I travel a lot. My family lives 4 hours away and I visit them frequently. I used to have a job where I traveled quite a bit for work on planes. My boyfriend and I try to take a vacation once a year. It’s great to have time off from work and I actually really enjoy business trips due to the amount of knitting I tend to get done.

I’ve got packing clothes down to a science, but what about keeping myself occupied? I’ve got some practice planning travelling knitting projects too.

I have a few posts drafted to include tips on how to plan, pick and pack your knitting for maximum travel fun and minimum knitting tragedy. I’ll focus on what to think about before you start travelling, how your destination and type of trip could impact your knitting, and some handy knitting gadgets that come in handy on the go and everyday items that can be used in a pinch in case you’re in a spot where you can’t find something to help you. These posts will be bolstered by some helpful resources to help you in your planning as well.

Personally, for trips where I know I’m going to have a lot of time to knit (and relaxing ones that I’m super excited to go on!) I start thinking about what project I’m going to take with me about a week before I go. I’m the kind of person who literally packs clothing the day before I need to leave (sometimes only HOURS before she needs to leave!), so the fact that I think about knitting this far in advance, and make it part of my excitement for a trip is telling, I think. Here are some ideas for preparing that go from extreme, to throw-all-the-yarn-i-own-that-can-fit-in-the-bag-in-the-bag. Just some thoughts I came up with, I’ll let you in on my own process later…

• Figure out your rate of knitting. Start about a month before you depart. Knit something small and simple like the leg of a sock or a handwarmer, maybe even a sleeve. Time yourself to see how long it takes you to knit and figure out your time per stitch ratio (Take the # of stitches in a round or a row and multiply that by the number of rows you knit for the total number of stitches you knit and then take the time in minutes it took you to knit all those stitches and divide it by the total number of stitches). Now you can take the amount of time you’ll spend travelling and multiply it by your rate of knitting to find out how many stitches you’ll be able to knit in transit. Ideally, if you’re not intending to knit at your destination, this should be higher than the number of stitches you need to complete a WIP if you choose to bring one. This calculation gives you a realistic picture of how much you can accomplish, which can be rather helpful. Who wants to over-pack knitting that they won’t get to? If I actually ever did this calculation, it would probably decrease the anxiety I have over whether I need to bring that 5th project with me or not…
• Map out the nearest yarn stores. Every time I travel somewhere new, and sometimes even when I travel to visit my parents, I hop onto knitmap.com and search for yarn stores near my destination. Write them down! Yes! Even the Holly Hobby or the Michaels! You’ll never know when you might have an emergency! I’ve definitely stopped at a Holly Hobby in Bentonville, AR because I needed a darning needle to finish a sock. What if a dastardly TSA employee hates knitters and takes your needles? What if you didn’t calculate your rate of knitting and ran out of projects before it’s time to go home!? Know before you go! This can also be helpful to recalculate yourself after a whole day with either your family,or an in-law’s family or a business meeting that just didn’t go the way you wanted it to.
• Jot down some yardages/weights of yarn for projects you are interested in. In today’s smartphone world, sometimes we think that cell service is omnipresent. Sometimes we think our own service provider is everywhere. I was recently up in New Hampshire and it seems as though my carrier did not get along with the mountains as well as I did. Sure, I could have asked the shopkeep to check out my Ravelry page and let me know how much yardage I’d need of something, but when you’re just browsing and aren’t sure, you might not want to talk to the salesperson right away. This is also a helpful strategy in the event that your significant non-knitting other is only allowing you so much time in the Sheep Shrine or when you’d feel awkward making them wait (which is more my case). Jotting down yardages can be an efficient and quick way to get the souvenir yarn you want while saving the relationship with the one you love.
• At the very least, take a sock or shawl. Those kinds of projects are easily transportable, compact, and take a sufficient amount of time to knit so that if you start them on the plane, depending on where you’re going, you should at least be able to tide you over until you can get to a yarn store at your destination.

Until the next post on Tailoring Your Knitting to Your Destination, check out these projects that I’ve knit while traveling with varying degrees of success.

(Wow! This is my 4th blog post today!)

I have been asked to teach a class (of 28 – 30!!) of adults in a continuing education program how to knit over a two day period in a couple of weeks. I figured a small, useful, garter stitch project would be a good project to get them started on.

