Packing update

Packing for the North Shore Knit-Out is on target.  I got a couple inches of the Lion Suede sweater jacket done, enough to get over the ribbing at the beginning.  Now it's a good knit-out project, rows and rows of stockinette stitch without too much else going on.  So I put that down to be packed. 

Last night I finished a pair of traveling socks in a self-striping blue and grey which have been taking up the sock needles.  So tonight I'll start the fair isle socks.  I'd like to get through the first few rows of the toes, they're the hardest part and require some concentration.  Once I get into the swing of the toe cap increase pattern, I'll put them down as well.  I want to work on the plain foot part on the flight out.  K1Frog2 claims the knit-out starts when I step off the plane on Thursday, but for me it will begin approx. 7 hours earlier when I check in at BWI.  I like to get there two hours ahead of the flight, almost all the flights to Milwaukee have a stop, and I like to have at least an hour layover in case I have to change planes.  I also don't like really short hops, so I picked flights with stops in places more out of the way than Chicago.  So the flight itself is taking 5 hours where a direct flight to Chicago would take 2, but what the heck, I said to myself, it's more time to knit.  Let's get into the spirit of this thing.  Besides, I gain an hour on the flight west, and I thought arriving later in the afternoon would be less disruptive for my wonderful friends who are going out of their way to pick me up at the airport.  Is this making it all too complicated?

Now I need to line up a good project for the flight back.  The sweater jacket is too bulky to carry in a purse, and if I'm lucky I'll get into the color work on the fair isle socks before I come back, which means they're also too bulky due to the many balls of different colors that need to be on hand.  Another simple pair of socks, what I like to call "traveling socks".  Something in a self striping yarn is ideal.  Hmm, that means I have to find my second set of sock needles this weekend.  Let the hunt begin.

The Packing List

Okay, the C word is out.  Knitting rocks.

NSKW (North Shore Knitting Weekend) - 15 and counting.  Preparation of the projects begins.  What to take?  The Fair Isle socks?  The Lion Suede sweater jacket?  K1Frog2 says both, but will I have room?  My disdain for flying only increases.  I am hoping to go with just a carry-on bag.  I can fit clothing for a long weekend in a carry-on, but will it leave room for 20 balls of sock yarn (Fair Isle with 10 colors x 2 because I knit them both at once) AND 16 balls of bulky yarn?  It's squishable, but really....

Ah, these are the pleasant dilemmas in life.  Finished the gauge swatches for the Suede, and I have decided I like the somewhat tight fabric that size 7's give.  Almost a wide wale corduroy look.  Pleasing in a jacket, in my opinion.  Now I am deliberating how best to work the two colors I have.  Had to get a second color to get enough yarn for a whole jacket, so now I have to figure out how to combine them, given the relative amount I have of each color.  I'll probably just play with this one for a while, not really try to get a lot done before the trip.

The foot part of the Fair Isle socks would make a good travel project for the trip out.  The foot will be plain, which is ideal for knitting on the go.  K1Frog2 is writing so glowingly of stranded knitting, I'd love to work on these with her!

Hmm, assuming I get into the Fair Isle pattern during the visit, that means I'll need another simple project for the return trip.  I'm trying to fly cheaply, the 2 hour flight to Chicago is going to take me 4-5 hours clock time each way, I have to have something to do.  I guess I'll throw in stuff for another pair of traveling socks.  Not a bad idea anyway; it's too easy to make mistakes on a complicated project when knitting in company.  Need a simple project to switch to sometimes.

Okay, this is firming up.  If only I can fit it into my bag.