My Yarn in my Stash Must Be Breeding… Like Rabbits!

September 11, 2015February 25, 2017 ~ Kristin Tolle ~ Leave a comment

I’ve been doing a lot of knitting this year—more than in many years—trying to whittle down the Too Much Yarn—So Little Time stash. I’ve been on a trade/donation kick too. Ravelry shows my trades/gifts for the last 12 months at 28 (!). Two people approached me about hats and scarves for the homeless and got more than they bargained for (massive piles of yarn). Mostly vintage mohair and “virgin” wool.

Some yarns are so old, I’ve had a tough time finding the yardage and proper weights. This week I forensically discovered the weight of a Scheepjes Diamond 2/4 because even though the yarn wasn’t on Ravelry, a pattern for it was.

My most recent sale/donation was a gentleman from Chico, CA who is knitting wool socks for donation to a shelter. He didn’t tell me he was a charity knitter until after we agreed on a price so in addition to the skeins he requested, I stuffed a big box full before I sent it off which meant his funds only covered the shipping. And I friended him on Ravelry so that I can send more as I dig through the vast wasteland of my grandmother’s lifetime of knitting leftovers—mostly odd balls of worsted weight, superwash in 300-600 yard lengths. Enough that if I went into Etsy business of knitting hats, mitts and scarves (as I threaten to do), I wouldn’t need to buy yarn for years.

Natural (Undyed) Handspun Alpaca from Warm Valley Orchard

One of the Orcas Island shepherdesses, Maria Nutt of Warm Valley Orchard, suggested I start weaving. This after I told her I’d recently came across 1200 yards of beautiful (undocumented) natural color alpaca I bought from her more than 10 years ago. She even offered to bring by her loom to get me started.

I Found 11 Skeins of This Bucilla Yarn in an Unopened Box

And just when I think I’ve seen all of my collection and I’m sure I’ve posted it on all Ravelry, suddenly more appears. Two weeks ago I found in box that hasn’t been opened for three house moves which contained Eleven 100 gram skeins of pale yellow—2500 yards of it. How the heck did I miss it when I spent weeks photographing and cataloguing “everything” I owned last Fall?

So I’ve come to this conclusion—they must be breeding away—making new little skeins; growing them like nodes on the side of an epiphyte.

Partly this is because people also give me yarn. One friend I made a mock turtleneck for (nearly identical to this one by Karen Templer) gave me a small box of yarn from her grandmother. “She’ll know what to do with it”, her grandmother said. But I didn’t. I left it in that little white box for four house moves—never opening it after that afternoon tea with my friend–until now.

Last week, after years *blush* of it sitting as a box in a box, did I take a look at the magic inside. 17 colors—most shades of pink and purple—of worsted weight angora. They are mostly dribs and drabs—some as small as 30 inches the longest is a 99 yards of fuchsia, but I think they might provide “fuzzy” interest paired with a masculine color like burgundy or navy in a Sally Melville’s stashbusting Topher’s Pullover.

Another box I dredged out this weekend was a kit I’d tried to give it away without opening it. After my discovery of the angora, I got curious and opened it up. Wow! Another huge surprise. Inside a cheesy looking square dance sweater kit (my gramps and gram used to cut a rug to the caller at least once a week) was the most beautiful ivory colored Scheepjes wool with matching 7 matching colors for the little people dancing around the hem. And let’s not forget the cowhead buttons! Yee Haw!

I’m hoping that they measured on the generous side, because this is coming off the donate pile and going onto the looking for a good worsted weight pattern—maybe I’ll even mix them it into the Topher pullover and use the ivory for another sweater—possibly something from Madder 2 which I’ve been angling to dig into now that my Home and Away, George Hancock Cardigan, is done.

Sometimes my stash makes me feel tired just looking at it. Have any of you inherited or been given yarn, supplies, cloth and/or other items and wondered what to do with it?

Ivory Wool--the Main Color — Ivory Wool–the Main Color

My First Knit-a-Long

September 7, 2015September 6, 2015 ~ Kristin Tolle ~ 6 Comments

It’s been awhile since I posted. What have I been up to? Knitting! Well that and lots of travel. Too much in fact!