My recommendation to their teacher was to try and scrounge knitting needles from colleagues and ask the students to see if their parents, grandparents or other family members might have knitting needles they could borrow. The teacher is going to provide the yarn and we’ll be able to provide each student with a few extra grams of yarn than the cozy will require.

I thought it was important for the students to experience 100% wool so with a budget in mind, I suggested the teacher buy some Patons Classic Wool for the project. We should be able to wind off about 5 little balls of yarn from each 100g ball. She hopes to use her Michaels 40% off coupons. I will provide the buttons unless the students want to bring their own. Hopefully we’ll be able to scrounge some darning needles as well for the finishing. I have a few students can borrow for the class.

So my design for an iPod or cell phone cozy was born. I customarily teach beginners the knitted cast on. I know it isn’t used as much as the long-tail cast on but once the student has more or less mastered the knitted cast on, they have pretty much grasped the basics of knitting. I will also be teaching a bind off and (gasp!) even how to do a two-stitch buttonhole by binding off 2 sts and doing a twisted loop cast on in the next row.

Here is the project with the knitting completed. The buttonhole is visible near the pointy end.

After sewing the sides up with a whip stitch and sewing on the button, it is ready for its device.
Ta da!
I really think the students will be able to complete the project in a reasonable amount of time even if there’s not enough class time allotted.

I think I’ll knit up another one with snazzier yarn…

yarn:::
When my fingers trace a skein, I instantly remember late hours nursing our firstborn in practice of knit, pearl, knit, pearl.  It was the same method my late grandma Sue taught me in the backseat of a pink Cadillac along the eastern coastal streets of Florida.  For nearly eight years, I perfected technique to yield socks, sweaters, blankets, etc.  I can knit in the dark of movie theaters, beside the dim bedsides of feverish babes.
 So when my oldest island pal sat on my new sofa and taught me how to crochet, no wonder I kept ending up with the hook in my right hand and looking like I’d dropped a left hook. I want so badly to make a granny square blanket like the one I had growing up.  There’s a constant buzz of babes here lately, sister squabbles and read me another story, please so I haven’t given it the attention it requires.  At this point, I’m leaning towards a pillow, but I would love to make a blanket if I ever get quick at this.  I think I should have learned how to crochet first, to learn how to use a second stick in my fast fingers first.


Somehow, this square looks neon in the pic, but honestly it is more muted, more like a true granny would choose.
I finally finished some little lady booties with this pattern. I began this project watching My Week With Marilyn and accidentally knit in garter stitch.  I like the texture it creates. I used some yarn from the bottom of my scrap basket, size 6 needles.  I knit the most beautiful bonnet for Olive from this skein.  Sigh, I love how yarn evokes memory.  I eagerly await a photo of these booties on newborn happy toes. I have so many projects going on at once and not enough time to knock a few out.  For now, wish me time for happy hooking and the patience to conquer the infamous granny square.

pages:::
This weekend we enjoyed learning about The Betty Convention held each year in Hastings, NE for ladies named Betty.  Our Betty’s favorite part was where all the grandma Betties sing songs where they change some of the words like Twinkle, Twinkle Little Betty.. Even though each Betty is supposed to live in the state, we’re pretty sure we might crash the convention some year on a major road trip.

As far as turning pages this week, I find it hard to resist typing I find this book to be the bees knees.
It’s true, insects scare me.  No, really.  It’s my biggest problem with gardening and generally being outside.  I always overreact, but I’m trying to be better about hiding it.  My girls love bugs, filled their pockets with worms and caterpillars from an early age.  They build rollie pollie playgrounds and track slugs on sidewalks.  I reserve my insect-based irrational behavior for spiders found inside our home.  Seriously, the pacific northwest has some scary gigantic spiders.  The intense student inside me want to hone in one one insect to know everything about.  When I called The Washington State Beekeepers Association, I was sad to learn I’d already missed their workshops for bee season.  I’ve marked my calender and next spring, when the daffodils and tulips begin to pierce the earth, I’ll be ready.  People who know me best laugh out loud at the idea of me and bees and I remind them the girl who can’t handle the pain of stubbing a toe had three natural albeit intense births.  See, I’ve got my heart set on making honey for my sweeties.
A little while ago, I won a giveaway at my mama bloggy pal’s intensely witty, creative and inspiring blog 6512 and Growing.  Rachel is a mama and a writer who works for this magazine.  I’m really enjoying my copies and I think the San Juan Islands need an edible Magazine.

:::
joining Ginny for yarn along.