Knitting on the Go: Transportation and Destination

The type of trip and transportation can make quite a difference in what project(s) you take with you on a trip. The destination itself is also something to consider.

One of the things I think about is how much time I'll actually have to devote to knitting. If I drive to visit my family for a weekend, I'll probably have a lot of time to knit once I get there, unless I'm going to a wedding or other similar event. If I'm on a cross country work trip, I will probably have a lot of time to knit on the plane and in the hotel room after dinner. Of course, things can pop up to provide you with more or less time than you'd originally thought. I usually bring what I think I can knit in the time I think I'll have, and then an extra project. You know, for luck!

Don't forget to tailor your knitting project for the quality of knitting time you'll have. Heading to the in-laws? Maybe pack an intricate sweater so you can tell them you need to count rows and concentrate on the project instead of hearing the story of your significant other's first trip to the amusement park for the umpteenth time. Time for a vacation? Why not bring a stockinette project that will allow you to drink up that tropical sunset (and that Tequila Sunrise!) without needing to wonder what row you're on. Cross country travel almost requires a patterned shawl to help with long boring flights and jet lag; there's no way you could finish that cobweb latvian stole in one flight! Knowing whether your brain (or fingers) need to rest or be kept active will be key in the travel planning process.

Even more pivotal, however, could be the type of transportation you'll be taking. Clearly, if you're driving, you won't be knitting. Doing so is extremely dangerous. Driving, in and of itself, should consume so much attention that listening to the radio and having a conversation might put you over the edge before knitting even peeks its head into the picture (NOTE: I am not suggesting you an knit and drive while driving if the radio is turned off and you're not having a conversation with someone. It's dangerous no matter what!). If someone else is driving, however, (and you don't get motion sick - or you have happy pills to prevent that), by golly, have at it.

If you're travelling by train, while you might have less room to spread out, you should be able to knit quite a bit. PRO TIP: before you sit down in a set on the train, make sure the reading light works above the seat you're looking to sit in by testing it. Oftentimes the lights go off on AMTRAK trains, so make sure you can knit on something that doesn't require a lot of looking at if you're travelling at night (ditto for busses!). Currently, security on AMTRAK trains isn't too stringent, so if you think yo'll need scissors, feel free to bring them on with you.

The same cannot be said for travelling by plane. While most knitting paraphernalia should not hold you up at security in the US (you remembered to put that swiss army knife in your checked luggage, right?), be sure to check the TSA's list of prohibited items to make sure there haven't been any changes in policy (international travelers should check with the airport they're flying out of, and also with the airline). Also (and this is KEY!), be sure to check with your airlines to make sure they're knitting friendly. If an airlines has tighter rules than the airport, the airline will probably win. When in doubt, keep your knitting on the needles and thread a lifeline through the row you're on. That way, if security does need to take your needles, your knitting isn't lost with them. If you're really that hard up to knit on the flight, stop by the food court for some chopsticks, and the convenience store for some floss.

Last year I went on a wonderful cruise of the Caribbean. There were multiple knitting threats to me: no current project on the needles, no swatch for a new project. in-laws were going to be there, and there would be alcohol and pools to compete with knitting time. I decided to bring a shawl with me. The pattern was one I knew I'd done before, so I knew about how much time it took to knit and I was good. Problem was, I hadn't quite figured out the gauge for this shawl. Into my bag went my Addi Turbo Interchangeable set and off to security I went. They stopped me at the x-ray machine. After about 10 minutes, and 2 security personnel later, the needles were given back to me without an issue. The project was a hot mess, but that story's for a different time...

Lastly, keep in mind the climate of your destination. Try not to bring warm fibers with you to Hawaii. I learned the hard way that alpaca might even be too much there (FYI: there is one yarn shop on Maui, but I wasn't in that part of town when it was open). Likewise, if you're headed to New Hampshire or Canada for a nice long snowy weekend, bringing an in progress blanket of wool or a cashmere scarf WIP might help with some chilly afternoons. If you're travelling somewhere exotic, try to remember to bring ball bands with you of the yarn you're knitting with. Maybe someone who has never seen it before will be interested in it and want to know what it is.

