The Tale of the Red Yarn! A crochet story.

Whenever I catch a flight anywhere, I take my WIP.

.I look at the poor saps in the seat across the aisle attempting to read the boring in-flight magazine, that is tucked into the seat pocket in front of you.  They look bored out of their brains.

.But not me I have my WIP.  I wile away the time getting in a few hours on whatever project I decided to take with me.  I can forget that the smiling toddler in the seat behind me, is setting a new record for how many times, they can kick the back of my seat.  The toddlers Mother and Grandmother are doing a stellar job of trying to keep, not only this toddler, but their tiny baby amused (maybe I should underline trying).

One particular day I was making simple headbands.  I had a very nice ball of brilliant Red Shepard Dk.  I don't work with Red very often and I am not really all that much a fan of red, but a friend loves it beyond anything and I was making it for her!.  It is an odd day if you catch her wearing an outfit that does not have red in it.  So I was whipping up this headband!

I was seated in an Aisle seat and as soon as my behind hit the seat, out came the crochet.  I popped the ball of yarn onto my lap taking care to ravel just what I needed, as I worked.  As we took off,  I continued working away, happy in my own little crochete bubble.

The plane was still climbing with everyone nicely strapped into their seats,  when I found, I needed more yarn off the ball.  I gave a gentle tug, hoping to unravel a bit more.  There was slight resistance and so I looked down at my lap.   The yarn was not there. This is right about when I started to have that 'Oh, no' feeling.With a sense of dread.

I looked down at my feet (hoping it may have just dropped and it would be sitting there), but the yarn had other ideas. It had fallen off my lap and had travelled under the seat.  I turned and followed its escape path, out from under my seat.

 It had made its way  down the aisle and right to the back of the plane. I was seated, perhaps just past mid centre of the plane.  The wayward ball was on a mission and with the angle the plane was on for take off, it had  started to roll and then, just kept on going.  I had visions of it yelling 'I'm free, I'm free, as it escaped to the back of the plane!

There at the back, centre, of the plane sat a male flight attendant, strapped in for take off. In his lap  was a fully unravelled  ball of red yarn. I  looked at him with horror on my face,  embarrassed beyond belief.  I mouthed the words 'Sorry!'   He just smiled.

Several of the aisle seat passengers behind me, had huge smiles on their faces, as no doubt they had witnessed the yarn's escape.

Once the plane had levelled out, I snuck another look at the flight attendant. He was busily  winding up my ball of yarn.  He then slowly walked back up the aisle, rewinding it as he went.

Thankfully he had  a sense of humour and found the situation to be quite funny.

I didn't!

So if you are travelling with your yarn, be sure it does not try to hatch an escape plan!

Crochet Anywhere!

Crochet can be a very useful item in so many ways when travelling!!!

I recently had the need to travel interstate to Far North Queensland.

Only going for a few days, I wanted to pack lightly. This, of course did not apply to my crochet. Crochet falls into the 'Must Have' category when travelling. Who cares if I wear the same clothes for three days? As long as the crochet fits in the suitcase, all is good!

I packed my smallish suitcase with my usual care (everything got thrown in at the last minute, except for the carefully selected 3 crochet WIPS (work in progress)). I often send a photograph of my extremely bad packing to my daughter to irritate her. She packs with a neatness that most certainly did not come from me, and often asks if I am really her mother.

I headed to the airport with magic wand (hook) in hand.

The airport was a nightmare! Crowded with people enjoying school holidays. Check-in took way longer than the length of my patience. I was glad when I could find a quiet corner (well as quiet as a busy airport will allow.) and wait for my plane.

Out came the crochet, and I sat working away on my latest design 'Flight of the Dragonflies'. I find crochet can often be a topic of interest for those waiting around you, and conversation often begins with people interested in what I am working on.

Pattern availabe soon. Flight of the Dragonflies. Made from Scheepjes Whirl and Whirlette.

Finally boarding time and I get to my seat. A father and his teenage son were already in my seating row. The teenager must have disliked his allocated seat (which was middle, row) and decided that my allocated window seat was nicer. I certainly was not sitting in the middle between his father and him, so I politely chucked him out of my seat. Just as well he moved over or I most certainly would have stuck him a few times with my crochet hook to get his attention. He was rather lucky I was feeling in a good mood and had my crochet to immerse myself in, once seated.

