Tag Archives: Crochet

Ep. 071 Choose from five types of meditation; Gather more insights from teaching crochet; Fine a home for charity knitting; explore the bounty of Minus Tides in Humboldt

Posted in Crochet, Knitting, Meditation, Teaching by
Brainy Thing:   25:07   Redwood Curtain:  45:31

What We’re Learning From Our Knitting and Teaching (crochet.)

Catherine focuses on her charity knitting , finishing her Socks for the Homeless and trying to find a good charity to donate some older projects:  a child’s cardigan, an adult raglan sweater, and some baby socks.

Catherine’s Charity Knitting:  Fantasy Red Cardi by Catherine Foster  
generic baby socks

worsted weight sweater The Incredible Custom Fit Raglan Sweater  by Pamela Costello   woolworks.

Catherine’s Charity Knitting:  Fantasy Red Cardi by Catherine Foster  https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/fantasy-red-cardi
generic baby socks, and a worsted weight sweater The Incredible Custom Fit Raglan Sweater  by Pamela Costello  ( woolworks)  https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/incredible-custom-fit-raglan

Margaret shares some more insights she’s gathered from teaching a small group how to crochet Hats for the Homeless.  Simple Single Crochet Hat  by K T and the Squid  (  Katy Petersen.)  http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/simple-single-crochet-hat

Brainy Thing

Catherine gives a broad view of Meditation describing five categories of meditation outlined  by Jules and Michelle Levey  in Luminous Mind  http://www.wisdomatwork.com/.     Chopra Center  7 myths about meditation  http://www.chopra.com/articles/7-myths-of-meditation
blog   Live and Dare   Giovanni Dienstmann  http://liveanddare.com/

Behind the Redwood Curtain

Catherine and Margaret recount their adventure during a Minus Tide in Humboldt.

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.
In this episode of Teaching Your Brain to Knit, we offer 5 basic styles of meditation with scores of specific types in each category;  we share an update on lessons learned from teaching; And Some experiences with Charity Knitting; and we explore the bounty of the minus tide in Humboldt.

Ep. 058 What Appreciation and Gratitude Do for Your Brain

Posted in Brain Function, Crochet, Knitting by

Welcome to Episode 58:  Appreciation and Gratitude fire the same places in the brain

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

What We Learned From Our Knitting

Catherine knit not one, but two Poncho Perfectos by The Knit Cafe Toronto for a production of Julius Caesar.   Listen to her tale.   
The pattern is no longer  available but Catherine used raveler raplib’s Pacific NW Poncho notes as a guide.   http://www.ravelry.com/projects/raplib/poncho-perfecto  She used Jenny’ super stretchy bind off
Margaret has been playing with a number different projects but she finished two crochet ball ornament covers.  The directions are free and are:  Joy M. Prescott’s  Elegant ornaments:  http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/elegant-ornaments  in #10 orange cotton thread and Teresa Richardson’s Thread crochet ornament   http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/thread-crochet-ornament—christopher  The video tutorial  is   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EL0i4TTlGyM

Brainy Thing:

Catherine tells us that receiving appreciation and giving appreciation fire the same parts of the brain as offering gratitude does and it does great things for our well being.  She mention the O T Tanner company, Positive Psychology Researc, Psychiatry Seven, Dr. Tard Khastan from George Mason University and Dr. Robert A Emmons, the world’s leading expert on Gratitude.  He’s at UC Davis and is the founder of the Journal of Positive Psychology.

Behind the Redwood Curtain:

Today Margaret Explore the Temperate Rainforest, the ecosystem of the Redwood Forest.

Knitting Tip:

Seven7seven (one of our group members) gives a tip that to keep track of yarn care instruction, take a photo of it when you’re photographing the yarn to add to the Ravelry stash pages.

The Learn-along

The Learn-along continues.   It ends May 1.  There’s prizes and learning to be had.

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.
Today on Teaching Your Brain to Knit, how you can improve your quality of life with gratitude and appreciation;  Catherine takes a journey in knitting for the theatre;  Margaret enjoys the plasticity of crochet;  We learn what a temperate rain forest is, we get a tip about how to never lose your yarn’s care instruction, and we give a reminder about the 2017 Learn along.

Ep. 040 Is the Negativity Bias Affecting Your Knitting? Ideas to Help.

Posted in Brain anatomy & physiology, Knitting by

Welcome to Episode 40   Is the Negativity Bias Affecting Your Knitting?   There are ways to counter the negative

Brainy Thing:   20:35                Behind the Redwood Curtain  32:40

What We’re Learning from Our Knitting

Margaret  was inspired by Catherine’s project to try Sasha Ball Rives’ wonderful pattern Among the Wildflowers  http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/among-the-wildflowers  with her own “learning opportunities”, of course.
mtk wildflower

For a Ravelry swap, Catherine completed the Crochet Flower Potholders pattern by Jennifer Martin  Blue J  http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/flower-potholders using scraps of cotton she had leftover in her stash!

potholder 2 potholder

Brainy Thing:  Negativity Bias:

Studies have shown that are brains are hardwired toward the negative which is a great advantage on the Savannah but probably not now.  Check out:  https://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200306/our-brains-negative-bias  and
For ways to counter that bias, try  Marelisa Fabrega  http://daringtolivefully.com/overcoming-negativity-bias.

