Me, my Bamboo Bloom, and the open road
I hope this week’s posts, in the company of Universal Yarn Bamboo Bloom Handpaint yarn, have inspired you to step out of your comfort zone, shake things up, and create changes in your knitting that go beyond the confines of a pattern.
For my final post this week, I’ll share with you a special secret to supercharging creativity and firing up the imagination. You can’t change a knitting design if you aren’t primed to think outside the box a little. One of the best ways I’ve discovered to expand my creative vision is to hit the road on a yarnie* adventure.
*Yarnie: a person whose love of yarn frequently exceeds their storage capacity, and who can think a lot before deciding to frog it.
Preparation makes all the difference.
When I hit the road with my knitting there are a few things I do to make sure the trip is enjoyable. I hope these help you plan your own yarnie adventure.
- Do some research online to find fiber festivals; yarn and trunk shows; knitting retreats, cruises, or vacation packages.
- Pack more projects than you could possibly knit in twenty trips. You never know which one you’ll want to knit, or will be able to knit with all the distractions of pretty-pretty yarn, adorable animals, and giggle-inducing friends.
- Organize your knitting bag or bags before you go. Why waste time untangling yarn or hunting for a measuring tape?
- Wind all the yarn you need before you go. There are no roadside ball-winder and swift stands. I know – I’ve looked.
- Pack up all the notions you need for your project. I always make sure I have a row counter, scissors, darning needle, crochet hook, stitch holders, measuring tape, and stitch markers. Remember you can never have too many stitch markers.
- Download your patterns onto your devices, and print a backup just in case your batteries die.
- Make sure you have all the sizes of needles that are needed for each project.
- Consult the Knitmap.com to see what LYS are in the area, so you can make a few fun side trips. One caution: call the stores before you go. Sometimes the hours have changed, or they have closed up shop for good.
- Do a little online research to see if there are any sheep or alpaca farms along the way, or woollen mills to visit.
- Pack snacks…lots of snacks. I hear wine is also a good idea.
- If you’re going to a festival, bring cash. Most booths do offer credit or debit options, but not all do. Also, if you pay with cash the vendors don’t have to pay service fees. Set a budget, and only break it a little. I sometimes ignore this rule.
- Pack your most fabulous knits to show off!
The porch at our vacation rental was a perfect place to knit and watch the rain fall.
With the right preparation, and the right people – fellow yarn lovers, of course – a yarnie road trip is a wonderfully creative adventure. And, trust me, it will definitely improve you to think in new ways and enhance your ability to add your own unique touches to all your knitting projects.
I hope you enjoyed this week’s posts exploring Universal Yarn Bamboo Bloom Handpaint yarn and that it inspired you to go rogue, think outside the box, and try new things with your knitting projects. I’ll be back Nov 25th, 2019 with new posts looking at stranded colorwork. Join me!
This is part 5 of 5 in this series.
Go back to part 4: Express yourself: change a knitting pattern and make it your own!
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