Hamlet's Holiday and My Pre-Vacation Silliness

Hamlet is gone for the weekend, vacationing right across the street from Lake Michigan. Yes, his weekend get-away is a mere five blocks away from my apartment. He's staying with a woman who has a dog named Hazel. I'm hoping he's behaving - yesterday he went to the bathroom inside this lady's home, not five seconds after entering the place. Oh dear.

In the meantime, I'm actually thinking of doing some pre-sewing fun with the above fabric. I've got a sheet of this iron-on copper. Here's the plan: I'm going to cut a bunch of circles. I'm debating whether or not to cut out the pattern pieces for this top and then adhere my circles, or figure out where the pattern pieces go, remove 'em, then iron on the cut-outs. At that point, cut the front and back pieces. Oh yes, I'm thinking of sticking a few circles on the back just for a little coming-and-going surprise, which is what I like to do when I make hats (which is rare right now, but that might change now that Deepika tells me there will be a Patternreview hat contest, I'm feeling competitive.)

I plan to do all this cutting out stuff while I'm on a mini-vacation. I'm considering bringing my sewing machine with me. Just contemplating. Then again, won't that be too much stuff to carry around? I just really wish I had a knitting project in the works, but I don't. Not right this minute. But if I were to haul my machine with me, this project would be done pronto. It's an easy topic after all. I'd have to remember to bring pins, twin-stitch needle (for the neckline), regular jersey knit needle, matching thread, some clear elastic for the ruching, along with my sanity. A little Steam-A-Seam wouldn't hurt.

I just washed the fabric in the bathroom sink. I'm not sure that was a brilliant move given that I'm leaving within an hour and that sodden mess is coming with me. I'm certain it will dry out quickly, but carrying that thing will be heavy. But it had a stain on it (which is why I got this huge swath for one dollar at Vogue Fabrics) and I wanted to get rid of it immediately so I can get down to business once I arrive at my destination. I'm actually thinking of draping this knit on the backseat of my brother's car so it can dry while we're in transit. Practically speaking, I'm not sure this will work. It might as long as the windows are open, but that's going to make our highway trip really noisy and windy. To other motorists, it might look like we're in Chicago's Blue Bag program in a big way. That economical, quicky dry is one way to ensure that I can dive into my hobby when I arrive. However, haste makes super-waste, at least in my notebook. I wish I had a book to read. Sigh. Wait! There might be some novels on the shelf where we're going. I'm off to finish up prepping for the trip.