Two books from Quince & Co. Home and Away and Madder 2

I’ve just finished my very first knit-a-long (KAL). I’ve always been tempted, but nothing has ever bit. I’m particularly uneasy about “Mystery KALs” because I worry I won’t like the end product. Money, time and opportunity costs are problematic when they are in limited supply.

So what’s different this time? Plenty!

The Woolful KAL for July had no time limit and no pattern choice—just a book choice. And what a lovely book it is: Home and Away: Knits for Everyday Adventures by Hannah Fettig. I love the clean lines and simplicity of the patterns—it matches my aesthetic to a tee. And I knew just from glancing through the patterns on Ravelry, I’d be learning new skills along the way.

Being me, I couldn’t choose one pattern—I had to put my stamp on it, so I merged the Georgetown which had the shaping and sizing I loved with the Hancock which had the fabric I loved. The garter edging just stood out and it also reminded me of another of one of Carrie Bostick Hoge’s patterns in my queue, Maeve.

Kathryn Taylor Chocolates--made here in Orcas Island — Yummy Kathryn Taylor Chocolates–made here in Orcas Island. One of the things that helped me finish!

At first I made very rapid progress, so much faster than on Nick’s sweater, which seemed to take a huge amount of time. Of course bigger needles and DK instead of sport weight also had something to do with it, but the complexity of the pattern (the KAL is much easier) also had an impact. But there was trouble in paradise.

It turned out well shaped for my body — Shaped to fit me

In a knit.fm podcast (the 8^th?) Pam Allen said something like “It’s much harder to create a simple pattern.” I agree. To add to that, knitting classic, simple looking patterns can be challenging to get right. This is because they show everything. So while the knitting went quickly, I felt like I was constantly tearing it out and starting over. This is not the pattern’s fault—these were errors you’d think I would have grown out of my now!

Obvious color change when I changed skeins discovered on a flight to Atlanta

The Challenges:

Even though I’d remembered to alternate balls on Nick’s hand-dyed sweater which used hand dyed yarn, I failed to do so on the WoolfulKAL. And as a regular reader of The Fringe Association blog, I’d also seen Karen Templar have a similar experience. Yet there I was starting over 2/3 of the way up the back.

The cap shaping fit with the body like a glove–only after I counted every row!

Then there was the back and front panels being off by two inches. I was doing this sweater mostly on airplanes and I’m a “carry-on” fanatic. So I didn’t have the back piece with me when I knit the fronts (the advantage of knitting in pieces). In the end, I was counting every row front, back and sleeves to make sure they all matched identically. Yet another reason for me to try out top down, seamless knitting and Hannah suggests.

The last issue is another one we all know—that your gauge changes if you knit at different times. And though you can often block these things out, sometimes you just can’t. On my longest flight to and from Seattle-Frankfurt. I got loads of knitting done on the seemingly endless collar only to find that jetlagged knitting isn’t good knitting—dropped stitches, split stitches—things I haven’t done in years. So the entire collar had to removed and redone.

It’s all finished now and the first thing I did was curl up in it and fall asleep. I guess you can teach an old knitter new tricks!

Tying Up Loose Ends

July 26, 2015July 27, 2015 ~ Kristin Tolle ~ Leave a comment

Six projects on the needles—that’s where I was last weekend. I’m excited to say I’ve pared it down to three in just one week. And getting there wasn’t easy.

Big pillow Shams--still of WIP — These big garter stitch pillow shams are still a WIP

It’s been a busy few weeks—lots of travel, deliverables at work, and hardly any time for knitting. That, coupled with a setback, had me putting my creative self on hold—or so I thought.

What setback? I made a mistake I was careful not to make on my last sweater for Nick—I assumed that a single dye lot of a particular hand-dyed yarn, would be consistent enough to knit without alternating balls of yarn. Not so.

So there I was on a flight to Alabama and I lifted the window shade to discover that the back of my Woolful KAL (my first knitalong ever!) had a huge variation across skeins. Not only was the color off, but the sheen was completely different—a matte versus shiny in the Worn Denim Tosh DK. I’m going to keep mum on which project I’ve chosen because I’ve done “the usual”—many variations. This is partly because I loved so many patterns, I grabbed elements from more than one.

