On the Road – Knitting & Yoga in Connecticut

Any Excuse Will Do 

On a chilly morning in December I hopped into my hooptie and headed out from Brooklyn to Middleton, CT for a one-day knitting and yoga retreat.  The weatherman was promising snow.  In particular, he was promising significant snow in the region of Connecticut for which I was bound, so it felt a little foolhardy to be going.  Was it so important that I brave a snowstorm to drive 100 miles to knit and practice yoga?

Here’s Gracie! So proud of my Brooklyn parking job.

Probably not.  But I had announced my intentions with an enthusiastic email and I was contemplating dinner with my friend, Sigrun, who was having an artist show in her studio the same afternoon.  It was a rare chance to see her and more of her beautiful work.

Truth is, I’ll grasp at any ol’ excuse to be on the go.  There’s good reason why I’ve enlisted Don Quixote as Journey’s Thread muse.  If you’re at all familiar with Sir Q (we’re close like that), you’ll remember that he was a self-imagined hero off on a quest to find chivalry in a chaotic world.  Plus, he did so mounted on Rocinante, a broken down nag that only he saw as a gallant steed.  He had no particular destination in mind.  He went where his madness took him.

Well, my story is the same . . . but different.  In my version, my personal quest is to find a little order and a lot knitting in this all too busy modern world.  I’m under no illusion, however, that my 17 year old Echo, fondly known as Gracie, is the sporty roadster I’d like her to be.  But just like Rocinante, she gets me where I’m going with few complaints.

More truth:  I was too curious to stay home.  Yoga and knitting are inseparable partners in my mind (more on that in future posts) and I wanted to know how someone else might combine them.

So I plowed on.

Sunday Afternoon Unwind & Knit: Retreat, Renewal and Relaxation 

Unwind & Knit afternoons are the inspiration of Dayna (the knitter) and Sybil (the yogi).  When Dayna, a student of yoga for more than 25 years, opened her yarn and fiber emporium, Madison Wool, the idea of a yoga and knitting workshop began to blossom.  But after a three year search she still hadn’t found a yoga instructor with an interest in fiber.  Funny how things come together!  She began taking morning classes at Connecticut Yoga Center and it was Sybil who, seeing the shop listed on the yoga release form, approached Dayna about holding such workshops.

What began as a one-time thing in 2014 has become a monthly event held throughout fall & winter.  It’s been held in several different places.  Sybil tells me her favorite is The Sanctuary in East Haddam, and involves knitting and yoga practice in a yurt warmed by wood heat.  (I’m not normally a “woodsy” kinda gal, but I think I’d like to make it back for the next one of those!)  The one I attended took place at CT Yoga in a grand old building that was once a sword factory.  It has been transformed from a place to make weapons into a peaceful space in which to distress and meditate.

Where do you knit?

When you mention knitting, many people instantly imagine Granny in the rocker, or maybe someone on a sunny porch overlooking bucolic pastures.  Aw, c’mon!  This is 2017.  Our group, six in all including Sybil and Dayna, ranged in age from teen to retiree.  Rocking chairs are great, but none of us were ready to be confined to one.  Much my knitting happens on the go:  on the subway, in a doctor’s waiting room, during short breaks at work, or watching TV.  I rarely have the luxury of extended, uninterrupted knitting sessions.  So this December afternoon turned out to be a wonderful gift to myself – and probably to anyone with whom I interacted in the next few days.

The beginning of something. Not a washcloth, not a hand towel …

With a few quiet comments, we sat in a beautiful space and began to learn about each other and to form a little community as we worked on our individual projects.  I casted on for a washcloth with Rowan’s Siena, but it soon became clear that I had far too many stitches.  What to do?  I mulled over my co-knitters’ suggestions to rethink it as a soap pocket, or maybe a hand towel.  I decided not to decide right then.  It didn’t matter much what we were knitting.  The stitches gained a steady rhythm; one row led to the next.

The Coginchaug River as viewed through the Studio windows.

The Coginchaug River flows just outside of the windows and the sound of the rushing water added to the room’s atmosphere that was already moody because of the heavy gray clouds outside.  Music with just the right tempo played in the background.  Two hours and a lot of stress melted away.  In the spirit of retreat, renewal and relaxation, Sybil makes chair massages (deftly provided by Cynthia, the third member of Team Unwind) part of these mini-retreats.  That was the fudge on the Sunday!  Thank you, Sybil!

During the knitting hours, Dayna gave thoughtful tips and suggestions.  Then Sybil led a post-knitting restorative class followed by a short yoga nidra (deep, meditative guided relaxation).  I was, indeed, unwound.  I had thought to maybe skip dinner with Sigrun and try to make it back to New York ahead of the snow.  Fuhgeddaboudit!  Who wants to drive more than two hours after that?  I ended up enjoying a nice dinner with my friend.  We caught up on a whole bunch of topics (some regarding current events threatened to rewind me), then I crashed on her couch.  Late morning the next day I made my way home.  All of the snow (that never really amounted to much) had melted away.

Sybil & Dayna

Sybil approaches yoga the true yogic way, as something “to live” versus just striking poses on the mat.  She says this has led her to “hybrid offerings” such as Unwind & Knit.  As with all else in life, she views knitting as her teacher.  Her 10 years of knitting have taught her to “let go of perfection” and allow her to see things from different perspectives – “Is it a mistake or a creative variation?”  Check out her website for other interesting events and classes:  www.yogawithsybil.com. 

Also, check out Dayna’s Madison Wool.  Sybil thinks it’s the best fiber shop she’s ever been to, and I’ll let you know what I think later this summer.  I spent a good chunk of time through Madison’s website.  There is a LOT more there than yarn.  It’s a great resource not only for supplies but ideas as well.  I’ll be following up on one of Dayna’s suggestions for my washcloths, so you’ll see the store referenced here in the not too distant future.

Thanks to both Sybil and Dayna for a great afternoon of doing two things I love and for answering all of my questions with such detail.  I’m a newbie at this blogging stuff, they helped ease the way with background info and pics.

Not Quite There

A few days after the retreat, I took time to look over my Unwind project. Was it a mistake or a creative variation?  I decided it was a mistake. First of all, there wasn’t enough yarn to make it into a hand towel. Second, the stitch that I chose, English Rose Tweed, didn’t seem to work for a hand towel in this yarn. Besides, the Zen of my unwinding had sort of faded from the project, but I did want to see it completed. So I frogged it and started from scratch. Maybe next time I can be a little more flexible.

On the way to becoming an English Rose Tweed washcloth.

Here’s the washcloth near completion.  I’ll give it to a friend and try to pass on the peace I felt during its inception.  I promise to give myself the gift of another quiet afternoon, pleasant surroundings and rows and rows flowing along the needles uninterrupted soon.