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How to knit on vacation with FREE travel knitting planner

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Don’t let your vacation keep you from knitting! Follow this travel knitting guide so you can take your projects on all of your adventures.

Summer is nearly here! This week my friend and I packed up my kiddos and headed over the mountains and through the woods to (her) grandmother’s house. In all, it is about five hours of driving each way, not counting how many stops we make or what traffic is doing. 

Since were going to be gone for several days I knew I would need to bring some kind of project along. But how to pick the perfect travel knitting project, bring it with me, and actually work on it while I am traveling? Fortunately, I have a system for making sure I get a great knitting experience no matter where I go.  

So come along on my summer road trip and then plan your own crafty adventure! 

First, you will need to pick the perfect travel knitting project to bring. Before you decide you should ask yourself

Once you have the perfect travel knitting project you will need to spend some time getting it travel ready

Then all you have left to do is to cram as many knitting opportunities into your vacation as possible!

What do your travel plans look like?

The very first thing to consider when planning your travel project is how you are traveling. Are you going by car, boat, plane, horseback? Are you staying in a European Hostel with a tourist group, or renting a three-bedroom beach cabin by yourself? Knowing how much room you have while you are on the move and what kind of space you will have to work with when you arrive at your destination will help you determine what travel knitting project to bring. 

If you are flying, make sure you are allowed to bring all the supplies you need. Most crafting tools are allowed, including knitting needles, sewing needles, and small scissors. It is always a good idea to research the current rules before you head to the airport.  

Once your travel plans have been settled, and you have started to think about what project you might like to bring, go ahead and picture yourself actually knitting on your trip. Are you knitting a sweater in a car? Turning a heel on a beach? Now ask yourself, is this actually feasible? If you hesitated this is not the project to bring. 

As you are thinking about which travel knitting project to bring, keep visualizing it on your trip. This will help you pick something that you will actually work on, and help you build excitement about your trip!

How big is your travel knitting project?

Size is going to be one of the biggest limiting factors for what you can bring, and it will be determined by the way you are traveling. You might not want to lug around enough yarn for a bulky weight afghan, but you could slip a pair of socks into your carry-on.

When you think about the size of a travel knitting project, keep in mind how much space it will take up when it is packed and when you are working on it. Will you need to have a charted pattern propped up for easy reference or will you use multiple colors at once? Then you might need more room than you have in your airplane seat. 

One skein wonder or other small projects are usually a good choice for travel knitting. That includes socks, hats, or small shawls. Think about your favorite types of projects and then see if you have room for that size of project.

Sock knitters usually can get away with bringing their project anywhere, but what if you prefer to knit on larger items? Instead of bringing an entire small project, you could bring part of a larger project. Have a sweater that has been waiting five months to have the sleeves knitted? Want to work on a bunch of Afghan squares? Those kinds of projects could make travel knitting.

Is this a familiar knitting pattern?

While I almost always encourage people to try new things, especially when it comes to crafting, while you are on vacation is probably not the best place to learn a new technique.

Crafting on a vacation is the perfect time to relax and enjoy your time away from home. Picking a familiar project will make it easier to pick it up and put it down as your travels allow. This can also affect the size of a project. If you are working on a project you can complete it without looking at a pattern or if you know exactly how much yarn you will need to finish you can avoid packing any extra supplies.

Travel is already stressful enough, don’t let your travel knitting add to your anxiety!

How complex is this travel knitting pattern?

Much like picking a project that you are familiar with, you want your travel crafts to be on the simpler side of the spectrum. 

I love knitting lace. The final results are always so beautiful and I get a ton of compliments. But lace knitting patterns can be incredibly intricate and usually have a chart that you need to follow. Not only does this mean you will need a place to sit and knit where you can reference the pattern frequently but the mental work of starting and stopping knitting each time you pick up and put down the project is increased if you have to stop and figure out which row you are on in a complex lace pattern every time. 

The easier it is to grab your project and start, the more likely you are to actually work on it.

I like to look for patterns with a lot of simple stitches, like straight garter stitch or stockinette stitch in the round. This way I can keep working but still enjoy the scenery or visiting with friends.

Even though I pick something simple, I don’t want to be bored with my knitting either. To make sure I am looking forward to my knitting I like to pick a simple pattern but then use a gorgeous skein of yarn that I can’t wait to get on my needles. So if you have a special ball of hand-painted yarn you have been saving for the perfect project, now is the time to cast on.

How long will it take to finish this project?

We all know that the worst possible thing to happen on a trip is running out of things to knit!