I had a couple of hours waiting in Cairns for my husband to arrive as he was on another flight, so again out with the crochet. More conversation with interested people, often oohing and ahhing over the blanket I am making.

Then came the short road trip to Port Douglas. Hubby drove so I could crochet.

Crochet while road tripping. Dragonflies squares that I am in the design stage of. Made using Bendigo Woollen Mill Cotton in 8ply

We had several pleasant days in Port Douglas with my middle child, who had been working in the area this year. One of our days away was spent Tree Surfing in the Daintree Rainforest. This involves zip lining in the tree tops, at times more than 17 metres up. I happened to be last in the group to go down the zip-line each time.

My watch

So there I was with the male guide on the platform and he spots my watch. It has a crochet look band and face to it. He exclaims 'is that a crochet watch?' So I told him about my watch and about designing crochet. While he was re-clipping my harness ready to go on the next length of zip-line, he was asking me all about my crochet. His mother and sister were avid hookers and so he wanted information to pass on to them.

At the end of the trip, this guide comes up to me with pen and paper in hand, wanting me to write down my online information for his mother and sister. Who knows, if they did follow up, they may even be reading this. If so, all I can say is that you have a very lovely son/brother. He made our zip-lining very enjoyable.

And it just goes to show, crochet can be a topic of interest anywhere in the world!!

Even when you are hanging around upside-down, 17 metres in the air, in the middle of a rain forest!!!

Me just hanging around in the Daintree. Figured I may as well have a go at the zip-line upside-down. Was a real buzz!!!

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Travelling with my Magic Wand (Hook)

Trusty 5mm packed and ready for travel!

You really know that your obsession with hooking is getting a little over the top when you have to catch a flight and you purchase an extra bag to pack your crochet in.

Then I find myself struggling through the airport with two huge bags, my computer and of course the bag that just has to go onboard, as it has my WIP in it, that will keep me sane during the flight.The Flower Diamond Blanket that is in testing has to go, as all my wonderful (and patient) testers will no doubt find the odd boo, boo (don't lie, they will probably find heaps of boo boos for me to fix) that I have made and so I need to check my stitches on that.I have to take my Leadlight Blanket as I truly must get more done on that and it would probably sulk if I left it behind.

Then there is that project, that the idea just jumped into my head and is marinating slowly.  I did the first couple of rows of it.  That just has to come.Then we get to the WIP that will keep me amused during the flight.  It has to be simple enough that I can focus on it with all the distractions onboard and small enough so it won't take up a seat on its own (Lets face it, flying costs enough without having to buy an extra seat for the crochet).  This just has to be onboard with me so I can immerse myself in my crochet and pretend that I did not just sit beside yet another person with an obvious cold (or it could be bubonic plague) and that they also seem to be half in my seat.  I can forget that we just sat on the runway for 40 minutes due to, too much traffic and that the person across the aisle has a child with an obvious ear infection (well obvious to me).

Heaven forbid if something horrible happened mid flight, we could probably grab my suitcase out and tape the yarn to the plane to cushion the landing (yes I pack that much). Or I could quickly wip up a parachute using yarn, hook and anything else that I happen to have packed.  I can see the Headlines 'WOMAN SAVES PLANE WITH JUST A HOOK AND A BALL OF YARN AND IT LOOKED GREAT TOO!'.

My crochet also gives me something to do while I wait to catch this plane….THAT IS SUPPOSED TO BE HERE AND IS AN HOUR LATE!

Sure, I get the odd look from people who see me working away.  The odd comment like 'Oh, look.  That lady is knitting like you do, dear.' GGRrrrrr!

But at times you get into some great conversations with someone, who is also a crazy crochet person.

Mind you I have, had my share of issues with travelling.  Getting through security has its troubles.  The amount of times I have had to stand red faced as I was sure I had taken the scissors out of my carry on bag, only to have the scanners find them tucked in a side pocket.  Then I have to apologise and say goodbye to the offending item as it is taken.

And they always seem to pick me to do that extra check on.  Maybe it is because I looked guilty (due to the scissors incident, or the fact that yarn is spilling out everywhere as the security tried to look for said scissors).

I have also had the odd crochet disaster in transit.  I will tell that tale next time I write.  Think I will call it,THE TALE OF THE RED YARN!The picture is my Take a Leaf Neck warmer and the pattern is available on ravelry