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Hands Occupied

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

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Mother’s Day

May 12, 2013 1 Comment

My Mom and I baking as a baby. | HandsOccupied.com

Let me give you a minute to get over my complete baby blondeness and how much my adult self looks like my mom…

While there’s still a few more days left to let me know how you think Hands Occupied is doing in my first-ever reader survey, it’s already abundantly clear that 99% of y’all want to know more about me as a person. Mother’s Day sounds like a good place to begin opening the door to opening up.

So, the pictures above were taken when my mom was about 5 years older than I am now, and I was about 18 months (I’m guessing because of the pumpkin cookie cutter and my wee size this was October 1988). My love of baking and crafting started at an extremely early age, thanks largely to my mom*. She made sure I knew the important things in life, like how to make from-scratch sugar cookies because store bought cookies are garbage, how to grow a garden, and about a million other things. Family was a priority in my house growing up. I don’t remember many nights we didn’t eat a home-cooked meal, often with canned or fresh vegetables from her garden.

My 26th birthday is in a few weeks, and I’ve been married for two years. I realized a couple months ago that I have only just begun to feel like a true adult. Without effort I find myself worrying about growing my business and career, saving for retirement, making the most of my time. With that growing adult perspective, I realized that my mom’s level of support for my little brother and I growing up wasn’t just something that came automatically and easily (even though that’s how we totally perceived it as kids). Not too long ago I learned that when my little brother was born, she’d wanted to reduce her job to part time status, but wasn’t able to, and that’s why she was home with us full time while my brother was really little. Then, when she got back into the work force, she got a job that let her work full time six months out of the year with summers off. Whether or not the stay-at-home status was what she & my dad wanted financially at first, it meant so much to have her at home. We were off school and Mom was home to teach us all sorts of wonderful things to keep our hands occupied (HA!!). We also got to participate in a lot of activities like summer reading at the library, park district sports, and swimming lessons. It was awesome.

I’m really proud of my mom. As friends of mine have had kids, I can see how hard it is so balance pregnancy, kids and a career – not to mention a social life. So often, as has been discussed a lot in the media lately (thanks in no small part to Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer and Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg), having children limits women’s careers for a myriad of reasons. Some of these reasons are external, and some are self-imposed. Maybe my mom met with some limitations when she tried to balance her professional and parental workloads, which included a spazzy 3-year-old me and a newborn son. But now, my mom has a very impressive job at which she’s the boss. AND she still got to spend tons of time with lil bro and I growing up. AND she’s been married 27 years. AND she and my dad have an excellent relationship. My mom really got to have it all and still has it in spades which is darn impressive. I can only hope that I will be so lucky in my life. Happy Mother’s Day, Mom.

*Stay tuned, my dad’s pretty awesome too. I’ve got a Father’s Day post incubating in my brain as we speak.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: career, mother's day, parenting, personal, role model, women

About Heidi

Heidi Gustad is a craft book author, designer & creator specializing in yarn crafts like knitting, crochet, latch hook & macramé. Her first book, Latch Hook: 12 Projects for the Modern Maker, is out now.

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  1. Mom

    May 12, 2013 at 8:51 am

    Thanks Heidi! What a wonderful way to start Mother’s Day. Love you

    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, designer & creator specializing in yarn crafts like knitting, crochet, latch hook & macramé
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Heidi Gustad 🧶✂️
Here’s how to work a Norwegian purl stitch for e Here’s how to work a Norwegian purl stitch for easier continental style knitting. With this purling method, the working yarn says tensioned (held) at the back of your knitting at all times. For many knitters, always holding the yarn at the back helps with tension issues, as well as feeling a little more comfortable. 
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Have you ever encountered this style of purling before? If you’ve tried it, have you found it helps with your purl tension and knitting speed? I’m curious.
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For a written tutorial, visit handsoccupied-dot-com. For video, you guessed it, You2be. Both of these platforms allow for longer, more in-depth versions of this tutorial, including full transcripts, alt text & the ability to pause, slow down or speed up at will. (Like if you really want to learn this, I recommend using a platform that doesn’t keep your hands occupied. Thinking of putting this in all my captions these days tbh - shout out to you if you made it this far. 🙌🏻😂)
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#handsoccupied #learntoknit #continentalknitting #howtoknit #norwegianpurl #norwegianknitting #knit #knitting #knitter #knittersofinstagram #knittinghack  #handknitting #handknit #norwegianpurling
Have you ever tried this style of purl? . All thi Have you ever tried this style of purl? 
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All this recent talk about throwing vs. continental style knitting made it clear many people struggle with purling in continental knitting. Turns out that Norway may have the answer! In Norwegian purling, the working yarn stays tensioned at the back at all times, helping with speed and tension. 🤯
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Head to the bl0g (🔗 in bi0) for a more in-depth look at how to work a Norwegian purl stitch, including a photo tutorial with animated GIF & a video tutorial. Wrapping your mind around how to work a stitch you’re familiar with in a totally new way can be confusing, so I tried to give a few options for clarity. 🤙🏻 Video is also on You2be. 
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#handsoccupied #norwegianpurl #norwegianknitting #norwegianpurling #continentalknitting #howtoknit #learntoknit #knitterofinstagram #knitters
It’s been a hot second since I showed my face or It’s been a hot second since I showed my face or reintroduced myself, so here goes! I’m Heidi Gustad, a craft book author, pattern designer, and tutorial creator who specializes in yarn crafts. Lately, I’ve been focused on releasing quality knitting videos and related blog posts to help teach things like the difference between provisional cast ons and how to fix common knitting mistakes. Next week I’m shooting requested crochet and latch hook videos, so h👀kers, your time is coming! And if you ever have tutorial requests, please let me know. ☺️
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TLDR: I’m Heidi. I design & teach yarn crafts. You can find tutorials on my blog (est. 2010) & You2be. I also have several knitting & crochet patterns + a book about latch hook available. / All of these can be found on my website, the 🔗 is where you’d think. 
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#handsoccupied #fridayintroduction #heidigustad #knitting #knitter #knittersofinstagram #yarncrafts #latchhookbook
Are you a picker or a thrower? Do you knit Contine Are you a picker or a thrower? Do you knit Continental or English Style? Here’s a quick overview of the differences between the two most common knitting styles, including a side by side comparison. (A good one to save for future reference. 👍🏻) 
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There’s more on the differences between picking and throwing in my latest blog post & You 2ube video - the l1nk is where you’d think!
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#handsoccupied #learntoknit #knittingstyles #howtoknit #knittersofinstagram #knitter
Spent time with family this weekend down South. Go Spent time with family this weekend down South. Got some stitching in & felt spring for a minute, which was lovely. ☀️ 
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I’ll be catching up on comments, etc. tomorrow. 
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#handsoccupied #travelknitting #planeknitting
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