Monthly Archives: January 2020

Ep 106: The Placebo Effect; Summer Socks; Beaded i-cord; New color app; annual washcloth exchange; Arcata Fairy Festival

Posted in Knitting by

Welcome to Episode 106 where we talked about summer socks, trying a part of a patter — beaded i-cord, discovering a color app for project planning, the annual washcloth exchange;  The latest on the Placebo Effect and the new Arcata Fairy Festival

Brainy thing:   18:38      Behind the Redwood Curtain:   29:19

What We’re Learning From Our Knitting

IMG_3217Margaret finished a pair of summer socks:  Top down, 1×1 twist rib cuff, afterthought heel with gusset,
(check out Ariana Hipsagh    gussets in afterthought heel  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUyJM2FBH_o
Reena Meijer Dress  Knit better Socks blog  http://knitbettersocks.blogspot.com/)
The yarn is  Canon Hand Dyed 80 Merino, 10 Cashmere and 10 nylon.by The Amy Lee Show and the colorway is “I will believe that there are unicorns” a part of her January Shakespeare Club and a quote from the Tempest.
ducenti_mkal_small2She learned a lot from making the first step from Laura Nelkin’s Ducenti Shawl https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/ducenti-mkal— a beaded i-cord. Made from in two different but closely coordinated colors, the two skeins of yarn came in Laura Nelkin’s Ducenti Shawl kit,  originally a mystery kit.They are a wonderfully soft single ply Dragonfly Fibers, Pixie yarn in 100 % merino in a mossy green and a variegated dark putty, with hints of a brassy brown and green.
But she’s not making the the full shawl as designed by Laura.    She’s using it as the bottom of Eline Oftedal’s Waves Shoulder Cosy https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/wave-shoulder-cosy

Catherine shares a free app from Home Depot for matching up colors.   She finds the matches are a tad on the dark side but still thinks it’s a nifty tool.   She found some yarn she’s long been looking for from  Lion Brand gradient stripe in pink for a dog sweater for a dog who looks fierce but isn’t.   She is working on her Dishcloth exchange using cotton she had on hand plus a  ball of lily’s sugar and cream  in white, lime, teal green, and  lavender.  The pattern is  Vortex 5  by Rebecca Hudson  (Meditative is her Rav name.)

Brainy Thing

Margaret reports on recent research on the Placebo effect  — Among the findings are that it works even if people know they are taking a placebo, it works in animals, and it changes an enzyme in the  brain.

Behind the Redwood Curtain:  Arcata Fairy Festival

f4cc6b_5190bfbcf7c84798aaa5151cb9e464e2_mv2A new kid-friendly event in Arcata is the Fairy Festival, celebrating its second year and planning for the next.

A little podcast business:  Give Away

Another fun giveaway.  Be the first to request it on the Ravelry thread.
In this episode of Teaching Your Brain to Knit we discuss summer socks, beaded i-cord, the dishcloth exchange anda pink striped yarn for a dog.   We share the latest on the Placebo Effect and report on a new area event, The Arcata Fairy Festival.
We have a wonderful give-away today from Margaret’s unending stash, the Laura Nelkin kit, Ironish, a two color scarf.   The kit includes two skeins of Navia, Silkiull yarn which is  75% wool, 25% silk:  one skein is steel( a medium grey)  and the other raspberry. The kit also includes beads which you can use or not.   I have printed up the pattern which has links to Laura’s video instructions.
Thank you for listening to our podcast.   We now publish once a month and you can subscribe on all the major podcast servers including Apple, Stitcher, and Spotify.  Margaret is Margaret 924 on Ravelry and Catherine  is Magic Wombat.  We are also on Facebook and sometimes even on Instagram.

Episode 105: Diet and Depression; A blanket out of a sweater gone wrong; Log Cabin Mitts; Reintroduction of the Condor on the North Coast

Posted in Knitting by

Ep. 105  Welcome to Episode 105, where we discuss Diet and Depression;  Making a blanket out of a sweater gone wrong;  Making Log Cabin Mitts out of Buffalo Yarn;  and the Reintroduction of the Condor along the North Coast.

Brainy Thing: 15:16                       Behind the Redwood Curtain:  27:41

What we’re learning from our Knitting:

Catherine plays too little/too much with her Caron Big Cake (https://www.ravelry.com/yarns/library/caron-big-cakes) a 100% acrylic yarn. But she’ll end up with a smaller baby sized blanket and blanket squares for a charity blanket. IMG_3159__2__small2 Margaret tries out Buffalo Wool Company Prairie (bison and silk) https://www.ravelry.com/yarns/library/stunning-string-studio-prairie on a pair of log cabin mitts https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/log-cabin-mitts by Karen Templer.   Great yarn and a fun pattern.

