knit with your brain

Brain Shifting Progress

2012-01-29T19:51:00.001-05:00

Another milestone reached in the fair isle project: the second border pattern is done!

Brownie is shown because I know how much you love him. He is not at all aware of, nor does he care, what is happening here.

By now the knitting is probably not requiring much prefrontal cortex. I don't need to look at the pattern chart anymore, and I get through half a row thinking of other stuff before I realize where I am. A few times this weekend I was surprised to find myself at the end of a row. Interestingly, I can immediately tell if I've made a mistake. Then I have to carefully consider the pattern and figure out where I am. It happens about once every other row. I believe that's a function of the striatum, which responds to the mistake by halting ongoing behavior.

What keeps me addicted to this project is watching the color progression. I love each of these colors and it's fun to see how they look together.

The next step is to do another peerie, like the one that separates the first and second patterns, and then it will be time to begin the all-over pattern.

As I'm working on this project I think of all the stories I've read about the knitters who originally used this technique to make garments for their families or to sell. They would do the work while they were doing "real" work, like farming or gathering wood. Walking around getting things done while managing to make such intricate pieces. I could work on my sweater and lecture at the same time! Maybe not.

Striatum-dependent knitting

2012-01-21T19:36:00.000-05:00

There's been some progress made on the fair isle project:

The first motif on the body is finished. I changed the colors in the center to add further contrast in the background. It looks a bit loud here, but the red-orange color will brighten up the sweater without being too overwhelming (I hope). It's been so much fun getting re-immersed in fair isle knitting. I love how the pattern evolves on every row, even though each row takes forever (364 stitches, #2 needles).

I've also been working on the Virgin sweater:

I started with the sleeve because I was too lazy to do a swatch. Luckily my gauge is right, although the yarn I am using (Brown Sheep Nature Spun sport weight on size 3 needles) is not producing as dense a fabric as the pattern calls for. The safety pin is placed at the point when I felt I was not using my prefrontal cortex excessively to keep track of the pattern. The next marker, where I stopped knitting to take this picture, is where I felt the knitting became primarily striatum-dependent. By that I mean that I could knit without paying much attention. I had developed the habit necessary to following the pattern without having to keep it in working memory. As each row was worked I was able to recognize that I was changing the yarn appropriately, getting a little pulse of dopamine in the nucleus accumbens each time. I put it away to play with the fair isle sweater, so I'll need to use my prefrontal cortex for a few rows when I get back to it. I'll need to reclaim it from Mr. Brown, who has recognized its value as a pillow.

Fair Isle Knitting: the ideal prefrontal cortex exercise

2012-01-08T22:34:00.003-05:00

Oogy and I have decided that our focus this year is on stranded color knitting. I've been a big fan of Fair Isle knitting for many years. One of my fondest memories of the grad school years is spending several hours sitting on the floor in the shetland wool aisle at Shuttles, Spindles and Skeins in Boulder, Colorado. I was with my buddy Julie and we were picking out yarn to make some Alice Starmore sweaters. We kept poor Maggie running back and forth to check how many skeins of this or that she had in stock. I made Rona, and Julie made Roscalie Cardigan, both from the In the Hebrides collection. It must have been around 1995 or 96. I didn't follow the pattern exactly, making my sweater a lot shorter and using plain ribbing instead of the fancy edging that Starmore called for. Here is a picture of the sweater:

Here's another project I did several years later--I used border patterns from Starmore's Book of Fair Isle Knitting to make this vest, using the fancy border that I was supposed to use on Rona.

Here are some swatches I am making in preparation for the next fair isle project, using Knit Pick's Palette:

So what does fair isle knitting have to do with the brain? The basic structure of this type of knitting is the use of only 2 colors on any given row, with color changes every few rows to create the subtle variations that are so appealing in this knitting style. It has a complicated appearance, but it is actually very simple, with a pattern that is repeated many times to complete the row. For example, I used border pattern #159 from Mary Jane Mucklestone's 200 Fair Isle Motifs in the middle of the second swatch pictured above.

