I recently took a 3 week trip with my husband and I fretted over packing. Believe it or not it wasn’t about what clothes to take, but stress over what knitting project I would tuck in my bag to work on. I wanted to knit at the airport, on the plane, in the car while my husband was dealing with foreign traffic and even in cafes as I sipped my coffee. I didn’t want to pack a lot of yarn and didn’t want to knit something that would take up a lot of room as it progressed and grew. I didn’t want a complicated pattern that would require my full attention and where I would constantly have to check my notes or keep track of stitches and rows. Sounds like a tall order doesn’t it!!!!
Well, with Jen’s help I decided on her wonderful “I Quilt Too Lap Blanket” that she designed for Trilogy Yarns' Advent Calendar 2020, available on Ravelry. It is perfect because you are knitting one 4”x 4” square at a time and the pattern is super easy to follow and memorize after knitting only a couple of squares. The pattern calls for 20g mini skeins of yarn which was perfect to tuck in my carry-on and suitcase. It is also a great project to use up bits and pieces from your stash. Along with the yarn I packed, I added some yarn from my trip that I purchased along the way so that my blanket would be a special memento representing the country we visited, Italy. This required that I carefully study the yarn labels to make sure they were made in Italy and not another country, especially not the US. Thankfully I found some sweet yarn at a couple of yarn shops I visited. My husbands limited Italian and the saleslady’s broken English worked in finding and purchasing the yarn.
The project ended up being just what I wanted. It was easy to pack the supplies with minimal room, easy to knit along the way and easy to find space for the completed squares. I ended up tucking them into tiny crevices in my bag, even in my shoes to save space for other souvenirs. I even wrapped a couple of small breakables with the squares for cushy protection. Who knew they would be so versatile!
Some yarn suggestions are: Rainier Roses Minis (either a set or just individual minis)
Another similar blanket project is, the “Skep Blanket” by Kate Davies available on Ravelry. This pattern is also worked square by square but has a different design than the “I Quilt Too Lap Blanket”. I love the starfish shaped pieces and the solid color connecting them together. The uneven edges, once the squares are stitched together, is a wonderful fun touch.
Some yarn suggestions are: Uptown Worsted or Deluxe Worsted
So as you get ready to hit the road or the skies or even the ocean on a cruise consider these two great projects as you decide on what you will pack and knit on your adventure.
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