I know I said this last week, but knowing what the LYS landscape of your destination will help you should security take your knitting needles or scissors and in the event an emergency yarn need. Plus, yarn makes a great souvenir of the places you've traveled and the best gift for fellow knitters that couldn't join you. Sometimes, a key destination that you return to often might be a good spot to store some stash in case of a knitting emergency. My rule of thumb for this is if I keep a toothbrush and feminine products there, it's probably a spot worthy of stashing an emergency project. To that end, there may, or may not be yarn at my parents' to knit a scarf with. I can neither confirm, nor deny these rumors.

I can, however, say that I am heading to my parents' this weekend. I'm driving up, so while I'll be in a car for an inordinate amount of time, I won't have time to knit (friends don't let friends knit and drive!). It's my mom's birthday, so there's a lot of celebrating this weekend. I know I'll have less knitting time than I'm used to, so all I'm bringing with me is a tank top I started on Tuesday, and a pair of socks that I'm not even 1/4 through with yet. We'll see if the silver bag o' hexipuffs makes it, it probably won't since a sock is perfect for travelling.

Knitting On the Go

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.

Vine Yoke Cardigan

I started this as a knitalong with my Staten Island Knitting group. Then I kinda just knit on it to beat the band over MLK weekend and now it's soaking in the kitchen sink. I think one other knitalonger hasn't started, and the other I think might be on the first sleeve. Oops.



I got some great wooden buttons for it at M&J Trimming.

2012 seems to be the year of knitalongs. I have a couple of projects languishing in the WIP piles. I have a sweater with a hole that needs to be darned and a sock in my purse. February's project is probably going to be a knitalong with blogless, facebookless Johanna. We're each going to knit a pair of Gioielli Gloves from Connie Chang Chinchio's Textured Knits. I'm going to knit it out of some Malabrigo Sock that I picked up in Chicago a couple of years ago. It'll probably match a hat I'm going to knit out of some Malabrigo Gruesa I got from the Staten Island knitting group's grab bag.



Sometime this spring, it looks like Claudine and I might do a Haruni knit along. I fell in love with Haruni when I saw a finished one at the Rhinebeck Sheep and Wool Festival a couple of years ago.



In the meantime, however, I still need to knit a Christmas Tree skirt (I picked a pattern from Handknit Holidays - officially the book I've knitted the most amount of patterns from). Maybe I'll start on that after I darn that sweater.

2011 Knits

Every year I post a list of the projects I completed the previous year. I'm a little late on this one, but I think it might still be relevant sometime. A goal of mine this year is to post a bit more. I haven't been writing much recently, and I'm thinking that's a skill that falls under that "use it or lose it" deal.

2011 Knits

1. Day Glow Robot
2. Baby Bobbi Bear for Colin
3. Silver Ishbel for me to wear at my brother's wedding
4. Lobster Pot Red Livias
5. Star Tank
6. Hurricane Irene V-Neck
7. 2 minna key covers
8. Mini Sock for Maude
9. Whale Watch Hat
10. Silver Beaded Ishbel for Aunt Pat

There was a rather large project I was working on that took up quite a bit of time. I just finished that, so it'll be on the 2012 list next January. The strange thing to me is that there's only one pair of socks here. I think that's largely due to the fact that I could knit bigger things on my commutes to work from Staten Island. I'm hoping that I can fix the sock situation this year. Some of my older ones are starting to get holes in them.

The big epic project this year is going to be a Christmas Tree Skirt for our Christmas tree this year. I'm hoping to knit a few Christmas Balls too. I just got 55 Christmas Balls to Knit and it looks like a fun time.

Also, I signed up for some classes this year already. A sewing basics course at The Sewing Studio in an effort to figure out how to do that kind of craft.

My grandmother gave me one of her old 8 shaft table looms for Christmas and a Warping Wheel. I'm insanely excited about weaving, and signed up for a class at the Textile Arts Center. My classes start in february!

