Brainy Thing: 15:16               Behind the Redwood Curtain:  27:41

 

In episode 105 of Teaching Your Brain to Knit we share our knitting stories with buffalo wool, the log cabin mitts, blankets and blanket squares.  We report on research about the effect of diet on depression and the reintroduction of the condor in the Northcoast.

 

What we’re learning from our Knitting:

Catherine plays "too little/too much" with her Caron Big Cake (https://www.ravelry.com/yarns/library/caron-big-cakes) a 100% acrylic yarn. But she’ll end up with a smaller baby sized blanket and blanket squares for a charity blanket.  Margaret tries out Buffalo Wool Company Prairie (bison and silk)  https://www.ravelry.com/yarns/library/stunning-string-studio-prairie on a pair of log cabin mitts https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/log-cabin-mitts by Karen Templer.   Great yarn and a fun pattern.

 

Brainy Thing:  

Is there a relationship between diet and depression?   Catherine reports on recent research designed to show the impact of a healthy, modified Mediterranean and depression.  (It helped.)https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/325240.php

 

Behind the Redwood Curtain:

Margaret discovers the history of the condor along the North Coast and exciting news that they will be reintroduced.

 

A Little Podcast Business:  

We miss podcasting as much and plan to increase the number of podcasts we’re putting out PLUS we have a yarn give away.

 

A little Podcast Busines

   

After a few months on a less frequent schedule for our podcast, Catherine and I have missed it and plan now to put out a podcast about once a month.  It may vary a bit — 3 weeks or 5 weeks but somewhere around one podcast a month.  For the time being, we’ll stick to the same format.

 

And, as a special treat today, we have a giveaway from the stash — a beautiful handspun, thick and thin, sken of 100% BFL or blue face leister totally 100 gram and containing 106 meters.  It has a marled look with green, a medium dark purple, tan and a offwhite.  It is from Friday Studios.  The first one to request this yarn in the 105 episode thread will receive it.

 

Until next time.  

 

 

 

 

In this interview about both quilting and knitting, Anna shares a bit of her own history, she touches on meditative knitting,  she celebrates our hands,  she talks about learning through the mind and learning with the hands and she worries about knitting becoming rote and- rule bound rather than people growing into being being craftspeople.

 

Anna's books on Amazon:   https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Anna+Zilboorg&ref=nb_sb_noss_2

 

Look for her classes at Stitches events.  

 

Information from Wikipedia on terms Anna uses:    

accusative —  i.e.  They like them — they is nominative, them is accusative

 

reflexive  is used when the object of a sentence is the same as the subjective   myself, herself, oneself 

In grammar, a reflexive verb is, loosely, a verb whose direct object is the same as its subject, for example, "I wash myself". More generally, a reflexive verb has the same semantic agent and patient (typically represented syntactically by the subject and the direct object). For example, the English verb to perjure is reflexive, since one can only perjure oneself. In a wider sense, the term refers to any verb form whose grammatical object is a reflexive pronoun, regardless of semantics; such verbs are also referred to as pronominal verbs, especially in grammars of the Romance languages. In the Romance languages, the pronominal verbs is a parent category with reflexive verbs as only one of its sub-categories. Other kinds of pronominal verbs are reciprocal (they killed each other), passive (it is told), subjective, idiomatic (the presence of the reflexive pronoun

 

 

Throughout the recording, I’ll stop and explain what I’ve edited out and where we’ll head next.      I begin by asking her about something she said in class and writes about in her books:  Knitting instructions never used to be written and learned from —They weren’t even spoken and listened to.  They were demonstrated and copied.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In our next podcast, Catherine will be back and we have our classic format:  What we learned from our knitting;  A brainy thing;  and Behind the Redwood Curtain where we live.     Looking forward to connecting with you then.  

Brainy thing:  24:18            Behind the Redwood Curtain:  29:40

 

What we’ve learned from our knitting (and crochet):

 

Margaret completed her Quest Shawl by Linda Dean featured in the Jimmy Beans Advent Crochet event.   It was great fun but she was glad to finally finish it.   Quest Shawl:https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/quest-shawl.   Then she completed several small projects:  A souvenir from Stitches West, Rebecca Danger’s Wickedly Peaceful Polar Bear:   https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/wickedly-peaceful-polar-bear-christmas-ornament.  

