How to Plan Your Travel Knitting Projects

I have written ab out traveling with knitting before in the context of making a travel knitting kit and whether you can fly with your knitting.

But I haven’t really covered exactly what you should pack in terms of travel knitting projects. That’s probably because it’s so personal for everyone, depending on how long your trip is and how you are traveling (you’ll have more knitting time if you’re a passenger than if you’re driving, for example), your skill level and knitting speed and what you like to knit.

I like to take a few projects so that I can choose depending on my mood. Socks are great for travel knitting because they are small and take a relatively long time to knit on a relatively small quantity of yarn. So are shawls, but I also like projects that are relatively simple, with repeating stitch patterns, so no complex lace for me on vacation.

Usually I will take at least three projects for a week long vacation (and, if I’m being honest, two for a weekend away, if I ever had such a thing). One would be something small and easy like a sock or a shawl. One is usually a sweater or summer top.

And then it might just be whatever I was already working on, or a long neglected project I think I might work on if I have no other choice. Sometimes I will take a new project to cast on, but only if I’ve already done my gauge swatch or don’t need one, because swatching is way too much effort for vacation.

How about you? Do you plan your travel knitting projects or do you just grab whatever you’ve been working on? Do you plan to visit a yarn store and start a new project with the yarn you buy on the way? Do you remember vacations based on the projects you were working on? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

(Pictured is my vacation sock from last year. I still haven’t knit the second one.)

Generally I like knitting patterns where I feel like you can use whatever yarn you have (because my stash is big enough and I want to use it, thanks) and make a successful project. This is one of those times when a special yarn makes the process that much easier.

The Floral Bouquet Shawl from Xandy Peters uses a specific extended color pooling yarn from Feisty Fibers, which allows you to place the bobble flowers with increasing frequency as you knit the project.

It starts with a solid color yarn, then the two color yarn is added in, and you make a bobble whenever you encounter the color pops. This would be hard to replicate with other yarn that doesn’t have the extended color pooling built in.

The background of the shawl is ribbed, making the project reversible.

The shawl uses fingering/sock yarn and comes out to be an asymmetrical triangle that’s 54 inches/137 cm long and 36 inches/ 90 cm deep and 60 inches/150 cm across the top edge.

Xandy says the pattern is for intermediate to advanced knitters. Knowing how to work traditional bobbles would probably help, but there’s a great video tutorial for how to work the floral bobbles so you can practice on other yarn or even incorporate the bobbles into other projects.

The bobbles are five-petaled flowers but they also kind of look like starfish to me, which could be fun on a child’s cardigan or other pattern. They’d also be fun on the leg of a sock or around the brim of a hat for extra whimsy.

The pattern includes photo and video tutorials, and written and charted instructions. It also includes tips on what to look for if you choose to use different yarn for the project, and instructions on how to dye your own yarn to use in the project.

If you want to give it a try, you can find the pattern on Ravelry.

[Photo: Xandy Peters]

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