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Hands Occupied

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

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West Coast Love & A free pattern!

February 25, 2015 1 Comment

West Coast Love Book Review | Hands Occupied

You know those friends you click with effortlessly? Artist and embroidery designer Megan Eckman and I were in the same fifth grade class back in Fargo, ND. We graduated high school together, our little brothers played sports and graduated together themselves and our moms are friends. We’ve known each other almost 20 years, so when Megan set up the blog book tour for her new embroidery book West Coast Love, I was immediately on board.

West Coast Love Book Review | Hands Occupied

You don’t have to be from the west coast to appreciate this coffee cup pattern!

From the Golden Gate Bridge to the Seattle Space Needle, this 100+ page digital pattern book gives you a tour of the seaside states. In addition to man-made landmarks, you can stitch up iconic birds, alternative state flags, and national park monuments. West Coast Love is the first pattern book by Megan Eckman, the designer behind Studio MME. Her patterns are simple to sew but intricate in their design, letting you curl up on the couch with a beer while you stitch something beautiful.

West Coast Love Book Review | Hands Occupied

Free embroidery pattern – Steller’s Jay

To give you a taste of what to expect from West Coast Love, here’s a pattern from the book for you to try. It features a lovely bird native to the Northwest called the steller’s jay. It’s a really gorgeous bird similar to the blue jay, but features some black in its coloring that’s really gorgeous, especially in embroidered form! Get the free pattern here. 

West Coast Love Book Review | Hands Occupied I have a distinct memory of Megan sitting at my parents’ kitchen counter drawing fantastic illustrations on post it notes at age 10. Even then, she was a talented illustrator, and today, she’s expanded her design talents to embroidery. Her new book is full of 20 adorable designs designed to be sewn on pennant style flags and embroidery hoops, complete with instructions on preparing your hoops and flags for display after completing the embroidery part of your projects. Even Midwesterners like myself can appreciate how fun these designs are – I’m hoping she does a book of Midwest patterns and comes for a visit to Chicago for inspiration! :)

Filed Under: Book Reviews, Embroidery Tagged With: book review, embroidery, hollywood embroidery, megan eckman, stitching, studio mme, west coast love

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. Julie

    February 25, 2015 at 9:11 am

    what a cool collection of embroidery patterns !I love embroidery, I return to it every so often, it’s always so satisfying.

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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 🧶✂️
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
Peg boards and craft room organization go together Peg boards and craft room organization go together like peanut butter and jelly. So, as you can see, do latch hook tools and screwdriver organizers! 🪛 
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I think this trick translates to any tool with a thick handle, so leather working tools, punch needles, print making tools, etc. should work! What other tools am I, a needlecrafter, blanking on right now? 
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#craftorganization #handsoccupied #latchhook #latchhooking
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