Ep. 012 Knitting Fights Dementia

Posted in Brain health, Crochet, Knitting by teachingyourbraintoknit

Welcome to Episode 12: Knitting Fights Age-related Dementia

Brainy Stuff starts at:15:40

Behind the Redwood Curtain starts at:26:55

What we’re learning from our knitting:

Catherine found what she wanted to do with her Great Adirondack Yarn Company’s Well Dressed Sheep (cotton/rayon/metallic in chunky weight) in the Beach House colorway. She’s adapting a border design “Cabled Lace” from Leisure Arts’s 50 Fabulous Borders by Rita Weiss that she found at the Foggy Bottoms Yarn Store in Ferndale.

She also talks about making the Humboldt Squid, mythically known as the Kracken.

Inspired by that project, she finished up a jellyfish she’s been working on for awhile.

Both are from Hansi Singh’s Amigurumi Knits .

Catherine found the largest real jellyfish she’s seen around here recently on one of our beaches.

Margaret has gone crazy for the Lucci Yarns DK cotton tape yarn in luminescent colors and the Washcloth Wrapped Soaps (washcloth, border, and “ribbon”) created by Stitch Diva Jennifer Hansen who owns Stitch Diva Studios.

Margaret was wearing her Gallatin Scarf by Kris Basta in Hanelei Hand dyed yarn.

Brainy Stuff:

Studies are showing that knitting and other similar activities can cut the risk of age related dementia and Alzheimer’s disease although most reports are anecdotal and scientists say more studies need to be done.

You can hear Dr. Yonas Geda on this You Tube explanation.

Central Kentucky University publishes the Successful Aging Resource Guide and Greg Jicha MD and Sarah Tarrort MD discuss similar studies in the 2013 issue on page 6.

Even magazine reading and computer activities seem to help according to this article.

Behind the Redwood Curtain: Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Reserve

Located on an estuary, the Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge is a stop on the International Pacific Flyway, which shelters and feeds birds as they migrate.

Knitting Tip:

Margaret suggests that on challenging projects, you chart out knitting or crochet instructions either formally (with the “official” symbols) or informally (with your own marks.)

2Mar2015

Metacognition and how it helps you knit

Posted in Knitting, Learning by teachingyourbraintoknit

Welcome to Episode 11

Brainy Stuff starts at:22:40

Behind the Redwood Curtain starts at: 32:05

What we’re learning from our knitting:

Margaret contrasts two scarf patterns –both of them beautiful and well written but one that was her perfect low concentration knitting and the other requiring high concentration. The one she completed was the free pattern Gallatin Scarf by Kris Basta whose company is KrisKrafter. She used Hanalei Hand Dyed Merino/bamboo worsted.

The scarf pattern that she is saving for another day when she has lots of high concentration time is the Silk Curved Scarf by Iris Schreier which was a Craftsy knit-a-long. Catherine loved the charts on this pattern.

Catherine is swatching (!) for her Meadowlark Shibori Jacket by Gina Wilde in Alchemy Pagoda and Silk Straw yarns. And she’s trying out different knitting stitches that will work with her vision of the ideal cowl for the Great Adirondack yarn. She’s also working on her Sock Yarn Blanket,

a free pattern by Shelley Kang, the Heathen Housewife. She has used leftovers and swapped for scraps including Knit in Color Smooshy, Socks that Rock, Opal,and Zauberball.

Brainy Thing: Metacognition

Metacognition is defined as thinking about thinking and when you use what you know about your learning process then you can learn new things more easily — like kitchnering lace or doing intarsia. Jennifer Livingston wrote about it in this paper and of course, Wikipedia always has something to say on everything including metacognition.

Behind the Redwood Curtain: The First Street Gallery

If it’s raining (and it often does here) or you want to take a break from spectacular natural vistas, then Margaret recommends the First Street Gallery in Eureka located on — First Street. The most recent time she visited she saw two exhibitions: small painting from the Cheech Marin collection, Chicanitas and Arte para la raza collected by the Royal Chicano Air Force.

