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

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My Family’s Crafts: Silver Clarinet Lamp

October 25, 2012 3 Comments

My Family's Crafts: Metal Clarinet Lamp | HandsOccupied.com

This week, I shared how to hang a giant map with an easy dowel & binder clip DIY project anyone can do. I also asked you for some advice to help improve my living room decor, and this lamp was in the pictures I shared. Many house guests ask me about this lamp, so I thought I’d share its story.

Yes, it’s a real clarinet. Silver clarinets used to be common, and this one belonged to my great-grandma on my mom’s dad’s side. This was the high school band instrument of three generations in our family. I was very into music in high school, and even majored in oboe for a year in college.

I ended up inheriting a lot of band and other instruments over the years, including this clarinet. Since I’m not a clarinetist, I didn’t really need this for playing, but my oboe teacher had a really cool oboe-turned lamp in her house that I always admired. My late grandpa converted this into a lamp for me for Christmas one year, and it’s been a fixture in my house ever since.

Filed Under: Home Decor, Vintage Crafts Tagged With: diy, lamp, my family's crafts, repurpose, silver clarinet, wiring

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. Ilene

    May 10, 2014 at 8:28 pm

    Do you know where I can get an oboe lamp? I would like to buy one for my son.
    Thanks.

    Reply
    • Heidi

      May 12, 2014 at 7:34 pm

      Hi Ilene! Sorry, I don’t – my grandpa made me this out of my Great-Grandma’s clarinet. I was an oboist, and my teacher in high school had her dad make her an oboe lamp out of a thrift store find. Maybe check Etsy? Best of luck!

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Decorating with Musical Instruments - HomeLyst Blog says:
    November 20, 2014 at 4:00 am

    […] If your former instrument was a clarinet, you can give it a second chance and turn it into a table lamp. The picture below is a great example. It was a present to Heidi from her grandfather and you can read more about its story here. […]

    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 🧶✂️
When you have four big skeins of pretty 2 ply yarn When you have four big skeins of pretty 2 ply yarn, you immediately think sweater, right? 
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My wardrobe could use another handmade sweater - I’m thinking something simple, seamed and with a decent amount of ease for potentially wearing tucked in with jeans or skirts. 🤔 
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Yarn: @universal_yarn Fibra Natura Cobblestone in Antarctica and Dragon’s Breath, wound in thick skeins of 100% superwash wool that’s a light DK weight.
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
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