Category Archives: Crochet

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. 039 Barbara Arrowsmith Changes Her Brain

Posted in Crochet, Knitting by

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

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. 28 Process and Product in Knitting and Crochet, Myers Briggs version

Posted in Crochet, Knitting, Psychology by

Welcome to Episode 28:  Process and Product in Knitting and Crochet using the Myers Briggs lens

Brainy Things: 10:40   Redwood Curtain: 18:35

What we’re learning from our knitting and crochet

webMargaret just finished the super quick Crochet Cobweb Pattern by Jennifer Hansen or the Stitch Diva.   It’s free and a great Halloween or otherwise fun decoration.  She used a generic version of Kid Silk Haze (lost ball band) and got more practice use sticky mohair.

Catherine is now grooving with Vanessa Ives Mystery KAL by Bunny Muff with Woole’s Yarn Creations color changing cotton..   She is using toho beads.vanessa ives progress

Brainy Thing:   Product and Process in Knitting and Crochet:  Myers Briggs

Margaret discusses the Myers Briggs Personality Inventory and how is might help to explain Knitter’s and Crocheter’s issues with process and product in their project.  Check here for an introduction on the Judging and Perceiving pair in Myers Briggs.

Behind the Redwood Curtain

Catherine took the Haunted House Tour of Eureka (CA) and learned why mezzanines were so popular in the Victorian bars in the 1800’s.  Here are some photos of Eureka Books.   The interior shows the intact mezzanine from the old days.

3855PPEureka-books-outside 3855Peureka-books-inside-1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Knitting Tip

Margaret offers Cat Bordhi’s tip of using mohair or a mohair/silk blend as a reinforcing thread on the toes, heels and even the soles of socks.

 

 

 

 

 

Ep. 026. Is There a Connection Between Happiness-Producing Gamma Brain Waves and Knitting

Posted in Brain anatomy & physiology, Crochet, Knitting by

Welcome to Episode 26:  Gamma Brain Waves and Knitting and Crochet

Brainy Part: 18:02

Behind the Redwood Curtain: 28:53

What We’re Learning from Our Knitting and Crochet

Procion dyes

Catherine took a class from Patti Subik, dyer extraordinaire and owner of Great Adirondack Yarn.   On Ravelry here.  She experienced one of those great insights that opened up her world using procion dyes.

She also made a cute pair of Baby Uggs designed by Autumn Street (Baby Lee) whose websit is Thingsforboys.com Catherine used the leftovers from her Fantasy Red Cardi project. (see Episode 26)

Baby uggs

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Margaret sings the praises for Kira K Designs who is Kira Dulaney who designed the Belle Epoque crocheted shawl.   Good for a new-ish crocheters, the design is extremely well laid out on the page and therefore easy to follow. Margaret used Lotus Yarn designed by crocheters Designing Vashti, Vashti Braha and Doris Chan that is half cotton, half rayon and features a Z twist.

 

Brainy Thing:  Gamma Brain Waves

Catherine tells us about Gamma Waves which are associated with learning, memory, linguistic processes and other cognitive ability.   Maybe even consciousness itself.  But the research she find suggests that it also accounts for increased happiness.   She makes her own hypothesis (and I love it) that if meditation increases Gamma Waves (and it does) and knitting has meditative qualities (which is does) that knitting might increase Gamma Waves too   — therefore increasing happiness.   We’re just waiting for some brain scientists to wire up our brains while we knit.  Check out this site  for an infographic on gamma brain waves.

 

Behind the Redwood Curtain:  Samoa Dunes

Margaret talks about the Samoa dunes .  It’s a narrow strip of land that forms the north spit of Humboldt Bay.   Among the curiosities are the dolos, that look like giant jacks that help prevent erosion.   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolos

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Dolos, designed to prevent erosion

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Knitting Tip

Catherine talks more about Life Lines.

A Little Podcast Business

Winners were announced for the Berroco Origami yarn try out and for the membership incentive for members 301 to 400.

Fiesta Rayon boucle Catalina colorway

Fiesta Rayon boucle Catalina colorway

origami