I hate to say it, because I know that it invites the wrath of whatever weight in the universe dictates the path of knitting, but I’m still knitting Manon, and it’s going really well. Fantastically well. Not a glitch, not a missed stitch, haven’t ripped anything back, haven’t even tinked a stitch.

I finished the peplum of the thing while I was in Newfoundland, while waiting for the other ball of pink yarn to turn up, and it worked out perfectly.

I even had the presence of mind to check for errata before I started, printed it off and put it in the pattern book. It’s so unlike me. I knit a swatch, I washed the swatch, I almost got gauge, knit another swatch on a smaller needle and even washed that swatch to be sure. I’ve knit the fronts and back now, and they look great, and like the picture, and I think there’s really no problem.

There’s just sleeves to go and then I’ll have a sweater. A trauma-less sweater. A sweater that just sort of arrived. I know that by talking about how fun and easy this sweater has been that I’m inviting the knitting muses to smack me hard – something like – I finish the whole sweater in record time with no problems and it doesn’t fit, or it fits, but it looks like crap on me anyway. Or I finish and it fits and it looks fantastic, and it’s stolen out of my knitting bag by a strange and mentally ill one eyed ex-hunter, now homeless and wandering the streets of Toronto, driven to collect garments this colour by the once valuable knowledge that wearing orange could make them safer. (The sweater, by the way, is not quite this orange. The WEBS picture of this yarn is closer. I have no idea what’s up with my camera.) In any case, the straightforward nature of this sweater has left my mind free to wander, and I’ve come up with an idea.

Rachel H, Molly and I take part in a private yoga class at one of the nicest yoga studio’s in town. I like the place because it’s not too fancy or weird or anything. Just a good space with nice teachers. After months of this, we noticed that as knitters, there were certain exercises that we were good at, certain ones we could feel we needed, and we realized that there might be an interesting idea here. We talked with Rosanne (our very nice yoga teacher) and she’s agreed that we should try something.

Yoga for knitters. These will be regular yoga classes that have a special focus on loosening and strengthening arms, wrists and shoulders and helping to prevent repetitive strain injuries, as well as some general yoga that is a good idea for anyone who takes part in a sedentary hobby… like knitting. You don’t have to be a knitter to come (we think this would be a good idea for anyone who spends a lot of time sitting at a computer too) and the classes will be suitable for raw beginners who don’t know a thing about yoga and have never done it, while offering modifications to kick it up a notch for those who have experience or take to it really well.

Since I’m the one who talked Rosanne into this (she loves the idea, but has no idea how fast a knitter train can come into the station) I’m going to organize it for her until she decides if it should keep going or not. It’s a pretty unique idea, and one I’m willing to sign up for (I’m not in business with Rosanne, so you know I’m being honest here- ) since I think it could be really, really neat. Rosanne has a really relaxed style of teaching, not too hippy crunchy, but still very true to the principles of yoga – and she’s used to knitters. In any event, we’ll decide how many classes or how often to run them when I hear who’s interested. Classes will be limited to 12 people – knitters of both genders are welcome and the first one would be Friday the 22nd at 7:00. (There will be ones after that or on other days to fit everyone who’s interested in… assuming there are more than 12 of us who think it’s fun or want to keep going.)

Email me for more information, or if you want me to sign you up.

Cool?