. It was a pretty rad feeling, even though this is actually how tired I looked after joining the final tassels to this project:

Heidi Gustad (Hands Occupied) after finishing the Magic Carpet Throw Blanket design and sample for Knitting with Disney (Insight Editions, 2021).

Like I said, I’m very proud to have been tasked with making the Magic Carpet into a usable, human-sized blanket, but I admit I was intimidated at the start. :) I sort of said yes to this project because I didn’t have anything else to loose, other than my fear of taking intarsia colorwork design concepts to the next level. I’d started to play with some of these design ideas in my Intarsia Mountain blanket (2018) & Faded Flare Wrap (2019), specifically making a somewhat reversible fabric using intarsia colorwork. So, for me, that meant using garter stitch primarily with intarsia, rather than the stockinette that is so often encountered. The Magic Carpet Throw is probably the fullest expression of this idea while still being knittable, and I really enjoyed the process of interpreting a rug animated by computers and drawing in knitting.

Peep my Magic Carpet Throw in the Knitting with Disney book trailer:

Preorder information and how to get bonus free pattern: Knitting with Disney

How to get your hands on the book, plus a discount and a bonus pattern!

Preorders are now open for Knitting with Disney, which will be released November 9, 2021. If you preorder the title, you can submit proof of purchase to get a free pattern not included in the book, the Simba Mittens. Here’s how it works:

  • You can buy Knitting with Disney from any retailer to get the free pattern, but you will get a 25% discount if you purchase at InsightEditions.com with the code DISNEYKNIT.
    • Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1647221803/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i7
    • Insight Editions’ website, use code DISNEYKNIT to get 25% off: https://insighteditions.com/pages/knittingwithdisney
  • Getting the free pattern:
    • After you’ve ordered the title, “register” it on this page to get the free pattern.
    • Everyone who registers their pre-order will be sent the free pattern on November 9, when the book is released.

It’s funny that I designed a knitted take on a magic rug for Knitting with Disney, because I’m also a designer of actual rugs, specifically latch hook and punch needle. While you wait for your Knitting with Disney preorders to come in next month, you should check out my book, Latch Hook: 12 Projects for the Modern Maker. It turns one TODAY: https://bit.ly/latch-hook-book.

For either book, shipping could be bananas because the world continues to be complicated, so I encourage anyone who wants a physical copy of either title by, let’s say, December 25 to hop on the preorder (or just plain order) train!

//

And one last thing: Catch me on the Stockinette Zombies Podcast this Sunday as part of the Knitting with Disney virtual launch party!

To celebrate the release of Knitting with Disney, the Stockinette Zombies podcast will be hosting a launch party Zoom call this Sunday, Oct. 24 at 3PM CST! Tanis Gray, the hosts of Stockinette Zombies, and several of us contributing designers will be there live to talk about the book, discuss our patterns, and have a yarny good time.

Find all launch party Zoom details here.

Filed Under: Knitting, My Work Elsewhere Tagged With: aladdin, heidi gustad, intarsia, knitting book, knitting with disney, magic carpet, magic carpet design, magic carpet throw, throw blanket

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 (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.
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Heidi Gustad 🧶✂️
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
If you look closely, you’ll see I’m casually k If you look closely, you’ll see I’m casually knitting from one sweater into another here, no big deal. (What can I say, I lost a game of yarn chicken. 😂) I almost didn’t post this because I was worried someone might have some nonsense to say about my ability to knit. Then I remembered I can’t care about that. Silly me, I almost forgot myself! 
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Speaking of which, dang it’s good to have my mental health back consistently after the past couple of years. The anxious parts of my personality are just chilling, rather than constantly screaming that my work isn’t good enough to share. The confident parts of me that matter have me creating (and starting to share my creations & process with strangers and friends) again! 
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Anybody else feel like they are beginning to return to themselves, so to speak, this spring?
I’m feeling better, & all my [big, bad bug] proj I’m feeling better, & all my [big, bad bug] project needs is a couple of short sleeves! I’ll be finishing this sweater *just* before it gets too warm to wear, but isn’t that always how it goes? 🫠🧶 
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#knittersofinstagram #soldotnacrop #handsoccupied #knitincolor #springknitting
Just divided the sleeves on this quick sweater, wh Just divided the sleeves on this quick sweater, which has unsurprisingly turned into a love letter to primary colors. ❤️💛💙 The heart stripe is a wee tweak I incorporated, and I don’t regret it! 
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 #handsoccupied #soldotnacrop #strandedcolorwork #knitting #yokesweater
I am unfortunately home bound for the near future I am unfortunately home bound for the near future thanks to the big, bad bug. So far I’ve knit half a sweater, consumed about a gallon of ginger tea, & plowed through 3 seasons of Pit Bulls and Parolees. 
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June doesn’t understand why I’m suddenly so boring, but she seems to like watching animal planet. 🤷🏼‍♀️
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