It’s that feeling you have when you just experienced something so great and you can’t really put it into words… the words that come to mind don’t really capture the true essence of the emotions behind them. 

That was the weekend yoga teacher training for me.  A group of fifteen women (supposedly the first year that there have not been any males in the group) of different ages and backgrounds coming together to study yoga.  After three meetings over the weekend, we were so comfortable with each other!  Our instructors led us through a wonderful introduction, and really set the stage for what will happen over the next 11 months of training.  Since it is a formal certification process, there is a lot of documentation involved:  paperwork, checklists, forms.  We teased that we may as well move in to the studio considering how much time we will be spending there in the next year!  …and so far, that has been exactly the case!  The weekend was not all asana practice (although there was a lot of that!  I actually lost 3 lbs in one weekend with all of the yoga we were doing!) but also included a lot of information about teaching philosophy, anatomy, and yoga philosophies – we focused on ahimsa this month – the practice of non-harm.  This is a concept very close to my heart, and I plan to talk about it in a future post.

One of the big requirements for the Registered Yoga Teacher is doing an apprenticeship with the instructors.  We have a year (basically) to do the apprenticeship over an 11-week span, but I decided to jump right in and start apprenticing now.  Last night, I attended my first Yoga I class.  I was surprised to see the class so full – Maryland was hit with some nasty snow and ice storms and the schools have been canceled – but 20+ people still showed up for the 6:15pm class!  (I like to think that Yoga is 100% Recession-proof, and possibly weather proof too!)  My role in this week’s class was simple – since it was the first class, I assisted with some props, but primarily observed the class.  One of the main rules of apprenticing is that I do not practice along with the class – and that was the first time I have been in that situation.  Being in a class but not being IN the class.  However, I found it quite enlightening; when I am not focusing on my own form and poses, I can truly gauge the others in the room.  In the future, I will assist the instructor with adjustments, demonstrations, and possibly leading a sequence of poses later in the session.  This will be an invaluable experience!

After the apprenticeship class, I did have the chance to actually get on my own mat too when I stayed for the next class slot.  It is a more advanced class and definitely provided the challenge that I was looking for.  While I do practice at home very frequently, I usually do not challenge myself with more advanced poses because I am afraid of injury… but in class, when we have properly prepared for these pinnacle poses (Vasisthasana III and Visvamistrasana) with a series of other poses, it seems so right to just go for it.  Small steps and then a big finish!  and of course so many of us in the class fell out the pose, or lost balance, or had to come out.  But it was the process of getting there – and maybe getting a little further than last time! – that provided the reward and satisfaction.  It is finding that split second of stability and calm when you can think “YES!” before promptly falling to the floor

~~~

With all of the activities, I was surprised that I was able to start a finish another hat last week.  I started the beret on Inauguration Day and finished it up during the NHL All-Star weekend.  A great way to finish up this fun January Hat Trick knitalong!  I got 4 goals over the month – nothing compared to some of the über-knitters over on Ravelry! – but I am happy with the results.  Knitting hats is just so much fun! and as silly as it sounds, I love that I don’t have to knit another one – like socks, mittens, and sleeves! -because we only have one head! 

Tweedy Beret
Patten: Tweed Beret, Jo Sharp Knit Issue 3
Yarn: Jo Sharp Silk Road Aran Tweed in “Imagine” colorway
Source: All About Yarn – Columbia, MD
Needles: Size US8 circs

With one knitalong concluding, I can’t help but think about the next one starting up!  (Rav link) I am “chomping at the bit” to cast on for the DROPS vest in this delicious Tess yarn… the yarn that has been cast on several times and frequently ripped out.  I have a great feeling about this project – I think it is going to work out splendidly!  Sunday is the cast on day!  I will have plenty of opportunity on Sunday as we are headed to see the Washington Capitals play for the Sticks n’ Stitches event AND then off to a Superbowl party that evening.  Another fun and busy weekend ahead!

This week’s events have filled me with such hope and purpose, both on the international and national stages as well as the things happening right here at home.  The words hope, change, and progress have been used so many times in recent days (months/years) and it truly signifies a momentous occasion in our collective history.

We will always remember this time.  We will look back and tell future generations about it.  Where we were when…

…and I will also remember this week as the starting point of my yoga teacher training.  After many years of practice, it was last year that I began to seriously research the instructor certification process and to investigate the studios in my area that offered teacher training.  It didn’t take long to find a good fit:  I am lucky to have a wonderful studio in my town that offers many classes and has wonderful teachers.  Even before that, however….

