Toe Decreases and Yoga Intensives...

Believe it or not, those two things have something in common. 

I'm in the near-middle of the week-long Yoga for Healthy Aging intensive - it's a 30-hour training, and I'll get a certification out of it. It's in Lisle. I've had to take the week off, which has thrown things into a tizzy. I got a sub to teach my classes, which was a good thing, because my brain is kinda mushy from all the stuff we're trying to cram into it. 

My students are going to hate me. Well, no. They'll love what I'm learning. Just that I'm so excited about it. I bought 2 more books dealing with yoga modifications and variations. 

No. Much like yarn, you can't have too many yoga books, especially with regard to those on sequencing and modifications. See, my classes are mixed level. Yogis of all levels attend, and the ages span at least two, sometimes three generations. I have to be prepared for the 20-something who's blown a knee to the 30-something who wants to get stronger, to the 70-something who can't balance. All in one class. I need modifications and I've almost given up planning sequences. You know that phrase, "You plan, God laughs"? Well, it apparently applies to yoga teachers too... 

I plan a sequence on shoulders. At least one or two students come in with active shoulder issues. Pfffffffffffthhhhhh goes that sequence. I plan a class around legs. I'll get a fake hip or a fake knee. Pfffffffffffffffffffffthhhhhhhhhhh goes THAT sequence. I've gotten pretty good, if I do say so, about modifying on the fly and offering alternative poses. 

Certainly tests my equanimity. 


Anyway, how does this apply, you might ask, as I drag myself back to the subject. Well. The studio is a bit chilly because the weather is dreary, rainy and grey - you know: fall. So I'm wearing my hand-made socks. And I finally got it in my head to bring my knitting. 

Socks, of course. At first, I brought the beginnings of the St. Charles socks - Vanilla Latte is the pattern. But I didn't want to deal with them because right now, they look like nothing. 

So I grabbed the Blue Self Patterning, which are on the verge of being done, and I really want to get them on my feet soon. This picture is dated by about 2 or 3 days. I'm on the toe decrease now and everyone was ooohing and ahhhing. One person asked me if I sold these in my studio. 

I suppose, if I wanted to, I could sell the "yoga socks" version (no toes, no heels - just the short-ish leg and instep). I could do that, but who'd pay for a sock with no toes and heels? And besides, it'd have to be something like $20/pair at least. The legs would be no taller than about 5" if that, because I don't want to knit that much for people who may not buy them. You don't need long yoga socks anyway. Though they could be pedicure socks. Could be S-M-L sizing. I definitely have enough sock yarn, and the trend is mis-matched socks...

In my spare time. 

Garden Yoga...

Is done for the season. We were being pelted with Honey Locust leaves and it was a very brisk 67* at the last class, but it was worth it. I purchased a bush called Amethyst Beauty Berry. Hubby wasn't necessarily pleased, but it's in the northwest corner and will be gorgeous. Pink flowers in the spring and a "fountain shape" that doesn't require pruning; now, though, it's got beautiful purple berries on it. Tomorrow, if it's not pouring, I'll get a picture of it. 

So this tree, two weeks ago, was just turning color. Last Saturday? This was it. Bald, with very little to tell you what it looked like earlier. It's a beautiful tree - I love the trunk and the shape of it. 

Fall hit sort of late and it's wet and gloomy so far. 

The brightest spot in the garden last week (aside from the mums and the Amethyst Beauty Berry) was my mat!

The berries are just a tad more purple than my yoga towel/travel mat thingie here. It's advertised as a "travel mat" but it's very thin. I use it over my regular mat, because, aside from the odd hot flash, when we were practicing in the hotter weather, I'd slip. 

Rule #1 in teaching yoga is to be human. But Rule #2, at least in my book, is to try not to face-plant in front of your students. Seriously, you can really hurt yourself, so I got this to help keep my hands and feet sticking where they needed to stick. 

It's a good idea for travel anyway, because if you do yoga somewhere (like I did once, in a conference room), on a grungy carpet when you're not quite sure when or if it was ever cleaned? You'd like something like this under you. Let's just say that Downward Facing Dog was as close as my face got to that carpeting! 

Anyway, we'll start up again next summer. I think we rushed it this spring, and the weather in spring was as odd as the weather in fall -- like Mother Nature couldn't decide. 

One thing Mother Nature HAS decided on was that, lately, the skies at night have been stunning. We've caught a few sunsets and sunrises (this is a sunset last Sunday at Yin class) that were pretty spectacular. She knows how to put on a show when she wants, that's for sure. 