The upshot is that after nearly finishing the back panel, I had to tear it out and start over. This killed my motivation to work on it. I was so irritated at myself for making such a basic error. The project was going more quickly than expected, and I was thrilled until I discovered I was going nowhere fast. *sigh*

Though at the time it can be hard to see them, there are benefits to hitting a roadblock on a project. You can look at other projects, until you are ready to get back in the saddle again.

For instance, I finished my Seattle Wurm hat after first putting it in hibernation when I decided the blue yarn I’d chosen was just too itchy for a hat. A skein of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino and I was off to the races again. This is presently acting as wall art in our home on Orcas due to the lack of pictures on the wall and the warm weather.

Then there are the Sea-going Man Mitts. I finished those today after quite a hibernation. This is a project, if I’d worked monogamously on it would have been finished in a couple of days. I just kept picking up that KAL instead—drawn to the softness of the yarn and beauty of the fabric. The acrylic feel of the Softee yarn from my grandma’s stash—a necessity for the project—just felt so foreign in my hands.

Knit basket. It's nice when a project holds its own materials! — Knit basket. It’s nice when a project holds its own materials!

I’ve also made good progress on another gad-about-bag, but after seeing the Triple Baskets pattern on Ravelry I decided to knit the top rather than crochet it. I’m hoping it will go faster and be more consistent than the one I showed in my last post.

I’ve got some dedicated knitting time coming up this week, so here’s hoping I can knock off at least one more this week.

Happy knitting!

My First Crochet Project

July 9, 2015February 25, 2017 ~ Kristin Tolle ~ 1 Comment

I know somewhere in the distant past I made a few granny squares in Junior High. So you might argue that this isn’t my very first crochet project. So perhaps a better way of describing it is that I’ve just created my first ever *usable* object.

The not-so-little Gad-about bag (I used 64 stitches instead of 48), designed by Dot Matthews, is my newest project bag. The Seahawks colors are unintentional. This is just what I had lying about of similar weight and composition. Though it could be that I’m subliminally drawn to the local sports team colors. I like to think I already liked this combination and that the correspondence is a coincidence.

The bottom of the finished bag inspired my wish to see what more “mistakes” might look like.

My LYM (local yarn manufacturer) is Warm Valley Orchard (WVO) on Orcas Island. When I’ve bought a sweater’s worth of yarn I’ve been allowed to make a free selection from a hank ends pile. So between leftovers from various projects and these hank ends, I was building up quite a stash of unstashable yarns. I find WVO yarns to be stiffer than other yarns. Perfect for a sturdy bag.

I didn’t follow the directions exactly for the bottom, but I followed pretty closely for the top. And though it is clearly too tight in places, I must admit, I prefer the fabric from the not followed section better than the followed. The coil outward reminds me of a Panamanian hat. I wondered what it would look like if I just kept on going…

I was so pleased with my mods, I decided to immediately start on another bag. However I stopped work quickly after the bottom section because I really am anxious to get on with my next big project—a cardigan for me. Finally!!

You might also notice that the colors match fairly well the first project I put into it—my Woolful Summer knit-a-long Home and Away project, which is a combination of a Georgetown and a Hancock sweater from Hannah Fettig’s Home and Away book.

Georgetown-Hancock from Home and Away made from Tosh DK in Worn Denim

If you’ve seen this beautiful book, you’ll know that Hancock calls for a sport weight yarn and Georgetown calls for worsted. One is cropped and the other is hip length. One described as a bottom up knit and the other top-down (though directions are provided in both styles for each). About the only thing they have in common is they are cardigans. I love design elements from both, so onward I go.

And as for the yarn. I’m officially madly in love with Tosh DK in this colorway.

What Happened Next

June 28, 2015June 28, 2015 ~ Kristin Tolle ~ Leave a comment

: Last Night’s Sunset

Well, it’s another day in paradise and I thought it would be good to describe what took place with regards to the analysis paralysis I was having last week. Things did not go exactly as planned, but that’s life, no?

What went as expected:

Tropicale and Casablanca went back into hot storage. This is both a nod to the fact that I really want to use them and that it is very hot in Seattle at the moment where my stash lives.

