Category Archives: Learning

Learning Theories

Ep. 068 Learn Kwik with Jim Kwik; Planning Knit the Sky Scarf; Embracing the “slow”; Drive Through Redwoods

Posted in Learning by

Welcome to Episode 68:  Jim Kiwk Teaches Learning and Reading Methods to Help You Improve

Brainy Thing:   16:06    Behind the Redwood Curtain:  24:40

What We’re Learning from our Knitting:

Margaret explores the planning/creative phase of a project with Lea Redman’s  Knit the Sky Scarf   http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/sky-scarf.  Redman also has a book called Knit the Sky that promotes creativity and playfulness in knitting.  http://www.knitthesky.com/  book  Margaret heard of Lea Redman through Becky Steward’s  Knit Om newsletter.  http://knitom.com/author/becky-stewart/
Catherine declares that she is fine being a slow knitter (and later in the episode that she is also fine being a slow reader.)  She is continuing her progress on charity socks  https://northcoastknittery.com/blogs/shop-tidbits/socks-for-the-homeless  sponsored by Northcoast Knittery and on Bunnymuff’s Fatima Shawl.
continuing Fatima shawl

Brainy thing: Kwik Learning

Turning on  you superpower brain with Jim Kwik episode of Srini Rao on the Unmistakeable Creative Podcast.  https://unmistakablecreative.com/podcast
Jim Kwik’s podcast:  Kwik Brain:  Memory Improvement Accelerated Learning
Kwik Brain:  Memory Improvement Accelearated Learning https://kwikbrain.com/podcast
Kwik Learning website:  https://kwiklearning.com/

Behind the Redwood Curtain:

Knitting Tip:

Dealing with ladders that are created in the round knitting.

Links for Podcast:

website https://teachingyourbraintoknit.com/ for show notes, photos of our knitting and crochet projects, Behind the Redwood Curtain places and things and anything else we decide to post.
In this episode of Teaching Your Brain to Knit, Read and learn Kwikly using Jim Kwik’s methods and tips;  Follow Margaret’s process and stumbles planning a new project — Knit the Sky;  Listen to Catherine “Embrace the Slow” with Charity Socks;  Drive through giant redwood trees;  and get a tip on dealing with ladders knitting in the round.

Ep. 059 The Dana Foundation Supports Brain Research and Education

Posted in Brainy Stuff, Crochet, Knitting, Learning by

Welcome to Episode 059:  The Dana Foundation Supports Brain Research and Education

Brainy Thing:  20:45     Redwood Curtain:  25:50

What We’re Learning from Our Knitting:

Margaret is learning Intarsia, a technique she’s been wanting to learn for a long time.  She presents her experiences so far and a variety of sources for learning intarsia from books, videos, You tube, Craftsy
You Tube
Catherine has been struggling to find knitting time but sneaking in a row or two of Absolutely Essential by Bunny Muff. http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/absolutely-essential

Brainy Thing:

The Dana Foundation supports Brain Research and education about the brain.   Dana foundation  http://www.dana.org/

Behind the Redwood Curtain:

Knitting Tip

Crochet more foundation chains than you need and count your stitches in each row as you finish them.

A Little Podcast Business

Winners for joining the Ravelry Group announced.

2017 Learn Along:

Ends on May 1st.   Get those projects done and post them on the thread in the Teaching Your Brain to Knit Ravelry Group.  

Links:

website https://teachingyourbraintoknit.com/ for show notes, photos of our knitting and crochet projects, Behind the Redwood Curtain places and things and anything else we decide to post.

Summary

Today on Teaching Your Brain to Knit learn how the Dana Foundation supports research and education  about the brain;  Margaret offers sources and tips for learning intarsia; Catherine discovers how absolutely essential knitting is for her while she works on Bunny Muff’s shawl:  Absolutely Essential, Get the details on the Redwood Craft Stomp April 27 -29, Learn two crochet tips from our listener thread and finally find out who wins prizes for joining the Teaching Your Brain to Knit Group on Ravelry.

Ep. 048 How to Learn the Holistic Way

Posted in Knitting, Learning by

Welcome to Episode 48:  How You Can Learn the Holistic Way

Brainy Thing:   22:20      Behind the Redwood Curtain:  29:50

What We Learned From Our Knitting

Margaret learns a lot about her knitting by not knitting.

sweater-with-buttons

Cotton baby sweater knit by Jacque of Foggy Bottom Yarns in Ferndale, CA. She included a set of blue and pink buttons to customize it.

jacques-sweater

Close up of Jacque’s sweater with the blue sail boat buttons.

smartwoolBelow is the hand knitted baby sweater that she bought.   It was expertly knit by Jacque of Foggy Bottom Yarns in Ferndale, CA  (https://www.yelp.com/biz/foggy-bottoms-ferndale)  The other item is a pair of Smart Wool socks Margaret  bought for her physical therapist.  Not as nice as hand knit socks but a whole lot faster.

