December 19, 2014

Travel Knits

One unexpected benefit from clearing off my desk and dealing with neglected paperwork, I found a Christmas gift from last year. A gift card to a yarn supplier. To keep the planets properly aligned (a responsibility I take seriously, I assure you) I figured I best put the gift card to good use before another Christmas rolls around. 

Also around this time, I stumbled across an entrelac scarf pattern that didn't intimidate me. The pattern is by Allison LoCicero of Freckles & Purls and available as a free download here. No one needs to tell me twice to use the gift card to subsidize the scrummy, self-striping Noro silk garden yarn needed to make this gorgeous scarf. And what better way to round out my year of openness than by learning a challenging knitting technique?
Oh, and hey, wouldn't this project be the perfect thing to while away the hours in air travel limbo? Yes, I thought so for a couple of weeks. And then, in the nick of time, I came to my senses. Thank goodness.

For me, sitting on a plane or in an airport, what I want is something simple to keep my hands occupied while my mind is somewhat free to wander. Learning entrelac will require full attention, concentration, and I anticipate a bit (understatement) of frustration, cursing and ripping out of mistaken stitches. Not the calming work I desire while traveling. And not the type of simple knitting I can work on and still keep myself in the conversation once I am at my destination. So. No entrelac this trip. 
Instead of entrelac and delicious Noro, I'll be resuming a project that got off to a roaring start during a road trip two summers ago which I put away upon returning home and promptly forgot. These linen towels, free patterns by The Purl Bee, fit all the travel criteria: compact, simple, interesting (and don't require a video tutorial). Plus, I still get to learn a new technique, albeit a easy one, the i-cord. Much better for everyone involved. I'm sure my fellow air travelers will appreciate our plane not being forced to land prematurely to eject an irate and inconsolable knitter. And I'll appreciate not being said knitter.

2 comments:

  1. That entrelac scarf pattern is incredible - what an effect! It still intimidates me though. And the Noro yarn makes me drawl. I've got knitting envy going on right now. Thanks for the link to the towels, they are lovely. Travel knitting has to be easy knitting - it's essential :-)

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    1. Entrelac is totally intimidating. Picking up stitches? Who, me? Uh, how exactly do you do that? But I am determined to learn it sooner or later. Sometime when I have a lot of time and clear head space to properly tackle it. Happy knitting, Xan.

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