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

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How-to: Make a garden with reclaimed railroad ties

September 21, 2011 Leave a Comment

Disclaimer 1: I did not steal the railroad ties used in this project. For one thing, I needed help lifting most of those giant suckers (thanks, husband!). The ties were in my yard when we moved in last spring. It wasn’t until I set up the garden that I realized where this heretofore mysterious wood came from – the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA)! I was taking the train one day and noticed something familiar… my garden!

Disclaimer 2: This isn’t an epic tutorial. As I’ve said before in gardening posts, I’m a newbie gardener and welcome any notes you might have. The long and short of this phase of creating the raised bed was locating wood, and setting it up in the best place for success. I kept notes all summer at our new place about what parts of our yard flood and where the good light is.

Disclaimer 3: Don’t grow edible plants in a railroad tie garden – the ties are treated with toxic chemicals. Only use railroad ties to make a plant garden!

The awesome thing about using railroad ties is that they’re so weighty that you don’t really need to drill them together to make them stay in place. My old garden was built with landscaping lumber and required long screws to stay together. I wonder if any residual train oils or coal or whatnot will affect my garden next year. Hmm…

At any rate, I obviously have yet to fill in the dirt for my garden, so I’ll have to ask you to use your imagination. Just hang on, as I will, until the spring. I’ll put a reminder in my calendar to ask y’all who read this to recommend vegetables for me to plant.

For now, check out the pictures and imagine the bulbs I planted today coming up in the spring.

Also, take a moment to laugh at how incredibly dirty I got planting my bulbs. I put in allium flowers, two kinds of tulips, and I transplanted some leafy perennials that were already in my yard.

Filed Under: Home Decor, How-to, Summer Tagged With: bulbs, cta, fall, garden, railroad ties

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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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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