Travel Knitting

I actually accomplished a lot of knitting while traveling to and from Austin; however, I didn't even take the Holly Jacket despite the fact that I am trying to finish it before SAFF. When I left for Austin I was working on the two front panels of the jacket, each with their own balls of yarn. I would have had to take the jacket, both balls of yarn that were being worked, and at least one extra ball in case I finished either of the first two. It being a short trip we were packing carry on bags only, leaving only the room in my purse/knitting bag for all of my knitting supplies. The Holly jacket was just too big to take on the trip.

Instead I decided to start the Tuscany shawl from No Sheep for You, by Amy Singer. I already had the beautiful Handmaiden Sea Silk called for in the pattern, purchased and waiting for me cast on. As I would just be starting the shawl, and one skein for the Sea Silk would be more than enough for the trip, I decided it would make much better travel knitting, and cast on. Granted I really didn't need much convincing.

The sea silk is a joy to work with. Like the cotton I am making the Holly Jacket from, it has very little elasticity. Unlike the cotton, the sea silk slides gracefully from one needle to the next forming elegant and well defined stitches. As an added bonus, the unblocked lace pattern formed in the sea silk, actually looks like the finished lace pattern, making it very easy to catch mistakes early on. Despite it's high price (about $40 US per skein), Sea Silk will be high on my list of yarn choices for future lace patterns.