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Hands Occupied

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

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handmade wardrobe

Read about one knitter's Christmas inspired take on the Soldotna Crop sweater pattern by Caitlin Hunter, including tips for customizing for fit!

A Christmasy Soldotna Crop / Handmade Wardrobe

December 10, 2019 1 Comment

Read about one knitter’s Christmas inspired take on the Soldotna Crop sweater pattern by Caitlin Hunter, including tips for customizing for fit!

Read about how this intarsia jack-o'-lantern sweater came to be, and the joy of making exactly what you want to make, just for you.

Jack-O’-Lantern Sweater / Handmade Wardrobe

October 17, 2019 11 Comments

Have you ever just sat down and made something because you had a picture in your head of what you wanted to make? Read about how this intarsia jack-o’-lantern sweater came to be, and the joy of making exactly what you want to make, just for you.

Sewing the Mathilde Blouse: what worked? What didn't? And where can you find fun, fresh fabric to pair with some beautiful buttons for adding to your handmade wardrobe? This post has the answers.

Mathilde / Handmade Wardrobe

October 1, 2019 2 Comments

Sewing the Mathilde Blouse: what worked? What didn’t? And where can you find fun, fresh fabric to pair with some beautiful buttons for adding to your handmade wardrobe? This post has the answers.

Handmade beachwear is so much fun to make! Find tips for achieving a good fit when knitting from a vintage pattern, and take a look at a handmade, 1940s-inspired swim set.

Boardwalk Duet & Fernlace Pullover 2.0 / Handmade Wardrobe

August 21, 2019 4 Comments

Handmade beachwear is so much fun to make! Find tips for achieving a good fit when knitting from a vintage pattern, and take a look at a handmade, 1940s-inspired swim set.

Making a skirt from a favorite dress sewing pattern is easy! Get some easy tips for making half of your favorite dress in the latest edition of Handmade Wardrobe on Hands Occupied.

Simplicity 1803: Just the Skirt / Handmade Wardrobe

August 7, 2019 3 Comments

Making a skirt from a favorite dress sewing pattern is easy! Get some easy tips for making half of your favorite dress in the latest installment of Handmade Wardrobe on Hands Occupied.

Knittable in two weekends (really!), a short sleeved, worsted weight cardigan is a quick addition to a handmade wardrobe. Check out Heidi's modified take on the Myrna cardigan using Blue Sky Fibers' Woolstok yarn.

Stripey Myrna Sweater / Handmade Wardrobe

July 2, 2019 Leave a Comment

Knittable in two weekends (really!), a short sleeved, worsted weight cardigan is a quick addition to a handmade wardrobe. Check out Heidi’s modified take on the Myrna cardigan using Blue Sky Fibers’ Woolstok yarn.

Learn what I loved, hated and would do differently in making this handmade outfit. The sweater is an original 1940s knitting pattern for the Fernlace Pullover, and the skirt is a self-drafted circle skirt pattern, fully lined.

Fernlace Pullover & A Self-Drafted Circle Skirt / Handmade Wardrobe

June 12, 2019 3 Comments

Working with vintage knitting patterns can be tough, and self-drafting a circle skirt presents its own sewing challenges. Learn what I loved, hated and would do differently in making this handmade outfit.

Handmade Wardrobe / Learn the ins and outs, pros and cons of sewing the beginner-friendly ESP Dress from Decades of Style.

The ESP Dress / Handmade Wardrobe

May 29, 2019 4 Comments

Learn the ins and outs, pros and cons of sewing the beginner-friendly ESP Dress from Decades of Style.

Handmade Wardrobe: Simplicity 1803. Sometimes stash-diving results in a fun dress that teaches you a thing or two about ease and fit. Click to check out the pros and cons of making Simplicity pattern 1803, and get some practical sewing advice from Grandma while you're at it!