Ok, ok, I know there is an infinitely long list of worse things that can happen while traveling, but with the thought and care you have put into planning your trip and how to bring your knitting with you, it would be tragic not to have brought enough to keep your fingers busy until you get home.

That being said, I don’t think I have ever brought too little knitting on a vacation. Usually, I will bring one large project that still needs a lot of work or a couple of smaller projects in case I finish one before I am home.

So what did I bring on this trip?

Knowing I would have two small children to keep an eye on I chose a super simple project. I brought along a pair of basic socks that I have been working sporadically on for months. I have the technique for my perfect sock memorized, so I didn’t need to bring a pattern. The first sock was already complete but I hadn’t made much progress on the second one.

partially knitted sock in purple yarn on circular needles resting on a project bag on a picnic table at a rest stop

This made an ideal travel knitting project. I only need to bring the yarn, circular needles, and a few notions for finishing. It’s a simple pattern that I have memorized but I still enjoy working on it. I was able to grab it and instantly start knitting away with any spare moment I had and I was able to get about half of the sock completed by the time I got home.

You picked a pattern, so now what?

Now that you have found a pattern that you want to knit and have the perfect yarn to go with it, you need to make sure it comes with you.

Getting your travel knitting supplies ready

For all knitting projects, you will need at least some yarn and a set of knitting needles. As simple as this sounds, any knitter knows you will be halfway through a pattern and realize you need 20 stitch markers or another size of needle. If you are at home, you can just go grab what you need, but that isn’t always feasible when you are away. 

Before you pack up your travel knitting project read through the pattern and make sure you have absolutely everything you need. Do you need to bring any additional tools? Extra yarn? Stitch markers? A tapestry needle? And don’t forget to bring the instructions themselves!

Once you have everything you need, take the time to get everything ready to use. Open all of your packagings, wind up your skeins of yarn, and screw on your interchangeable needles. This will help you jump into your project on the road and save you some room when you are packing. 

​Packing up your project

Now that you’ve planned the perfect project and gathered all the supplies you need you will need to make sure you have it packed just right to take it with you.

I have a small collection of project bags that I have collected over the years. I can always find the perfect project bag for my current knitting project. But if you don’t have bags specifically for knitting, no problem! Any kind of bag can work, I’ve even used a ziplock bag! Just make sure you have something to keep your knitting safe and all of your supplies together so it is easy to grab on your adventure. 

For this trip, I grabbed one of my favorite project bags from Home Row Handcraft. I love the design and the handle makes it easy to take anywhere. For my notions, I like to travel with a notion tin from The Sexy Knitter.

Finding every knitting opportunity

Now your bags are packed, your knitting is ready and you are heading out the door. All that is left to do is find every spare moment you can to knit. 

Depending on how you travel you may be able to get a lot of knitting on the way. If you are flying you can pass the time at the airport happily clicking away with your knitting needles. If you can convince someone else to drive, road trips from the passenger seat are a good time to do some car knitting.

Even if you are the one driving, then you can control how many stops you make. Rest stops can make a lovely place to stop for a snack and a bit of knitting. 

I found myself knitting all throughout my trip. My favorite place I found was under a tree in the small orchard at the house we were staying. It was like something from a fairy tale.

orchard in many shades of green with a shady grassy area with white flowers

Visiting local yarn shops

One more thing I always do when I travel is keeping an eye out for any local yarn shops that are on the way. I almost find something new that I can’t help but pick up as a souvenir. Plus it is a great way to support small businesses whether it is the shop itself, or a small creator. 

If you want to visit a yarn shop on your trip, take the time to properly research what shops will be near your travels before​ you try to visit them.

On this trip, I tried to visit some yarn shops but didn’t look very closely at what I found listed. I thought I had found a yarn shop in a nearby town. After driving up to visit it, all I found was an empty storefront. Then, after a hasty internet search to see if there were any other shops in the area, I ended up on a dead-end dirt road with no yarn in sight! 

Although I didn’t come home with any new yarn on this trip, I sure did have an adventure trying to find some. 

I had a great trip. With my knitting ready to go I was able to reach for my needles whenever I had a spare moment. Because it was a familiar pattern I could sit and knit on my socks while catching up with friends I haven’t seen for years. Even though I did all the driving, I still took a few minutes at the rest stops to get a few rows done.

Travel knitting planner

I hope the next time you go on vacation you take some travel knitting with you!

If you want more knitting tips, click here.

What is your dream knitting vacation? Let me know in the comments below!

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