Random Picture...

I think someone let the air out of Quinn... This is the infamous "Norwegian Flat-Hound." Used to be an Elkhound when it was blown up... She does tend to really sleep when she wants to sleep. Didn't blink an eye when I took this shot. 

She's a patchwork puppy with all the surgeries, which is why she's still in a thunder shirt. Hubby has "diapers" (as you may be able to see) still around her neck so her collar doesn't irritate the skin till a little more fur grows back from her recent surgery. Unfortunately, she's got more cysts growing. The vet doesn't know if we'll be able to ever find out why or if they'll ever stop. 

But she's a snuggle-bunny and my fierce protector-beastie. Scared of her own shadow, but heaven help you if she doesn't know you and you knock on the door! You'd swear the Hound of the Baskervilles lived here! 

Well, THIS is Awesome...

...not... 

Lucky me, I seem to have started on the next phase of "the change." Night sweats. Yeah. Fun. Last night, I don't think I actually slept till about 1 a.m. or so. And I woke up soaking wet. 

Now I know what mom was talking about. I need to work on some techniques to quell the hot flashes, since they've been getting pretty horrid. So, I'm a year out from the beginning of menopause. I've had hot flashes off and on, but now they're coming daily - I sat and counted one morning, and in the space of 2 hours, I had something like 8 "flashes." They don't last long, you know. But it feels like they last forever! 

The definition of "menopause" means 12 consecutive months without a period. I've done that time, and it's been another year. So...24 months down. What the heck?

Perhaps meditation and some breathing techniques? Definitely not going the HRT route. No interest in that. But I thought I was sailing along kind of nicely. 

Then this. Urgh. 

Oh, the Danskos... Nobody showed up for my a.m. garden yoga class. I wasn't sure, honestly, if anyone would. 

See, it rained like crazy yesterday afternoon and through the night. The area where we practice is kind of low, and sometimes, it can be a little "swampy." I didn't cancel the class because the rain today was going to happen (and did) in the afternoon. So I did dither. I was thinking about how wet it might be. I was wondering if anyone would think to come out. Would they think, "Oh, it's October, so we're done" even though I hadn't put anything out on the website or social media? Would we have new folks since we did the demonstration last week at the Fall Fest? Maybe new folks would come out to see for themselves... Or maybe they wouldn't and it would be too cold, or too wet, or the area we're in would be mushy and muddy... 

But I figured I needed to be there. I'm 5 minutes away anyhow. It was a gorgeous morning, albeit a bit cloudy. You could tell that rain was moving in, but it was a bit breezy and it wasn't humid at all. 

As I was waiting, I wandered in the space and took some pics. The fall colors obviously haven't peaked yet, and I'm not sure how or if they will. Fall is tricksy, you know...(Hobbit reference) Sometimes, when you least expect it, there's an extravaganza of color. 

And other times? Not. 

Anyway, as I was wandering, I thought, "Heck, I'm wearing fall colors! 

The Fields is going to be open through Thanksgiving, but they're beginning their "closing up shop" maintenance in terms of dismantling the larger fountains and cleaning them up, shutting off the smaller ones, trimming up the more "tropical" plants, like some of the large potted ferns...that kind of thing. Mums are all over the place, and the breeze was whipping the water in the fountains that were still running (click on this picture, and you should see it). The large grasses are turning gold and the sedum is getting red. 

You can see that Autumn is progressing and while many people think of this season as one of "dying," I actually think of it as a beginning. 

Think about it. In the spring and summer, the trees are green. But in the fall, they're brilliantly colored. This seems to me to be the true nature of the tree: to be colorful. To give us something to look at while the time changes, and the days get shorter. To give us beauty before the long winter season. 

So that's my take on Fall. With the brightly colored Danskos as comic relief. 


Knitting...

So the other sock of the self-patterning Plain Vanilla ones is in the works. I closed the gusset and I'm about 5.5" on the foot. I have to get to 7" to start the toe decreases, so I think in a week or so, I'll have a pair. I've got to grab the next bag out of the "Twelve Months of Socks" that I started what? THREE years ago? I think this will be the 3rd or 4th pair of that 12-pair journey. 

I'm not sure what I'll pick out next. Hubby did the bags. So I'll see what happens, and go from there in regard to pattern. 

