Packing a carry-on in knits
Knit fabric rolls flat, springs back, and never reads as slept-in — a good carry-on is a knit problem.
A cotton shirt creases the moment you look at it. Knits roll into themselves and come out of a carry-on looking like they never knew they'd been packed. That's the whole trick, and it decides what goes in the bag.
Roll, don't fold
Fold once, then roll from the bottom. Heavy cable knits go at the base; finer pieces fill the gaps around them. Nothing needs a packing cube if the palette is doing its job.
Roll the knits, wear the heaviest thing, and let one palette make the decisions.
— the studio, Kelowna, British Columbia
One palette
Two or three colours, tops matching every bottom, is what makes a seven-day bag feel like a week of choices instead of one repeated look. Every piece should be able to meet every other piece in the bag.
Wear the heavy layer
The bulky knit or the coat travels on you, not in the bag. On the way home, whatever you bought and can't compress goes the same route.
The unpack test
After the trip, note what you wore twice and what sat rolled at the bottom of the bag. The honest list is shorter than the packing list — and next trip gets better because of it.
More from the journal.
- What we're wearing this OctoberCold mornings, warm afternoons — the season is one long layering problem and a handful of pieces solve it.
- How to measure yourself in four minutesThree numbers, two units, and the four minutes that make every chart in this shop work for you.
- A five-piece weekOne dress, one knit, one jacket, one skirt, one set — and how they cover Monday to Sunday.
- How to layer a knit over a dressThe fastest way to take a summer dress into autumn, and the three proportions that always work.
- Matching sets, three waysA set is one outfit you don't have to think about — and two separates when you do.