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Making a knitted coat hanger

making a knitted coat hanger

These knitted coat hangers are something that always reminds me of grandparents - clothes handing carefully on knitted or crocheted covered hangers. Clothes that were properly looked after, brushed, spot cleaned, mended. The space between them given by the chunky hangers protection from damp or fustiness. My Gran has some with little bags of lavender hanging from the hook.

They are perfect ways to use up odds and ends of wool, it is my go to stash busting pattern.

You only need 40 grams of double knitting wool per hanger and they can be striped or plain. I tend to keep all my tiny left over balls in a basket along with a small circular needle, and knit these whenever I'm at a loose end - they are perfect tv knitting.

small balls of knitting wool and knitted coat hanger

You need

  • Two 20 g balls of double knitting wool
  • Knitting needles size 3.25mm (UK 10)
  • Tapestry needle
  • A 40 - 43 cm padded coat hanger
  • 1 metre velvet ribbon 0.5 cm wide

Tension: 20 stitches by 24 rows in garter stitch to make 10 cm square

Method

  • Using ball 1 cast on 92 stitches.
  • Join in ball 2 and knit 2 rows
  • Change to ball 1 and knit 2 rows.
  • Continue in this way, making two row stripes until row 38, just carry the wool up the side of the knitting, don’t cut it off.
  • Cast off.
  • Find the centre of your knitting and slip it over the hook of the hanger, spread it out to cover the hanger and sew the edges together so that they enclose the hanger.
  • Tie one end of your ribbon to the base of the hook and wrap it around the hook first one way and then the other, back to the base. Tie in a knot or bow.

You can sign up to get a free downloadable pattern for the hangers.

 

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Comments: 9 (Add)

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Ann

Thank you for this pretty memory jolt! I bought wooden coathangers a few years back intending to do just this and to give as Christmas gifts. I never got round to it but it seems to me this is exactly the right time to knit a coathanger. And yes, my Mum had a number in her wardrobe, some were probably her Mum's, and now they are in my wardrobe. :-)

Becky

I love this - brought back a long forgotten memory, this was the first thing we were taught to knit at school! Back in the day, when girls did knitting and sewing, and boys got to use much bigger tools!

Lesley Boast

Can I ask where you can buy the wooden coat hanger from please?

Moira Russell

In reply to Becky
Me too! 71 years ago I learned to knit at school by knitting a coat hanger cover in 2 colours. My Auntie Doreen crocheted it together for me! I haven't thought about that for years - we knitted a kettle holder the next year - two squares with Auntie Doreen to the rescue with the crochet hook to join them! In those days kettles and pans were boiled on the hob and did not have insulated handles so to pick them up you needed a kettle holder! My Granny kept a kettle on a swee over the coal fire and had a kettle holder hanging by the fireside. What a tumble of memories - thank you! :)

SnapdragonJane

In reply to Moira Russell
What lovely memories Moira - my school knitting wasn't as useful - a rather sad looking teddy with one leg a lot shorter than the other! J x

SnapdragonJane

In reply to Ann
I have a few that have been handed down too - and you often see lovely ones in charity shops. Obviously too good to throw out x

SnapdragonJane

In reply to Becky
It is a great school knitting project - now I'm not sure that anyone learns to knit at school, perhaps they do or maybe it is from YouTube in their twenties. . . . J x

SnapdragonJane

In reply to Lesley Boast
Sorry I missed this Lesley - you can often pick them up in charity shops or google padded hangers - easier than starting from scratch with the wood and strips of fabric. Though it is a good way to use up past it knitted jersey fabric, cutting into strips and wrapping round and round as a base. J x

Moira Russell

In reply to SnapdragonJane
Bet you loved him all the more - Wabi-Sabi ! Perfection is over rated! x

Snapdragon social

Pulmonaria “Blue ensign” was one of the first plants I bought for my garden. 

The perfect Bristol blue colour. Bright in the border, beloved of bees. 
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Back then - over 25 years ago - it was a rarity, now you can get plug plants of it. 
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Does that make it any less precious? 
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Not to me.
Were you someone who read blogs ‘back in the day’? Back when they were ugly but with soul?  I’ve been thinking about them - and more particularly the blog rolls that connected them. Curated lists of recommendations, no algorithm, no payments, no angst ridden strategy. 

It occurred to me that I could create something similar by using a playlist on my tube channel - a vlogroll if you like. 

That’s what I’m chatting about this week in my Friday film - about how so many of the people my age making videos are talking about “what you shouldn’t wear after 50” or “how to avoid the appalling fate of looking frumpy” 😂😂😂 And how, as an antidote to all that depressing nonsense, I’m collecting suggestions for an alternative playlist!

Pop over and let me know your favourites. 

I’m also talking about why I’m not sowing any seeds until the end of March this year.
Stained glass colours on the studio windowsill
Another Friday . . . . another sitooterie selfie.
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Today's Friday film is about which seeds I am planting in my new dye garden . . .
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I dyed my beret to fit with some things I'm taking on holiday. It is an overdye with some onion skins that I had left over from a zoom workshop that I did in The Studio Club. I do love the sense of play that being able to cook up colours gives you.
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If you fancy growing your own colour there is a free download of the varieties and suppliers over on the tube . . . .

#fridayfilm #botanicaldyes #dyegarden #snapdragonlife
The second spike is always the best.
Another Friday, another daft selfie. This week Teasel gets into the frame- there is a matching photo of Dixie but she looks frankly terrified. 
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This week’s Friday film is about going ‘out out’ - there is a tour of @bettysbeautifullife wonderful exhibition of botanical printing that is on in Kirkintilloch at the moment, and a visit to my parents garden in East Lothian where they have a mimosa tree flowering . We went on a dog walk on Gullane beach and then I attempt to find signs of spring in my own garden (very few but lots of shots of snuffling dogs).

I also address the issue of the tank top I’m knitting being clearly much too small for me. 

All this in just over ten minutes- you can find the film via my links page and I’ll put a link in stories too.
In the spirit of copying to find out how to do something ….. this is the photo I took when I got home from last week’s workshop with @eva_nemeth 

The last photo of snowdrops for this year - laying them roots and all on an old flagstone and trying to work how to get the whites to pop without becoming brash.

And then I cut off the flowers to press for a project and planted the bulbs and leaves out under the hazel tree to bring cheer next spring.
It has been sunny all weekend. 
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I weeded and hoed and cleared and felt myself opening up just like these bulbs that I photographed at @cambo_gardens last week.
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The absolute joy of the first sunny weekend of the year.
snapdragon.life
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About Snapdragon Life

At Snapdragon Life I help bring the changing seasons into your daily life, helping you slow down, so that you can experience increased well being, calm and creativity.

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