In a sweater the sequence of 16 stitches in the pattern would get repeated 21 times. This is where the brain comes in. The prefrontal cortex, which serves as the brain's executive processor, makes decisions and plans for the future. It also houses our "working" memory, our ability to use new and remembered information to perform a task. The dorsolateral portion of the prefrontal cortex serves as a template for spatial information. It has neurons that will get active when something is happening in a particular place, and the same neurons will keep firing so that we can keep in mind what is supposed to happen in that place after a delay of a few seconds. So, as row 1 in the border pattern is worked, the sequence of 1 Turmeric, 2 Bark, 5 Turmeric, 2 Bark, 3 Turmeric, 1 Bark, 3 Turmeric, 2 Bark...gets tracked by the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and after a few repeats I can work the row without consulting the pattern, until all 21 repeats are done. The spatial map in my dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is keeping the pattern in focus and directing the motor cortex to control the muscles in my fingers, allowing me to choose Tumeric or Bark, as appropriate. Then, the pattern repeat, and maybe one or both colors, changes. This taps into another function of the prefrontal cortex: it allows for flexible behavior that responds to changing demands of the environment. Someone with damage to this brain area would be able to follow the pattern, but once it was established, it would be difficult for this person to shift to a different pattern. But when the prefrontal cortex is functioning well, it is possible to replace the working memory for row 1 with the pattern for row 2. Three hundred and thirty-six stitches later, things change again and the working memory is replaced for another row.

A different part of the prefrontal cortex is important for making decisions. Should I do another row, or should I work on my lecture for next week? The immediate reward of seeing the effect of the next color on the next row needs to be weighed against the benefit of getting the lecture prepared. Do I really want to be up until 1am working on the lecture the night before it's delivered? Or should I put the knitting down and get to work? These decisions that involve delayed gratification are very difficult, but a functioning ventromedial prefrontal cortex can anticipate the emotional impact of an action, making it possible to make a decision. I know from experience how painful and unpleasant it is to be preparing a lecture when I'm supposed to be sleeping, so the anticipation of this unpleasantness will factor into my decision, if my ventromedial prefrontal cortex is working.

To see some figures of the prefrontal cortex and read about many other brain functions, check out a very cool site maintained by McGill University called The Brain From Top to Bottom. The link will take you to the module that is focused on the function of the prefrontal cortex. You can adjust the level of explanation from beginner to advanced, and you can also change the level of analysis, from neurological to psychological, or even social.

I have often thought that this type of knitting is one way to exercise the prefrontal cortex. Maybe Fair Isle knitting can be used to strengthen the prefrontal cortex when depression and anxiety have been wearing it down.

The perennial knitter's problem

2011-11-20T10:49:00.000-05:00

I told Oogy I wanted to see something new on her blog, to which she replied she had nothing but unfinished objects [see her pile here]. Me, too, Oogy!
We are very good at starting something, but not as good at finishing. I don't mean the Deborah Newton you-should-know-better-how-to-finish-your-knitting sense, but more the finish-SOMETHING-before-you-start-the-next-project sense. I wish I could say this is my UFO pile in its entirety...

The green lace project has been targeted to be finished before the year of lace knitting is over. Just 5 more repeats of the center panel (50 more rows), then the 12-row border to be repeated 86 times (1032 rows of 7-12 stitches each). This is the deception of lace knitting: you're almost done, except for the border.

The purple and bright green items are for the community knitting project I'm doing with a group of students and the Camel Knitters. We are making hats and mitts for kids at a shelter in our city. We plan to visit the shelter's after-school program and do a knitting lesson soon.

New Inspiration

2011-11-07T20:18:00.000-05:00

We are headed into the end of a year of lace, Oogy and I, so my eye is wandering to other possibilities. I was inspired recently by a friend's sweater in progress, which you can see here (see the 6th picture). My version will have a different design and will use the yarn pictured here.

gauntlet mitts and knitting as therapy

2011-10-10T21:10:00.001-05:00

Sometimes I would rather be knitting, but if I can't be knitting, at least I can be wearing something that I knit. These mitts have seen a number of hours at the keyboard recently.

Most of the knitters I know would agree that knitting offers some form of therapy. I have often found it to be a soothing break from work, to take out my "office knitting" and do a few rows. The therapeutic benefit of knitting (and crochet and cross-stitch) is being studied by a group in Bath, England. Betsan Corkhill has a website called Stitchlinks that is very interesting. She runs a clinic in which her clients use knitting or stitching to help them cope with chronic pain. She's also convinced nearby neuroscientists to examine the impact of knitting on brain function. I'm especially intrigued by the evidence for improved memory.

