Lots of Excitement!

Hello Friends!

As we finish out the 2019 retreat season in Quechee VT, we will celebrate with Lisa Evans as she leads her last retreat as the head of Knitting and Yoga Adventures. I am so thankful that Lisa will be around to help me take K&YA into next year and, have no fear, you will see her again at Knit Maine!

As we continue our transition, I am thrilled to announce that Cape Ann 2020 in Rockport MA will be open for Registration, early Dec 2019  ( a departure from our usual Jan 1 date).  We will be taking over 2 buildings at the Yankee Clipper Inn and have exclusive use of the property. It is a beautiful setting and if it were any closer to the water we would need a

The Yankee Clipper Inn

boat! Yoga will take place in the  mornings overlooking the ocean. If we get lucky with weather, we may even be able to take our practice outside. Bliss. Feel free to inquire directly with Mike at the Yankee Clipper Inn about rooms and to make reservations.

Denise wearing her #Hatdana as a Cowl
One of many ways to style it!

I am thrilled, elated, over the moon to announce our Cape Ann instructor--Denise Bayron of Bayron Handmade! Denise has many talents and will be sharing techniques from her most popular knitting patterns in our class time. Give Bayron Handmade a look to learn more about Denise and her passions.

Denise's many accomplishments include pattern mentions in the New Yorker and her Grace Pullover was published in the April issue of Laine Magazine. Her CardiZen was nominated in the Mason Dixon Knitting Bracket, Cardigan category. She also has a pattern, Indoorsy Tunic, featured in the upcoming issue of Making Magazine, #8 Forest. She is currently teaching at Vogue Knitting Live in Austin and New York.  You can also find her on Instagram @BayronHandmade.

She and I have gotten to know each other over the last few weeks--she is lovely and wonderful and I am so happy she is joining us! There will be something for everyone in Denise's lessons. She believes making your own clothing is an empowering practice, one in which you can make affordable, durable garments. Denise's design aesthetic lives at the intersection of innovative making and sustainable fashion. It is her hope that her patterns enable you to create garments that make you feel confident and are comfortable to wear. I think we can all get on board with that!

I will be sending out an email to our newsletter subscriber list as Registration time draws near. I hope to see you in Cape Ann. Please visit Knitting and Yoga Adventures for more details on Cape Ann, Knit Maine and Quechee VT 2020.

Delicious Design

Confession: this is not my only knit blog! Scandalous, I know. Actually, as a practicing poly-blogamist, I also post my knit thoughts at the Hill Country Weavers blog. (HCW is my local beloved knitting store in Austin, TX.) As I mentioned over there in a post earlier this week, I am thrilled to have an article in the new Intervweave KNITS mag. It's a profile of renowned designer Deborah Newton. It was both an honor and a hoot talking to Deb, who is so inspiring and so encouraging and who, at least as we were talking, led me to fantasize that I, too, could be a knit designer.

Well, okay, in a sense I already am. I design very goofy, no pattern, 3-D sculptural stuff, like a hat that looks like a roasted chicken, another that looks like a menorah, and yes, even a pair of handcuffs. These sill projects are usually the result of a challenge by my boyfriend, Warren, who knows I can't resist when he throws a kooky knitting idea my way. It is fun to try to figure out how to make these things into actual finished items, even if they aren't terribly practical.

But seriously, folks, there is a wistful part of me that loves the idea of being so thoroughly fluent in knit that I can go from the visualizing stage to the completion stage in no time at all. I probably starting wishing for this ability maybe seven years into knitting (my first four years I would only ever make garter-stitch rectangles, so afraid was I of learning to purl since I knew this would lead me to want to learn complicated patterns). Hanging out on Monhegan Island with Lisa and Susan just fed the beast. Here I was, spending an entire week living and breathing in the presence of great designers. When I saw the pattern for Lisa's Fair Isle bag, I was blown away. How did she design it? How could I ever learn to knit it, let alone come up with something similar on my own?

I say that knitting with Lisa and Susan was like jumping out of a plane with an instructor strapped to your back, someone who understands when to pull the parachute cord. With their patience, I figured out that Fair Isle bag and also how to knit lace. I was stunned that I could get a grasp on these things. And when I came home, I used my newfound skills-- the main one being confidence-- to actually start playing around with design. Nothing I'm ready to show off or anything. But still, I was psyched to get the nudge I needed to take another baby step forward on the design path.