Packing Checklist

It's very important to make lists when packing so as to not forget anything. For the trip I'm leaving on tomorrow morning, I need:

1. Pioneer socks, because socks are the ultimate travel projects, and even more because I'm getting close to done!

(Yes, that is a glasses case. It's protecting my wooden Harmony dpn needles. I had two of them break on me--one completely shattered inside my project bag--and I needed a solution right then. Besides, it's working pretty well.)

2. Pioneer shirt, ditto above (because I'm almost done). This will have to wait until I get to our destination, however, because I can't be measuring and doing fiddly stuff in the car.

Also, because I had to miss the Pioneer KAL meeting (the Sip n Knit) last Sunday, I feel I owe this project some one-on-one time.

3. Christmas surprise: I will bring all the colours with me because I need to be doing some serious work on this if I'm going to get it done. This project is ideal for the car so hopefully some knitting will just fly off the needles.

4. Argyle vest, because I love to work on it. This will also wait until I can settle down somewhere and think at least a little.

(You can see I'm well into the lighter red now.)

5. And just in case I get bored, a new project I have the yarn and pattern for. Who knows? Maybe I will finish the socks and the Christmas surprise while I'm there and need something portable for the way back.

I debated for a while about bringing some quilting or sewing projects.

Last time, Clures [MIL] and I worked on some fabric bowls from a book I had picked up. And then, at the end of the visit, we gave each other the bowls we had each made! (Weren't planning to, but it just worked out that way.)

I liked her crazy orange, black and green colours, and she liked my butterflies.

If I had more of a plan for my mini quilt I think I would have brought it so I could finish it in time to put in this year's local fair. But I just didn't pull it all together. And since what I have planned involves free motion, I'd have to bring my sewing machine. (Because there's no way I'm figuring that out on someone else's machine--it takes way too much practice.) And suddenly it was just too much work. So knitting it is.

And I think I have all the essentials for the trip: I'm set to sail...