I sometimes will use knitting as a means to cope with frustration. I'm making another pair of mitts for a friend who is experiencing some challenges. I can't help her, but I can make her a pair of mitts.

A Smaller Girasole

2011-09-18T20:18:00.000-05:00

One of the lace knit-a-longs that Oogy and I have done this year is the shawl Girasole, a pattern by Jared Flood. Hers is the larger, blanket version, while mine is the smaller, shawl version, made with Knit Picks Palette in Iris Heather. I was so happy to find a use for that yarn, which has been languishing in the stash for years, with multiple false starts in other projects. I was so dismayed when I ran out of yarn about 2/3 around the border. Luckily, the additional skeins of Iris Heather I purchased were a perfect match. When does that ever happen?

Purple Pain

2011-09-03T21:43:00.000-05:00

I've been thinking a lot about the experience my friends are having as they learn to knit. They've gone into the endeavor with the idea that it looks impossible, only to learn that it's really quite easy, at first. Then things get complicated, like when extra stitches appear, or the yarn begins to shed. It turns out that knitting is really very complicated, and even with 25 years of experience, mistakes happen. These thoughts came to me as I was tearing out the Lutz and Patmos cardigan that I made from a pattern in the Early Fall 2010 issue of Vogue Knitting. I used a different yarn, but the huge dimensions were as directed in the pattern. The problem was that such a sweater is not meant for a larger person, with it's chunky yarn and big cables. Cables every inch! I've had it sitting in the closet for a year now, so today was the day it got dismantled.

It looks so nice, laid out on the floor. I actually tried it on again, thinking maybe it would be OK, but no, it still looked like a big robe.

Brownie, ever the helper.

I have vague plans to use the yarn to make a simple (no cables) V-neck sweater, with a matching scarf.

Goodbye August

2011-08-30T10:30:00.001-05:00

August has been a blur—transitioning from lab work to home modification work, and then back to school has disrupted the normal routine. This has not, however, had a significant impact on the amount of knitting getting done around here.

August began with a great deal of activity in the dye “studio”, that area of the basement where the floor is colorful and jars of dye grow fuzzy things. It got some serious use for a few weeks, as this picture demonstrates. A good fiber buddy came over for an afternoon to observe and sample the activity (see her coverage of the event here).

Once the dye studio was taken over by the home modification effort, my attention was shifted to teaching a colleague how to knit. I even had the chance to meet her at the yarn store and show her some of the possibilities for her first project.

She is off to a great start:

The process of learning how to knit has been going well for her, though there has been more than one session of “forensic knitting” in which I have closely observed her technique to discern how her scarf was developing holes and wings. Initially, she was not completing every stitch, resulting in a slipped stitch and a yarnover, which turned into an eyelet on the next row. We cured her of that habit, but then she developed a new symptom of knitting in the garter stitch row below, creating 2 stitches that should have been one. We seem to have worked that one out, too. It’s been a few days since I have heard about the scarf (Irene might have increased time to knit, but she has not fostered electronic forms of communication), but hopefully some good progress has been made.

Convolutions

2011-07-23T09:38:00.000-05:00

Oogy has sent my cortex! It turns out to be a tea cozy, which is so very awesome. It's about 100 degrees out, but I'm going to make some tea, anyway.

She also sent a blank canvas--sock yarn ready and waiting to be dyed. There's about 450 g here, so that's about 4 pairs of socks. Good timing, because my order from Knit Picks of Bare lace- and fingering-weight yarn arrived on the same day. Definitely time to fire up the dye studio!

Yarn in DC

2011-07-10T08:29:00.005-05:00

A few days away gives one a renewed appreciation for home. Going away, however, gives one an opportunity to discover new yarn shops! During a recent trip to DC (grant review meeting: lots of interesting work, great fun, hung out with a grad school mentor who was on the same review panel) I found Looped Yarn Works. After 2 days of reviewing grants in a windowless conference room, I was sprung loose on DC and went immediately, well, after a nice lunch with my mentor friend, to the yarn store. I was greeted warmly by the owners, Janie and Susan, and got a tour of the place from Janie. I'm a frequent yarn store visitor, so there isn't much that can be new for me, but Janie enthusiastically showed me some yarn that was indeed unique. It's created by Elisabeth Drumm and is also sold on her Etsy shop. It was difficult to choose which colors to get, and I now see on her shop that there is a vast range to choose from. The gradual color variation is achieved by changing the number of plies of each color, starting with all the same, then substituting 1, then 2, then 3, and finally changing the color all together. It's explained better by the artist on her shop site. Now for what to do with them...

