Forethought or Foolishness?

I am packing to go to the cabin this morning for one last trip up north before school starts. This is something I have done hundreds of times over the past 15 years. I know exactly what I do and don’t need to pack and it should be a piece of cake to throw my stuff in a bag and be on my way. It should be. . . but it isn’t.

My clothes are packed, what personal items I bring (who does their hair or makeup at lake?) are in the bag, I have even remembered to stick my running shoes in the bag in case I get inspired. That isn’t my problem. My problem is packing my knitting projects. Here is what I have set out to bring so far.

In that pile are two socks in progress, a shawl, a bag and a scarf that needs to be cast on and started for the third time. Even with all of those items, I am still finding myself digging through my stash pulling out different yarns and searching Ravelry for patterns.

Why on earth am I doing this? I am not a fast knitter by any means. I am going to the lake for a whole TWO days. I have to drive the three hours up to the cabin. I am bringing kids with me who need to be supervised. The dog is coming too. I am not going to have a whole heck of a lot of time to knit on any of the projects I have set out but in my deluded little mind, I can’t help but think of the “what ifs”.

What if it rains all weekend and we can’t go outside and do anything? What if the kids just want to swim all day long and I have to sit on the pontoon boat and knit while watching them? What if my knitting speed suddenly triples over night and I start tearing through projects? What if I can convince the 18 yr old to drive on the way home? What if I get terribly bored with every project I have brought and desperately need to cast on for something new? What if I squirrel steals all of my projects and I have nothing to knit with? What if all of our cars (there will be 5 of them there this weekend) develop mechanical troubles and we are stuck at the lake for a week? Or even a month? What if . . . What if the zombie apocalypse is THIS weekend?

I know, I know. I may have a little bit of a problem. I have plenty of projects to work on already. We are probably going to go on a road trip Saturday to a yarn shop. If the best should happen and I finish everything I brought, there is a little yarn store in town that sells Peaches and Cream cotton yarn.   I can always make wash clothes. I need to quit the craziness, finish packing my bag and get out of town before the traffic gets too heavy.

Right after I wind up this skein of sock yarn.  Because you never know what could happen . . .