I did cast on Robbin Abernathy’s Simply Ribbed Fingerless Mitts for the kayak instructor, but there is trouble in paradise. I first made a swatch, in the round, of the palm and felt that it needed to cover the fingers a bit better—higher up the fingers and a thumb stub rather than a thumbhole. I’m most of the way through one mitt. But as Ianto Jones of Torchwood says, “That’s the thing about gloves…the come in pairs.” WIP #1

What did not go as expected:

It surprised me, but I just picked up the frogged Wurm hat. I even tucked it away. But something about it bothered me. So I made a mad dash to Pacific Fabrics for some Debbie Bliss Babymerino to replace the beautiful, but troublesome blue DK. So it’s underway and now oh-so soft. WIP #2

The original blue DK frogged from the Wurm hat will probably be just perfect doubled and made into my first crochet project—as the Little Gadabout Bag by Dot Matthews. I’ve been swatching it and trying to make sure I know all the stitches needed to complete it. I hope to get more help from the fiber group I restarted at work. WIP #3

I brought Leftie up with me to the island this weekend, but I think I’m a bit overwhelmed to start into it until I finish at least one of the three above.

Creating a shorter version of my fingerless Warm Waffle Mitts is on hold as well for the same reason as Leftie. Because with the three above and the pillow cases, I’ve now got four WIPs.

The Valkyrie Yarn & Fibre Jayne I’d earmarked for another Hitchhiker scarf was given to my intern who started this week and admitted she was a knitter within a half hour of meeting me. So this is her WIP this weekend. I already miss the yarn, but the opportunity to teach and share was too good to pass up and there’s just about nothing I love more.

The yarn for Notched Hem Tack from Purl Soho is now tucked in my closet—not out of sight or mind. Though it topped my list of hopefuls, small portable projects are grabbing my attention for the moment and work best for my busy life.

Next on my Needles

June 20, 2015June 20, 2015 ~ Kristin Tolle ~ Leave a comment

: A few of the projects I’m considering

With so many patterns to choose from and so much yarn in my stash, is it any wonder I have analysis paralysis?

Now that I’ve finished Under a Clear Blue Skye and frogged my Keeping Wurm in Seattle hat, I’m in a quandary. Sure, there is the palate cleanser WIP pillow cover project, but I’m bored with it because it is garter, HUGE and taking forever.

The pillow cover I'm working on — The pillow cover I’m working on

Adding to the dilemma is that I finally put almost all my pattern books in Ravelry. This was to stem be rebuying patterns I’ve already purchased in one form or another. This took a heck of a lot less time than the stash inventory, which was more than a week’s worth of photography and photo editing, to say nothing of the boxing and unboxing of nearly 200 yarns.

The upshot is I can now see that I have thousands of patterns. Combining that with yarn choices in my stash–if only I could manage to do that–makes the possibilities astronomical. To say nothing of the yarns I felt were in too small of quantity to catalogue. Those only clutter my mind…

Since much of grandma’s yarn is small bits of this and that (3-5 skeins), I can no longer blame grandma’s stash for the problem of having too much wool. When I buy yarn it’s usually wool and enough, each time, to make a roomy cardigan. So for a summer project I thought it would be time to dig into grandma’s “leftovers” and consider my options.

Even though I’m clearly Jonesing for cardigan I can wear on island—one preferably immune to the moths we’ve discovered infest the place–I set my mind on choosing something quicker, more portable and summery. Probably something I’ll finish just in time for the weather to turn cool.

It’s my way (the Tao of Kris) to always a season behind.

Here’s a pile of the things I’m considering.

: Bernat Tropicale

The Tropicale is bright, soft and beautiful, but I couldn’t find just the right pattern for it. Same with the Brunswick Casablanca. I didn’t see many worsted weight summer wraps or cardigan patterns. It’s back into the stash for those…

I’ve been angling to make a friend a pair of man mitts and I settled onRobbin Abernathy’s Simply Ribbed Fingerless Mitts as a pattern after MUCH searching. He works as a kayak instructor and needs those fingers to be free. His partner suggested a pullover style, but I worry that will just get in the way of his work. I also fear a natural fiber won’t hold up to the rigors of his near constant ocean going adventures. He’s a “man in black” type and I’ve got enough of Bouquet’s Softee Knitting Worsted Premium to knit 10 pairs—at least!

