Loopy Groupie Kim in PA had a great question that she wanted answered by all of you blog readers. She wonders if any of you have good ideas for shawl storage? I keep the ones I wear frequently draped over a mannequin in my office at home. It’s not the greatest system, but it keeps them fairly wrinkle-free. (Most of the shawls I’ve made are on display here at the shop. If I had to store all of my shawls somewhere, the mannequin would not work, as it would topple over!) We talked about where you store your “most wearable knits” in my blog post back in November, but really, shawls are different than scarves and take a little extra care to keep them looking lovely, especially when you have a lot of them. So fill us in. How do you store your shawls?
For all of you Camp Loopy campers, I tried a new s’more recipe last weekend and it passed the family taste test. (Original recipe from Mel’s Sweet Life via Pinterest. Check out her awesome looking Homemade Ricotta Pizza recipe on this week’s post.)
Peanut Butter Cup S’Mores Bars
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
16 peanut butter cups (regular size)
1 1/2 cups marshmallow fluff (or mini marshmallows)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8 x 8 pan with cooking spray. (I did 1 1/2 times the recipe and baked it in an 8 1/2 x 11 pan).
With a mixer, beat together butter and both sugars until light and fluffy. Add in the egg and vanilla and mix until combined. With mixer on low, slowly add in the baking powder, salt, flour and cracker crumbs.
Spread 2/3 of the dough into the bottom of your prepared pan. Lightly press the peanut butter cups into the dough and then spread the marshmallow fluff (or marshmallows) over the top. (Note: if you accidently buy snack sized peanut butter cups like someone in our house did – not mentioning any names – you can fill in the extra space with chocolate chips. Because heaven forbid that you don’t get enough chocolate in there.)
Press the remaining dough into an 8 x 8 shape on a non-stick surface (I used waxed paper) and then lay it on top and press down lightly.
Bake for 30 minutes or until the edges just start to brown. Let cool for 2 hours before cutting into squares, so that the bars have a chance to set.
I’m off to our TNNA Market to find fun new things for the shop this weekend. I get back on Monday, so the Monday blog and update might be a little later in the evening, but it will be a good one!
Don’t forget to tell us how you store your shawls!
Sheri hopingit’snottoohotinColumbus,OHthisweekend
We’ve had a similar discussion in the Shawl Lovers group on Ravelry, and I’ve seen the Komplement multi-use hanger from IKEA tossed around as a good storage idea for shawls. (See link here: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/70108912/ )
I haven’t tried it myself, but it looks like a great idea.
My shawls are all in my top drawer at the moment with all my other knit accessories. I don’t fold them, they get scrunched so that there are no weak points caused by folding.
I have them in my closet folded in a stack. A lot I give away, so my stack isn’t overwhelming.
I have a tall shelf unit right next to the bedroom door that I keep my shawls folded on the upper shelves (above range of big dog adding some fur to the shawls). A couple of my finer lace shawls are in a Namaste mesh project bag. I must confess, the most recently worn is probably folded on the dining room desk awaiting it’s return to the shelf.
I added a cupboard from Lowes to my closet that has glass doors, and DH made me extra shelves, so they are about 8″ apart — and I stack my shawls and sweaters in there when they are not in “active rotation”
Don’t forget to find the ice cream in Ohio. 🙂 Have a great time at TNNA.
I have mine hanging on a towel rack on the back of my bed room door. If you had an old quilt rack, I think that could work as well.
Mine are stored in my gramma’s 1940s cedar chest. Folding? Hah. Theyre all piled up together, seems to work fine.
In my yarn closet I placed hanging hooks that aren’t sharp – Home Depot or Lowe’s has them. They line the walls. I hang the shawls on them – and to prevent drag I bundle up the heavier ones a bit before placing them on hooks. I think one could even find better hanging hooks that I did if one looked hard enough. I like looking at my shawls, instead of them being in a drawer!
Enjoy TNNA! Last week I wrote about my current solution: http://www.penguingirl.com/2012/06/14/shawl-storage-my-current-solution
My shawls are on the bottom shelf of my bedside table. I only have 5 of the dozen or so shawls I have made. I gave away the rest.
Mine are in a schlumpy pile. Sadly, that isn’t the efficient way I would like to have my shawls stored. My sweaters and vests have a nice system, so I should probably attempt to have something similar for shawls.
Mine are currently piled on top of a bookcase in my living room 🙂
Storing shawls – I use a canvas shoe bag, with about ten cubbies, that hangs in the closet rod. I don’t use the plastic or vinyl ones. Only the canvas or muslin. This allows me to see them at a quick glance for color coordination as I am assembling my wardrobe for the day. I have one for winter and one for summer shawls. This way I can look at the little ‘cubies’ as I am picking out clothes. And it keeps them where I can see them readily, which I could not do, if they were in chest drawers or dresser drawers. And because I do have four legged critters at home, I choose not have have them hanging near the front door as I come and go to/from the house. They need to be firmly on the shoulders at that point in time.
Ruby
Well I won’t be much help on the shawl storage as I have yet to actually make one … but I imagine other people’s suggestions will be pretty good. 🙂
Have fun at the TNNA Market!!! Happy Friday to all
I bought a curtain fixture and hung it in the hallway right inside my front door. The curtain rod has two bars and I drape the shawls over it and each other. This lets me display them all year and encourages me to grab one on the way out the door all winter (spring and fall too — just not now since it is so hot!). There is a picture on my project page for my Annis here http://www.ravelry.com/projects/megrknits/annis-2 . Sorry for the low lighting and cell phone shot, but you get the idea.
