Pattern: Denmark, by Nancy Bush, Knitting on the Road
Yarn: Knitpicks Essential, Burgundy, 2 skeins
Needles: Addi Turbos, US 2 (3mm)

I love them.

The pattern is simple but lovely and easy to knit. I made a few very minor modifications. I knit fewer leg repeats, in keeping with my preference for ankle socks. I also knit a longer heel flap and made a shorter and less pointy toe. The pattern calls for decreasing until you only have 8 stitches left; I grafted the toes together when I still had 20.

I have to say, I’m still not a fan of the yarn. It’s soft and squishy and bloomed nicely after blocking, but it’s also very splitty and I suspect it’s not very hard-wearing. I have four more skeins of this in the stash and I’ll have to think hard about whether I want to knit them up or sell/swap them.

I do think part of my troubles were due to the Addi Turbos Blunti Stumpos. I think I will probably invest in some KnitPicks Options or Addi Lace needles soon, because knitting with the smaller-sized regular Addis is torture.

Even so, handknit socks = bliss.

Other entries about Denmark:

• Flappity Flap
• An Update on Everything

Embryo sweaters:

Baby sweater:

Ghost sweaters:

These are the sweaters I crave. They haunt my dreams at night, begging to be knit. On the top left, we have the Vintage Pink Cardigan by Norah Gaughan from the Spring 2005 Interweave Knits. Top right is the Venezia Sweater by Eunny Jang from the Winter 2006 Interweave Knits. Bottom left is a cabled cardigan by Margaret O’Leary from the Fall 2006 Vogue Knitting. Bottom right is the Tangled Yoke Cardigan, also by Eunny, from the Fall 2007 Interweave Knits.

The yarn for the first two sweaters is already sitting in my stash, except for one ball of Jamieson’s Spindrift that I’m going to swap out for a different color. They are in the queue for whenever I finish my frantic re-knit of the Hourglass Sweater and Rogue.

If there is still winter left when I finish those, then I will cast on for the other two sweaters. I have wanted a black cabled cardigan exactly like this one for years. I see everyone wearing one, but for some reason I cannot find one I like in stores—something is always wrong, whether it be cut, fit, or quality of materials. Knit out of the right yarn, it will make a good all-season garment.

The Tangled Yoke Cardigan, well, it’s just pretty.

Now if only the blasted weather would cool off again so I can knit without sweating. Is that really so much to ask?

Pattern: My own
Yarn: Tahki Cotton Classic, 2 skeins #3553, 1 skein #3411, 1 skein #3002
Needles: Addi Turbos, US 4 (3.5mm)

This project really began over a year ago, when I cast on for the original Prentice. I had just gotten back from a research conference and wanted to make a poster tube carrier to make transporting my research posters easier and make it less likely that airport security will accuse me of trying to carry on a pool cue or a battering ram. I have carried the original Prentice to a couple conferences since, and it’s held up pretty well. People always make nice comments on it too.

Then I had the brilliant idea that I would also make a yoga mat bag version—I needed another bag anyways—and write up the pattern for both versions.

Except that the first Prentice wasn’t that fun to knit, and it was a royal pain to put together. The second Prentice, after a few modifications, was a bit easier put together, but was approximately this fun to knit:

Shown here is the graph of my enthusiasm about the project vs. time since cast-on. Key points are annotated.

Now that it’s done, I really like the finished yoga mat bag. It’s just big enough for a standard-size yoga mat and yoga strap. Like the original Prentice, this one has handles made of nylon strapping attached with metal hardware. The length of the main strap is adjustable. I love the bright colors and sheen of the Tahki Cotton Classic. I’m sure I’ll use and love the bag for years, but I’m glad to have this one off my project list.

Other entries about Prentice Yoga Mat Bag:

• Distracted
• An Update on Everything
• Prentice Poster Tube Carrier
• Warning: Startitis is Contagious