Eulogy For a Sock

Born at the Brooklyn Court House in April of 2007, these socks had a good run. They developed a hole at some point, and I darned them, but after having worn them quite a bit recently, they just couldn't handle the abuse. This morning, I found a sizable hole in the heel of one of them, and while I could darn it, I think I might have used the rest of the yarn creating hexipuffs. They were good socks, and they will be missed.

I learned an important lesson here. Nylon is to sock yarn what water is for humans.

Uptown Boot Socks, may you rest in peace. You were good socks. I'll probably knit you a remembrance pair once I get over the hurt.

Preparing for Yarn Disasters

This is probably something I should have posted before the hurricane, but there were a few other things I was a little concerned about. I live in a basement apartment, and it was entirely possible during the storm that we would get a little to a lot of flooding. I also knew there would a LOT of time spent with my boyfriend's family and that knitting might prevent me from harming any of them. Here's what I did to prepare:

When I moved to this apartment, I was worried about what could happen to my yarn, and I needed an easy way to transport it as well. I put it all in clear plastic bins from The Container Store. Amusingly, these boxes were called Sweater Boxes (and they stack on top of each other!). The plastic proved to be a good move, as there were a few boxes on the floor that ended up getting wet, but the yarn inside them is totally fine.

I have a box of pretty yarn that I usually keep on the floor next to the TV. It's in a fabric box because the fabric box is pretty, and it's open. I simply moved this onto a TV table, which kept it above the water and fine.

You may have seen my blog Yarn365. I love taking photos for artistic reasons. However, one of the things I did before I moved last year was take photos of all the yarn I had and document which box it was in. I wanted to make sure that when I got to the new place, I knew that I had all my yarn. This proved to be useful in that, if anything bad did happened to my yarn, I had proof of my collection and how much it was worth in case I needed to file an insurance claim.

I was also worried about being bored, so figuring out what my next pattern would be was instrumental. The project for my brother's wedding is too warm to work on should the power go out and the AC fail. I was going to finish a shawl, but I was running out of yarn and I lost the bead needle I needed to string the beads onto a new ball. If I finished the sock I was working on, that'd be bad. So I started swatching. I settled on knitting a Cosy V Neck Pullover (Ravlink) from Fitted Knits: 25 Designs for the Fashionable Knitter (AMZ Link). It's top down and I finished the V-neck part and was ready to join for the round when I realized that I'd omitted the neckline shaping. So I ripped it all out Sunday night.

However, my issues with the pattern were all mental. I could read the pattern, despite the fact that the lights were out and our transformer exploded because I had a Neck Light. My SNB went in on this. I think we got something like 20 lights alltogether so we got them cheaply. It was pretty awesome to be able to continue to knit despite the dark.

Overall, we weathered through ok. We had a transformer explode on our block and we had to leave our house because of a possible gas leak whose origin they still don't quite know. But everyone here was safe, and I hope you were too.

(photo: Decadent Fibers Creme Brulee from Rhinebeck last year, the yarn of my hurricane project)

Is all knitting so touchy feely?

I was poking around Amazon this afternoon and found the book Knit in Comfort. I started thinking to myself: why do I see so many novels about women finding themselves through knitting? I thought, why don't I write the less dramatic book about a woman finding her friends through knitting. Then I realized what I was saying.

I'm that woman.

I moved to the city, started reading all the time and realized I was only living in my head. To get out of my head, I taught myself how to knit, and I started finding knitting groups to be social. I met friends, awesome friends that I've had for a while now. I had some awesome experiences (remember the yarn bus, the first Rhinebeck experience, and moving the stash to Stan's?).

Looks like knitting is a life changer after all. Even if it isn't as touchy feely as all those novels make it seem.

I wonder if a non-touchy feely knitting life changing book would sell. Probably not. I'll bet a book that describes the intersection of dating and knitting would be hilarious and sell quite well though. Call it "When to Flash Your Stash."