Category Archives: travel

Meet Michelle: Crafter Abroad

After having lived overseas for many years, I still have occasional moments where I am surprised when someone answers me or greets me in English. Thankfully, the language of textile appreciation and crafters everywhere often only requires oohs and ahhs and the proverbial thumbs up. I consider myself a generalist crafter as I grew up surrounded by creative & crafty ladies. I have pictures of me “sewing” on paper when I was three years old, and I think my love of textiles and fabrics began then. 

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Travel Knitting: My UK/Ireland Trip Sweater!

Several years ago, I got to take an amazing trip around the UK and Ireland with my husband and his parents. It was such an incredible, once in a lifetime opportunity, I decided I wanted an equally special, one of a kind souvenir to remember it by, so I came up with a plan to knit a trip sweater! And then I did it! The idea was to buy yarn in every city I visited (or as many as possible, at least), and then knit a sweater with stripes of all the yarns I bought. Also, to have the project as my travel knitting throughout the trip–on planes, trains, and backs of cars. So I started my planning by choosing a pattern. ...

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Podcast 289 – Jet Lag and Swag: Travel Knitting and New Notions

New podcast episode alert! It's peak travel season and we have all manner of tips, tricks, and tools to see you through. First up Stacey and Hannah share their best travel advice. Next, Alexis and Hilary talk about the new batch of exclusive fiber flair that will make your knitting that much more enjoyable no matter where you are.

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Global Fiber Tour #2: Denmark!

Raise your hand if your travel itineraries start with stops that involve yarn, fabric, thread, or anything tangentially related to crafting? Oh man, me too! Last summer my husband and I traveled to both the island of Bornholm and Copenhagen for ten days. Before I penciled in any castles, gardens or museums, I had a map of every craft-adjacent institution in both places first. Tag along for my list of places I recommend stopping and the places I wish we’d been able to see!

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Global Fiber Tour #1: Japan

In just a few short years, my husband and I will be celebrating our (gasp) 40th birthdays, and we plan on marking the occasion by taking the vacation of our dreams to Japan. Since I am a hardcore multitasker by nature, I plan on adding a few work-related stops to our itinerary.

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Zippered Pendleton needle case makes travel easy

But, having a selection of Options needle tips and cables available doesn't make me any more productive. For the next couple of days, Bob and I are staying with friends who have a home just outside Vancouver, B.C. Wendie and Dave are delightful hosts.

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Cupcake Fingerless Mitts on the go

I have inched up to SpillyJane's Cupcake Mittens like they were a wild tiger. I fell in love with the design, bought the pattern and even chatted with SpillyJane on one of my podcasts. Of course, while we were still in Mexico, I didn't easily have access to Palette yarns. I decided that I could wait until I could try making a raid on our office yarn stash.

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A sock for every mood

A couple of weeks ago, Glenna C. posted a note on how she decided to keep two pairs of socks on the needles at the same time. One would be an "easy" sock while the other would be a more challenging sock. Her theory was that she would then have a sock to knit when she needed something "mindless" and another sock to serve as a mental distraction.

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Red Velvet Cupcakes Cuffs

You can tell how comfortable I wanted to be to knit Star Athena’s Red Velvet Cupcakes Cuffs. I set up my tray for a nice, quiet afternoon. Knitting, reading while staying caffeinated and hydrated. And, yes, my mp3 player for an audio book.

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Airplane Survival Knits

The key is to choose a simple pattern so you can finish it relatively quickly and it will seem more substantial. Here are a few suggestions.Emerald Starling Shawl by Hannah Ingalls. (Photo from Ravelry pattern page).Falling Leaves Wrap by Dory Brown. (photo from Ravelry pattern page).

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