Tag Archives: knitting

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.

Ep. 017 Knitting Projects That Help you Meditate

Posted in Crochet, Knitting, Meditation by

Welcome to Episode 17:  Knitting Projects That Can Help You Meditate

Brainy Stuff starts:  23:17

Behind the Redwood Curtain starts:  32:22

What we’re learning from our knitting:

Catherine had a mystery skein of yarn — likely Three Irish Girls — that she used to start The Putney Shawl  by Angela Tony until she  ripped it out.

putney close putney shawl

Now she’s using it to work on a baby cardigan:   Fantasy Red Cardi.    by Katherine Foster.

clapo-ktus finishedShe’s finished the Clapo-ktus by Loredana Gianferri out of Goth Sock’s “Find your Happy Place.+   And she even had a little bit left to make a square for her sock yarn blanket.

blanket square

Margaret crocheted the Quotidian Bucket or Flapper Bucket Hat designed by Jennifer Hansen of the Stitch Diva.   It uses hat

Quotidian Hat

Quotidian Hat

Feza Alp Natural yarn, an interesting skein that combines different types of yarns together, in this case mostly black.    She’s also trying to find the right pattern for the Hemp for Knitting AllHemp6 dk.   She’s thinking of Doris Chan’s All Shawl pattern but she’s going to do the grown up thing and make and wash a swatch.

Brain Thing:  Projects that help you meditate:   The Prayer Shawl Ministry

Catherine shares the long tradition of making a wrap for people are were ill or moving or going on a long journey.  A recent expression of that is the Prayer Shawl Ministry started by Janet Servenu Bristow and Victoria Galo after taking a class with Sister  Miriam Terese Winter.   The non-religious website describes the many traditions that use of wraps that are known as Prayer Shawls, Comfort Shawls, or Mantles.  There’s also a lot of nifty tips on this site from knitters and crocheters.

Lion Brand has a lot of information on Prayer Shawls including gift cards you can use for them.

Behind the Redwood Curtain:

Margaret talks about the Arcata Community Forest.  There’s links to a video and other information.

path Forest forest Community forest sign Forest and ferns

Knitting Tip:

Using a larger needle can help loosen up tight edges of cast-ons and bind-offs suggests Catherine.

Podcast Business:

Learn-a-long

We’re starting our first “a-long.”  It’s the Learn-a-long running from June 1 to August 1.   To qualify, learn something new in your fiber practice  – – a new technique, skill or type of fiber.  (New Patterns don’t count because we try those all the time but if a new pattern has a new-to-you technique then that works.)  Go to the Ravelry Page to post your picture and tell us what you learned.

Next Incentive for Joining our Ravelry Group:

Canon Hand Dyes self striping Charles Merino Sock in the “Lover’s to bed; ’tis almost fairy time.”   Join the group here.

Self Striping Cankon Hand Dyes in "Lover's to bed' 'tis almost fairy time" colorway. It's a bit brighter than photograph suggests.

Self Striping Canon Hand Dyes in “Lover’s to bed’ ’tis almost fairy time” colorway. It’s a bit brighter than photograph suggests.

Ep. 016 Knitting and the Need for Novelty

Posted in Brain Function, Crochet, Knitting by

Welcome to Episode 16:  Knitting and the Need for Novelty or one reason we don’t finish our projects

Brainy Part:  Starts at 22:00

Behind the Redwood Curtain:  34:07

What We’re Learning from our Knitting:

ninja StarMargaret is playing around with different motifs to use her Lanaknits Hemp for Knitting #102 allhemp6 dk weight.  She found her copy of Kristen Omdahl’s Seamless Crochet:  Techniques and Motifs for Join-as-you-go Designs to figure out the Ninja Star motif shawlette.  While she was able to figure it out, she didn’t think the hemp was a good choice for the very open motif.  In the past, she had done the Radiance motif Sparkling Skinny Scarf in left-over sock yarn.  radiance

skinny 2

Catherine is still working on her Meadowlark Shibori Jacket by Gina Wilde in Alchemy Yarn and has fallen in love with the Paint Brush colorway.   She is nearly finished — the Clapo-ktus by Loredana Gianferri. clapo-ktusclapo-ktus unblocked

She’s knitting it with Goth Sock.  She was also motivated to finish the Some Pig dishcloth by Emily Guise who works at Knit

Picks and also likes to design dishcloths.

pigSome pig

Brainy Thing:  Knitting and the Need for Novelty

Margaret speculates that one of the many reasons we cast on a new project before we’re finished the one we’re working on is for the human need for novelty.  She discusses some of issues of novelty and how they relate the knitting.   Keith Hillman of Psychology24 has some interesting posts on this topic and other brain related ones.

Behind the Redwood Curtain

hudsonian-godwit-21895577 Catherine talks about the end of Godwit Days (celebrating one of the birds that migrates through the area) and the Arcata Zen Group.