Catherine confronts some of the challenges of long term knitting projects, this time the Meadow Lark  Shibori Jacket http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/meadowlark-shibori-jacket by Gina Wilde out of Alchemy yarns.  meadowlark-2

Brainy Thing:  Holistic Knitting

When is learning like a piece of knitting?  When it’s holistic and interconnected.  Margaret shares the theories of Shawn Whitely from his now out-of-print book Memletics.

Behind the Redwood Curtain:

Sumeg Village in Patrick’s Point State is a recreated Yurok village that is not a museum but a living location for local native events.

Sweat lodge of Sumeg Village from the Redwood Coast website.

Sweat lodge of Sumeg Village from the Redwood Coast website.

Knitting Tip:

Danica53  from our Ravelry group shares a new loose bind off:   Lori’s twisty bind off  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWS77BKk5NQ
website https://teachingyourbraintoknit.com/ for show notes, photos of our knitting and crochet projects, Behind the Redwood Curtain places and things and anything else we decide to post.

Ep. 47 Does Knitting Impact Your Brain like Breathing and Meditation ?

Posted in Brain Function, Knitting, Learning, Meditation by

Welcome to Episode 47 of Teaching Your Brain to Knit

Brainy thing:      11:29   Behind the Redwood Curtain 21:56

What We’re Learning from Our Knitting

Margaret has been looking for modifications of the Afterthought Heel to prevent (or reduce) those strained stitches in the corner.   She found Afterthought Heels Revisited (http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/afterthought-heels-revisited) by Laura Linneman of the Knitgirllls (yes, three “l”s) Podcast fame and the Knit Better Socks blog by RMD (http://knitbettersocks.blogspot.com/2011/12/improving-afterthought-or-forethought.html).  She used Vesper yarn  in a color way she calls “Neopolitan ice cream with blueberries”— pink, blue white and blue.
neopolitans
Catherine finished up her Double Lattice Dishcloths by SmarieK (http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/double-lattice-cloth).  She used various leftovers from Knit Picks and Peaches and Cream.  dish-cloth-swap

The Brainy Thing: Breathing and the Brain

Margaret was inspired by this topic by Memletics writer Sean Whitely which unfortunately had no references.  So she looked for some research the (self evident) idea that breathing would help your brain function.   She started with Breathing and the Brain (http://www.forbes.com/sites/daviddisalvo/2013/05/14/breathing-and-your-brain-five-reasons-to-grab-the-controls/#2e5150ae52aa) then found a MIT study from 2005 headed by Sara W. Lazar, et al (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1361002/)  (she also has a Ted Talk at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8rRzTtP7Tc.

Behind the Redwood Curtain:  Trees of Mystery

home-02Catherine focuses on the giant interactive Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox of Trees of Mystery in Klamath, CA.  https://www.treesofmystery.net/ Hear the radio show This American Life report on the Trees of Mystery:  http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/506/secret-identity

Knitting Tip: decreases on the edges of garments

Catherine shares a tip for making neater knitting decreases along the edges of garment.

Links:

website https://teachingyourbraintoknit.com/ for show notes, photos of our knitting and crochet projects,  and indexes for Behind the Redwood Curtain places and Brainy things and anything else we decide to post.

Ep. 036 New Research on Muscle Memory May Help Knitters and Crocheters

Posted in Brain Function, Crochet, Knitting, Learning by

Welcome to Episode 36:  New Muscle Memory Research May Help Knitters and Crocheters

Brainy Thing:    22:00                                Behind the Redwood Curtain:  38:45

What we learned from our knitting:

hearts2

Crocheted Heart (called “guest Lapel Pins” in Ravelry) designed by Jennifer E. Ryan.

Margaret played with  crocheted hearts from  DIY Wedding by Jennifer E. Ryan either in Interweave Crochet Summer 2015 or as a special collection on the Interweave Website.  They were cute, quick and fun. They are called Guest Lapel Pins on Ravelry. http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/guest-lapel-pinshearts

Catherine shares Towashis  she received from her swap. One was made of a  worsted cotton, the second from sugar and cream and the third was sugar and cream with a portion from the specialized yarn, Sugar and Cream Scrubby  which is more specialized to be “scrubbier.”

received tawashi

Tawashis Catherine received from the scrubbie swap.

more scrubbies

Scrubbies Catherine made using hemp yarn.

