I am so fortunate to be invited to travel to meet knitters and teach. Meeting people who share my passion is wonderful, and I absolutely love spending time with them. Packing for the trip? Not so much. Packing drives me crazy because I can’t take all of my knitting stuff with me. When it comes to my stash of tools and yarn, I am like Smaug the dragon and his mountain of treasure. I have a lot of stash, I know where it is and what it is, and I need every bit of it.
Usually I am traveling to a convention, with a big market and lots of great vendors. That helps, because if I unexpectedly need a stitch marker or size 5 dpns, I can easily obtain them. My husband once remarked that I have more knitting needles than a yarn store (true), and it hasn’t kept me from buying more. I need my huge stash, because if I want yellow superwash worsted wool, or a size 16” circular metal needle with a sharp tip, I want it NOW. I also would like a few shades of yellow to choose from, and I might decide that the metal tip is too pointy and I need a blunter needle in bamboo. Seems reasonable to me. Hey, some people have 8 types of vinegar in their kitchen cupboard, so don’t give me grief.

So, when I get separated from my stash by time and distance, I get nervous. This weekend, I am flying across the country to Michigan to meet the Plucky Knitters. My friend Lorilee Beltman organized the retreat with Plucky Knitter dyer extraordinaire Sarah Dimond, and it is sure to be a wonderful event. Lorilee, Fiona Ellis and I are all teaching. There will be LOTS of yarn begging to join my stash (I am taking a slightly larger suitcase in anticipation). I have been planning my classes and re-knitting samples in Plucky yarn, which has been lots of fun.

However, I am having trouble selecting knitting stuff to take with me. Clothes are easy. (It’s only 4 days, people). But I’m taking enough projects, needles, knitting tools and books to last a month. Every time I take something out I think, but what if I need it to cast on a new project with the Plucky yarn awaiting us at the retreat? Sure, I could confine myself to finishing the beaded shawl, the argyle socks, and the some small things I am working on for the book. Yeah, right. As soon as I get there I’m going to see a knitter wearing a shawl that I want to knit my own version of, immediately, and I don’t want to be caught unprepared. So I am taking an interchangeable needle set, a full set of dpns, and a bag of assorted tools. I know I am forgetting something, but I will just have to deal with it.