A Knitting Tip

Margaret recommends trying different yarns and suggests that they (like the Hemp she was trying out) might require different tensions and yarn holding techniques

A Little Podcast Business

The incentive to join the Teaching Your Brain to Knit Podcast Group on Ravelry continues for each new 100 members.   The current incentive prize for members 101 to 200 is a skein of Venezia sport weight 70/30 merino/silk yarn by Cascade. Beginning with member 201, the prize is the Canon Hand Dyes skein in 80/20 merino/nylon sock yarn.

Incentive for second 100 members who sign up in the group. The color is a little more green.

Incentive for second 100 members who sign up in the group. The color is a little more green.

Self Striping Cankon Hand Dyes in "Lover's to bed' 'tis almost fairy time" colorway. It's a bit brighter than photograph suggests.

Self Striping Canon Hand Dyes in “Lover’s to bed’ ’tis almost fairy time” colorway. It’s a bit brighter than photograph suggests.

Ep. 013 Knitting and Brain Lobes and Waves

Posted in Brain anatomy & physiology, Knitting, Meditation by

Welcome to Episode 13:  Knitting and the Mechanical Brain or Brain waves on knitting, meditation, TV, reading and listening to audio books

Brainy stuff starts at:

Behind the Redwood Curtain starts at:

What we’re learning from our knitting:

Margaret shares that she’s learned a lot about following a chart and doing patterned knitting with knits, purls, twisted and cable stitches with two of Barbara Walker’s Treasury of Knitting patterns that were featured on Webs’ Ready, Set, Knit Charity KAL back in 2008.  Margaret has knit two of the four squares (in seven years!) :  Twin Trees and Candle tree.  Find them on Ravelry here.  Margaret used Knit Picks Swish Worsted in Copper and Squirrel.

candletreetwin trees

Catherine finished her cowl made of  Great Adirondack Yarn Company’s Well Dressed Sheep (cotton/rayon/metallic in chunky weight) in the Beach House colorway.   She adapted 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.

cowl3 cowl2 cowl1

Catherine is working on Meadowlark Shibori Jacket by Gina Wilde in Alchemy Yarns Pagoda, Silken Straw and Sanctuary.

meadowlark beg4 meadowlark beg3 meadowlark beg2 meadowlark beg

 

Brainy Thing: Brain lobes, brain waves and knitting

10402043-lobes-of-the-brain

Catherine focuses on the mechanical aspects of the brain while knitting and reviews the different kind of knitting (from focused to meditation) and then she goes over some of the different lobes of the brain that are activated while knitting.  She lists different brain waves that are activated during different activities including knitting, watching TV, meditation, reading and listening to audio books.   Lots of fascinating material here and it raises many questions but we just need more research to answer them.  Here are some links to look at:  here and here.

http://www.eruptingmind.com/effects-of-tv-on-brain

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/18/opinion/sunday/the-neuroscience-of-your-brain-on-fiction.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Behind the Redwood Curtain:  where the Arts are Alive

One evening a month, the businesses of Eureka, CA (First Saturdays of the month)  and Arcata, CA (Second Fridays of the month) hold an open house featuring the arts — mostly visual and musical.   Some places have bands or other music, snacks and wine.   These celebrations are on different nights of the week so you can go to both each month.

Arts Alive in Eureka has a Facebook Page

and Arts! Arcata does too.

Knitting Tip

Catherine shares with us designer Josh Bennet’s tip that seams make good structured garments that will last.   Also, 1×1 ribbing is more long wearing for heirlooms projects.

0bf82c7

 

A Little Podcast Business

Catherine and Margaret want to start a campaign for a Bring Your Knitting to Work Day, complete with a “permission slip” that will explain to bosses and co-workers the benefits of knitting.  Please go to the Ravelry Teaching Your Brain to Knit group page to nominate your suggestion for a good day to make it (preferably during when school is in session.)

Also, as an incentive to join the group, we are giving away a skein of Cephalopod Bugga! hand-dyed, sport weight 4 oz (400 yards) 70% superwash merino/20% cashmere/10% nylon yarn randomly to one of the first 100 members, randomly selected.

cephalopod

Ep. 012 Knitting Fights Dementia

Posted in Brain health, Crochet, Knitting by

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.

cowl startcowl and yarn

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

squid

 

Inspired by that project, she finished up a jellyfish she’s been working on for awhile.  jelly jelly 2

 

Both are from Hansi Singh’s Amigurumi Knits .

51AIXiA8edL._SX258_BO1,204,203,200_

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

jelly beach 2

 

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.

close up washloth Multiple washcloths lucci washcloth red

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

gallatin

 

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.

wildlife 4 wildlife 3 wildlife 2 wildlife

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.)