I could pick up the frogged Wurm, but I’m too annoyed by the light yarn showing through on the dark when I carry it. It may be that the yarns just aren’t compatible and it will take too much non-knitting time to sort out. So I think this one gets a pass, for now.

Leftie has long been on my list and since I found out I have less of the Bernat Carioca than I thought (a hazard of discontinued grandma yarn) this would be put to better use as a scarf than a sweater. Combining the neutral colored linen with a beautiful Melrose Italian silk in scarlet. Seems promising!

A new design as well as a new garment? — A new design as well as a new pair of mitts?

I’ve also been angling to create a shorter version of my fingerless Warm Waffle Mitts out of a spare half ball of Tosh DK in cathedral. I’d have a new pattern I can use AND another pair of mitts. What’s not to like?

I could also knit a (yet another) Hitchhiker scarf. I’ve been meaning to make one for Nick’s oldest daughter out of the Valkyrie Yarn & Fibre Jayne I actually *did* buy for that very purpose last summer and haven’t gotten around to doing yet. The advantage here is that I’d have a gift at the end and I won’t be disappointed by missing a time window. It would be easy to do on my ferry commuting as well.

The project I’m leaning most towards (as evidenced by the time spent thinking about it) is Notched Hem Tack from Purl Soho. I started out swatching with the Carioca, which is how I discovered I didn’t have enough for the project. I then moved onto Reynolds Clover (yet another discontinued grandma yarn) and while the color is summery and the yarn soft and sweet, I just don’t like the color with my skin tone which means it would also be a gift—but for who? Not to mention I’m feeling a bit selfish after the massive Skye project eating up so much of my needle time.

I’ve been holding in reserve (because I do have quite a bit) some Brunswick Coolspun linen in the color Olive Pearl. Yes, it’s a thicker, and yes I could do something more substantial than a shell, I didn’t find a different pattern, so perhaps this will be a Notched Tank for me. Something says, this is the yarn for that pattern despite the difference in yarn weight. But is it the project for the summer?

That remains a mystery—for now.

Update: I selected the man mitts. Quick enough to finish in a weekend leaving me clear headed to select the next major project.

Under a Clear Blue Skye

June 17, 2015June 17, 2015 ~ Kristin Tolle ~ 3 Comments

There’s always a sadness when you finish a project mixed with the joy of the anticipation of projects to come.

Nick on a warm afternoon at West Beach on Orcas Island — Nick on a warm Saturday afternoon on Knit in Public Day at West Beach on Orcas Island “I’m hot!”

Nick’s sweater is finally, finally done and just in time for Knit in Public Day 2015. I simply couldn’t stop saying to my husband as we ferried over to Orcas Island that morning, “I made this! I made this!” It is truly one of my favorite things I’ve made. When I tried it on (of course before I told him it was complete) I thought how much I wanted a sweater just like it. Maybe I’ll make a great sweater out of the new yarn I picked while I was there.

Lining up the sleeve and the chest pattern on a bottom up sweater was a challenge! #wwkipday 2015 — Lining up the sleeve and the chest pattern on a bottom up sweater was a challenge!

What makes this sweater exciting is the yarn. In different lights it takes on different colors–from a rich blue outdoors at twilight to a faded denim indoors. Many thanks to Handspinner Having Fun in Broadford, Scotland for making such a lovely, soft and cuddly DK. I wish I’d finished it before I came by the shop last month, but I’m so glad I got too share it on Instagram with the shop.

Details about the sweater:

Yarn: The Handspinner Having Fun 100% Blue Faced Leicester DK

Patterns: This was based on two knitting patterns with modifications. The structure is largely found in Men’s sweater Simon by Faina Goberstein. The fabric pattern is from 210-211-56 Men’s Sweater by Pierrot (Gosyo Co., Ltd).

Modifications: The reason for two patterns instead of one is that Nick thought the garter rib of the Simon pattern was a bit boring, so after much searching for one he liked, I settled on the 210-211-56 as the main body fabric (12 stitch repeat+6). So there was a bit of math, but I think it was well worth it.

