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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 (she/her) is a craft book author & designer specializing in yarn crafts. Her work combines vintage and modern design elements, prioritizing color and graphic motifs. Her first book, Latch Hook: 12 Projects for the Modern Maker, is out now.

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Comments

  1. Mom

    May 12, 2013 at 8:51 am

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

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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), and I’ve been helping yarn crafters untangle various techniques on the internet since 2010. I got my start here, as a blogger, and since then I’ve shared more than a few tutorials here and on YouTube as I’ve grown as a pattern designer. 🧶 

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Heidi Gustad 🧶 knitting & yarn crafts

handsoccupied

Knitting & yarn crafts designer 🧶
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Stay up-to-date 💌 & shop new patterns ⤵️

POV: Showing you how my new Bevelled Tank pattern POV: Showing you how my new Bevelled Tank pattern fits with no ease vs. 4” of positive ease. There’s a bit more length to the cotton (brighter color) sample, but both are cropped and feature shoulder seams designed to sit an inch back onto the shoulder instead of on top, giving it a little swing. Length is easily adjustable for folks looking for less of a crop. 
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Pattern: Bevelled Tank by @handsoccupied for @pompommag x @hobbii_yarn summer 2024. Available for free from Hobbii at the 🔗 in my profile.
Yarn pictured: @kelbournewoolens Skipper and Camper. 
Dress form is adjusted to a 36” chest and ~5’3”ish in height. 
Human has a 40” chest and is 5’5”.
Both skirts are vintage.
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#pompomxhobbiisummer2024 #handsoccupied #intarsia #handmade #knitting #colorwork
Let’s talk about fit and ease! . During the Beve Let’s talk about fit and ease!
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During the Bevelled Tank design process for @pompommag, I knit 2 samples using 2 different @KelbourneWoolens yarns. One was in Skipper (100% cotton, second photo) and the other was in Camper (100% 2 ply wool). The Skipper sample was knit for a 36” bust, which measures in at 40” with 4” of positive ease. And I knit the Camper Sample for my 40” bust with a 44” finished measurement. (BTW, I’m 5’5” for folks that find that measurement helpful in visualizing fit.)
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Based on the size chart for the Bevelled Tank, that means I knit one size 3 sample and one size 4. As designed, I conveniently fit a size 4 as intended with 4” of positive ease. When I wear the 3, there is no ease at all because the garment and my body are both 40” in size. Comparing the 2 garments, you can see how the fiber content (cotton vs. wool) and fit (no ease vs. 4” of positive ease) makes a difference in the look and feel of the finished garment. 
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These samples are a great way to compare what ease looks like on different bodies. While I can fit both a size 3 and 4, the garment with no ease feels more like pajamas or a bralette when I wear it. On the other hand, when I wear the one with 4” of positive ease, I feel comfortable enough to wear it to work, even as a crop top. Plus, it leaves me with enough room to layer it with a nice button down if I’m not feeling the cropped look one day. 
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I’m curious - how would you style this tank? Would you modify it with a few stockinette rows for added length? I’m so curious now that this pattern is finally out in the world. :) 
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#pompomxhobbiisummer2024 #bevelledtank #handsoccupied #knitting #intarisa #handmade #kelbournewoolens #croppedsweater #summerknits
After a 6 month hiatus, I am happy to say I’m ba After a 6 month hiatus, I am happy to say I’m back with a brand new pattern in 9 sizes, and it’s FREE as part of @pompommag x @hobbii_yarn’s summer design collection! (Link is in my bio.)
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In my December newsletter, I announced that I was soliciting test knitters for a pattern that had originally been selected for the summer ’24 issue of Pom Pom Quarterly magazine. However, the magazine ceased publication after its spring ’24 issue, leaving in-progress designs unpublished. (It happens.) As a result, I’d begun the long process of editing, testing, and photographing the pattern for independent release through the Hands Occupied pattern shop and Ravelry.
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Before I was done with that process, Pom Pom Quarterly’s former editors reached out with an exciting proposal for the pattern. Post-magazine, they’ve begun to partner with yarn companies to produce high quality pattern collections. They wanted to include designs from the would-be current issue of Pom Pom Quarterly in a new collection for Hobbii yarn, including my Bevelled Tank. I worked with the same technical editors I would have for the magazine on this one, and as you can see from the photos, Pom Pom’s team did an amazing job of styling the garment to the beautiful standards they’re known for.
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You can learn more about the pattern on my blog and get the free pattern from Hobbii yarn - links to both in my profile. I’ll post sizing info in the comments for quick reference too. 🧶
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#pompomxhobbiisummer2024 #knitting #intarsia #sponsored #colorworkknitting 
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Photos: @dianascarrunz 
Model: @angel.jade_
Here’s a nice throwback for you: my take on a vi Here’s a nice throwback for you: my take on a vintage knitting pattern from 1938 called the Fernlace Pullover. A pattern so nice, I knit it twice.
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Yellow version 💛: knit with Despondent Dyes’ Vintage Vixen Sport after attending a @squidneyknits vintage knitting retreat in 2019 & learning *so much*. Paired with a self-drafted circle skirt pattern. 
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Blue version 💙: knit with @eweeweyarns Ewe So Sporty in Sky Blue. Paired with the 1940s Boardwalk Duet sewing pattern from @decades_of_style 
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Head to my stories for 🔗🔗 to the handmade wardrobe blog posts I wrote about each take on the Fernlace Pullover, working with a vintage pattern, where to find vintage patterns (including the one I used), & some thoughts on sizing. 
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Image descriptions available in alt text. 
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#handsoccupied #handmadewardrobe #fernlacepullover #vintageknitting #vintageknittingpatterns #knitting_inspiration
Frogging is a word in the knitting world that mean Frogging is a word in the knitting world that means to rip out your knitting. It’s called frogging because frogs say “ribbit,” and when you’re tearing out your knitting, you will “rip it” out, and that sounds like ribbit. No really. 🐸 Did you know this fun fact? 
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P.S. I did like this design concept, but to make the pattern more knitter friendly as well as more wearable, I am making some tweaks to the construction. Excited to share when it’s ready! 🥰🧶
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Yarn: @blueskyfibers Woolstok North in Morning Frost & Highland Fleece 
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#handsoccupied #knitting #frogging #blueskyfibers #knittersofinstagram #blueskymakers #knittingvocabulary #bsfmakers #knitdesign
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