Teaching Your Brain to Knit

Brainy thing:  18:37       Behind the Redwood Curtain: 29:19

What We’re Learning From Our Knitting
Margaret finished a pair of summer socks:  Top down, 1x1 twist rib cuff, afterthought heel with gusset, 
(check out Ariana Hipsagh    gussets in afterthought heel  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUyJM2FBH_o
Reena Meijer Dress  Knit better Socks blog  http://knitbettersocks.blogspot.com/)
The yarn is  Canon Hand Dyed 80 Merino, 10 Cashmere and 10 nylon.by The Amy Lee Show and the colorway is “I will believe that there are unicorns” a part of her January Shakespeare Club and a quote from the Tempest.  
She learned a lot from making the first step from Laura Nelkin’s Ducenti Shawl https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/ducenti-mkal— a beaded i-cord. Made from in two different but closely coordinated colors, the two skeins of yarn came in Laura Nelkin’s Ducenti Shawl kit,  originally a mystery kit.They are a wonderfully soft single ply Dragonfly Fibers, Pixie yarn in 100 % merino in a mossy green and a variegated dark putty, with hints of a brassy brown and green.
But she’s not making the the full shawl as designed by Laura.    She’s using it as the bottom of Eline Oftedal’s Waves Shoulder Cosy https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/wave-shoulder-cosy
 
Catherine shares a free app from Home Depot for matching up colors.   She finds the matches are a tad on the dark side but still thinks it’s a nifty tool.   She found some yarn she’s long been looking for from  Lion Brand gradient stripe in pink for a dog sweater for a dog who looks fierce but isn’t.   She is working on her Dishcloth exchange using cotton she had on hand plus a  ball of lily’s sugar and cream  in white, lime, teal green, and  lavendar.  The pattern is  Vortex 5  by Rebecca Hudson  (Meditative is her Rav name.)   
 
Brainy Thing
Margaret reports on recent research on the Placebo effect  — Among the findings are that it works even if people know they are taking a placebo, it works in animals, and it changes an enzyme in the  brain.
 
Arcata Fairy Festival
A new kid-friendly event in Arcata is the Fairy Festival, celebrating its second year and planning for the next.
 
Give Away
Another fun giveaway.  Be the first to request it on the Ravelry thread.
 
 
In this episode of Teaching Your Brain to Knit we discuss summer socks, beaded i-cord, the dishcloth exchange anda pink striped yarn for a dog.   We share the latest on the Placebo Effect and report on a new area event, The Arcata Fairy Festival.  
 

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