Knitting to Go

I'm always knitting. Okay, almost always. I can't very well knit while typing, but as soon as I master holding the needles between my toes, I'll try.  I knit in the car (as a passenger, not driver), in restaurants waiting for food, in waiting rooms, while watching movies, and generally whenever I have an idle moment.  So, when a trip away from home occurs, I have to plan accordingly.  

In a week's time I work on multiple projects, 30, 45, 60 minutes at a time.  Weekends often afford me two or three hour stints.  A trip across country by plane is a totally different animal.  I'm looking at a potential five to eight hours of confined knitting opportunity.  There is no running into the studio to change up projects or grab a missed tool.  Planning is required.

One of my favorite movies is "Best in Show".  It is a mockumentary about dog show people, and covers not only the dogs' show performances, but the trials of preparing for and traveling to the show as humans.  When I think of packing knitting for a trip, I'm reminded of one of the couples followed in the movie as they argue over how many kimonos one man is packing for the four day trip to Philadelphia (incidentally it's around seven if I remember correctly.)  In my mind, a six day trip with about 16 hours of flight time will require about 22 projects.  I'm trying to calculate how much space one less pair of socks will take in my luggage if I promise to complete a pair on the flight out.  I could get away with two fewer pair if I knit one pair on the flight out, buy yarn at my destination and knit another pair during the first four days of the visit so I can wear the second pair I knit on the flight home.  Then again, if I knit a pair on the flight out, and complete the 1/2 done sweater in the first four days, I could wear the socks and sweater home and have more room for yarn purchases in my return luggage, otherwise, I'll need to accidentally leave something behind for a relative to mail to me or knit myself another piece of luggage.  See the madness?  Then again, if you are a knitting addict like myself, you may only see the logic.  Is there therapy for this (and does it include fiber retail)?