I'm still working on the shawl; haven't touched the February Lady Sweater recently. I really should get back to that soon, since I wanted to wear it. 

I was wondering about starting some wash cloths for my yoga teachers - not sure if there's enough time for them to be done for Christmas. I'm a little stumped as to what to do for them for Christmas. I would normally just bake, but too many of them are gluten or sugar-free (which isn't a bad thing; just puts a crimp in a baker's style for the holiday!). 

I do have a problem though. It's the SSK. I'm really having a time with it. For the past few pairs of socks, the SSK decrease has left me with "loops" along the one side. The K2tog side is nice and crisp. But the other side has these little things that look loose to me. (You may have to click on the picture. I can see it, but to me it's glaringly obvious!)

I tried to slip the first stitch knit-wise, second stitch purlwise. Then I tried slipping both of them knitwise. I can't seem to figure out how to do it, and honestly, when I've checked YouTube, I get seven zillion opinions. 

Sock knitting is like that. Want to start a war? Walk into a room of sock knitters and say something like, "Magic Loop is stupid." Or "why do you even bother with toe up construction?" You'll be skewered. 

As a matter of fact, on a FB page, someone complained that they were "not treated nicely" by someone who commented on a post. Well, knitters have opinions, and sharp sticks! Seriously, if you're going to ask an opinion on social media, you really do have to have a little bit of a thick skin. You can't hear "tone" - any more than you can hear my tone, though if you've read this blog long enough, you can kind of hear my voice. 

So, if someone gives you an opinion, you may take it as "snotty" or "condescending" because you can't see or hear the person. But I'd still be careful with those of us who play with sticks and string! 

Anyway - anyone that has an opinion on my SSK problem, I'd be glad to try it on the next pair of socks. 

And I'll let you know about the decision on the dishcloths. 


Young Living...

So today I had another essential oils class. I had a lot of fun with the group that showed up. And you know - if you can't get to me, I can come to you! I put on this big thing at the studio because I have room. But I can help with your discovery of the best essential oils on the planet - in the comfort of your own living room! 

I've been working on building the business here, and I think it's a good company to align with. The Seed-to-Seal policy the company abides by is what differentiates it from the other oil companies. And I like having access to science - that's important to me. 

When I was looking to get into oils, I did do the "grocery store" oils. But after doing the research, I've begun to see the difference. Oil that's 100% oil - that's so much more healthy than oil that's part carrier oil. 

I've "ditched and switched" for the most part. I don't use candles in the house (unless the power is out - we keep a box of tapers around just in case, and we have several flashlights). I don't use those scent thingies you put in your outlets. I went through my personal care products and whittled everything out that had stuff in it that was potentially irritating my skin. 

I mean, I'm no purist. I kept the perfume that Hubby gave me. And there's a facial wash I'm partial to that doesn't irritate my skin. That being said, I was having some issues as I went through menopause where my system was apparently changing. I find that I'm more sensitive. 

Either that, or as we get older, we do become a bit "overrun" with toxins. So making this change has been something positive. I want people to understand that this isn't "the latest fad." These oils have been around since ancient times. The pendulum seems to be swinging back. Not that I'm giving up on medicine. 

I'm not crazy. 

I'm trying to attune myself to what my body needs and trying to cut the toxic load on my body. And I can help you do the same. We don't even have to be in the same city or state. Let me know. 

Random Picture...

I was nominated for the "7 day black & white challenge" on Facebook - which I'm sure you've seen. It's a nice change from some of the garbage, right? 

What I did was pull 7 different pictures. It's your life in black & white, so I thought I'd dig around and see what I thought would work. 

I really want to talk about the latest tweets from the twit, but I also want to get some sleep tonight, so this picture came to my mind as something that's beautiful and worth talking about. At least before World War 3 gets started...

This is the pediment from the Customs House building in Charleston, South Carolina. Kid #2 was big into Nathaniel Hawthorne the year my mom and I took that trip, and if you recall your "Scarlet Letter," you remember that in the beginning of the book, there's this whole thing about the Customs House. 

Well, the one in Charleston was quite grand. And I had to grab this shot. I used the "real" camera, and this is the B&W version. That being said, it was a grey-ish day that day, and the pediment was white, as was the pillar, as was the fascia on the overhang... So the "color" version of this one is quite similar. 

Actually, the B&W one brings out more detail. And as usual, click on the picture to get more of a peek at it. I can't for the life of me figure out what those wires are that encircle the acanthus leaves. Any ideas?