A 21st century Hope Chest?

[pigtailninja]

So, I know that there are some younger crocheters here, like myself, and I was wondering... do any of you girls or boys have something like a hope chest?

 

I started one a few months ago. I'm not really planning on marrying, but I wanted something to open up when I have my first place on my own with no roommates to sort of signify the occasion. I'm making an afghan right now for it, and I thought I'd do some dishcloths and other things. I've also got several afghans going back three generations that I'm putting in there, and some of my great-grandmother's hooks.

 

I'm not too sure what else to make for it - I'm a bit wary of making baby clothes just yet (it'll make my mother paranoid, on top of everything else), and I have some older doilies from my great-grandma already.

 

Any suggestions?

[loopy_jess]

A hope chest? That's a really lovely idea!

 

If I were to put one together then I would also want to include:

 

- A nice warm shawl which I could curl up with

- A couple of pretty filet crochet cushion covers

- A hugable crochet toy, probably a teddy bear

[Selune]

My mother has started what she calls a Hopeless Chest for me. Full of stuff for her future grandbabies, which she's starting to think might not happen since I'm 33 and have no boyfriend.

[nikki]

I love the hope chest idea and I want to start one for my daughter who is going to be 5 in May. What about some curtains? Tablecloth? Sheets with a pretty crochet edging? I'm also going to be putting in her special toys and gifts that she can hold onto as she gets older.

[Riohnna]

Potholders, hotpads, dishcloths,,,maybe a tablecloth,,,

[sewnsew]

I've always wanted to make something similar to that. I may start one for each of my girls. What do you put the items into?

[RoseRed]

I fell in love with a set of dishes when I was 16 that had lilies on them. By the time I was 18 I had the entire set. Serving bowls, salt & pepper shakers, napkin holder - you name it, I had it.

[Tracey4610]

I would also trim some really nice towels, sheets, make a bedspread, a couple tablecloths. I would also make some facecloths with #10 thread (makes for a really nice, soft, feel and exfoliates nicely!), perhaps work up an apron reminiscent of the '40s-'60s but with a modern take on it...uh...placemats with matching napkin rings, doily-like coasters. Get some nice, sturdy cotton dishtowels (I bought mine at Sears when I first moved out. They were expensive, but soooo worth it! They're much nicer than the terrycloth ones that have worn out already, and I still have those first nice ones, though I use them all the time!). Oh! My mom started mine when I was in high school, and she started collecting some really nice Christmas ornaments--don't know if you observe Christmas, but that's what I'm hoping to do for my dd. If babies are christened in your family and you don't have an heirloom garment being passed from one generation to the next, you could make one and put it in there. I second the idea of a shawl. I'd make two, one for warmth and the other for special occasions. If you haven't guessed by now, I have a lot of old-fashioned ideas, but it's just because those things are still very practical! Most of them will last you a lifetime, whereas a lot of modern factory-made items are made so that they wear out faster and you buy them more often (i.e., sheets, towels, etc.).

[Tiga]

Hmm, if I were going to move into a new place this is what I'd want, all spiffy and brand-y new:

 

Nice, thick towels

Matching kitchen towels, dishcloths, potholders that won't let you get burned, hotpads, placemats and other kitchen doo-dads

An afghan for the living room

An afghan for my bedroom

Coasters for the living room

An antimaccassar set, b/c I'm old-fashioned and love the way they look (but I'd probably do a "modern" filet design in colored thread)

Storage baskets, b/c you can never have enough places to put stuff

Kitchen utensils - good ones, not the cheap stuff you get as a college student!

200+ thread count sheets in all cotton

 

I can't really think of anything else that would hold up well or that wouldn't need to be measured, like curtains.

[indililu]

I started one when I was about 14, collecting and buying christmas tree ornaments, decor for other holidays, nice bedding, champagne flutes, fancy shot glasses, wine glass markers, professional bar ware ... *I'm a bartender, can you tell?! * Anyway, now I'm working on an afghan, and I think I'd like some doilies to try too. IMO it's a fun idea, it gives you a chance to look past where you are now, and hope for nicer things for yourself in a few years! (Not like we don't have nice stuff now, but you get the idea) Plus it's an excuse to buy something you have absolutely no use for now!

[lhasaapsolady]

Everyone has suggested some great items for your hopechest, what about a few bath towel sets with crocheted edging, something you can always use.

[Lady_of_Roses]

I remember wanting to have a hope chest as I was growing up. Unfortunately, I never did put one together. It just seemed like such a romantic idea. :dreaming

[Lavelle26]

I have started a little hope chest for my daughter. I love the romantic idea of such a thing. I always wanted one as a little girl only my mother wasn't like that. So, I have one for my little girl. I have started doilies for her. (I make her one every year for her birthday) and am planning on making a tablecloth for her. Maybe a christening dress for when she has a baby...some sweaters. I am saving the potholders/dishcloths and such for when she learns to crochet. It would be neat for her to make some things for her hope chest herself. I also want to make some bedsized afghans for her as well.

 

I think hope chests are a wonderful idea.

[01buckler15]

I got my bedding, dishes, silverware, and cookware. together a few years before I moved out on my own. They weren't in a chest or anything. But that's what we called it anyways.

