4 shawls in a year...

A shawl each trimester (approximately)...

I need designers, NOW! 

I had already planned to work with Christelle Nihoul during my visit in France in July, so I immediately contacted her and she liked the idea (the pattern is the first one to be released, and I can only say it is magnificent!) 

Next, I called Maria Zilakou, she was hooked - which I was sure she would love to be a part of it, and loves a challenge.

As all people who loves their work, I want this adventure to be a success, not only for me but for the designers as well, so I tried to contact either designers that I had already worked in the past and where wonderful professionals (believe me or not there are designers that won't even promote their own work... which is frustrating). I am confident that all artists need their time to create and be free to play with their ideas, so I never tell them what to do and rarely see a sketch of the finished item to approve, so it might be risky for me if the designer doesn't really puts himself to the design. In the end it is my belief that someone must be allowed to create from his soul, it is the only way it will then speak to others.

So I am thinking all this... I need someone who is serious, friendly and that I like working with... No need to think a lot, Meiju is one of my favorite designers to collaborate. We had talked about doing something in the future, and here I was with a plan... she said yes! 

HURRAY! One more to go...

Who is gonna be lucky number 4? My mind traveled in Zug, Switzerland 2015 to the most friendly and smiling person.. Romi! So I wrote her an e-mail (hoping and praying)... and she said yes! YES!!!! I should dye her yarn now and send it to her :P 

So 4 shawls for 4 colorways for 4 sunflower paintings.

I am happy, but restless.

Color Is Power, and believe me those 4 (colorways) are POWERFUL but they can be LETHAL together.

A fifth shawl has to come, using all 4 colorways to create the final piece in this collection... a colorful masterpiece of Van Gogh's Sunflowers.

Who can come after Romi, that loves color as much as I do? Van Gogh was Dutch... maybe a dutch designer? or someone that lives in Holland? It was a start a few names came up: Stephen West (Overbooked of course but I had to try :P life is for those who dare lol), Nancy Marchant (sweetly declined to work on her other designs...love you Nancy) and others... so when Susanne Sommer aka Sosu said "That does sound like a very exciting project! Thank you for thinking of me.. I'm always up for a challenge, I'd love to be a part of it" I was over the moon!

Finally, I am satisfied 5 shawls over a year with 5 wonderful designers, KALs and prizes.

You have the opportunity to buy all 5 of them right NOW with a 15% discount and FREE shipment. You will get the yarn base that was originally (11 Zeus skeins, 2 Apollon skeins and 1 Poseidon skein) used for the pattern and you will be able to choose your colorways when the shawls will launch.

You can wait for each of the shawls to be released as pre-orders and sign-up then for the KALs.

I can not wait to for this new adventure to begin!

Kundalini what..?

Kundalini is an energy that exists in everyone's body, usually in a dormant state. This means that most people never feel it and never know it is there. The sanskrit word "kundalini" means coiled, like a snake. It is not recognized by medical science, but I found it interesting that the official symbol of medicine, the staff of Asclepius, is a serpent-entwined rod. Which has a lot of symbolic interpretations, one of which is that the serpent crosses the rod in 7 places which are the points of the chakras.

But before talking more of chakras, energies and other mysteries… Why make a series of colorways inspired by Kundalini?

I think it is perfectly clear by now that I like to give names in my yarns that are representative of something I like… A movie (i.e. Fight club), a song (Super Girl) and even characters of a popular series (Rushing wolf, Arya Stark). So here is another part of me, one that is a bit more personal, but I felt the need to share.

When I started knitting a couple of years ago, I also had a head injury. Most people thought I had a horse riding accident or I hit myself against some rocks while kite surfing… While I did all those things, it wasn't the case. I sleepwalked and injured myself, and it was the second time that was happening. The good part is that I did not feel pain, as I fell unconscious and then had a concussion . The scary part is that I don't remember anything (yeap.. Nada!) .

Why is that scary? Because there are no warning signs, you start wondering will it happen again? When? Tonight? You try to understand why, but there is no explanation. As it was the second time that I hurt myself while sleepwalking I had to search more about it.. After meeting neurologists and surgeons, after many brain scans and radios: the conclusion was that I was healthy (no signs of epilepsy or other neurological condition) and I would not need a skin transplant (the wound was not correctly stitched and was difficult to heal). Was it enough?

At that period my first encounter with dyeing and spinning started, I was very excited, but I was also used on being a very active outdoor activities person, I missed it but was feeling "sick" and not energetic enough to go surfing or riding. A friend proposed to me to try yoga, and as I found gyms very boring I wasn't trilled by the idea. Not having anything else to do I tried it, and I have to say it wasn't love at first sight but I felt more sure of myself and gaining strength which was important to me. Also I was in a period of my life where I was decided to discover more about myself: I started doing psychoanalysis, found a yoga course that included yoga nidra (a state of consciousness between waking and sleeping) which I found it to be extremely relaxing and was hoping of unlocking knowledge about my sleepwalking. I also followed training and I am certified as a hypnoterapist, and I didn't even know what hypnotherapy was! It is simply amazing, and not scary at all, as most people might think! In this sea of knowledge that I was seeking, I got an email about "The Healing Powers of the Chakras". Chakras? What is that? No idea! I was in the subway and I remember reading two phrases and hitting the reply button to say: I am interested. Why? I have no idea, I am curious. I want to know things.  

While learning more about the chakras, a lot of stuff started making sense, I was looking and comprehending other people differently, and myself also! At the time my boyfriend asked me if I believed they exist, and I truly think it is not a matter of belief, it is a matter of logic and feeling. It was making sense, the knowledge helped me to be more focus, not agitated, to comprehend myself… So why wonder or debate if they are true or not?

This year, I found a course of "Kundalini Yoga" with an amazing teacher! If the year before I was just good friends with yoga… Now it was magic. It was surely what I needed, and a more true "yoga" course then other - not just the physical but also the mental and spiritual practice. In Kundalini yoga you focus on awakening the kundalini energy through regular practice of meditation, asana (poses), pranayama (breathing exercises) and chanting mantras. It aims to cultivate the creative potential of a person to uphold values, speak truth and focus on compassion and consciousness needed to serve others and heal others. All that is something that is very dear to me, not only to make myself better for a better world but also to help others in whichever way I can. 

Nowadays, with all the violence- racism- sex abuses stories we are constantly exposed in a fear routine that no one knows how to face or process. I have found a real comfort in color, and yoga… Hopefully one day to my full potential. Color is Power, Fiber is My Weapon and don't forget: knitting IS the new Yoga. So we are one step ahead :)