Catherine continues to knit baby socks for Afghans for Afghans.   She modified the Kate Atherley Baby Sock http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/baby-socks-23   to have ribbing on the top of the foot.

baby socks 3

Another pair of baby socks using Kate Atherley’s pattern but with continued ribbing on the top of the foot.

Brainy Thing:  New Research Finds Way to Speed up Muscle Memory Learning

John Hopkins’ researchers find keys to speeding up learning for patients with neurological conditions, including post stroke.   Could these techniques work for knitters and crochets?

Behind the Redwood Curtain:  38:45

Margaret talks about the “scientific” and the oral  history of the native tribes still thriving in the Humboldt Bay area. Much of her research is based on  Two Peoples, One Place by Ray Raphael and Freeman House.  http://www.amazon.com/Peoples-Place-Freeman-House-Raphael/dp/1883254019.

Book Cover Two Peoples, One Place by Ray Raphael and Freeman House

Two Peoples, One Place by Ray Raphael and Freeman House

Podcast Business:

The incentive for joining the Ravelry group  Teaching Your Brain to Knit  http://www.ravelry.com/groups/teaching-your-brain-to-knit  and the contest for Knitting Tips continue  (five past pompom magazine issues).  opulent
pom pom smallest

 

 

 

 

Ep. 030 What is the Distributive Spacing Effect and How does it help us to learn fiber arts?

Posted in Knitting, Learning by

Brainy Thing:   15:47           Behind the Redwood Curtain:  25:35

Welcome to Episode:  How the Distributive Practice Effect or Spacing Effect can help you learn skills in the fiber Arts.

What we’re learning from our Knitting
Catherine got a lot of satisfaction by completing Laura Nelkin’s Butin Collar.

Catherine's butin collar

Margaret created felted bangles from Mags Kandis’ Bevy of Bangles pattern, from the book Gifted, Lovely little things to knit and crochet by Mags Kandis or get them for free from the Interweave website.

Brainy Thing:  The Distributive Practice Effect
Catherine talks about the Distributive Practice Effect, first described by Hermann Ebbinghaus.   In psychology,it is talked about as the Spacing Effect.   Essentially, practicing something a little bit every day is more effective in learning than practicing for a long time for one day a week.

Behind the Redwood Curtain:   Ferndale, CA, the Victorian Village

Catherine introduces us to Ferndale, CA which has a large number of well preserved Victorian buildings.   It is very well decorated around Christmas time.

07-ferndale-main-street

Knitting Tip:
Margaret shares a tip from No Sheep for You by Amy Singer:   When knitting socks in Cotton or a yarn with little memory, use ribbing to help the sock

Podcast Business

The incentive prize for signing up for the Teaching Your Brain to Knit Ravelry Group:

opulent

 

Ep. 022 Kinesthetic Learning Mode in Knitting

Posted in Knitting, Learning by

Episode 22:  The Kinesthetic Learning Mode in Knitting and Crochet

Brainy Thing starts:  22:17

Behind the Redwood Curtain starts:  30:45

What we’re learning from our knitting.

With her Fantasy Red Cardi by Katherine Foster (see prior posts) behind her and her Among the Wildflowers by Sasha Ball Rives on hold, Catherine turns to two bits of production knitting.  She is working on Failyn Fox Cowl fox cow progressby Heidi May in Lion Brand Thick and Quck for a friend’s child and the Chain Mail Hood and Cowl offered by the Utah Shakespeare Festival (Chain Mail Techniques).  With a re-envisioned yarn choice (Patons Metallic in Pewter), Catherine is making this  for a local production of Plays in the Park for the play The Unprincess.

Chain Mail Hood pattern by Utah Shakespeare Festival

Chain Mail Hood pattern by Utah Shakespeare Festival

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Margaret talks about Laura Nelkin’s Beaded Waves Cuff and why Margaret sometimes like buying a kit instead of gathering all the elements of a project herself.

Beaded Waves Cuff by Laura Nelkin

Beaded Waves Cuff by Laura Nelkin

waves

Brainy Thing:   Kinesthetic Learning

The last element of the VAK (Visual Auditory Kinesthetic) learning style discussion (but not the end of the topic itself), Margaret shares general and personal experiences of learners who take in information kinesthetically.  She mentions Heather Ordover’s research on Cognitive Anchoring.

Behind the Redwood Curtain

imagesCatherine talks about the Natural Fiber Fair which is held in Arcata, CA.  For more information, click here.

 

Knitting Tip

Margaret shares that designers (Laura Nelkin, for example) and yarn companies often have wonderful tutorials on their sites.

Podcast Business

Incentive for the random chosen winner of the next 100 members of the Ravelry Group.

Fiesta Rayon boucle Catalina colorway

Fiesta Rayon boucle Catalina colorway