One big change I made is the embellishment runs horizontal, not vertical running up the sleeve as the pattern calls for. The worry was aligning the patterns in a bottom up sweater. The trick was to start the sleeve shaping exactly after the pattern on both sleeves and chest. Worked perfectly!

Something I didn’t, but might modify, is the large neck opening. This is a feature the pattern, and partly why I selected it, as Nick didn’t want it close to the neck. If make another, and given how happy I am with this I just might, I’ll knit higher up the chest before starting the neck shaping on the front or knit the opening for a smaller size.

And since the sweater was inspired by Scotland, despite me missing the target of Nick wearing it there, here are some photos from our trip there last month.

Eileen Donan Castle, Highlands, Scotland

The Sligachan Hotel, Isle of Skye. We stayed in the round turret above the sitting room. — The Sligachan Hotel, Isle of Skye. We stayed in the round room.

Snow on the Black Cuillins, Isle of Skye, Scotland

Niest Lighthouse, Isle of Skye, Scotland

Bicycle powered scarf by Skye Weavers on the Isle of Skye

Cloud shroud on Marsco, Isle of Skye, Scotland — Cloud shroud on Marsco, Isle of SKye, Scotland

Cloudy Black Cuillins on a chilly day, Isle of Skye, Scotland — Snowy Black Cuillins Isle of Skye, Scotland

Keeping Wurm in Seattle

June 13, 2015June 13, 2015 ~ Kristin Tolle ~ 1 Comment

Apologies for the long lag between posts, I was finding it hard to post from the Inner Hebrides and the business trip before and after I went. Oddly, when I used to write a travel blog, this was the easiest thing in the world. I met my husband on my blog. No joke! And I‘ve thought about resurrecting the site though having two blogs, if I struggle to keep up with one seems a bit silly. I’d love your feedback—separate or together?

Clouds over Tuscaloosa, AL--thought I saw a funnel cloud! — Clouds over Tuscaloosa, AL–thought I saw a funnel cloud!

I thought I was being so original—knitting a Wurm hat in Seattle sport team colors. But alas, I found no less than eight more Seahawks versions of the Wurm hat by Katharina Nopp on Ravelry.

This said, each one has its own uniqueness, including mine, which was started as a travel project because I thought my husband’s Blue Skye sweater was too much to pack on a recent business trip to Tuscaloosa, AL. In retrospect, it would have been better to bring it and return with it finished—I ended up having more time in the evenings and on the plane than expected—not to mention plenty of room in my bag despite being on the road for a week with only carryon luggage—a trick I’ll talk about in another blog post.

One of my favorite Seahawk Wurm’s is Early Robyns Get the Wurm by Traevynn which uses not only the green and blue, but a dose of white as well—just like the logo. AuntieDi did a Wurm which is literally the reverse of mine. Blue with green, instead of green with blue, out of local yarn manufacturer, Cascade Yarns’ 220 superwash.

Working on the Wurm while I wait for my pontoon plane

My Wurm is a mix of boutique yarns—one local, one from San Francisco. The blue is a DK from Warm Valley Orchard on Orcas Island. The owners of WVO do everything from raise the sheep, shear, card, spin and dye the wool on island. It’s a bit itchy, but warm and the rich blue color is amazing. The green is the now sadly defunct Art Fiber’s sport weight Peruse, a soft baby alpaca. This softness is why I selected to have the green parts closest to the face and head.

Two projects--taking up a whole bench at Kenmore Air Harbor — Two projects–taking up a whole bench at Kenmore Air Harbor

What I loved about this pattern was learning to do a double headband. I’d heard about doing this for collars, but I’d never tried it, so doing it on a project like this one with leftover yarns took almost all the stress out of it. Though it did take a couple of tries to get it just right. Knitting it was fine, the problem was picking up the stitches from the edge. You have to align it perfectly or it looks weird.

After trying a failing twice, I finally took a contracting color, slipped them through all the “known” stitches and only took stitches that were on that string—no more no less. Got it perfectly right that time. Whew!

Cockpit of the de Havilland Otter. I got to ride up front!!

I’m still sewing my husband’s sweater together and next will be to pick up the collar. I started with that before the sleeve sewing, but ran into trouble. Now I think I have a technique from the hat which will make that go much better.