Annual Fawn Visit

2011-07-03T19:32:00.002-05:00

It seems every year at this time we are introduced to a new family in the back yard. This photo was taken from inside the house today. As I write this the family is walking down our street!

Nature and Girasole Spin-off

2011-07-03T19:11:00.003-05:00

Our year of lace is half over! I still have quite a lot of lace weight yarn left...

In the process of working on what is now the massive Girasole, I found myself liking Chart E. It's simple enough that I don't have to consult the chart anymore, and I like the fabric it makes: lacy but not too frilly. I decided to make a sweater with that pattern as a prominent feature. I'm calling it Girasole Spin-off, Chart E. I'm making it up as I go along, with the idea that it will be something I can wear when it's warm out (short sleeved, open in the front). This is what's been knit in the past week. One of my favorite things about lace is that it can be very fast to knit.

This picture shows it folded in half, with the left front on the left side of the photo. I'm using Rowan Purelife naturally dyed organic cotton in "rhubarb". I thought rhubarb had a pinkish hue, but this yarn is ever-so-slightly green, with subtle variations in intensity, plus the tiny area that I hand dyed with a bit of shiraz. That part looks more like what I imagined rhubarb to be.

2011-06-26T10:34:00.002-05:00

Oogy and I are tackling another lace project together--a "tidy" of all things. This would be a rectangular doily. Here's my progress thus far:

It is a pattern called Apple Leaf Tidy and is available for free here.

Camel Knitters Yarnbombing

2011-06-11T11:49:00.008-05:00

Today is the inaugural International Yarnbombing Day, which the Camel Knitters Guild observed at Connecticut College.

We had only 4 days notice, but we manufactured a good number of these, uh, squiggly things.

Unilateral Sheep

2011-05-28T14:55:00.003-05:00

Almost forgot...here is the sheep scarf. It is missing one sheep. The pattern is written so that at the end of the first ball of yarn the stitches are held while the pattern is repeated for the second half. When the second half is done, the halves are grafted together to make the scarf with 2 sheep ends. When I reached the end of ball 1, I decided I was happy to keep going with the pattern and see how it would look with one sheep. I think it looks rather sophisticated, especially with how the border pattern transitioned from the main pattern.

This is an extreme example of how $4 worth of yarn can become something really cool.

Mystery Shawlette Part 2

2011-05-28T14:25:00.003-05:00

It is so exciting to see this develop.

Getting help with Girasole

2011-05-28T14:19:00.003-05:00

After cruising through charts A-C and starting D, I decided to unravel to the middle of C because I had made a mistake there. I saw it a few rows before C was finished, but decided it wasn't very noticeable...but it really was once I got into chart D, so back I went. The cat was kind enough to offer his help.

This pattern is fun--not too difficult and as the rows get longer and longer, I find the repetition very relaxing. It is a nice break from the mystery shawlette, which I believe is rather more difficult (but still fun!).

Mystery of Lace Knitting

2011-05-19T18:51:00.005-05:00

When I have time (when the grades are in) I will post a bit about dopamine and the anticipation of rewards. For now, you can see that I have agreed to an official knit-a-long, to make a shawlette. Care to join me and Oogyknitter and hundreds of other lace hounds? See the pattern at WendyKnits' site here.

I had some Malabrigo lace weight yarn, aptly named "purple mystery", left over from another project. The pattern is for fingering weight, but lace is forgiving, and I'm using a size 4 needle. It looks great so far!

flat sheep

2011-05-13T19:23:00.002-05:00

Funny story: I started the sheep scarf and noticed that in the instructions it states that a blank box is "knit every stitch", which I interpreted as "knit every right side stitch, purl every wrong side stitch". I paused ever so slightly when both edge stitches were supposed to be "slip one purl-wise", which I thought was odd because on one side that made a big mess. So, I proceeded to knit (and purl) through the sheep pattern, and I liked what I saw. Then I saw oogyknitter's version (see her blog) and realized that I was doing it wrong. Well, actually, I initially assumed oogy was doing it wrong, but then I looked at the instructions again.

Anyway, I am quite happy with my version and plan to continue to do it wrong!

finished cat's paw

2011-05-13T19:19:00.003-05:00

I'm including an actual cat for scale. He's about 15 inches long in this position.

