It seems like an embarrassment of riches. And it feels pretty weird too. After two years of mostly staying put, I have two trips to make this week, and it is throwing me into a tizzy. The first is a business trip to Helsinki. I will fly in on Thursday and return on the last flight on Friday evening after teaching a full-day workshop. Then, early on Sunday morning, I will hop on a train and head north to the Lake District for……a knitting retreat! The retreat is one that was originally scheduled for last year and was postponed for obvious reasons. It is a small group – 14 of us, none of whom I know. I am really excited about it.

Even though I am so out of practice, packing for a business trip is usually pretty easy; all of the important stuff is teaching related: laptop, adaptors, cables, chargers, mouse, reading glasses, projector cables, plus of course having all of my slides in order. In addition, there is also a bunch of pandemic-related stuff: masks, covid tests before and after for both trips, and lots of forms to fill out at every point along the way, for customs, for the airlines, for insurance, for the university, and for the retreat.

I can handle all of that stuff. But the important question is: what do I take to the knitting retreat? The last one I went to was before I started this blog. I will have one very small suitcase, and will have to change trains twice so will need to keep the weight down. I need to have enough knitting projects for 4 days. I will need things I can knit while drinking wine and chatting. We will be having a workshop and a retreat project, so I have a list of required supplies to take up with me. I will want to be comfortable and relaxed on a cold, rainy week in the Lake District. I will need hiking shoes. And, of course, I will want to wear a few hand-knitted items that other knitters would appreciate. Argh! This is much harder than packing for business!