Treat Yourself to a New Bag in the New Year

I have a lot of bags, and a good number of knitting bags, but it seems like I’m always throwing my knitting into any old shopping bag that is handy when I leave the house.

But when the thing inside is so nice, shouldn’t it be carried in a nice bag, too?

Maybe we should all resolve to use real knitting bags when we carry our projects, to give them the respect they deserve.

I was recently sent a Knit Hobo Bag from Great Useful Stuff, and its a nice basic starter bag if you’re looking for something to try. It looks like a mom purse, and is big enough to hold your project if it’s not too big and all your other stuff, too.

It has a large interior and an outside pocket that has a sort of rubbery mesh panel that’s intended to help keep your yarn from getting tangled if you knit with your ball in the bag.

There’s a small interior pocket with a zipper for holding your phone and keys, or knitting tools if it’s a knitting-exclusive bag. It has a single short strap and a removable, adjustable shoulder strap so you can carry it however you like. The full dimensions are 13.5″ x 12″ x 3.75″ (main body). The fastened handle has a 7″ drop, and the removable and adjustable shoulder strap drops up to 21″.

I love the little yarn cutter charm that’s attached to the loop that holds the straps but is also removable so you can add it to your keychain or wherever else you’d like to keep it handy.

The Knit Hobo bag retails for $20 and is a good investment in keeping your knitting in good order in the new year. Thanks to Great Useful Stuff for sending a bag for review.

Next Pattern:

If you’re new to lace knitting or just aren’t sure how to incorporate the technique into garments, check out these tops and sweaters that use lace as a decorative element.

The easiest lace out there is eyelets, and you can practice them plenty with this eyelet covered sweater from Knitcro Addict. It uses light/DK weight yarn and is worked in four pieces knit flat. It’s intended to be a little cropped and a little oversized, and includes sizes XS to XXL in the pattern.

If you’re in parts of the world where it’s getting colder as you read this, the Nora sweater from Bummbul might be a good choice. This is actually a great one for learning lace because it’s worked in super bulky yarn, which makes it easier to see what you’re doing and makes the lace super graphic. This one just comes in one size, with a 42 inch (106) cm bust, but that could fit a variety of people depending on how much ease you like.

Minimi Knit Design has a cute allover lace cardigan worked in one piece from the bottom up. It’s worked in lace weight mohair held double, which maybe isn’t the best for those new to lace (because it can be hard to rip out) but it sure is pretty. Sizes range to fit from 30 to 66 inches/76 to 168 cm bust measurements.

If you’d rather not have lace all over your sweater, you can knit the Lumi sweater from Originally Lovely, which has a chevron lace pattern on the yoke and is otherwise worked in reverse stockinette stitch. (It’s worked inside out so you don’t have to purl every stitch.) The pattern has 9 sizes from XS to 5XL and uses worsted weight yarn.

Or try the super romantic sookie blouse from Trust the mojo (available on Ravelry). This sweet top is started working flat from the bottom up and has a V-neck and I-cord edgings. The sleeves are worked separately in the round, and the pieces are all joined together to work in one piece to finish off the top. It comes in eight sizes and is available in English and French.

You can also pair lacy sleeves with an otherwise plain top, like on the Starflower Wrap from Annelise Driscoll Gingrow. This intermediate pattern makes a wrap sweater with generous lacy sleeves and a double wrap belt. The pattern has nine sizes, from XS to 5XL, and is available for free from Hobbi.

Next Pattern:

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