Some eggs including one by Nicky Fijalkowska in her book  Knitted Birds    https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/sources/knitted-birds-by-nicky-fijalkowska and one that Margaret freelanced on her own.   Finally, to mix up needle sizes, she finished the Jolly Wee Elf by Churchmouse Yarns and Teas   https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/jolly-wee-elf in worsted weight yarn and size 5 needles.   

In this process she became curious about casting on small circular objects and found the following links helpful:  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRHzIYEK7a8   and

circular  Cast on:   https://knitmuch.com/4-cast-ons-for-knitting-circular-lace/

She also found a great tutorial for stuffing these items by Sarah Schira from Imagined Landscapes, famously a gnome designer:  

 

Catherine sadly lost the bag with her textured blanket squares but started with a new project for the Welcome Blanket project:   https://www.welcomeblanket.org/patterns/ .She’s  using Caron's Yarnspirations in the summer berry colorway.

 

Brainy Thing:

How do birds migrate and bees find their way?   One way is through magnetoreception and now scientists have recorded human responses to changes in the magnetic field.   But test subjects didn’t seem able to consciously feel those changes.  

 

Behind the Redwood Curtain:

County residents are concerned that the Netflix series Murder Mountain will cast a negative shadow on Southern Humboldt County, but Catherine tells us about a little known treasure in the middle of remote and wild SoHum:  The Redwoods Monastery  or  Our Lady of the Redwoods  in White Thorn operated by  Cistercian nuns and who also market their delicious honey.

 

 

We’re back with Catherine and Margaret in the classic format of our podcast Teaching Your Brain to Knit, number One Hundred and Three.  We share what we’re learning from our knitting:  crocheting a shawl, knitting small items and starting a new welcome blanket.  Margaret reports new studies that show that human brains respond to changes in the magnetic field but people don’t consciously perceive them.  What does that mean?   We don’t know.    And Catherine talks about a remote monastery and retreat in Southern Humboldt.

 

 

at events and classes

 

and his online classes are 

(free)  ttps://shop.mybluprint.com/knitting/article/franklin-habit/

(for a fee)  https://shop.mybluprint.com/knitting/classes/a-practical-approach-to-color-for-knitters/44696

(for a fee) https://shop.mybluprint.com/knitting/classes/heirloom-lace-edgings/35198

 

Franklin’s essay on “the uglies” mentioned in in the interview.   http://www.lionbrand.com/blog/sheep-to-shawl/

Brainy:  20:17             Redwood Curtain:  26:10 

 

What We’re Learning from our Knitting:

Catherine discovers new stitches from Barbara Walker’s Second Treasury for blocks for her Charity Blanket (https://www.amazon.com/Second-Treasury-Knitting-Patterns/dp/0942018176/ref=pd_cp_14_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0942018176&pd_rd_r=2a3d2895-acb1-11e8-8e51-357518f34f72&pd_rd_w=XOqrD&pd_rd_wg=BKXpo&pf_rd_i=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=fcaa6d12-8b2b-4ad7-b277-864b2da79f6e&pf_rd_r=VQJFH22H6YV78WKN6KQT&pf_rd_s=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_t=40701&psc=1&refRID=VQJFH22H6YV78WKN6KQT&dpID=515Z57E66YL&preST=_SX218_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=detail)   This time she tried the Grapevine Twist,  Briar Rose and the Heart Pattern.  She hopes to knit the Rosecrusian Scarf by Joselyn Tunney in the future.    Meanwhile Margaret reports on mitts and birds for Christmas and not one, but two advent yarn clubs.   The mitts pattern is from Ann Budd’s The Knitter’s Handy Book of Patterns   https://www.amazon.com/Knitters-Handy-Book-Patterns/dp/1931499047 .  The bird pattern Margaret’s favorite so far, Arne’s and Carlos’   https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/vogel-grundanleitung/people?page=8&view=cards.

 

Brainy Thing:

The documentary Innsaei  illustrates  the human gifts of intuition and empathy and ways we can learn them.  https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4924624/

 

Behind the Redwood Curtain:  Murder Mountain

Margaret and Catherine offer commentary on the new Netflix documentary series Murder Mountain about a young man who seeks money and adventure then goes missing in the Southern Humboldt marijuana industry.   https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9078908/

 

A Little Podcast Business

We outline some upcoming changes in our podcast in the future — including catching up on long tardy documentation.