Forgive the quality of my photos. All of these were taken with my phone and many under very jittery conditions—mostly in flight on a de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter pontoon plane. If I could afford it I’d always commute up with Kenmore Air.

A San Juan Islet with Mount Baker in the background

Boats darting all directions in the San Juan Islands

Vacation Knitting–Finally!

May 15, 2015May 15, 2015 ~ Kristin Tolle ~ Leave a comment

Volcanos of Washington State taken from the window of the airplane — Volcanos of Western Washington taken from the window of the airplane.

It’s been a tough waiting for this time off. With so much happening at work and in my home life, I’m completely stressed out. This trip to Scotland is a ‘do the right time this time’. And hopefully that means lower stress travel, but I must admit, I wouldn’t mind just sticking around the house and finishing my WIPS and starting a few more summery ones. I’ve still got Nick’s sweater (to be worn in Scotland) on my needles and this is the only project I’m taking with me despite so many beautiful things catching my eye of late.

My queue grew by two more items only just today! My additions? Purl Soho’s Notched Hem Tank and the Paloma cardigan. I have Instagram and the Fringe Association blog to thank for these additions respectively.

It’s funny how different people do different things to save weight when packing. My husband never brings liquids—prefers to buy them or use hotel goods and I try to minimize clothes by using a color system, which, when technical gear is involved, is much less successful. I almost decided to only take my small waterproof camera (well suited to Scotland), but ended up remembering some of the great shots I’ve gotten in visits before.

The one thing to do plan to do is take a “techie” fast, since that is so much of what I do every day at work. I even own the same laptop that is my standard work issue, so I’ve just make the executive decision to leave it behind. So I’ll have to do my posting on return. But while I’m away, here are a few shots of where I will be; the Isle of Skye, part of the Inner Hebrides in the Scotland Highlands.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Ferries and Buses too!

May 12, 2015October 10, 2015 ~ Kristin Tolle ~ Leave a comment

2 airline boarding passes, a train to Birchington, London tube pass, and a Heathrow Express ticket, plus hotel

I’ve been traveling quite a lot lately. Partly it is because of back and forth with the move, but most of it is work related travel. I’ve been knitting on quite a lot of it and trying to capture cellphone images (thus the so-so quality of the images) as I go-go-go.

Here's the bus home! — Here’s the bus home!

One thing I’ve found is I LOVE my bus. Unlike most folks, I have just the one—it takes me to and from. And while, yes, it is more time, I get to knit, Instagram, or Ravelry all the way. I arrive happy and ready for my day or unwound from work before I get home. What’s not to like!

Bus knitting sleeves for Nick's sweater today — Bus knitting sleeves for Nick’s sweater today

My main project is the sweater for Nick which will sadly not be done in time for Scotland, but I’ll take it just the same to make sure I show it off to the gals who spun and dyed the wool in just three days’ time.

Tomorrow I’ll be boarding a plane for Denver. And it’ll be those sleeves that make the trip with me. I’ve only a quick overnight before I have to catch the plane to Scotland, so I packed for both trips tonight.

Car knitting on the pillow covers for the throw pillows.

Other honorable mentions are the pillow cases for our throw pillows. This easy, but pretty boring project has largely been done on ferry rides or in the car to and from the ferry.

The Violet Waffles hat I finished on a business trip to San Diego is another fond favorite.

Hotel knitting--finished the waffle hat in San Diego — Hotel knitting

Ferry knitting the first waffle mitt — Ferry knitting

Another travel portable project is the first of the two waffle mitts knit mainly on the ferry to Orcas, where I taught numerous women to knit or rekindled their desire to pick up their needles.

Knitting during travel is a great conversation starter. And flight attendants, in particular, love to ask what I’m up to.

So what’s on your travel needles?

Orcas Island Knitting

Living, Loving and Creating in the Pacific Northwest

Author: Kristin Tolle

My Yarn in my Stash Must Be Breeding… Like Rabbits!

My First Knit-a-Long

Tying Up Loose Ends

My First Crochet Project

What Happened Next

Next on my Needles

Under a Clear Blue Skye

Keeping Wurm in Seattle

Vacation Knitting–Finally!

Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Ferries and Buses too!

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