When packing for an extended trip, it is important to have priorities:



(Let's see: from upper left, counter clockwise: Robbie the Robot, Gumball the Kitten, some feltable sockweight for a couple of MochiMochiland patterns, fingerless mitts (rose), fingerless mitts (the white and yellow), socks (the pastel variegated), Frances the Monster (the red variegated), Maddox the Mischievous Monster (white fuzzy), more MochiMochiland toys, and in the center, socks and the Crofter's cowl.

Not shown, is the Honeycomb vest that is going in my carry on. And the Traffic-Stoppin' Boot socks, which will go in my purse to knit on the train.

Yes, it's a lot. But I have a LOT of time to knit this break, and I like to have a couple projects going at once, and most of these are smallish things (the toys, especially; I can complete one in a day a lot of the time). Besides, for me, part of the fun of a break time is being able to pull out a project I've been wanting to start but not got around to.

And for me, it's not really Christmas break without making toys. Must have soft toys. I've got supplies for six - yes, six. Evolving Punk and Hrumph from MochiMochiland, several of the excellent Rebecca Danger "Dangercrafts" patterns, and an on line crocheted freebee.

I did decide not to even TRY to take the shawl (this was before picking out all the little-project stuff), it by itself would have taken up more room than all of this yarn. So getting back to the Rosy-Fingered Dawn shawl will be a January project.

Besides, doing lots of little projects really makes me happy. Being able to switch quickly and easily back and forth from things on a whim. With a really large project, you feel more obligated to do a lot on it. (And if I don't finish all of these things - surely I will not - and I don't have room, I can either mail the unused yarn back to myself, or I can leave it at my folks' house for the next time I visit.)

I have a little traveling box of knitting needles and crochet hooks and supplies - little scissors and stitch markers and a measuring tape and cable needles and point protectors and even a needle gauge - that I carry with me. (And that's one of the beauties, at least for now, of riding the train: no one will look at me and go "Those SCISSORS (with 2" blades) are a WEAPON and we are CONFISCATING them." Not to mention the tiny pointy needles and the crochet hooks...). And I have my little bag of eyes (toy eyes - the lock-washer kind) in there too.

Oh, I have plenty of clothes underneath all the yarn - three pairs of slacks and five or six blouses and two dresses and a skirt and the necessary underpinnings. And two heavy sweaters and one lighter one, and a shawl that works with both the dresses. And the books I want to read are in my carry on. As are my pyjamas for the night on the train, and the various printed patterns for all these things, and a little fleece blanket in case it's really chilly and the train blanket isn't enough.

(Mad packing skillz: I have them.)