Tag Archives: Scarfy Shenanigans

Ep. 010 Reviewing your Knitting

Posted in Knitting, Learning by

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

scarfy 4

scarfy

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

magic

 

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

outlier 2 outlier

 

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.

zeb hat

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

Beckett's owls

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.
Bill's luxury

 

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

 

220px-Arcata_MarshPhoto 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.)

sandpprPhoto 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.

Episode 9: The Therapeutic Benefits of Knitting

Posted in Brain health, Knitting by

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)

scarfy 4scarfy 3

scarfy 2

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.

rainbows on feet 2

 

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.

 

zebs_medium

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.

 

zebs 2

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. 

images

 

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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.