How Much Knitting Gets Done on the Road?
During interviews, people often ask me about my favorite place to knit. I usually answer that although it is not my favorite, most of my knitting is done while I travel.
This got me thinking about how much knitting I actually get done when I am on the road. It always seems like a lot, because without the knitting the time would feel so much more wasted. And many times I come home much further along than I expected. Of course, there are always variables to take into consideration, but like the “Tootsie Pop Owl” used to say, “Let’s find out!”
Yesterday was a rather typical travel day for me. So I have documented my progress along the way to see how much actually got done. A few facts before we get started:
- This trip I drove myself (no knitting time on the road) to the dealership to have the car serviced. From there I took BART to the airport (takes a bit over an hour).
- I had almost a 2 hour layover in Salt Lake City. I often don’t knit much during this time, but catch up on email and such.
- I spent about 5 hours or so in the airplane.
A bit about the project:
- I am making a skirt starting with a 30″ waist increasing to a 40″ hip with a slight flair the remainder of the skirt.
- I am knitting with HiKoo Sueno (it is lovely, BTW).
- I am working with 3.5mm (US #4) needles at a gauge of 6.5 sts and 8.5 rows per inch.
- The waistband starts with a casing for the elastic waistband, so the first 1″ or so of knitting is actually twice that much!
So here’s my photo timeline of travel knitting:
1. The starting point – Swatch made, yarn wound, basic calculations complete, and ready to begin when I get on BART for the 90 minute ride to SFO.
2. BART ride done. Waiting in the Sky Club. Flight delayed, so yay for long layovers since I should still make my connection. Downloading some files and then back to knitting.
3. After the first plane ride – it may not look like much, but the previous knitting was the casing which is now folded under. And increasing has started!
4. The trip is over, and I’m happy with my progress:
