White Light....White Heat, aka Project India

I've booked myself on a 'Yoga Tour' of India next March. It begins in Delhi, then up to Rishikesh for a week at the Parmath Niketan Ashram for the International Yoga Festival. It then continues up north to various sacred sites and temples until we get to Dharamsala, hoping HH the Dalai Lama is in residence and concludes with a trip to the Taj Mahal. Of course I've begun planning my knitted garments for the trip. Some are already made courteousy of Knitabulous' Indian Summer Yarn Club I joined earlier this year. I have green Shantaram Socks and the purple Bollywood Shawl. I have a few other pairs of socks made and my nearly finished, very pink Hearts & Flowers. Any other socks I complete in the meantime will just be a bonus. Travelling Woman in Turquoise will no doubt be finished soon too. February Ladies Sweater in Ravelry Red Malabrigo Worsted is on its way down the Finished Object highway too.

But here's the thing, at the Ashram we are to wear white.

Anyone who knows me knows just how allergic I am to white, I'm far more comfortable and considerably less 'dirty' looking in black and other strong, dark colours. I reinforced this recently when I went to the movies and grabbed a (relatively newly purchased, hey, what can I say, I don't knit everything I wear and I just liked the lightness of the fabric and its drape - a circle with 2 cut out cicles for the arms) white wrap. Not for 2 hours could it stay clean after I dropped chocolate on it from my ice cream. How on earth will I cope wearing white 24/7 at the Ashram?? The tour operater's notes state that white cotton clothes can be purchased outside the gate of the Ashram for about $5 a piece, so there won't be any shortage of basic yoga wear (turmeric and saffron aren't exactly stain free) and I'll just have to try my best not to be needing a new set each day.

Its the knitted items that have me in a spin. I will endeavour to salvage my Shipwreck Shawl, even if I need to abandon the Madeira Lace and choose a stitch pattern that doesn't require 'jogging'. A suitable Lotus pattern perhaps.

I have New York Cardigan in my queue and I'm thinking the Margrite Karabella that's in my stash will be good for that one. It might be more cream than white, but I think it will pass the 'white' test. Its a lovely soft and squishy 80/20 combo of merino/cashmere and there's something a little poetic about taking a garment with cashmere in it 'back' to somewhere near Kashmir. This would be a good use of this yarn seeing as it's been hanging around for years after being a mistake purchase, when what I really meant to order was the red (pesky colour numbers instead of names!). This was the beginning of my current stash actually. Rosered may recall this as she ended up with the red without incident and was laughing at me being 'concerned' about having yarn in my house that didn't already have a designated project! How I've grown.

I also have plenty of white Debbie Bliss Eco Cotton (10&4ply) which could easily turn into something worth doing yoga in. I also want to try some reversible knitting and make the Flip Your Lid reversible beanie and Syncopation reversible headband. It will be Winter in India, which could mean anything, from cold to mid 20's celcius and I'll need to be prepared, or at least wrapped in hand knitted whites and plenty of white light...oooommmmm