[angieInCA]

I think calling it a Hope Chect is kind of antiquated especially since I tell all my kids that there will be no getting married beffore they are 25

 

I have stared something like this for all my kids though (boys and girls) but we call it a "Moving Out Dream Box". They put things in there that they will need when they will first leave home for their first on their own home. Of course it's not just handmade items but it all the things they will need but they really don't think about (the girls are better at this than the boys so I help them along)

When we are out shopping and they run across something they like i.e. a shower curtain, bath towels, glasses, dishes, they buy it and put it back for the future.

 

This worked really well for my oldest DD who is 23 and in her first apt. She had most of the necessary things even pots and pans by the time she moved out and so therefore the expense was greatly reduced when she first moved out. We also had completed crocheted edged pillow cases, decorated hand towels, discloths, afghans, pot holders etc.....

 

I have completed an afghan for each of the boys for when they move out. My oldest son is 21 and in the Marines. Right now he wants me to keep all his stuff because he is living in the barracks but he is starting to tell me things he wants in his box, like pot holders, and discloths like mine (crocheted) because he says they are the best

[Mommy2Max]

I also had a "Hopeless Chest," and I put all kinds of things in there. Not just towels and dishclothes, but dishes, decorative items, s&p shakers, coffee mugs, cookie jars, chargers, bathroom stuff, sheets, etc.

 

Everything REALLY came in handy when I moved into my first apartment... less to buy!

[zeropixie]

I have had mine for fifteen years and have been filling it with all kinds of stuff. Afghans, linens, doilies, washcloths and some baby stuff. I also have lots of kitchen stuff and special knic knacs. Basicaly anything I want in my home that makes me happy.

[Beaglelady]

I have a hope chest (now 26 years). I really don't remember putting anything in it that I actually made. I have a baby quilt from a material printing company that I used to work for YEARS ago when they were selling them. Some things from my Grandma, a white small afghan - wedding present - from an Aunt. Now it also has a couple of quilts.

[pigtailninja]

Wow, what a response! It's nice to hear that it's a good idea and that I'm not too crazy. ^-^ Thank you for all the wonderful ideas of items.

 

I'm just keeping everything in a box right now, but I'm keeping an eye out for a real "chest". I see them at Joann's sometimes, but I never have enough money when they go on sale. Eventually, I'll get one.

[krzykajun]

I think "hope chests" are a great idea !! I bought them at one of those unpainted furniture stores. I stained and varnished them, but you could paint them. On my granddaughters first birthday I gave them a chest. In it I included a "birthstone" afghan. Now each year I add something to it. It's not always hand made things. Last year the oldest got a beautiful table runner that I found and the youngest a set of Paula Deen cookbooks.

[birdlady1]

My mother has started what she calls a Hopeless Chest for me. Full of stuff for her future grandbabies, which she's starting to think might not happen since I'm 33 and have no boyfriend.

 

Don't let your mom pressure you. Times are different and many people just don't marry and have children. In fact, I think single women are now the majority!

 

If my mom lived to see my sister's children, she would have changed her mind about wanting grandchildren!

[frogsrock]

right now i have some household things like decorations, bathroom stuff, and so on

plus theres stuff i can take like when mcdonalds had glasses for sale years ago my grandmom went kinda crazy... so now we have tons

 

bf and i are hopeing to move in together after we graduate and hes done training (he gets $20,000 just for completeing training so that'll really help), that'll be like fall 2008

and we've decided to start putting things and money aside...

 

i would start makeing baby things but my grandmom says not to because i might curse myself by not having kids or like making girl stuff and only having boys... and since my cousins having trouble getting/staying pregnant id rather not risk it

i'll stick to makeing things for other peoples babies/kids

[hischildsindi]

A hope chest is a great idea, as so many have said. I got mine when I was 11 years old, my grandfather made it for me and one for my sister. It's wonderful. It's not the traditional style shape, but it's oh, so special, because grandpa made it. He died within about a year of giving them to us.

 

I filled it up with all kinds of then when I was a child, I had no real guideance as to what to put in it, so by the time I moved into my first apartment it was safe to say, much of the things made it to Goodwill, as my tastes had changed and some things weren't so practical.

 

Now it holds a lot of memories for me. Some of the baby clothes I wore as a child, favorite things made for me, some school work from college that I've not decided to throw yet. If God graces me with children, the chest will go to my first daughter I think. But for now it's my "coffee table".

 

The idea is awesome, no matter if you call it a hope chest or a moving out dream chest.

[ChayaSar]

I want to make hope chests for each of my 3 girls. I want to make them each some doilies, dishcloths, throw blanket with pillows, thread tablecloth, large afghan (like queensized), hot pads, an apron, and then buy them dishes, pots and pans, that sort of thing.

 

Although, we don't have any "chests" so, for now, it would be their "hope totes".

[The Donna]

Some of the baby clothes I wore as a child

 

This is the best idea. I had some awesome shift dresses that I wore as a child - my grandmother made them. What I wouldn't give to get my hands on one of them now! Some things never go out of style.

 

Of course, I have a son - but I am willing myself to have a girl the next time around and those might've come in handy!

 

Also, that way, you're not jinxing yourself too much because you're really just storing your old stuff not making brand new stuff. I don't think there's bad mojo associated with that.