One of the most useful things you can do with your leftover yarn is to make padded hangers. You will need hangers, preferably wood with a swivel hook. They can be of various shapes. I use the ones with shaped shoulders for tailored garments and the ones that are just slightly arced for garments with no shoulder seams and for shawls.
You will also have to go to your local hardware/builders supply store to purchase pipe insulation. This comes in a dull grey color and in various sizes. All will work. Don’t pay the extra money to get the insulation that is sliced open on one side; the tube comes apart easily at the join and, after you cover it, you’ll never see it again.
Before and After
Cut the insulation a little longer than the hanger you want to cover, pull it apart on its seam side, fold the to ends together to find the middle and make a slit opposite the open side of the insulation. Slide the hanger hook through the hole and tape the insulation shut around the hanger. If the hanger is wider below the neck, don’t worry about covering it with the insulation. It will be hidden by your handcrafted cover.
Choose the yarn you want to use and do a swatch to see if it is knitting or crocheting tight enough or loose enough to look good on the hanger. Proceed to produce a long rectangle that is wide enough to go around the pipe insulation. Find the middle and slip it over the hanger hook. Whip stitch the cover into place.
If these are too bulky for you, cover the hanger with quilt batting and follow the above directions. If you wish, you could also cover the hangers with material -handwoven or commercial.
Different shapes
I like these hangers because clothing doesn’t slip off of them and they are soft enough that they don’t leave “shoulder peaks” in your garments. I used to knit the strips on my knitting machine – which was very fast, but the machine died. Now I crochet them while watching TV or riding in the car.