Now that I’ve finally uploaded the pictures, I can show you another FO.

Before my YTT (yoga teacher training) began I suddenly came to the conclusion that I needed a new mat. My old ones were showing their age and I figured it was time to invest in something not only stable and cushy, but kind to the environment. After much looking around for something that fit the bill and was a reasonable cost, I saw a post on Twitter that LotusPad had just got in a couple of blue mats. If that isn’t the universe saying “Hello! This is your mat!” I don’t know what would be.

So I ordered my mat and I couldn’t be happier. It is so light weight yet so cushy that I don’t really need a blanket under my knees in poses like Anjaneyasana. It rolls out nicely and the texture makes me feel secure, even when things get a bit sweaty (and by a bit I mean OMG I’m dripping!). I love this mat! In fact, I love it so much I decided to knit it a sweater!

The main reason for this is that this mat is made of natural rubber which will begin to degrade if exposed to direct sunlight (which is a wonderful thing for being environmentally sound, but not so much when you want it to have a long life for its intended purpose!). I like to leave my mat in the car when possible, so I needed something to wrap it in that would protect it from the sun and all the crap in our cars. So I decided to make my own felted bag.

I flew completely by the seat of my pants on this one. I used leftovers from this sweater and this one and decided that I would cast on 200 stitches and just knit in garter stitch, throwing in a button hole every now and then and changing colors at will. As people saw me knitting on this, they thought I was making a blanket, and with good reason!

It was kind of huge!

That’s me standing behind it pre-felting. And remember, I’m nearly 6 feet tall!

When I felt like I’d knit far enough I folded it in half across the length, sewed it up that way and then across the bottom and threw it in the washer for what felt like many, many, many, many, MANY cycles. Eventually it felted enough to be as light proof as possible and still big enough around to fit a mat inside. I had also planned to leave some room to throw in a towel or maybe a change of clothes too.

When it dried I discovered it was WAY too long, almost twice as long as the mat. No matter. It’s felt! I just cut off some of the top, made new holes for the tie closure (which I made by braiding a long length of some of the still remaining yarn) sewed on my shoulder strap (which I knit much the same as the rest of the bag only going back and forth on far fewer stitches) and it was done!

It may not be the prettiest thing in the world, but it certainly gets the job done! I actually received many complements on it the first night I took it to the studio.

A some point I’d like to take the swatch that I felted before the bag as a test and make a pocket out of it to hold my small class notebook, maybe with a needle felted OM symbol on it. For now though my new mat is cozy, protected from light and travels easily from place to place.

Sometimes it’s really good to be a knitter!

ETA: Please see Katy’s comment on this post. I was mistaken about the rubber content of the mat although it is still biodegradable. Thanks Katy!

If you didn’t see it in my last post, a big thank you to all that had been sending good vibes this way. We found out last Thursday that what we feared might be was not and I am very grateful for all your help toward that end. I made a donation to an appropriate charity to thank the universe as well.

Moving forward now this past weekend at the NJ Sheep and Wool festival was a great success! Thank you to everyone who stopped by the booth. And the biggest, hugest and most enormous thank you of all to Sharon and Sairy for running the booth in my absence!! A giant thank you to HWJF as well, who got up before the crack of dawn and ran down to the fairgrounds with me to set everything up only to run back and have to deal with what was probably the busiest day of his year at work. Despite the argument that may have made the paint on the barn peel, I thank you darling!

I have a few pics courtesy of Sharon to share.

Here’s the full view of the booth. When we started unpacking I realized, much to my dismay that I had completely forgotten part of my set up. We managed to work it out anyway.

There was definitely fiber galore. And my dear friend Eklectika sent spindles again this year (check out her etsy shop here!)

Carolyn and Tina shared the booth along with me this year.

Since we literally set up and ran, I basically didn’t see any of the festival. I had just a few min. to say hello to some friends that I haven’t seen in way too long and that was it for me. The thing I am most sad to have missed was this:

That would be Mary Beth Temple and her daughter who apparently ran up to the booth to find me and show me what they had spun with the previous year’s purchases! How amazingly sweet is that?!?! Thank you both for stopping by and I’m so sorry that I missed you!!

Apparently there were other people who did the same but weren’t identified. If you came to show me things you’d spun with my stuff, please get in touch! I would love to see and I’m sorry that I missed you too!

Another fantastic thing that I missed?

Sharon won spinning ribbons!! One of them was even with some of my fiber!

How cool is that?! So very proud of you my friend!!

While I’m definitely sad about missing out on these beautiful things I’m still happy with what I did instead. The first weekend of teacher training was beautiful, intense, mind blowing, scary and amazing. I’m happy to admit that I’m a little overwhelmed with everything I need to accomplish in the next nine months while still trying to work full time and run a small business, but I’m in it for the long haul. It’s going to be an amazing journey. I can already tell. And if I just break things down and take one day at a time, it will all be ok.

I wish my Yoga Mat Sweater would hurry up and be done though. I could use the bag to free up my hands from some of the extra stuff that has to go with me to the studio now!

It’s gotten too big to go on the train, so I’m not sure when it will be finished.

Too big to go on the train means I needed a new project!

Meet Basalt. At least the boy will have a new cowl by Rhinebeck. With only about 30 days to go, I’m not so sure I’ll have a new sweater…

Deadlines are looming, but I think I’m as ready as I can be at this point. The Garden State Sheep Breeders Festival (aka NJ Sheep & Wool) starts bright and early on Saturday morning. All is dyed, tagged and ready to be packed in the car.

Just a small sample.

Of course that means I have to get all the crap out of the car first. No easy task. Make sure to stop by the Zarzuela’s Fibers (and multiple other friends) booth to pet the pretties and take some home! (I’ll be closing the online shop tonight in preparation, so if there’s anything there you want, get it now!) I’ll only be physically there myself for a couple of hours Saturday morning, but the goods will be there all weekend. And that’s because…

My yoga teacher training starts on Friday! It occurred to me the other day that while September 11th is certainly an auspicious day to be starting anything, it also happens to be exactly 4 months to the day of my surgery. Hello Universe? Yes I *am* listening! It will be hard to believe that 4 months ago I was laying in a hospital bed, unable to feed myself or sit up above a 10 degree angle while I’m singing Kirtan Friday night. I am ever so grateful that I am where I am today with the opportunity to start this next amazing chapter of my life.

As you can see above, I’ve acquired the necessary equipment for my classes which also included treating myself to a new natural rubber yoga mat from Lotuspad. I *love* this mat! It’s light and cushy and I don’t slip around and my knees are happy! I love it so much I decided to make it a sweater!

Well… it’s actually more about the fact that natural rubber will degrade in direct sunlight. My old bag doesn’t fit this mat and will not protect it from the sun, so I dreamed up this solution. I’m knitting it up from leftovers of this sweater and this sweater and I’ll felt it when finished for maximum sun protection. We’ll see how it goes. I may have made it a little long….

When I’m not working on that, Sirdal is still coming along.

But that’s a deadline I’ll think about on another day….

P.S. That big shit I mentioned a couple of posts back? Good news! Not big shit! Thank you so much to everyone for your thoughts and good wishes.