Have project, will travel

Traveling to Washington, D.C., this week and am at a loss on whether to take a project or not.

Before smart phones and tablets, traveling for work presented a lot of boredom. Flying from a regional airport means at least a two hour layover in Houston. I don't like to read on airplanes or in airports, so a little knit or crochet project is usually tucked in my carry-on. That way I can while away the time while creating something. But what to take?

First, the TSA had no problem with my taking some aluminum #9 needles on board, along with little scissors. But those little cutters that are like a pendant are verboten. Crazy, huh? Right after the bombings in 2011, I often had fellow passengers tell me they felt better knowing we had a weapon.

Back to crafting. A good travel project will be small and have few moving parts. Once I tried to complete a complicated cross stitch pattern that was almost illegible. Too many threads, small needles, charts, scissors-- yuck! When knitting, using circulars is a bonus because you can't lose one. Doing some socks on dpns is fraught with danger. Once, I took socks (small, right?) and the little metal needles kept sliding out and skittering across the floor. Not my finest hour.

This trip, I won't have lots of nighttime hours to spend in front of the tube and I'll be gone six days, so the suitcase will be stuffed. I think I'll take along a thread crochet project. One ball of thread, a hook and a spare, some blunt scissors, and the pattern! Crocheting is my 'native' language so I won't have struggles with figuring out what I am to do. I saw a pattern for a tablecloth in the June 2012 Crochet World magazine that would look great on my dining table. Nine squares of filet sewn together and then edged. Very similar to a throw I made out of thread and keep in the living room for chilly evenings in the summers. If I only got two or three squares done, that would be a good start.