Knitting and Travelling
How to get the best of both worlds
I recently went on some travel adventures, both domestic and international, and I took my knitting along with me. I wanted to share some of my tips and tricks when travelling with knitting.
Before the trip
The most important part of travel planning (aside from booking flights and accommodation) is deciding on the perfect knitting pattern.
Portable projects, like socks, small shawls, hats, mittens, or the beginning of a single-stranded garment are all excellent travel options. Those of you, like me, who already enjoy knitting socks, will easily transition to travel knitting. However, if large chunky garments or projects with a lot of colourwork are your usual go-to, you can use travel as the opportunity to expand your comfort zone!
Once the perfect pattern has been chosen, it’s then essential to prepare as much as possible.
For example, I always split my 100g of sock yarn into two 50g balls before leaving for a trip so that I don’t need to weight my socks while travelling.
It’s important to read through the ENTIRE pattern before going away. Yes, I mean every single word. Is it annoying and time consuming? A little bit. But do you know what’s worse? Realising that you didn’t plan for something while you’re away from all of your knitting supplies.
What to pack?
Obviously, what to pack can really depend on where you are going, your personal packing style and philosophy, and the kinds of projects you enjoy knitting. Regardless, I truly believe that all travel and packing styles can go hand-in-hand with knitting
While of course you don’t want to run out of knitting, most people don’t end up knitting as much as they think they will while travelling. Depending on where you are going, there also may be some local yarn stores with a skein of sock yarn that you can easily pick up if you run out and really need something to do with your hands.
For the light packer: you can pack very little knitting stuff and get a lot of knitting out of it! If you do your research and planning, you don’t need a tape measure. I also use a stitch marker as a cable needle and I make sure that the yarn I pack is light enough that I can quite easily break it just by pulling on it, so I don’t need to take any scissors.
Therefore, for a one-project trip, I will take the following:
100g yarn
Needles (usually 2.5mm for socks)
2 stitch markers
1 small darning needle
Digital version of the pattern downloaded on my phone
Depending on how long I am travelling for and how much suitcase space I have, I also sometimes take a “hotel” project. My hotel project can be slightly less portable, like a garment, but still usually in the early stages using a light-weight fabric.
The travel
I don’t have a car (or a lot of work leave), and Australia does not have a high-speed rail system or any land borders to other countries. Therefore, all of my travel is done via flying. As a nervous flyer, I probably need to move to Europe with more travel options!
There is always the question of whether or not knitting needles can be taken through airport security. Personally, I have never had any issues. In Australia, I feel no concern taking any of my knitting through security. However, overseas in places that I am less confident, I’ll only take a sock project with sock needles (aka not my expensive interchangeable needles) just in case they get confiscated. I have taken knitting needs through what I would consider to be one of the highest security airports in the world (a part-commercial, part-military airport close to the Indo-China border), so I would say it’s unlikely that there will be anything to worry about throughout most of the world. Many airports also have their security requirements on their website if you want to double check.
During the trip
Remember, you can knit whenever you want, but travel only lasts for a small time (unless, of course, you’re a full-time traveller, but I’m guessing you’re not). In fact, I’ve taken a few trips where I actively don’t take knitting because I want to be completely in the moment.
It’s okay to not knit at all. It’s okay to put your knitting down and take in the scenery. It’s also okay to use the meditative element of knitting to become more in the moment. Either way, try not to judge yourself for the amount that you do or don’t create while travelling.
What are your tips and tricks for knitting and travelling? Have you ever had the dreaded airport confiscation of knitting needles? I’d love to hear all about it in the comments below!
As always, thank you so much for joining me today.
Until next time,
Jane
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I pack some dental floss, as emergency scissors
Thanks for the tips. Am attempting my first fight in 10 years in April (mobility has had me pretty much housebound) and I am already obsessing about what projects to take 😂 I have no idea how I am going to manage the flight/being abroad but some form of knit or crochet is going to be essential if I am going to have any chance.