Simplicity 1803 / Handmade Wardrobe

May 22, 2019 Leave a Comment

Sometimes stash-diving results in a fun dress that teaches you a thing or two about ease and fit. Click to check out the pros and cons of making Simplicity pattern 1803, and get some practical sewing advice from Grandma while you’re at it!

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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

Helping yarn crafters untangle various techniques on the internet since 2010
🧶 Really into intarsia
Stay up-to-date 💌 & shop the latest patterns ⤵️

Heidi Gustad 🧶 knitting & yarn crafts
It’s time for the monthly review and giveaway! T It’s time for the monthly review and giveaway! This go around, get to know two new sister yarns from @manosyarnsusa, Marla and Sami, and enter to win a skein of each to try for yourself. 
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What makes these yarns sisters is that, while dyed differently, they’re the same weight and come in intentionally coordinating color palettes. For my review, I opted for a sky-inspired combo of Sami in Natural and Marla in Nube. 🌧️ 
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Check out the full review & enter the giveaway at the link in my bio. 
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#handsoccupied #yarnreview #manosdeluruguay #knitting_inspire #crochet #yarngiveaway #knitters #yarn #crochetersofinstagram
If only knitting a whole project took 39 seconds… 😮‍💨 
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In this video, you can see how the Intarsia Flower Pillow pattern knits up - two flat panels, one with intarsia, both are blocked, and then they’re seamed. Find the pattern on @hi.ravelry & my website, just search Intarsia Flower Pillow. 🌸 
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P.S. I’m really smiling in this video while seaming the pillow, so I guess I’m proving last week’s claim that I truly enjoy that sometimes-dreaded task. 😆🫣
In knitting, a Left Lifted Increase (LLI) lets you In knitting, a Left Lifted Increase (LLI) lets you add a stitch in between two columns of stitches that leans to the left. Similar to an M1L, LLIs allow you to increase nearly invisibly.
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To learn more about lifted increases, including when to use them and how they differ from Make 1s, head to the 🔗 in my profle. 
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Have you ever used lifted increases? I used M1’s almost exclusively for a long time when I needed to inc between stitches, but when I designed the Intarsia Flower Pillow pattern, I needed something that would allow me to increase a lot near my cast on, and M1’s resulted in edge curling. The more you know! 🌈 
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Yarn: @lionbrandyarn Wool Ease from my Stash / Neddles: @boyeyarncrafts - Just remembered these are the needles I learned to knit on at age 8. 😂
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#handsoccupied #knitting #learntoknit #howtoknit #sweaterknitting #knitinspiration #knittersofinstagram #liftedincreases
Last week I got to hang out with my family & helpe Last week I got to hang out with my family & helped babysit my red-headed niece and nephew. So here’s some plane knitting, and a couple pictures (shared with permission) of my babysitting adventures.
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Lessons learned: 1️⃣ Trying to knit around 2 toddlers, 2 cats & 2 large dogs is pretty hard. 2️⃣ I learned during water color time that pink and black make “colorful black.” 🩷🖤 3️⃣ Toddlers do NOT care about your rainbow sorting of their toys. 4️⃣ Toddlers are very good at finding mischief in a very short amount of time, what a surprise. 😂
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#handsoccupied #knitting #placesyoucanknit #knitters #knitinpublic #handmadelife #knitting_inspiration
Weaving in ends & seaming with mattress stitch are Weaving in ends & seaming with mattress stitch are both so useful for garment knitting! But for me, weaving in ends can feel like a chore while the latter feels like I’ve successfully done magic. 🧙🏻‍♀️ Does anybody else run into this phenomenon? Are you the opposite? Any theories as to why they feel different? 
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In this video, I’m finishing my brand new Intarsia Flower Pillow. 🌸 I’m working with @universal_yarn Uni Merino & the pattern is available at the 🔗 in my b1o. 
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#handsoccupied #intarsiaflowerpillow #intarsia #intarsiaknitting #knitting #colorwork #knitpillow #knittinginspiration #knittersofinstagram
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