How Many Skeins of Yarn Fit in a Crochet Crazy Suitcase?

Oh my. Time to pack and head eastward toward the land of sauerkraut, Oktoberfest and medieval castles. On the other side of the Atlantic awaits my boyfriend M, who's been enjoying a very spring-like winter with extra motorbike rides while I've been freezing my tootsies off in Chicagoland. As hard as it is to leave my family, all good things must come to an end (including the Spring Fling Link-a-Long which closes tonight). I know I will return as soon as possible.

Packing is a problem when traveling between continents. My time in Germany has taught me to appreciate the little things even more and has opened my eyes to some of the things we all take for granted in life...like red and green-colored sugar for Christmas cookies, flavored coffee creamer and canned pumpkin (all things I must admit to having minor meltdowns about at one time or another). I've removed clothing from my suitcase to make room for baking supplies or other things I knew I wouldn't be able to find in Germany. Could I just use a second suitcase? Sure, but at $70-125 a pop, I choose to go the creative route and get it all into one suitcase under the 50 pound limit.

This time the packing conundrum is not over baking supplies or Christmas presents, but yarn. There have been times when I've sacrificed the yarn for other things (can you believe it?!), but I wouldn't DARE do that now. Yarn and crochet have become too integral to my daily life, my joy and sometimes my sanity to leave my new yarn purchases behind.

The brands I love in the US are not available in Germany unless I order them online at a much higher price plus expensive international shipping. Although I have found yarn there that I like, when you live in another country it's just nice sometimes...and very comforting...to have things from home.

Over the course of my visit here, I've purchased these scrumptious yarns for some fun crochet projects which I talked about here...

And now for the moment of truth. Here they are packed in my suitcase...

Leaving me just a little bit of space for my clothing, five pairs of shoes and my toiletry bag. Oh my. I'm intent on not leaving my yarn behind.

So, how many skeins of yarn fit into a Go Crochet Crazy person's suitcase? The answer is: 25. Now you see what happens when you Go Crochet Crazy!

As you read this blog post, I am either at the airport or somewhere between the Midwest and Germany. I don't say goodbye because that's too difficult; just "see you soon".

So, see you soon robins, redwing blackbirds, cardinals and downy woodpeckers who come to my bird feeders. See you soon furry friends, Alice, Ernie, Sophie and Patches. See you soon baseball field and nearby farms, and funnily enough, Walmart, where I can buy all the things I miss when I'm overseas. Most of all, see you soon family members friends. I will start missing you the minute I leave.

But my travels have taught me that after every "see you later", there's always a "hello". Soon I will say "hello" to the horses on the nearby farms and the myriad birds that flock to the fields for tasty morsels. I'll say hello to our small Mayberry-like town with the slower-paced lifestyle that reminds me of life here in the 1970s. I'll walk down the poplar tree-lined path that leads me past fields of flowers and whatever vegetables the farmers are growing this year, and say hello to the beauty of nature I feel fortunate to be surrounded by. And, most of all, I'll say hello to boyfriend M, who's been patiently waiting for me these last several weeks.

And, finally, to you...it's "see you in a bit!"...from a different time zone, but still the same me...going crochet crazy as ever.