Category Archives: Brainy Stuff

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. 045 Shinrin Yoku (Forest Bathing): An Ancient Healing Technique Supported by Modern Research

Posted in Brain Function, Knitting by

Welcome to Episode:   Shinrin Yoku (Forest Bathing):  An Ancient Healing Technique supported by Modern Breathing

Brainy Thing: 18:27     Redwood Curtain:  33:43

What We’re Learning from Our Knitting (and Luceting):

Ta Dah!  Catherine finished her Garden Arbor Shawl  by Kira K Designs, a  kit she got from The Natural Fiber Fair in 2015. The yarn is the Sky colorway in Bamboo from Be Sweet Yarns.
garden arbor close
garden arbor
Margaret made a lucet bracelet that was a modification of the pattern that Jennifer Hansen, from Stitch Diva offered as a bonus after completing her free 7-Day Llucet braceletucet Challenge.  https://app.convertkit.com/landing_pages/38006.  She used Magnetic clasps. She also tested out the KonMari method http://tidyingup.com/ of organizing all her knitting, crocheting and lucet supplies.

Brainy Thing:  Shinrin Yoku (Forest Breathing)

Catherine introduces us to Shinrin Yoku the Japanese codification of a worldwide ancient custom of Forest Breathing. 0315305F-155D-4519-3EB2071A3180CA23-smallThe phenomenon of the healing from forest is getting a lot of research interest and an American study shows that walks in nature can help children with ADD and ADHD.  Some resources:
The Little Handbook of shinrin yoku   http://www.shinrin-yoku.org/
The Association of Forest Therapy:   http://www.natureandforesttherapy.org/
On ADD and ADHD:   Andrea Faber Taylor and Frances E. Kuo  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1448497/

Behind the Redwood Curtain:

ascreen-1

Breaking news (at least relatively from us) — Redwood trees are  best at fixing oxygen– converting Carbon Dioxide into Oxygen in the process of photosynthesis therefore they can be helpful resources in battling Global Warming.
Teaching Your Brain to Knit Podcast:  https://teachingyourbraintoknit.com/
Teaching Your Brain to Knit Podcast group on Ravelry:  http://www.ravelry.com/groups/teaching-your-brain-to-knit

Ep. 043 Feeding Your Brain

Posted in Brain health, Crochet, Knitting by

Welcome to Episode 43:  Feeding Your Brain

Brainy Thing:  18:45      Behind the Redwood Curtain:  33:15

What Our Knitting and Crochet is Teaching Us:

Margaret crocheted the Boteh Scarf   http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/boteh-scarfin by Kathy Merrick out of nearly three balls of Bella Lino  58% Linen, 26% viscose, and 16% cotton  http://www.ravelry.com/yarns/library/classic-elite-yarns-bella-lino .
It looks like since Bella Lino is not part of Classic elites yarns’ verde collection — like Sprout in chunky or Seedling in worsted/aran, it is not organic.  But it’s pretty anyway.
boteh scarf curledboteh scarf front yard
Catherine is working on the Garden Arbor shawl  http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/garden-arbor-shawl by Kira K Designs in the Be Sweet Bamboo http://www.ravelry.com/yarns/library/be-sweet-bamboo
Garden Arbor lace
garden arbor progress

Brainy Thing:  Feeding Your Brain

Margaret introduces the relationships between our diets, inflammation, and our brains.  Some of her sources include:
Also check out Lee Bernstein’s (a member of our Ravelry Group and with her own Ravelry Group)  http://knittingisglutenfree.com

Behind the Redwood Curtain:

Catherine tells us all about the blues associated with the grey California Coastal Marine Layer
a8f8fcd792702457f1e54c61d5f7c3ce

Knitting Tip:

Knittybarb of the Two Knit Lit Chicks podcast http://www.ravelry.com/groups/2-knit-lit-chicks-podcast offers a tip about how to wrangle your beads when knitting (or crocheting) with beads.

A Little Podcast Business:

There is an ongoing incentive for joining our Ravelry Group and another one for posting a tip on our Knitting Tips thread.
ETA 8/3/16

Ep. 042 Brain Freeze Research Could Pave Way for Migraine Relief

Posted in Brain health, Knitting by

Welcome to Episode 42:  Brain Freeze Research May Pave Way for Migraine Relief

Brainy Thing:    22:56               Behind the Redwood Curtain:  32:23

What We’ve Learned from Our Knitting:

Catherine recently bought a skein of Be sweet yarn, African Bead Ball, to celebrate Knitting in Public Day.     http://www.ravelry.com/yarns/library/be-sweet-african-bead-ball.  She started knitting Kira K Designs’  Garden Arbor shawl (http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/garden-arbor-shawl) out of another  Be Sweet yarn, Bamboo.
beginning of Garden Arbor lucet challenge
Margaret learned a new skill through the 7 day lucet challenge.  Check out  Jennifer Hansen’s Stitch Diva  http://www.stitchdiva.com/blog/lucet-challenge/.

Brainy Thing

Scientists are researching the common Brain Freeze   https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/05/130522095335.htm  to see if it could reveal secrets that might help treat migraines.
ice-cream-cones-m-1

Behind the Redwood Curtain

Margaret shares some cool facts about the sand dollar.  The best source she found the best source on sand dollars was http://echinoblog.blogspot.com/2012/03/sand-dollars-are-sea-urchins-please.html
Sand dollars

Knitting Tips

Catherine tells us that part of creating gauge is where on the knitting needle you work your stitches.