Brainy Thing:

Is there a relationship between diet and depression?   Catherine reports on recent research designed to show the impact of a healthy, modified Mediterranean and depression.  (It helped.)  https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/323194.php

Behind the Redwood Curtain:

download-2Margaret discovers the history of the condor along the North Coast and exciting news that they will be reintroduced. https://www.northcoastjournal.com/humboldt/bringing-prey-go-neesh-home/Content?oid=14060254

A Little Podcast Business:

We miss podcasting as much and plan to increase the number of podcasts we’re putting out PLUS we have a yarn give away.
After a few months on a less frequent schedule for our podcast, Catherine and I have missed it and plan now to put out a podcast about once a month.  It may vary a bit — 3 weeks or 5 weeks but somewhere around one podcast a month.  For the time being, we’ll stick to the same format.
And, as a special treat today, we have a giveaway from the stash — a beautiful handspun, thick and thin, skein of 100% BFL or blue face leister totally 100 gram and containing 106 meters.  It has a marled look with green, a medium dark purple, tan and a offwhite.  It is from Friday Studios.  The first one to request this yarn in the 105 episode thread will receive it.
n episode 105 of Teaching Your Brain to Knit we share our knitting stories with buffalo wool, the log cabin mitts, blankets and blanket squares.  We report on research about the effect of diet on depression and the reintroduction of the condor in the Northcoast.
Until next time.

Ep. 104 Anna Zilboorg, Master Knitter and Teacher

Posted in Knitting by

Welcome to Episode 104:   Interview with Anna Zilboorg, master knitter, quilter, teacher, etc.

In this interview about both quilting and knitting, Anna shares a bit of her own history, she’s touches on downloadmeditative knitting,  she celebrates our hands,  she talks about learning through the mind and learning with the hands and she worries about knitting becoming rote and- rule bound rather than people growing into being being craftspeople.
51yn+hcKsFL._AC_US218_.

One of Anna Zilboorg’s many books which included directions for the workshop I took.

Ep. 103 Knitting Little Things; Starting a New Welcome Blanket, Magnetoreception and the Human Brain; The Redwood Monastery

Posted in Knitting by

Welcome to Episode 103 Knitting Little Things; Starting a New Welcome Blanket, Magnetoreception and the Human Brain; The Redwood Monastery

Brainy thing:  24:18            Behind the Redwood Curtain:  29:40

What we’ve learned from our knitting (and crochet):

Margaret completed her Quest Shawl by Linda Dean featured in the Jimmy Beans Advent Crochet evIMG_3134 (2)ent. It was great fun but she was glad to finally finish it.   Quest Shawl:https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/quest-shawl.
IMG_3142Then she completed several small projects:  A souvenir from Stitches West, Rebecca Danger’s Wickedly Peaceful Polar Bear:   https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/wickedly-peaceful-polar-bear-christmas-ornament.
IMG_3264Some eggs including one by Nicky Fijalkowska in her book  Knitted Birds    https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/sources/knitted-birds-by-nicky-fijalkowska and one that Margaret freelanced on her own.   IMG_3131_small2Finally, to mix up needle sizes, she finished the Jolly Wee Elf by Churchmouse Yarns and Teas   https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/jolly-wee-elf in worsted weight yarn and size 5 needles.
In this process she became curious about casting on small circular objects and found the following links helpful:
She also found a great tutorial for stuffing these items by Sarah Schira from Imagined Landscapes, famously a gnome designer:
Catherine sadly lost the bag with her textured blanket squares but started with a new project for the Welcome Blanket project:   https://www.welcomeblanket.org/patterns/ .She’s  using Caron’s Yarnspirations in the summer berry colorway.

Brainy Thing:

How do birds migrate and bees find their way?   One way is through magnetoreception and now scientists have recorded human responses to changes in the magnetic field.   But test subjects didn’t seem able to consciously feel those changes.

Behind the Redwood Curtain:

IMG_91731_360xCounty residents are concerned that the Netflix series Murder Mountain will cast a negative shadow on Southern Humboldt County, but Catherine tells us about a little known treasure in the middle of remote and wild SoHum:  The Redwoods Monastery  or  Our Lady of the Redwoods  in White Thorn operated by  Cistercian nuns and who also market their delicious honey.
We’re back with Catherine and Margaret in the classic format of our podcast Teaching Your Brain to Knit, number One Hundred and Three.  We share what we’re learning from our knitting:  crocheting a shawl, knitting small items and starting a new welcome blanket.  Margaret reports new studies that show that human brains respond to changes in the magnetic field but people don’t consciously perceive them.  What does that mean?   We don’t know.    And Catherine talks about a remote monastery and retreat in Southern Humboldt.