Rules for knitting away from home

I’m in Hobart this week. It’s all work-related stuff involving insurance and superannuation of course, but it’s still a trip away and a break from the normal weekday grind which is very welcome.Unfortunately it means no pictures for this post as I don’t have my camera with me.

I tend to work long hours when I’m in the Hobart office, but I don’t have the same travel time that I have when I’m at home. Instead of an hour each way on the train, I take a 15 minute walk to the hotel. I don’t need to cook dinner, feed cats or pack the next day’s lunch – so I end up with the luxury of free time in a posh hotel and no distractions.

This is ideal knitting time.

As with any trip away the question is “what knitting should I bring along?” I get a bit nervous and twitchy on my daily commute if I don’t have something to knit, so the stakes are much higher with the Bass Strait between me and my stash.

What if I bring the wrong needles? What if I run out of yarn? What If I’m just not into the project I thought would keep me entertained for the whole trip? These are VERY serious considerations.

With this in mind, I’ve made a checklist for projects that travel well. I’ve given some thought to what works well on a flight as well as when you get to your destination.

So here are my rules for knitting away from home.

1 – Two colours max! Stranding multiple colours in flight does not go smoothly. Too many escaping balls of yarn and knots to deal with gracefully. Carrying all the balls of yarn in the different colours that you need takes up luggage room that could be better used to bring souvenir yarn back from your destination.

2 – Small enough for the carry-on bag. I don’t like dipping into my wheelie suitcase once it’s in the overhead locker, so the project needs to be fairly small. No man-size jumpers or Dr Who scarves.

3 – No DPNS! I have a talent for flinging double pointed needles around – it’s better not to be the launcher of sharp projectiles on an aircraft. Learn the magic loop and take circular needles instead.

4 – Make sure your “extra bits list” is small. A few stitch markers are fine, but once you have stitch holders, cable needles, needle gauges, extra needles and crochet hooks it gets very messy.

5 – Read your pattern first. You might need to do a crochet provisional cast-on or do a three needle cast-off. You’ll kick yourself if you can’t work on your project for want of a crochet hook or extra needle.

6 – Have a backup plan. You might think that the pair of gloves you plan to knit will be just the right project for a long weekend away. What if the yarn you thought was perfect just doesn’t look right for the project, or there are heaps of errors in the pattern or you just don’t like it. Bring a second small project so you have an alternative – socks are always a good option here.

7 – If you’re a swatcher, swatch before you go. If you jump straight into a project and worry about gauge at the end, then just go for it and hope it works out. If you swatch before you go you will have the right size needles and you won’t have to take your whole needle collection with you.

8 – Don’t bring anything that will get confiscated at the airport. Scissors are the main danger, but some airlines prohibit metal knitting needles. Some particularly evil jurisdictions ban knitting needles altogether. If this applies to you, consider emigrating to Australia. All domestic flights allow knitting needles, but not scissors (or opened bottles of gin).

For my Hobart trip I had everything ready to go. My main project was starting a jumper for Geoff. Because I’m only just starting it it’s not very big. I’ll probably only get a eight inches of the body knit up while I’m away so it won’t take up much room. I’m calling this “bending” rather than “breaking” rule number two.

I also planned my backup project. I was going to make a lace scarf. I read the pattern in advance and thought I’d do a few rows before I left. It didn’t go well. I don’t think the yarn I had was quite right and I was struggling with the charted lace pattern for no particular reason. It just wasn’t working for me at all.

Naturally I HAD TO have a backup project for my three day stay, so I might have gone shopping at a lovely yarn shop that I hope to share some pictures of in my next post. I have worked a few rows of Geoff’s jumper, but it’s hard for a jumper that has been on my “must knit” list for a few years to compete with the appeal of new yarn.

However well you plan your knitting projects for a trip away, there is always the promise of new yarn at at your destination. I’m yet to visit Hobart without adding to my stash.