How to Enjoy Traveling and Knitting

I have pattern for sale on https://www.ravelry.com/stores/nonconformknits-designs

I am mobile these days.  We just took the last two days to drive to Michigan to visit family.  My husband, who is awesome, did all the driving...which leaves me literally all day to knit as the miles slide by. When I'm not enjoying a beautiful sight, such as the one below, I'm knitting.

Sunset in Tennessee

Experience has taught me some basic requirements for good portable knitting!

1. The project must be relatively small.

One skein infinity scarf

Large projects are too bulky for travel.  They are difficult to maneuver, take up too much space in your lap, and are space hogs as far as packing goes.  My portable projects are typically one skein wonders. The one pictured above is an infinity scarf that fits in a small project bag that fits in my purse.

2. The project must be relatively mindless, or have an easy to remember pattern.

When traveling, there are usually an abundance of distractions such as beautiful sight, a stop, people conversing to you or around you, requests, etc. This is not the time to work on complicated lace patterns or super involved multiple shapings.  The project pictured above has a very simple 4 row repeat to form the simple lace...and even that is a stretch.  Seeing as I've already worked the pattern for about three feet, it's pretty ingrained in my memory. 

3. I always try to bring two projects!

Having small projects means I have room for two, right?!  This is to combat boredom, or knitting short attention span.  When I am tired of one project, I switch to the other.  The project pictured here is a design I'm currently working on and it meets my portable project rules.  The stitch pattern is a simple linen stitch (that I blogged about earlier) and there is no shaping.  It is also a one skein wonder.  Both projects actually easily fit in my purse (granted it's a larger purse).

One skein linen stitch project - pattern coming soon!

Summer for many of us is travel season...so get out there and enjoy knitting on the road (or the fly). As an aside, we recommend projects using smaller wood needles for flying. Happy trails!