When I travel anywhere, trains, planes, automobile, or even a cruise, I need to take some sort of needlework with me. Over the years I have travelled for both business and leisure, and have always carried knitting with me. On my business trips to China, I had to explain to my driver that this was essential. With family in California, I have knit my way through many traffic jams on the 405, and on the Pacific Coast Highway. A good book is a comforting entity, but sometimes if there is a delay, I need to reduce my anxiety with some of the work in my hands. I found over the years that a car trip and knitting are perfect. Cross Stitch in a car is difficult, too many bumps, especially if it is a small scrim.
Last summer, we went from Tucson, Arizona to Irish Beach, California to beat the heat. My husband likes to see things along the way, so this meant we were four days in the car, till our final destination, with our dog Goldie, in tow. Our route took us up through Nevada, the first stop on the outskirts of Vegas. In the morning, we stopped at Hoover Damn, but it was too hot to go to the strip for lunch. Our destination at the end of that day was Mono Lake, just above Mammoth Lakes. A much-needed stop on the way is at Shat’s Bakery in Bishop. If you are on a road trip and see Shat’s don’t miss it. I hadn’t been since my escape from Hurricane Katrina almost twenty years ago. The bakery had gotten much larger, and my mouth was watering upon entering. My husband stayed in the car with our dog Goldie while I ran through a mobbed bakery picking some amazing confections. About an hour later, we arrived at Mono Lake and a wonderful cabin with some delicious local barbecue and a setting to watch the sunset by, while an amazing lightning storm lit up the impending night sky. In the morning, we munched on delicious bread from Shat’s and then hit the road over the mountain pass to Route 1 to find our lovely vacation home on Irish Beach.
On a road trip, only one person can drive at a time. My husband loves to drive and see things, so I am rendered a co-pilot. After the allure of being in the car wears off in less than an hour, I need something to do. Engaging in knitting or sewing is a much healthier way for me to ease my boredom and anxiety compared to smoking cigarettes. I prepare a small knitting or sewing kit before we leave, especially if we are flying.
The first thing I need is my directions. This sweater comes from a book Handknit Style II by Linden Ward and Beryl Hiatt. https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/sources/handknit-style-ii-more-contemporary-sweaters-from-tricoter/patterns
The irresistible urge to keep my knitting books pristine prevents me from writing in them. I copy the pattern onto paper that I can write on, and do math for gauge and other notes. I put the instructions in a plastic sleeve available at any office store. I learned about highlighter tape at a knitting group I went to. That is the pink material you see in the picture. In a plastic sleeve, the highlighter tape is an amazing tool to keep your eyes on the pattern, and it is re-positional.
A useful knitting technique from authors Ward and Hiatt involves using two needles when casting on. For instance, if knitting with a size three needle, add a size two needle, and cast on with both needles. This makes the first row less tight and easier to knit off.
This sweater was a cable knit. You had to keep track of the rows and several of the cable rows. I used sticky notes for that. I kept a pencil and the cable needle inside the plastic sleeve. A bump or two later and we had to pull over because I lost my cable holder. Oh dear. With luck, it had fallen under the seat.
You need to refer to the pattern pictures to make sure the knitting is going the right way. I snapped these pictures on my phone, and the helpful thing about that is, I can zoom in and make sure the pattern is as the directions say. In some ways, better than the actual knitting book.
In my yarn stash, I found this beautiful yarn, a bag full of over a dozen balls, that I had purchased on sale when I lived in New Orleans at the famous now defunct yarn store, Betty Bornsides. It was a lovely Rowan wool cotton and the correct weight that the pattern suggested. After swatch testing for the gauge, I arrived at the correct needles and was ready to knit. If you can, use circular needles less chance for one of your needles to get lost.
Once we were on the road, I could knit, watch out the window at the sights, but stay within the mantra the pattern required. OM.
When working in cables be aware that the nature of cabling makes the knitted yardage bunch up because you are pulling the yarn over several stitches. Keeping this in mind as you knit, the parts will seem smaller than required. But in the blocking process you will flatten the yardage to its correct proportions. When working in cables, be aware that the nature of cabling makes the knitted yardage bunch up because you are pulling the yarn over several stitches. Keeping this in mind as you knit, the parts will seem smaller than required. But in the blocking process, you will flatten the yardage to its correct proportions.
This sweater was on tiny needles about size three. I didn’t complete the sweater on this road trip but got through both fronts and the back on this journey. I have scheduled several trips over the next year, so please come back and visit to see what’s on my needles.
