I haven’t packed.

I have piles of things scattered around my office, and none of them are in any order.

Pantheacon starts tomorrow — tomorrow!! — and I haven’t packed.

In part, I’ve been slow to lay out all of the necessities because this trip is not just a weekend trip for me. I’ll be in San Jose for Pantheacon from Friday through Monday afternoon, attending workshops, giving a few workshops, and doing my best so write! write! write! Then, on Monday afternoon I leave for Los Angeles. I’ll be in LA until the very end of February.

So, packing for this P’Con is a little more complicated for me.

Here’s a short list of things I’m bringing:

1. Ribbons

If you haven’t been to Pantheacon, you might now know about this crazy P’Con tradition. People give out ribbons. It’s a thing. People attach the ribbons to their attendee badge, and by the end of the weekend you’ll see badges with 30 ribbons on them. It’s zany, and I’m totally participating in the tradition this year with my Solitary Druid Fellowship/The Druids Are Coming combo ribbon.

2. Faithiest

Somehow in the midst of an insane Pagan conference and two weeks of songwriting (which I’ll be documenting on my music blog, #allofthesongs), I need to finish this book. I’m either going to be regimented and read a certain number of pages at a time (unlikely), or I’ll cram it one night when the fairy dust settles (probably).

Either way, this book is going to be read in the next two weeks, and we’re going to start talking about it on March 1.

Rain or shine.

I’m like the postman up in here (except on Saturdays).

3. Knitting supplies and my beret

You can’t plan on knitting while walking without having some sort of wrist-bag, right?

Yes. I made a wrist bag.

I am a Golden Girl.

I intend to wind a few balls of yarn to take with me on the trip with the intention of knitting some prayer squares. Prayer squares are smaller versions of prayer shawls or prayer cloths. I recently made a prayer cloth for my grandmother, who’s sister is in hospice. It was meant to help remind her that she is loved, and to provide her with comfort during this challenging time.

But you can make them for anything. You can knit up a little square for any reason — to encourage someone, to give someone strength, to inspire them to creativity — bless it, and then give it as a gift.

I’m hoping to finish a few while I’m traveling, and I’m thinking about inviting the Fellowship to join in some sort of creative work around the creation of prayer squares. That’d be cool, right?

This beret is a new edition to the wardrobe, and I’ll be sporting it throughout the conference. I love how it turned out, and so did one reader of Bishop In The Grove. He’s commissioned me to make one for him! It’s my first paid knitting gig!

(And do you like the SDF patch? I had a local embroidery artist make that up for me so that I could represent the solitaries of the Fellowship!)

There will likely be a lot more on my packing list before the day is out, but this is a start. I will do my best to blog here throughout the next few weeks, but if this site goes a little silent please don’t worry. Check #allofthesongs or follow my happenings on my Facebook profile or Matt Morris page. I’ll be around and busy! busy! busy!

My love to you all!

Teo