I’m getting ready to wrap things up before I leave tomorrow, again.  This time it isn’t for work – I’m going on a cruise, to the Mediterranean with my family.  Mr. Turtle, who has run out of vacation days, will not be coming along.  So if you get in touch with Tinking Turtle in the next 2-ish weeks or so, you’ll have to make do with him.

I, meanwhile, am in the middle of a very sort of contained chaos, a carefully crafted tornado of productivity.  I know this pace can’t be maintained for long (and I wouldn’t want it to be, frankly), but I wanted to get a few designs that are due the days after I get home off now, so I don’t have to worry about them on the cruise.  I also want room to bring home souvenirs, so the bag I’m working on for an issue of Annie’s that is due to be mailed off the day I get home is getting done before I leave, darnit.

As I mentioned before, my hands may very well fall off.

A separate matter, from the general packing, is how much yarn I need to bring and in what quantities.  Normally this is a source of much angst, but my options this time are rather naturally limited by the upcoming designs I need to work on: namely, a lot.  The yarn list reads as a sort of “yarn superstar” of the knitting world.

I have the Knitting Boutique’s new superwash yarn line in a couple of different weights, for two different designs due this fall.  I have a half-finished project in Dragonfly Fibers, for a collaboration I’ve also got due this fall.  I have two different sock weight yarns: one by Anzula (the blue and the gold) and the other by Hedgehog Fibers (the grey and the rust) – both yarns for Sockupied designs that are due the end of August-ish.  Also are some extra skeins, also from Anzula, for a design I’m working on in my (heh) spare time.  I also am considering one other quick project… which I know is just crazy because I already have more than enough to keep my occupied even if I was home and NOT on a cruise.

I think I might give The Yarn Harlot a run for her money when it comes to overpacking yarn.  And somehow, I still need to fit clothes.

I guess it’s the cost of being self employed: I’ll be bringing my work with me.  You can see how torn up about it I am.  *grins*

If you’ve got any burning questions for notes for before I leave, you’ve got until about 11 tomorrow (Saturday) to get them to me.  After that, I’ll be on a plane, and then a boat, happily taking a break before life becomes crazy again.

Got any advice for packing?  I’d love to know your strategies!