Mindful of Yarn

I am busy writing the seventh Yarn Retreat Mystery. I don’t have a cover yet or a title for sure, so I just posted the cover of book number six.
This time there’s another group having a retreat at the same time that Casey is putting on hers. The retreaters are a group from Silicon Valley and the theme is mindfulness. But unfortunately they left the planning and arranging up to Kevin St. John the manager of Vista Del Mar. Let’s just say that Kevin tried cutting more than a few corners. And when the leader of the Silicon Valley people sees what Casey has going on with her retreat, he asks her to fill in what Kevin has left out.
Included in the new additions is a mindful knitting workshop. Mindfulness is a word tossed around a lot these days. There seem to be a number of meanings, but basically it means to focus on something and be in the moment. Knitting is a perfect mindful activity, particularly for new knitters as they have to concentrate on what they are doing and get lost in the stitches.
There are supposed to be benefits like relaxation and stress reduction. Whatever mindful thing you’re doing takes up your thoughts which means they’re off of everything else. It lets air blow through your mind.
Of course, it’s really me behind the plans for their workshop, so then I had to come up with what the group would make. I couldn’t imagine the Silicon Valley bunch happy with making a swatch or even a wash cloth. It needed to be something unisex and something that the mostly men in the group would find interesting. I came up with the idea of a skinny tie. This group likes to think of themselves as trendsetters, so they could even start a new style.
I decided on the needles and found a yarn called Denim. The pattern for now is in my head and needs to be worked out. As for how the Silicon Valley people like their mindful knitting. I haven’t written the workshop scene yet, so even I don’t know.
Casey is doing double duty. Her retreaters are a bunch of women celebrating one of their’s birthday. They’re knitters, so their request was to learn how to crochet. The challenge there was to come up with something for them to make that spotlights the difference between crochet and knitting.
I bought the yarn for the crochet project. It’s something called Puzzle, which I think refers to the fact you can’t tell what it is going to look like. I can’t wait to find out.