The meditation workshop was pretty good
On Saturday morning, I went to a workshop about meditation and knitting at the North Jersey Fiber Festival. Mary Ann Gebhart, the facilitator, is a yoga instructor and a former registered nurse, which might explain why a lot of her meditation was focused on relaxing the body. Her voice and her manners are all geared toward making her participants relax, and she succeeded so well that I dozed off at one point.
Honestly, I am not sure that I took away anything in particular from the workshop, but it was a lovely group and I enjoyed all that relaxing. So I guess my takeaway was the overall feeling of wellbeing when I left. Mary Anne spent time on guided imagery, and the imagery included beautiful yarn like the stuff that was for sale at the festival, so at the end, I felt like we'd focused on
stuff that I would have focused on anyway. She talked about the energy we invest in our knitting and our yarn and why we should make it positive energy. It was all very pleasant.
As Mary Ann talked, I kept thinking she would be a good person to invite to our next In Stitches in Person, assuming we have one. I think people would enjoy having her wrap up the day with a meditation. By the way, Mary Ann was interested in all the charity knitting we've been doing. She said she is going to try that in some of her meditation groups.
After that workshop, I helped one of my fellow participants relearn knitting, and then I did a little more shopping. I also shot more photos and video clips. I also gave Jane her Chico Bag, then left about 2 p.m. and got home before 4. So all-in-all, it was a lovely, relaxed day. If you didn't get to the North Jersey Fiber Arts Festival this year, I encourage you to go next year.
And now on to this coming weekend, when the Central New Jersey Interfaith Stitchers for Peace will hold their inaugural meeting at the Islamic Center of Central Jersey on Oct. 9, which is Sunday. The leaders of The Jewish Center of Princeton, a Presbyterian Church and the Islamic Center are all behind this meeting. It was born out of the efforts of these three congregations to build stronger ties of understanding and mutual support. What I'm not clear about is whether the participants are going to vote on a particular cause to support or whether there will be people supporting multiple causes within the group's overall structure.
All I know is there will be several tables at the Islamic Center on Sunday, and each table will focus on a different thing. We will be knitting, crocheting and sewing hats, scarves, shawls, baby blankets, sleeping mats, and "Peace Pal Dolls" for both local charities and Women4Women-Knitting4Peace. Each type of project will have its own table. The sleeping mats won't start until the November meeting, which will be at Nassau Presbyterian Church in Princeton.
By the way, if you have a pattern you particularly like, please feel free to bring and use it. If you don't have permission to make copies, then please don't ask us to make copies.
My table, which I will be co-leading with a woman named Pam Long, will focus on hats, and we will have free patterns. We are asking people to bring their own 16-inch circular needles (size 7, 8, 9 or 10 for a hat) and a 32- or 40-inch size 10 circular needle for a scarf. But honestly, if you show up with a pair of 14-inch straight needles and want to make something, I'll help you. Also, be sure to bring machine-washable worsted-weight yarn. If you are crocheters, bring a size H crochet hook. There will be very easy patterns for beginners and more difficult patterns for those of us who need a bit more of a challenge.
For the quantities of yarn you will need: A 100 gram skein will make 1 adult or 2 baby hats. Two 100 gram skeins will make a scarf. Three 100 gram skeins will make a shawl or a baby blanket.
We'll have more about this event online and in my column on Thursday.