You can do the optional quests during chapter 2,3 or 6. You get Imoen back in chapter 4, but you will not be able to return to Athkatla until chapter 6.
I've tried it both ways, and I recommend doing most of the quests before you go get her. Your decision whether or not to take Imoen with you will be based at least partly on how seriously you take the role-playing aspect. If you are trying to role-play with the plot, there are reasons why you will not want to do without her. Depending on the make-up of your party, there may be a reason why you will think you will need her skills. I don't want to spoil anything for you, so I'll just say that there are issues involved that you don't know about yet. I will give you two tips though. First, she will level up some while you are apart, and there will be plenty of opportunities for her to catch up. Second, go buy a scroll case or two, and fill it or them with all the spells you would like her to have, because her spell book will be pretty empty, and you may not have many opportunities to purchase spells where you're going.
Finally, there are probably close to 100 optional quests you can do. Some will not be available unless you have a specific NPC in your party, but you can do about 3/4 of them no matter what the composition of your party.
Good luck and have fun!
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