knitting in neuroscience class

We began the course in January with a lesson in knitting, to demonstrate some of the topics to be covered in the course. These included memory, the brain's reward circuits, motor function and stress. Every once in awhile we pull out the knitting and talk about how it relates to the topic we are covering. Today we were talking about the cellular mechanisms of memory.
As you can see, some of the knitting is more advanced than others, giving us an excellent basis for discussing the extent to which synaptic rearrangement had taken place.

Hand-dyed Reveals its Purpose

One of the biggest challenges I face in knitting is using hand-dyed or variegated yarn in a way that allows its beauty to show. So often it looks very appealing as a skein, but then the knitted fabric is rather ugly.
I believe I have discovered a few ways to use some hand-dyed lace-weight yarn that J and I made a few years ago. In the latest project I'm using the pattern from Scarf Style called Lady Eleanor Entrelac Stole, but in size 3 needles and the lace weight yarn. So, this rendition will be more scarf than stole, especially after I do a little felting...
Speaking of Scarf Style, the Camel Knitters are making "Color on Color" from that book as a group project. Our plan is to each contribute yarn and time to the project, and then raffle or auction it off for charity. It's been fun to plan and pass around.
I'm preparing a post on how the brain is involved in learning to knit. Stay tuned!