Sunday, December 18, 2011

It’s a Handy Dandy Thing

You’ve all seen towel toppers right? If you do a Google search for images of towel toppers, you’ll know what I mean. They’re kitchen towels, cut in half and a top, either crocheted or sewn (usually), for the purpose of hanging on your oven door’s handle.

Well, on Pinterest, I came across a link for a little item that can turn any kitchen towel into a hanging towel that won’t fall to the floor every time you use it. It doesn’t entail cutting up any of your kitchen towels. It looks like this:

Great idea! Now, I crochet… have done for about as long as I’ve been knitting. I decided I could do this quite simply. But! I really don’t like sewing buttons on to things. For one thing, that means I’d have to hunt for my button bag and ferret through all those buttons to find one that would work. For another thing, it means I’d have to use needle and thread to sew on said button, which takes time.

I decided to modify the design somewhat so that I wouldn’t need to do any searching or sewing. Here’s what I came up with:

As you can see, it has a loop at either end, rather than a button. And how does it work?

All you do is fold it over your oven door’s handle and slide a towel through both of the loops. That towel’s not going anywhere! If I were to make another one, I’d probably use a smaller hook, giving it a little more denseness, but all in all, I really like this little item. No more picking towels up from the floor! Feel free to steal the idea and/or modify it. If you do, though, let me know how it turns out.


Yesterday, John and I went to a friend’s home for a Christmas party. We never go empty-handed so I made a batch of hummus and pita bread (which we know they both love!) and John made mulled wine. At almost the last minute, I decided to bake a batch of speculaas. Have you ever had the Dutch Windmill cookies? Well, that is speculaas. In this case, though, the cookies are more like a square.

They’re made with a combination of spices  and are absolutely delicious! I don’t make them often, but they seem to be becoming a Christmas tradition around here. If you’re interested, you can find the recipe for Speculaas, including the recipe for the spice mix, on my cooking blog.

Be careful, though. They’re totally yummy and highly addictive! I’ve already had two this morning and it’s only 9:30.

19 comments:

  1. Your handy-dandy hanging thing is brilliant, Ev! I'm going to make me one asap. Thanks for sharing!

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  2. I feel just the same about sewing and finding buttons - I love your idea - wold make great stocking stuffers

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  3. This is as stated above brilliant.
    I have made one and linked to your blog to give you credit for the idea.

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    1. I'd appreciate your pattern or instructions. I'd like to try to make one. Thank you.

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  4. Forgive my ignorance, but is the pattern on this page? I think this is a very clever idea, and I would love to make one, but I cannot find a link to the actual pattern. Thanks.

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    1. Hi! I apologize but I never did write out a pattern. It's very easy, though. It's just a rectangle of double crochet with a loop on either end... chain with single crochet to give it some body.

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    2. Thank you. tho, I don’t know if I can do this either…. I don’t like sewing or searching for buttons either.😆

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  5. This is brilliant! I've been looking for a sleeker version of the towel holders I'd seen before and this is it! Thanks for the inspiration, this is a fantastic idea!

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  6. love this idea--so simple! bought a lot of Christmas hand towels for a steal last year. I'm gonna make towel holders in festive colors and give as gifts w/the towels--and make one for me, too! :)

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  7. this one is the best. I do not have to give up my lovely old buttons and I love the Christmas hand towel gift idea

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  8. Do you have any knitting patterns for towel holders? I do not crochet

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  9. because I sew instead of crochet or knit I came up with a fabric idea similar. I use a 4" wide and 12" long strip of fabric. Fold in 1/2 length wise and sew. Turn inside out and press. Now you can turn each end up about 1" and stitch. You want it big enough to get a round closable shower ring thru it. Put one on each end and it works the same as the crochet idea. It can also hang on a cabinet knob. These are so handy to add a full sized dish towel and use as a gift idea any time of year.

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    1. Love this idea! I am going to try it tomorrow! Thanks so much!

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  10. Would you be able to give a rough estimate of a pattern to use for the topper with no button? I'm terrible at just making things on the fly without a pattern but would love to make this! Thanks!

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  11. I made the double ring towel holder . I used to stretchy hair bands for the rings. Thanks for sharing.

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  12. Thank you for the idea!

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