…We took a few classes together in college.  Our small Ancient Studies department only had a handful of student majors, so we knew each other casually.  We had mutual friends and passed each other often in the dormitories.  Years passed and both of us graduated from college, got married (to people who also went to college with us!) and went to graduate school… and we both took up knitting as a hobby in that meantime.  We both delved deeper into yoga individually.  And come 2008, we were both on Ravelry – both in the Namaste Knitter yoga group - and here she is talking about how she is working through her yoga teacher training certification at the same studio that I was looking at… and *boom*.

I private messaged her just to make sure that it was really her.  “Flissy?  from college?” It was just too funny that it all happened that way.  We met up for tea one night and we were just amazed that through Ravelry and yoga, we reconnected after several years!    I heard about her experiences with teacher training, she heard about my plans, and we signed up for a yoga class together last fall.  It just seemed like there was a reason that things were falling in to line so well…

It was last September that I started to take the classes at the studio.  I signed up for two classes a week and I knew right away that it was a wonderful place.  The styles, the words, the spirit of the place just really felt right for me.  I told my instructor about my intentions to do the training and her reaction was an instant hug!

So, after many months of deciding and waiting, the time has finally come!  For the next eleven months, I will be working towards my 200-hour Registed Yoga Teacher certification.  I am really taking this program as it comes… I feel that this is an important time in my life to take up such a challenge.  After the many health issues that I had in 2008, and continue to work through (though a lesser extent now, thankfully) I know that the time is right to work towards this goal.  I want to do this program for so many reasons – some deeply personal, others as simple and silly as toning up my arms and abdominals…

I will blog about yoga a little more than I have before on account of it becoming such a large part of my life.  I want to document this time for my own reasons – to be able to look back later and to see what I thought about this or that… and to see how I have grown, changed, etc.

All I know is that it is going to be an amazing journey.

__
**Photos from the Atlanta Botanical Gardens orchid exhibit, November 2008

It was love at first stitch.  That explains why I just couldn’t put her down…

Védís Vest

Pattern: Létt-Lopi Vest, Ístex free patterns (links to .pdf)
Yarns:   Reynold Lite Lopi / Berroco Peruvia
Needles: Size US 5 and 8 circulars

Knit completely in the round and not even one seam to sew!  Does it get any better than that?! Also knit in eight days… and honestly, I could have finished it faster but I wanted to savor some bit of it… I told you I couldn’t put it down – especially once the yoke started.  The colors – leftovers of Reynolds Lite Lopi from my beloved Aftur (and my first dip into the Icelandic yokes) and a recently acquired skein of Berroco Peruvia for the ivory portions.  The colors came together better than I could have imagined.  I think purple and yellow are a match made in heaven!

…and just when we started to take photos, it started to **snow!**

If you are going to model an Icelandic vest, it really should be snowing – all about authenticity!

The pattern is easy and simple to follow.  I totally recommend it.  If you have never tried colorwork, I feel that Icelandic yokes are a great way to “cut your teeth”.  They are knit with worsted or aran-weight yarns and use bigger needles, making it easier to see and carry the yarns across the back.  With most traditional yokes, there are no more than two colors per row of knitting.  The only consideration with any stranded knitting:  watching the tension of the stranding to avoid the puckering effect.  A good blocking can ease up some slight puckering, but you have to be conscious of it while you are working on the garment.   With this particular pattern, and most Icelandic yokes, you decrease stitches within the colorwork patterning.  The charts can be slightly confusing with the “no stitch” distinction.  Since this was a .pdf, I noticed that my printer did not color the “no stitch” area properly, and when I started the ivory, my count was off.  So, I got a colored pencil and went over the chart to make it crystal clear.  You may want to do this too to avoid any ripping or miscounting!

I slightly modified the small cap sleeves with 3 rows of seed stitch to match the hem and the neckline.  The pattern  does not state this, but I felt that it finished the garment off better than the raw rolled edge of the stockinette.  You could also single chain crochet for a few rows.  I went down to a size 5 needle with the sleeve cap but still got a slight bell effect.  It doesn’t bother me too much, but if I were to do it again, I would probably go down to an even smaller needle size.

