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Knitting & Travelling

The summer travel season is about to kick into high gear.  On Monday, May 20 Canadians will be celebrating Victoria Day and our U.S. friends will take the following Monday, May 27, off for their three-day Memorial Weekend.  In both countries these dates mark the start of the summer holiday season.  It seemed timely to share my two cents worth about travelling with knitting whether you're flying, cruising, driving, riding in a train/bus or biking.




Land Travel
  • Take projects that are familiar to you and relatively easy to knit.  This is a time for rest and relaxation and not having to struggle with a new technique.  Remember the Wavelength scarf I took to California in February.  I'd never done one before and it was the only craft item I took.  I either had to figure out how to do it right (I didn't), not craft at all (I didn't) or buy something new to do (I didn't).  In the end with this travel project I just made it up doing it wrong.  To avoid this situation know the technique before you leave.
  • My example above also suggests taking multiple projects with you would be a good idea.  This is easy to do for land travel, you can pack all you can carry to whatever vehicle you're using (except if you're biking).  Multiple options mean you can change things up so you don't get bored or stranded without something to do.
  • The size of the project matters.  I find socks, baby items, knitted food and scarves travel well.  For me larger bulkier projects take up too much luggage space and become too heavy too quickly.  Smaller is better for me. 
  • Think about the knitting environment.  In a car you have a fair amount of elbow room, but on a bus or train there's often much less (airlines are also tight on space).  So think about the type of needles you are using.  The old-fashioned long needles might not work so well in a crowded environment.  Bring circular needles instead.
  • Plastic bags with zipping tops tend to work very, very well to keep the projects safe whether in a carry-on bag or in packed luggage.  And if you use a separate bag for each project it is easy to grab just what you want, when you want it.
  • Know your itinerary to gauge what you need to take.  Will you be doing all the driving, biking, etc?  If so a couple of really small projects might be perfect.  Are you a passenger throughout most of the time?  Then perhaps you'll need bigger things to occupy the long expanses of free time.
Air Travel
  • All the preceding applies, but in addition you need to consider air travel regulations.  Even though most safety inspectors allow crochet hooks, some have questions about metal knitting needles with sharp points and craft scissors.  So I now take only bamboo and/or circular knitting needles and a pair of kid's scissors on planes.  And of course, since I've made this change the hassle at security has gone away, at least for me.
  • Bring a self-addressed and stamped envelop.  Some of my needles are more precious to me than others so rather than risk losing them I like to plan ahead.  Again since I've started carrying this envelop I've never needed it.  Being prepared seems to mean the worst doesn't happen.  (I hope I haven't jinxed it now.)
  • On airplanes it is less complicated to have a printed version of your pattern with you rather than relying on an electronic copy.  There's all the powering down at the start and end of the flight; a paper copy is available no matter where you are, and you can write on it as well.  
All Travel
  • Check out the LYS(s) in your destination(s) whether you pack the right stuff or not. (Forgot the right sized needle?  Think of it as a great excuse to go yarn shopping!)   Some of my most precious souvenirs are the yarns I picked up in, for example, Sydney, Australia or Southport, North Carolina or Mayville, Wisconsin.  And it's almost just as much fun to make something up with these destination yarns and send the finished product back.


So there's my list of things to keep in mind as you prepare to travel AND knit.  Many of these have been learned the hard way so my work here is done if I'm able to help you avoid a few bumps along the way.  Do be sure to enjoy that summer holiday whether you knit or not!  You deserve it.
   
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