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Hands Occupied

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

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How-to: My Zen Bathroom

January 23, 2012 Leave a Comment

Two of my guiltiest pleasures in the world are taking baths in my deluxe bejetted tub and reading Martha Stewart Living magazine. I try not to read MSL too much because I don’t want all my projects to look like a crappy shadow of the Stewart team’s wonderful ideas. Today’s tutorial is inspired by a combination of this idea from the January 2012 issue of MSL:

…and the bathroom design below. I just *love* bathrooms with living plants. Incredibly relaxing – it’s nice to see something organic in an otherwise sterile looking environment.

Source: freshome.com via Heidi on Pinterest

 

Last summer, I made a point of including potted plants to help improve air quality in my home. However, six months later, my succulents aren’t doing so hot, my aloe has outgrown its pot, and I’ve got a cactus in need of repotting in deeper soil. Hold up – won’t repotting plants indoors make for a huge, dirt-filled  disaster? Not according to Martha Stewart!

Following MSL’s lead, I assembled my very own indoor gardening toolkit to help contain the mess of repotting plants.

indoor gardening toolkit supplies

a wide & shallow tub

cheap trowel

seeds

a small bit of potting soil

a few pebbles to help with water drainage (see this gardening 101 post to learn more)

though it doesn’t need to live with your toolkit, a dust buster and/or hand broom with dustpan are helpful

small watering can

plant light bulbs and lamps to help your plants grow on cloudy days

check out my toolkit 

I really love the look of terra cotta (clay) pots, and I’ve had good luck with them, so I’m keeping a small one in my toolkit as well. I read somewhere that terra cotta pots’ water-absorbing properties are good for keeping plants alive. Bonus.

I didn’t grab a fresh bag of potting soil or pebbles at the store for this because I knew I had some out on my frozen balcony. After hauling in and defrosting said  gardening supplies, I was set to tackle repotting my aloe, cactus, and surviving succulents.

moving aloe to a bigger pot

new “tropical plant” 

Really. All the label says is “tropical plant.” Anybody know what the heck this is, other than pretty?

newly planted herb seeds: dill, cat grass, sage, chives & cumin

And now, with my soon-to-be herbs starting to germinate, and my repotted plants settling in, my happy place is once again zen. All it took was a rubbermaid tub and a dust buster, both of which are now easily tucked away. I’ll let you guys know when the seeds start to sprout!

Filed Under: Home Decor, How-to Tagged With: aloe, cactus, grow lamp, herbs, indoor gardening, martha stewart, seeds, succulents

About Heidi

Heidi Gustad is a craft book author, designer & creator specializing in yarn crafts like knitting, crochet, latch hook & macramé. 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

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
How to convert a closet into WIPs storage with jus How to convert a closet into WIPs storage with just a few supplies ✂️
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When I was a librarian, we would use these hanging bags to circulate books with audiobook CDs. They came to mind when I wanted to develop a filing cabinet-like system for my differently-sized WIPs. To fit in my studio closet, a standard bedroom closet, they just needed custom hangers. 🤙🏻 
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HOW TO MAKE THE HANGERS
1. Carefully cut approx. a 9” (23 cm) length of flexible 3 mm aluminum wire.
2. Near the end of a large knitting needle or dowel, wrap the wire around it as you would a twist tie. 
3. Bend the other end into a hook shape, perpendicular to the circle shape you just created. 
4. Hang like a hanger in a closet, as shown. 
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#handsoccupied #handmadelife #knitting_inspiration #craftcloset #craftroom #craftroomorganization #craftroomstorage #craftroomdecor #crocheter #latchhook #knittersofinstagram #wip #wips #hangingstorage
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
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