I made the Medium – measuring 87 centimeters, approximately a 34-inch bust.  The wool does have some ease, and after a light blocking to straighten out the hems and the armholes and even out the colorwork, I feel that I got a perfect fit.  There are some waistline decreases and bustline increases incorporated into the pattern to add a more modern and fitted look.  I do love to mix the modern look with the traditional motifs…

Wonder how long I can wait till I cast on for the next yoked garment?  …I already know that it is not going to be very long… I am totally addicted.  I consider this one a little warm up for the Vest-uary knitalong (Rav link) for February though… I will be casting on for this beauty – not a yoke, but amazing nonetheless.

Although the Aftur sweater that I made in 2007 was not my *first* yoked garment (I also made the Balmoral cardigan and the Tempting sweater in 2005 but they were not my best work… I was still a beginner when I made both of those) the Icelandic colorwork yoked pullover was the one that pretty much “sealed the deal” and made me fall head over heels in love with yoking.  My first colorwork garment and one of my all-time favorite knits – I couldn’t

Malsen's Lett-Lopi Vest from Ravelry

wait to make some more.

…and I am not the only one with yokes on the brain… Whitney started the perfectly named Society for the Appreciation of Yoked Sweaters blog and Ravelry group and there are some beautiful sweaters in the Ravelry gallery that really inspire me.  Stacey and I have weekly conversations about which yoked colorwork projects we are planning… and I just saw the Lopi #28 preview…

No more waiting. I decided to try one of the free patterns from the Istex website, the Lett-Lopi Vest (links to .pdf) – a vest knit in the round with a pretty and relatively simple colorwork yoke.   I cast on with some of the yarn leftovers from my Aftur – Lite Lopi and some recycled yarn from a thrift shop sweater.  I am using the great heathery violet with indigo undertones for the main body, and I am planning to use mustard, ivory, black, and possibly another color for the yoke.  The pattern only calls for three colors but this Lolly isn’t afraid to use the stash and to use the color!  I decided to call my vest the  “Védís Vest”, named after the designer of this vest (and many amazing Lopi patterns, including Aftur), Védís Jónsdóttir.

… and without sleeves to worry about, this vest is pretty much flying off the needles!  I guess it is a warm up for the Vest-uary knitalong next month?  (great idea, Sarah!)

The work is still not done… but just to show you the “before” photos…

Woven Bands Pullover
Pattern: Interweave Knits, Winter 2008
Yarn: Fingerlakes Soft Wool 3-ply
Needles: Size US 10

Thank goodness Kris’s smile distracts from the crazy neckline, right??  (and yes, he is 28 years old but looks like he is 16… he gets carded all the time.  I figure that he will keep this baby face and I will be mistaken for his mother one of these days… or a cougar…)

Apart from the crazy wide boatneck, I am happy with how this looks.  It blocked well and has the relaxed look in the sleeves and torso that Kris appreciates in a sweater.  He tried it on with both a t-shirt and with a collared shirt (seen below) and the neckline looked equally big in both – no two ways around it.  So, something clearly has to be done. However, he did say  that unless I can figure out a way to fix the neckline, he probably won’t wear it.  I can’t blame him.  The neckline is huge.  I tried to bring it in one inch on either side, but it was not enough, and it was very hard to get the seams even without puckering (there are decreases right there).

I have quite a few options from here – the first being the obvious:  RIP it and just chock it up to experience.  The second option: steal it and make it *my* sweater.  I do like boatnecks and tunics… The other option:  figure out a way to fix it.  Thanks to you all – and my friends on Ravelry and Flickr – I now have lots of suggestions on how to fix it.  Because the sweater was knit side-to-side, it is a little harder to just pick up stitches along the neckline.  I want it to look like it is supposed to be there, not just thrown in later.   I am planning to explore the options over the coming holiday weekend… should give me enough time to come up with something or to make the decision to just cut my losses and rip it out.  I want to make it work though, because I really do like the way it looks on him everywhere else!

I really loved this Fingerlakes Soft Wool yarn.  It was a last minute purchase at Maryland Sheep and Wool this  past year – great yardage and really great price too for such pretty colors and texture.  The mill gathers wool from the sheep of the Finger Lakes region of New York and produces this yarn (and a few other weights of yarn). The light heathery blue totally caught my eye in their festival stand – and I actually went back the next day and bought one more colorway in the same weight (a royal blue).  When Kris was looking through my stash for his choice of yarn for the anniversary sweater, he chose this one.  I was totally surprised – he usually goes for dark colors – brown, navy, dark green – so the light blue was a nice surprise pick.

So, this is not the last word on this sweater… you may see it again real soon – hopefully with some good fixes!  In the meantime, I have some other projects on the needles… I couldn’t help myself