Behind the Redwood Curtain:

Catherine tells us about the historical Phillips house in Arcata built in 1853/4 in the  Greek Revival style which is open Sundays 2 to 4  http://www.arcatahistory.org/phillips_house_museum_arcata .
 hc-arcata-phillipshse-calendar phillips_house_arcata_california_thumb

phillips spinning phillips 3 phillips 2 phillips quilt

Knitting Tip

One of our Ravelry Members, puffygriffinclaw, offers some tips on Felting.

A Little Podcast Business

Listen for the winners of the membership incentive and the tips contest next episode.  In the meanwhile, become a member of our Ravelry Group  http://www.ravelry.com/groups/teaching-your-brain-to-knit,  and check out our 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.   Also, join our Facebook Group  https://www.facebook.com/Teachingyourbraintoknitpodcast/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel

Ep. 020 Can your Right Brain help you organize your stash?

Posted in Brainy Stuff, Crochet, Knitting by

Welcome to Episode 20:  Organizing your stash with your Right and Left Brain

What we’re learning from our knitting (and crochet)

Margaret has learned a lot from her Charcoal Multnomah Shawl by Kate Ray including that “old Shale” and “Feather and Fan” are different patterns reported by Northern Lace.   There are also at least seven variations of feather and fan according to Angel Fire.  Margaret liked Mariann Nahl’s “Fast and Easy continental Knit and Purl” video.

Charcoal Sunshine Multnomah

Charcoal Sunshine Multnomah

multnomah

Catherine noticed that her tension for her fourth “Misty Rose” dishcloth by Kim Cameron was much looser and therefore a full one inch larger than her first.  Misty rose

She got it back down to the original size when she started focusing again on dishcloth #5.  She is also working on “Among the Wildflowers” by Sasha Ball Rives.   Northcoast Knittery has worked up this pattern in a number of different yarns shown here.

Brainy Thing:  Can your Right Brain help you organize your stash?

Margaret revisits the Right and Left Brain theory and mentions the neuroscientist Jill Bolte Taylor whose Ted Talk chronicles her experience of having a stroke in the left side of her brain.  She also talks about Corothy Lehmkuhl’s and Dolores Cotter Lamping’s book Organizing for the Creative Person which offers understanding of different styles of right-brain dominant and left-brain dominant people.

Behind the Redwood Curtain

Catherine discusses the Humboldt Marten, a weasel that controls rats and mice, but that is severely diminished in numbers.

Humboldt Marten

Humboldt Marten

Knitting Tip:

We correct our previous tip that using larger needles will make a stretchier cast-on when using the long tail cast on (Thank you, Paula, from Knitting Pipeline).   Catherine offers the tip that if you know you’re going to have a stressful day, you might want to begin it with a few minutes of knitting to reap the calming effects.

Podcast business

The Learn-along ends August 1.   The randomly selected prize will be three skeins of Studio Donegal , a real Irish Donegal tweed, 88 yards each in a dk weight.  donnegal

The next incentive prize for joining our Ravelry group for members 301 to 400 is a skein of Fiesta Rayon Boucle yarn in the Catalina colorway.  The 240 yards are enough to make an airy summer wrap.

Fiesta Rayon boucle Catalina colorway

Fiesta Rayon boucle Catalina colorway

Ep. 019 Growing Brain Cells with Physical Activity

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

Welcome to Episode 19: How physical activity grow brain cells.

Brainy Thing starts at 15:26
Behind the Redwood Curtain starts at 24:13

What We’re Learning from Our Knitting (and Crochet)

The Fantasy Red Cardi is now Catherine’s carry-along knitting although she’s having a little sock knitting withdrawal.  This baby cardigan is by Knitting Kate or Katherine Foster.

Fantasy Red Cardi

Fantasy Red Cardi

The wool is “purple neutral” by Steinbach Woole Strapaz and an identified ball of yarn which is probably from Three Irish Girls.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some of the "charms" in the Dogwood Scarf

Some of the “charms” in the Dogwood Scarf

Catherine is also starting the Dogwood Scarf a Charm Crochet project by Suzann Thompson   She’s using a variety 100% cotton Ti Di by Knit One Crochet Too and leftovers.  She’s ordered a number of plant fiber yarns from Knit Picks to try them out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Margaret is trying our knitting on 12 inch and 9 inch circular needles.   She knit hat (premie size) as a sample to show new knitters one way to finish up a hat.hat2

preemie hat with "folded" top.

preemie hat with “folded” top.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brain Thing:

Dr. Arne May’s research showing juggling makes your brain grow.  Catherine asks could the physical activity of knitting and crochet also make brain cells?

Behind the Redwood Curtain

We talk about clams, clamming and Clam Beach.

Clam Beach, California but no clammers clamming.

Clam Beach, California but no clammers clamming.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Knitting Tip

Margaret suggest trying to enter “Beginner’s Mind” with no expectations and trying tools that challenge you.   She’s trying 12 inch and 9 inch circular needles right now and certainly feels like a beginner.

Podcast Business

The incentive prize, a gift for a randomly selected person out of each 100 people who join the group on Ravelry continues.   Also, the people are jumping into the Learn-along.   The Ravelry Group is here.