The Edinburgh Yarn Festival Update

I've struggled to keep writing here since I returned to Singapore. I'm hoping that things will get better soon, but in the meantime, here's a bit about my last minute EYF trip.

Am I ever so glad that I made the trip!

Due to moving to the other side of the world, I had kind of given up on going a few months ago, but the fabulous husbear told me I should just go anyway. He's awesome, and he's totally a keeper.

Spending Time with Knitters 

This is absolutely the #1 reason to go, to spend time with people who are also passionate about knitting.

It's such an inspiration for someone like me, who is hoping to get into designing and other knitting-related endeavours. The people watching is amazing because people put extra effort into their knits for the festival.

And I've met so many wonderful people that I cannot even begin to name them all.

Taking a Class

We already know that I'm an Olga Buraya-Kefelian fangirl, so let's leave it at that.

But I'd definitely recommend taking a class, if only because it justifies the travel costs.

The Marketplace 

It's awesome, and it's also the least important of the reasons to go.

Since I now live far away from my beloved Loop, it was great to get to squish all the new yarns and touch all the samples.

I went with a plan, targeted at yarns that would be more suitable for Singapore, and it worked pretty well. I will talk more about the yarns on another day.

How to Pack Travel Knitting

I started writing this post at the beginning of my move from London to Singapore, almost a month ago now. I am already back in Singapore, but the rest of my stash (and stuff) are in transit for another two months or so. 

Packing knitting for a trip takes me much much more time than packing my clothes.

How on earth am I supposed to predict what I will feel like knitting days or even weeks from now? I know what I SHOULD be working on, of course, but I've tended to find that bringing projects I'm not excited about tends to lead to an absence of knitting.

This post is about packing for general travel (up to 3 weeks), but I will write a bit more about my experiences packing for extended travel next week.

#1 Variety, Variety, Variety 

I like to pack at least 3 kinds of projects, which usually means at least one lace shawl and at least one garment, since that's pretty much all I knit. If I knitted socks, I'd definitely have one of those too.

#2 Think About Your Environment 

I was moving straight into an empty apartment, with the intent to buy lights and furniture as needed, so I didn't worry too much about that this time. But normally, when I travel, I make sure not to pack items that require good light to work on.

So pass on the cobweb yarns and bring on the fingering and up yarns. Stay away from dark colors that are difficult to see.

#3 Bring a Needle set! 

Sometimes you cast something on, and you realise your gauge is off. It's just easier to travel with the whole set.

#4 Bring Some Yarn! 

Just in case you feel like casting on something new, you should bring something new. In #1, I said I usually pack 3 kinds of projects, and usually the third is something new. :)

#5 Buy Some Yarn! 

We all deserve souvenir yarn!