I drape mine over padded hangars in my closet. I layer several on a hanger, but they aren’t hard to get to. I usually fold the triangular ones once on the center line before putting them on the hanger.
Wow, I’m getting some good ideas! I use one of these guys: http://www.target.com/p/sterilite-3-drawer-cart-green/-/A-13168240 (it’s small, wheeled plastic shelving unit) that I keep in my coat closet.
When DH built our new bed frame, he put deep drawers in the base. My shawls are carefully rolled and stored in one of the drawers.
I store my shawls/scarves in zip bags; take them out the night before I will wear them and lay them out to get rid of any of the wrinkles. Keeps any little bugs from building a home :).
Like with my yarn stash, I live in fear of clothing moths. I don’t even think we have them here in Colorado but I don’t want to take any chances – I’ve seen too many horror stories on Ravelry. I store my shawls in ziploc bags and the bags are stored either in a dresser drawer or, since that is now filled up, a closet shelf.
I have a wardrobe that I keep my sweaters in, and my shawls have a space on one of the shelves. I keep them neatly folded, and the cedar blocks which protect my sweaters keep my shawls safe too. And the cats appreciate the snuggle spot. 😛
Some of the smaller simpler ones are folded, but for some of the ones with fiddly lace patterns, I save long tubes (like from the longer foil rolls), wrap them in tissue paper, and roll them around the tubes, then bag them. I’ve never seen a moth in the house, but I figure there’s always a first time!
Dont believe Colorado doesn’t have moths, we do! (ask me how I know) I use ziploc bags and keep in a chest from an attic of the house I grew up in. Mom refinished it and it holds sweaters and shawls.
I also keep mine in Zip-loc bags, usually not folded, just lightly smushed, that way they don’t get creases and a shake out gets them looking fine. I store the bags on the top shelf of my closet.
I have an armoire in my bedroom that houses sweaters and shawl on the shelves. Winter heavier ones are in a drawer. I live near Columbus, OH and the weather is supposed to be perfect this weekend. Low 80’s and low humidity. I was at the TNNA location last weekend for Knitters Connection and had some great classes. Enjoy!
Those over-the-door shoe pocket things would work well. I use it for my bras and tights/pantyhose. I chose one that has fabric pockets and backing for air circulation. I should get one for all my shawls and scarves too.
http://www.target.com/p/over-the-door-shoe-organizer-espresso/-/A-11187080#?lnk=sc_qi_detailbutton
The s’mores brownie is a recipe I gotta try. Have fun at TNNA I hope you do find some nice things for us! Have a nice trip. I keep my few shawls in a drawer but I might have to go to one of those sweater shelf hangers in the closet soon.
I have a 4 rung quilt rack with a small lap size quilts over the hanging rungs to pad them – don’t get any marks from them being draped this way.
My shawls are stored in plastic bags that my sheets came in. Have fun in Columbus!
I use Rubbermaid under the bed storage organizers for my knitted items. The shawls can lay flat or rolled.
I too store mine in Rubbermaid containers with cedar blocks. Best way to make sure nothing happens to them.
I don’t have any shawls yet (working on my first for Camp Loopy!), but I would probably store them folded in a special box- fabric lined, acid free, etc. You want to make sure that all of your hard work doesn’t get ruined by runs or moths! Have fun at TNNA Sheri and thanks for the yummy recipe! :).
My shawls are in my top dresser drawer, a small, shallow lingerie drawer. It’s not a deep drawer, so I roll the shawls. Rolling them avoids wrinkles or creases.
I roll them and store in plastic bags. Living in Florida I have to be real careful with moss. Store them in my closet on a shelf.
I am thinking at what are you going to buy for us……Have a great time!
You’ll get a lot of steps in at TNNA! Have fun!
9 of my shawls are stretched out and draped over the back of the sofa. It keeps them looking nice but it takes a while to arrange them again when I take one out from the bottom of the pile. There are also shawls draped on my office chair back, a couple other armchairs, and on another sofa. No matter where you sit in my house, there is bound to be a shawl to wrap up in.
Mine live in one of two places. The first is a shelf in my closet where my shawls sit nicely folded. The other place is a hanger in another closet where they hang on top of each other – a little less organized, but gets the job done nicely!
Sheri-Is there anything The Loopy Knitting Community can do for those that have lost their homes to fire?
I’ve enjoyed reading through all these comments! My shawls are in various places throughout our home. My husband likes seeing all the knitted items and it makes me happy that he does 🙂 Although we have moths in Colorado I’m told that when they are not in the feeding stage when they are about. True or not, I haven’t had any issues. They are more attracted to indoor lights than woolens.
I have two closet boxes…one for summer and one for winter. They are getting full.
The delicate looking ones are actually wadded up in a clothes basket in my bedroom. Before anyone starts protesting or gasping in horror, you need to understand that I was taught that to avoid creating “weak”spots in the lace you were NOT supposed to store them folded, that crumpled was actually better for them. If you look at old photographs of Orenberg shawls you will see that the makers actually stored them wadded up in glass jars.
I have a towel rack on the back of my bedroom door that holds my shawls and scarves. It makes me happy to see them out in the open all the time.
I made the s’more bars for the 4th and they were fabulous! I followed your example of doing a 1 & 1/2 batch and it worked great in the 9×11 pan. Very yummy and is definitely a keeper.