Of course, you can’t get far from beautiful vistas. Across the street is the Eureka boardwalk, along Humboldt Bay.

Knitting Tip:

Catherine offers a knitting tip: when wet blocking your knitting, allow it to soak a full 20 minutes first.

Podcast Business:

As an incentive to join our Ravelry group, we are randomly selecting one of the first 100 members to win a skein of 400 yards of Cephalopod Bugga! sport weight 70/20/10 superwash merino/cashmere/nylon in Fishing Spider Colorway.

20Feb2015

Ep. 010 Reviewing your Knitting

Posted in Knitting, Learning by teachingyourbraintoknit

Welcome to Episode 10: Why is it worthwhile to review and categorize your knitting learning?

Brainy Stuff starts at: 25:40

Redwood Curtain starts at: 37:40

What we’re learning from our knitting:

Catherine learned a lot (and had fun) knitting Josh Ryks’ Scarfy Shenanigans. She got more of a sense of the sculptural understanding of knitting. She used two colors of Sanguine Gryphon (one was Cotton Stainer colorway) and some Becoming Art in the Twilight colorway

She also knocked out a pair of Magic 28 socks by Norma that she made for charity. She used scraps.

And she completed a second knitalong — Laura Aylor’s mystery knitalong that is now name Outlier . She used Noro yarn.

Margaret made a black and white striped hat for her grandson to coordinate with the pair of zebra socks she made for him earlier. She attached fringe along the back with a crochet hook and then un-plyed the fringe to make it more fluffy. She used Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick and Quick.

She also made him a pair of Morehouse Farms owl mittens.

And she made an irregular ribbed scarf out of Lion Brand cashmere. She learned that at least in cashmere, the trick of picking up and weaving up a dropped stitch has its limits. The pattern was inspired by the Professor’s Scarf by Gina Waters but don’t blame her for the results. Margaret was riding an exercise bike while knitting and early on lost track of the pattern.

Brainy Stuff:

We talked about the Review and Categorization aspects of learning and how that applies to knitting. We re-categorized and reviewed the Brainy segments in our past episodes.

Behind the Redwood Curtain:Arcata Waste Management and Wildlife Sanctuary

Photo from Wikipedia

People from all over the world come to see and study the Arcata Waste Management Plant and Wildlife Sanctuary. It is a great place to walk, bike ride or bird. (P.S. it’s healthy and doesn’t smell bad.)

Photo from Friends of Arcata Marsh website

Also check out the Friends of the Arcata Marsh, a local group who are very involved in the marsh. The site has lots of beautiful photos.

Knitting Tip:

You can get your paperback books spiral bound at Kinko’s (now FedEx Office) — Particularly useful for technique heavy books like Lara Neel‘s wonderful Sock Architecture.

26Jan2015

Episode 9: The Therapeutic Benefits of Knitting

Posted in Brain health, Knitting by teachingyourbraintoknit

Welcome to Episode 9: What are the therapeutic benefits of knitting?

Brainy Stuff begins at: 22:30

Behind the Redwood Curtain begins at: 39:00

What we’re learning from our knitting:

Catherine is attracted to Mystery Knitalongs. She was first snagged by Laura Aylor’s Mystery Shawl and then Josh Ryks’s Scarfy Shenanigans caught her eye and which has proven to have interesting techniques.(His studio is listed as geoknittrix on Ravelry)

The two yarns used are Sanguine Gryphon Bugga (an old, beloved skein) in Cotton Stainer colorway. (The Studio is no longer in business.) Plus Becoming Art Dye Studio in the Twilight colorway.

Margaret is learning from three pairs of children’s socks. She knit a generic toe up sock for her granddaughter (after getting an outline and making a template of her feet.) The yarn is Knitterly Things Vesper Rainbow Love.

The first pair of zebra socks was Cat Bordhi’s pattern Cat’s Zebra Socks from her book Sweet Tomato Heel. The yarn is one black and one white skein of Jang Yawool superwash The sad story here is that the socks got accidentally thrown in the pile of Christmas wrapping debris and then thrown out.

