Ep. 039 Barbara Arrowsmith Changes Her Brain

Welcome to Episode 39:  Barbara Arrowsmith changed her brain in an extraordinary example of neuroplasticity

Brainy Thing:      14:20  Behind the Redwood Curtain:  27:50

What We’re Learning from Our Knitting:

Margaret crocheted Easter Egg motifs   She never got the Easter Egg Garland http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/easter-egg-garland pattern perfectly by Michaela Krause http://www.ravelry.com/designers/michaela-krause correct but was able to fudge it and she still  liked this one best.  The other pattern was the Easiest Crochet Egg Pattern Ever http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/the-easiest-crochet-egg-pattern-ever by Michelle @ the Painted Hinge.   Also a great pattern.   Each of these patterns was slightly different.   She also tried crocheting, with a lot of improvisation, Wedding Stones  http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/wedding-stones by Monica Johnson  from the Interweave Crochet summer 15 issue.  She hasn’t mastered these yet but she’s looking forward to further exploration.
crocheted eggswedding stones
Catherine continued making baby socks for Afghans for Afghans, this time switching to worsted weight yarn for the Ribbed Far Away Baby Socks http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/ribbed-far-away-baby-socks by Amber Ward   or Mitt Knitter on Ravelry.

cascade handpaints

Brainy Thing:

Barbara Arrowsmith talks about the limitations she had with the brain she was born with and how she changed them for the better with exercises, a great example of neuroplasticity.   Her Tedx Talk Toronto is here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0td5aw1KXA.  She now heads a school with folks who have a variety of brain-related problems.  Specific exercises she’s developed are noted here (with a nifty picture of a knitted brain hat):  http://www.barbaraarrowsmithyoung.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/topsante.pdf

Behind the Redwood Curtain:  Recycled Folk Art

Catherine discovered a private house when the residents obviously delight in recycling plastic milk cartons and soda cans to make a magical landscape.folk art house 3 folk art house 2 folk art house 1

Knitting Tip:

Margaret shares Lucy Neatby’s tip for closing up those holes at the side of a sock heel.

A Little Podcast Business

The ongoing incentive for joining the Ravelry Group (http://www.ravelry.com/groups/teaching-your-brain-to-knit) is a sumptuous skein of yarn.   The Knitting Tip prize is a set of five back issues of Pom Pom Magazine.pom pom smallest

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