 

Give Aways

And we give away two books and a skein of self striping sock yarn. https://www.ravelry.com/groups/teaching-your-brain-to-knit

 

Podcast Links.

Instagram:   Margaret Kelso for Margaret and MagicWombat1 for Catherine

 

 

Today in Teaching your Brain to Knit we report on a film that explores science, intuition, creativity, and empathy called Innsaei; Catherine finishes up  a dog and plans for a scarf;  Margaret makes some mitts and a knitted bird for Christmas;  We both give commentary on the new Netflix documentary series Murder Mountain about the Southern Humboldt marijuana industry;  and we offer not one, not two but three giveaways.  

 

 

And just to offer you a little anticipatory excitement, in our next podcast, probably within a month, we will be interviewing Franklin Habit and getting his wisdom about teaching and learning.   Thank you for listening to our podcast and supporting us all these years.  We recommend that you subscribe to Teaching Your Brain to Knit so you don’t miss any of our upcoming episodes.   You can find us on Overcast, Stitcher, Apple podcasts, Spotify,  and many other fine podcast aggregators.   Shownotes are on Ravelry, the Teaching Your Brain to Knit website, and right below this image on most podcast apps if you are listening on your phone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brainy Thing:   10:43       Behind the Redwood Curtain:   22:25

 

What We’re Learning From Our Knitting:

Margaret, yet again, referred to Ann Budd’s The Knitter’s Handy Book of Patterns   https://www.amazon.com/Knitters-Handy-Book-Patterns/dp/1931499047  to make mitts for her granddaughter in leftover Viking Nordlys yarn in 75 wool/25 nylon yarn.  This long repeat yarn was originally suggested by Theresa Schabes for the Maya hat and mittens:  https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/maya-hat-and-mittens-set.  

Catherine finishes (well, almost —except for weaving in the ends)  a dog sweater and is working on another block for her charity blanket.   Knit Dog Coat (by Bernat):  https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/dog-coat-11.

 

Brainy Thing:  Brain Games

Do Brain Games really work?   There’s not much evidence to support that they do but there are some glimmers of research that some activities do help increase brain function and resilience.  

 

Catherine presents the pleasures and health benefits of Humboldt Grass Fed Beef.  

 

A Little Podcast Business

We’ll be slowing down the frequency of our podcast episodes but we’re not stopping.   In addition, we’ll be adding some nifty interviews with world class knitting and crochet teachers who will talk about learning and their approach to learning.  

 

Instagram:   Margaret Kelso for Margaret and MagicWombat1 for Catherine

 

 

 

Brainy Thing:   11:58               Behind the Redwood Curtain  22:08

 

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

Catherine tackles a new dog sweater for her son’s dog.  Knit Dog Coat (by Bernat):  https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/dog-coat-11.   Margaret adds beads to the sweater for her crocheted sheep by Lucy of Attic24:  https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/woolly-sheep-2 .   She used scraps of fingering weight yarn although the pattern called for DK.    

 

Brainy Thing:  Housing and Happiness

Catherine finds research that shows the location of housing can change reports of happiness level even if nothing else changes.   http://science.sciencemag.org/content/337/6101/1505

 

Behind the Redwood Curtain:   Salmon is Everything

For local tribes, especially those along the Klamath river, Salmon is essential spiritual and physical food.  Margaret reports on this:  http://discovertheredwoods.com/salmon-fishing-humboldt-county

 

 

 

Instagram:   Margaret Kelso for Margaret and MagicWombat1 for Catherine

 

 

In this episode of Teaching Your Brain to Knit we present research about Housing and Happiness;  Catherine tackles a dog sweater;  Margaret’s Sheep Gets a Beaded Sweater;  and why for the Klamath Tribe, Salmon is Everything

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brainy thing:  13:40      Behind the Redwood Curtain:   19:10

 

What We’re Learning from Our Knitting:

Margaret wonders if her yarn can hold negative energy on her Dragon’s Egg Socks by Anne Podlesak https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/dragons-egg-socks  from The Unofficial Harry Potter Knits.   Catherine faces harsh realities with the man’s pullover pattern, Andoa, https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/andoa-pullover ( free on Ravelry, from Nora Gaughan and done for Berroco).