The second pair used another sweet tomato heel and Knitter’s Brewing Company Sockaholic yarn made especially for “zebra-ing.” Wendy’s pattern offers a technique to really gets distinctive zebra patterning and you can buy the kits — one for children and one for adults.

Brainy Thing: Therapeutic Benefits of Knitting

Catherine talks about how knitting changes brain chemistry to offer actual therapeutic benefits to the knitter. You might be surprised how many actions of knitting help. She references Betsan Corkhill and her (and others’) research documented on Stitchlinks. For the chart Catherine references, check out this page which links to a pdf titled Knitting Engagement which lists benefits including patterns of movement, hand position, enriched environment plus social engagement.

Behind the Redwood Curtain: Goat Cheese

There’s something special about the climate of the Pacific Northwest (including the Redwood Curtain) that allows for the making of fantastic goat cheese. Our most famous artisan goat cheese companies is Cyprus Grove.

Knitting Tip: Stitch markers

Margaret’s knitting tip is to help prevent yarn-overs from slipping before or after stitch markers, find stitch markers that are close to the size of the needles. One of many Etsy sellers that has very small stitch markers is The Knitter’s Helper Another tip, especially for wrap and turns and the sweet tomato heel, is to mark the turning stitch by using very short bobby pins.

19Jan2015

Episode 8: Happy Brain Chemicals

Posted in Brain anatomy & physiology, Crochet, Knitting by teachingyourbraintoknit

WELCOME TO EPISODE 8: Does Knitting Make Your Brain Chemistry Happy?

Brainy Stuff: 28:25

Behind the Redwood Curtain: 44:50

What We’re Learning from Our Knitting:

Catherine is finished with Dahlia in Bloom’s PANEM Katniss Cowl Wrap.

She also completed Maryann Walsh‘s Two Toned Tawashi.

Now she’s in that challenging (for her, delicious for Margaret) place of choosing her next project.

Margaret mentions how after she washes her handmade socks, she dries them on a Towel Warmer because the Arcata climate is so humid otherwise they don’t dry before they mildew. Towels in her house don’t dry after they are used, so she uses the towel warmer for them — and why not for socks.

Margaret continued her exploration of long stranded bead necklaces/wrap bracelets. She’s getting the hang of the Wrap Around Crochet Bracelet by Yuli Nilssen: she’s using heavier weight yarn and a smaller crochet hook than last time. Probably a little tighter stitch after the beads would help even more. The last photo is a comparison of the first attempt and the second. (It’s all about learning, right?)

She also started the Kaitlyn Necklace Rose Kit by Javori Designs. She was having some problems figuring out some the pattern details but thinks she’ll enjoy the finished project.

Catherine says that Cat Bordhi would be proud of her for cutting her knitting.

She discovered she prefers stringing beads with a dental floss threader rather than a beading needle.

Finally, she talks about the Gatsby Necklace by designer Shaina Bilow and taught in a class by Laura Lamers at NorthCoast Knittery.

Brainy Part: Does knitting make your brain chemistry happy?

Catherine offers a basic foundation on the brain chemical serotonin. She discusses Dr. Barry Jacobs’ work. She also mention EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) and how eye movement plays a role in Knitting’s calming effect. She then talks about Betsman Corkhill and her organization Stichlinks whose mission is to use knitting and other activities to improve health.

Behind the Redwood Curtain: The Mad River

The Mad River in California (there are other Mad Rivers elsewhere) runs 113 miles from the Trinity mountains to the Pacific between McKinleyville and Arcata.

Knitting Tip: Flipping your Blocking Board

If finding enough space is an issue when you block your knits,layout your knitted item on your blocking board (or a piece of plywood or sturdy cardboard, pin it securely, then flip the board upright and lean against the wall.

Teaching Your Brain to Knit

A podcast about knitting, learning and your brain

Category Archives: Brainy Stuff