stash busting! crocheted wooden hangers

I am still working on covering wire coat hangers for my closet redo but wanted to do a few wooden ones too.  
I had two in my closet and bought a few more online.    They are expensive so I had to wait until I found some cheap ones.....you'd think they were made of gold or something!

  
Even though it is easy, I thought I'd share the process because a new crocheter was intimidated.  

I used an "H" hook and RedHeart yarn from my stash.
Row 1: Chain enough to go around the thickest part of the hanger and then add 1.  Turn. 
(The reason you add 1 is because you are going to LOSE 1 when you start to single crochet in row 2)
Row 2: Single Crochet in 2nd chain from hook and continue to end. Chain 1, Turn.


Row 3- to the end.   Continue Row 2 until you have a strip of cloth that hangs off each end by about 1/2"...cut the yarn but leave a very long sewing tail...I left about 18" of yarn.

Fold the strip in half and find the center point.

Then slip the hook through the center point.

Starting with the sewing tail, thread your tail with a large blunt needle. 

Then starting with the tail, weave it through every other stitch to gather it up.  

Pull tight so it will close around the end of the hanger.

Sew the end closed and push the needle back down through the yarn to hide the knot. Pull the needle out close to the opening along the bottom of the hanger.

Now simply close the opening along the underside of the hanger, pulling it closed as you work.  I did a simple ladder stitch .

The ladder stitch hides your stitches...but you could whip stitch it closed just as easily.

Once you get to the other end, close it off like the first and then hide the tail along the underside of the hanger.  Since these get lots of wear and tear, I left a good 6 inches of yarn tucked away.  I didn't want any stray ends popping up.

Add a pretty flower and you are done!

These hangers work really well with light weight sweaters and boat neck type tops.

a walk about

Dean loves to take walks at night.    I don't like walking at night....just too creepy to go walking at 10 or 11 pm for an hour. But  the other day he decided to walk in the morning so I went with him.  I say a walk but it was more like a hike!  He likes to go fast for a little over 4 miles while I like to meander and chat!  I went with him but brought my phone and took a few photos along the way.......

These flowers are a few houses down from us.  The man who lives there has a large yard with an amazing veggie garden.  He always has plenty to share and is the nicest man.  I made him a mosaic last year as a thank you for his generosity...

these little wild things brightened up the walk once we left the neighborhood.....

I love toadstools and this one looks charming, tucked away.

In case you don't know, this is a crawfish hole.  I wonder if anyone is home....?

Crawfish are everywhere here....and their holes pop up a lot right after rain storms.  Sometimes you will see them scurrying back home.  Once they spot you, they put up their little claws and try to look tough.   I think they know they are on the dinner menu in these parts.

I saw several turtles on the edge of a pond but they hit the water before I could snap any photos of them.  Overall it was a lovely walk and warmed us up for a bit of yard work once we got home.

one of the cool kids....

I am not a techie type person so when blogger changed the format, I was not happy because it meant that I had to learn new techie stuff that I didn't really care about.  So...I basically just kept doing the same things unless I ran into a problem posting, then I would go out and google it and come back to finish the post.

That being said, the other day I was searching for one of my own crochet tutorial/patterns for a friend so I went into my labels in blogger.  BTW, I hate the new label system...and the new color system for the fonts...blah, blah, blah.

ANYWAY, as I was skimming for the tutorial, I noticed this huge number to the right of the page.  I drifted down and noticed that the number was the amount of "views" that a particular post had received.  (no, I had never noticed it before...) The number was over 29,000.   I thought it was wrong because I don't get many comments.  I mean, how can you get THAT many views and not many comments, unless it is a cruddy post?  Then I saw what it was a realized it was correct.....and that I had that many views NOT because of my savvy writing skills or witty banter (ahem...) but because of pinterest.

My canape knife tutorial.  



To top it off, someone "out there" gave it a +1....okay.  I had to look that up too so off to google I go.  (I am so behind the times.)  Basically it says getting a plus one is a big deal. Sadly, I wouldn't even know how to give someone a "+1" if my life depended on it.

Okay, so I went back to the tutorial/pattern I was looking for so I could print it off... and guess what?  It had over 24,000 views.  It was for my  itty bitty kitty.  Who knew?



Considering most of my posts have something like 6 views, I thought this was pretty neat.   Wow, now I know how the cool kids feel.

just a handful....

Raphael's geranium looks lovely ....

as does Angel's wildflower garden...

When we lived in Texas, I had a very large plot just for my wildflowers....I can never seem to get enough of them.  I love how the more you cut them, the better they grow.   Lucky me, Dean agreed to extend this little garden so I will have even more this summer.

I cut a handful of blooms down around Angel for her "photo shoot" but I was happy to do it because I got a these to put in the house...

I love fresh flowers in the house........and those cut from your own little garden are extra special!

Enjoy the view

We've lived in our house now going on 7 years and it was a dead space when we moved in.  Sometimes I forget how truly pretty our yard is.  We are so used to it now that we overlook the beauty of what we have helped nurture along.  When we landscape, we always plant with purpose and choose what we know will come back yearly on it's own.  Work hard and reap the rewards.....

Each plant has a season and a beauty all it's own....

Sometimes people stop by to say how lovely our yard is and then ask how we "do it".  When we mention that we walk the yard, plan the shape, prep the soil and then "work" their eyes tend to glaze over!   But to us, it isn't a choice.  We are still young enough to work our own space and we really want to.  We enjoy doing the work and then are so satisfied when it all comes together....

Sometimes we move things 2 or 3 times to find the place it is happiest.  Live and learn, right?

Adding to the loveliness are all the little friends we have acquired over the years...

They are tucked, here and there....some in pots, some are pots.  Some are so degraded from age, they are part of the landscape, never to be removed. But all are special.  

Every now and then, you stumble across a surprise like Leo lounging with Bun-Bun.

I forget how he loves to hide here and accidentally interrupted his nap.  He lifted his head up for a moment, and then went back to dreamland.  I love how he prefers to stay in our yard instead of wandering.  He is a much happier cat now that he can go outside some.

At this point, our yard really is on auto pilot but most of the time, I still just see "what needs to be done" in the yard.  But some days, I just tell myself to shut up and enjoy the view!

stash bustin' bird wreath

I've had one skein of spring green chenille yarn sitting in my stash for years.  It was given to me in a swap but was too small to do anything with....until now.

It was the perfect backdrop for my little summer bird wreath.  

and the little bird seems right at home tucked in amongst the sunflowers.....

I felt it needed "more" and kept trying to add new elements.  But in the end, I decided to leave it alone because it looked sweet just the way it was.

Pixie slippers...

I decided I needed to get going on Christmas projects for some wee people I know.  There is one little girl that reminds me of a little pixie.

That being said, I made these squares 

into these slippers!

which I had to try on...just for fun....even though they didn't really fit me.....toooo small.

If you want to make your own, you can find the layout instructions here.  I did NOT make a regular granny square though....I made these slippers using the Solid Granny Square Motif pattern.  
I just made the pom-poms around my fingers and attached them to the front with a bow.  They are just for decoration.

I think these will be precious for a little someone I know come Christmas morning!