 

Brainy Thing: 

For decades the cerebellum has been overlooked but now it’s getting more attention into its role with higher order thinking:  

 https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-athletes-way/201810/cerebellum-studies-challenge-ancient-notions-how-we-think

 

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/10/181025142018.htm   Science Daily

 

npr  https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/10/25/660504533/the-underestimated-cerebellum-gains-new-respect-from-brain-scientists

 

Behind the Redwood Curtain:

Catherine shares with us the secrets of Albino Redwoods and Chimera trees.   

 

 

Today on Teaching Your Brain to Knit we report on  how the mighty "little brain", the cerebellum, has invaded our thinking processes, Margaret explores the question can bad energy permeate sock yarn, Catherine faces harsh reality with the Andoa pullover sweater and she shares the secrets of the rare Albino Redwoods.  

 

 

 

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.

Instagram:   MargaretKelso for Margaret and MagicWombat1 for Catherine

 

Brainy:  12:49       Behind the Redwood Curtain:  21:21

 

What We’re Learning from Our Knitting:

Catherine reaps the rewards of the Dishcloth Swap https://www.ravelry.com/groups/annual-dishcloth-swap.

Margaret finds comfort from yarn crafts after the Tree of Life mass shooting with the Jewish Hearts for Pittsburgh group.  In Ravelry:  https://www.ravelry.com/groups/jewish-hearts-for-pittsburgh    Also on Facebook.

 

Brainy Thing:  Good Brain Chemicals from Group Singing

Let’s raise our voices for the good brain chemicals we get from singing — especially in groups.   

 

Behind the Redwood Curtain:

Margaret shares a little research on the redwood trees canopy, that ecosystem high in the air.  

 

Podcast Links: 

Instagram:   Margaret Kelso for Margaret and MagicWombat1 for Catherine

 

Today in Teaching Your Brain to Knit Catherine reaps the rewards of her Dishcloth Swap and shares them with us, Margaret Finds comfort in a crochet version of Jewish Hearts for Pittsburgh, Catherine reports on research that confirms    that singing helps us feel better, especially when we’re in a group, and Margaret reveals research on the surprising ecosystem hundreds of feet above the ground in the Redwood canopy.   

 

 

 

Brainy Thing: 13:22                  Behind the Redwood Curtain: 21:37

 

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

Margaret finished the crocheted blocks (from The Big Book of Granny Squares by Tracey Lord) for a lap blanket.  She finished #33, #133, #66 and #178 and two others she didn’t write down.  Now she plans to piece together the blocks with a stitch of some sort but she’s not sure what yet.  Finally she wants to felt it.  She hopes the finished results will be a nice felted blanket that she’ll donate to charity.  The yarns are  Valley Yarns  100 % Wool  Northampton Bulky Light Grey and Araucania Yarns Nature Wool  Chunky  Deep red/black  or black/red.  Her hook size was K.

 

Catherine is working on her template sweater or test sweater out of an inexpensive acrylic (Caron) for her son-in-law.   The name of the yarn is Yarnspirations by Caron Big Cakes in the Summer Berry Tart Colorway (gradient) out of 100% acrylic.   She’ll check against this sweater to be able to get accurate measurements and then make a new one out of a pricier yarn.  The one she’s doing now can also go to him as a house sweater or to charity.  The pattern, Andoa, https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/andoa-pullover is free on Ravelry, from Nora Gaughan for Berroco.

 

Brainy Thing

Today Margaret discusses a mix of fun facts about the brain from https://www.livescience.com/12916-10-facts-human-brain.html with an update about a challenge to the myth of multi-tasking :   (https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/creativity-without-borders/201405/the-myth-multitasking)

 

Behind the Redwood Curtain

Catherine reports on an easy trail in Trinidad CA called Elk Head https://www.hikingproject.com/trail/7029875/elk-head-trail with an option for the adventurous:   a terrifying spur call Megwil Point with an incredible up-high view of the beach and ocean.   

 

A Little Podcast Business

We have another give-away — a book of knitted baby hats and a commentary on Slow Podcasting which details our future plans for the podcast.  

 

In this Episode of Teaching Your Brain to Knit we share some fun facts about the brain from its texture (like tofu) to the question of multitasking;  Margaret wonders how she’ll piece together her crocheted granny squares and Catherine reports her progress on her template sweater.  She also reveals a little known outcropping from the Elk Head Trail in Trinidadcalled Megwil Point.   We have another giveaway and we talk a little bit about Slow Podcasting and the future of our podcast.  

 

Links:

Instagram:   Margaret Kelso for Margaret and MagicWombat1 for Catherine