Knitting on the move

I travel to and from work everyday on a train that is so crowded that people are left standing on the platform and those that get on the train often have their faces squashed against the window. But I’m not going crazy (yet) and my knitting is the only reason. Why is it so calming? Even if I come out of my office cursing my evil boss (seriously she is mean!) by the time I get home after 45 minutes or so of knitting I’m practically skipping (sometimes literally… I must stop humiliating myself). So I thought I’d put together some quick tips for knitting on the train.

1. Knit small, by this I really mean keep those elbows in. You’d be amazed how grumpy a sleepy commuter can be if he’s woken up by a knitting needle tickling his ear. Perhaps they need some knitting to calm them down?
2. Knit something that isn’t too complicated. The train isn’t the place for lace, it will only end in tears…
3. Use circular or flexible needles (have I mentioned before how much I LOVE my Denise interchangeable needles) to decrease your knitting “footprint”. This is similar to point one but not only are flexible needles good for small knitting - they fit easily into your bag and don’t break if someone accidentally stands on your bag. Sorry painful memories of some nice bamboo needles with some lovely lace on them. See this is why we need points 2 and 3!
4. Cross your fingers that you don’t get a man sitting next to you. They spread out so much and they always take the armrest. I stand by this point for non-knitters too.
5. Try and get a window seat, it’s just so annoying when every passing carrier bags knocks you knitting out of your hands.
6. Buy a cute dinky little sewing kit and matching tape measure. OK not strictly necessary but my Mum got me these for Christmas and I love them so much that I take them everywhere.
7. Last tip, make it look impressive! Knit quick, where possible use more than two needles at a time, use pretty stitch markers no one can fail to resist the lure of knitting jewellery and learn the pattern off by heart before the journey so they think that you always know exactly what you are doing.
   Here is a not very exciting picture of my knitting progress. After I finish this front piece I only have the tiny little sleeves to knit and I’ll be finished. I can’t wait to be able to wear this top it’s so soft.
8. 
   I hope everyone had a great bank holiday weekend. We did! The highlight of it was going to see our friends who live in Golders Green in London. They have such a lovely house, and a robot hoover which is just so cool! I know I’m a geek but a robot hoover surely is the height of luxury. Anyway my friend cooked the most delicious moussaka. It was from this book which I really want now. The recipes all looked delicious and the actual book was beautiful too.