I've been wearing the scarf every few days this past week--it's perfect for the chilly mornings.

Now on to Sheep Scarf!

Interactive brain site

2011-05-13T19:12:00.002-05:00

One of my students alerted me to an interactive site that features parts of the body, including the brain. It's really quite remarkable. Check it out here: healthline body site

CT Sheep and Wool Festival

2011-04-30T20:58:00.002-05:00

I made a short visit this afternoon to the CT Sheep and Wool festival. It was great fun to be immersed in fiber in all its forms, from live animals to roving to yarn. I found some shetland/soy roving from Cobblerock Ridge farm, pictured here. No, I didn't buy all of that! Just 15 oz in light and medium brown.

cat's paw progress

2011-04-30T20:55:00.002-05:00

Back to lace! I was at about the halfway mark when this picture was taken last week--I'm now at the 3/4 mark. I'm looking forward to the next lace project. This one has grown tiresome.

Oogy, what is the next project?

Products of Harpswell Knit Inn

2011-03-21T16:46:00.003-05:00

Here are the projects that the Knit Inn participants manufactured in the span of 2 days. We had a discussion of color perception and started the projects on Friday night, and worked on them, along with other projects, through Saturday and by Sunday morning we were able to view them all. The idea was to demonstrate the impact of context on color perception. For example, the yellow diamonds in the burgundy and navy backgrounds appear different, although they are made with the same yarn.
Our other endeavor was to make ornaments.

A very productive and enjoyable weekend!

Finally, some neuroscience on this blog

2011-03-12T08:47:00.003-05:00

I didn't forget that this blog is about neuroscience. I'm preparing a very informal "workshop" for a weekend knit-away at Harpswell Inn in Maine. I enjoyed the experience last year and agreed to give this year's event a bit of neuroscience. Well, actually, I agreed to do a workshop on color knitting, but it's really going to be a geek fest of color perception, complete with diagrams of the eye and the primary visual cortex. I'm making a few sample vessels with Knit Picks' Wool of the Andes to demonstrate simultaneous contrast. The "pumpkin" appears darker on the "lake ice heather" background compared to its appearance on the "black cherry heather" background. Felting adds an element of mystery and fun to the project. I have an array of colors for workshop participants to play with, so I hope it will be fun.

Lace continued

2011-03-12T08:43:00.003-05:00

This is the progress so far on Cat's Paw. I'm using Knit Picks' Alpaca Cloud in Moss, which might be a bit faded after sitting in a basket languishing for several years. It's an easy pattern.

Wabenschal Finished

2011-03-01T18:16:00.002-05:00

I've even worn it a few times.

Now I am focused on finishing Moon River. Oogyknitter has gotten way ahead of me!

Maybe I'll post something related to neuroscience soon...

San Francisco Treat

2011-02-13T16:45:00.009-05:00

A recent visit to Artfibers, on Sutter Street in San Francisco, revealed a smorgasbord of yarn, accompanied by multiple swatches that displayed some of each yarn's possibilities.

I was warmly invited to "taste" whatever I wanted. Because this year is all about lace, I had pattern in hand (Moon River Scarf--see Ravelry for free pattern download) and some idea of which yarn to try (prior web-based research: Artfibers catalog). I thoroughly enjoyed sitting at a picnic table to make my swatch. The store/studio is on the 3rd floor with floor-to-ceiling windows at each end. It was a beautiful day and being there was such a welcome respite for the brain, which was taxed to its limit preparing and meeting to review grants. About an hour into swatch-making revelry, my preconceived notion of making Moon River with "Brie" was replaced with an unexpected appreciation for how "Carezza" was better suited for the purpose. The owner, Roxanne, seemed pleased to accept my offer of the mind-changing swatch for her collection.

You can see how the shop is set up, with the yarn in bins below the display of swatches. It's an awesome concept that is a must-see if you are lucky enough to find yourself in San Fran.

After a day on the plane to return to the dirty snow-ridden Northeast, I have over a foot of Moon River to my credit. Oogyknitter and I have established another knit-along with this pattern. It is a very easy one!

work stoppage imposed

2011-02-07T21:17:00.003-05:00

I decided after finishing the first sleeve that I wanted more of the grey color in the sweater, so it can be seen more prominently in the partially finished sleeve. I haven't decided exactly how the body of the sweater will look yet.

There have been multiple attempts to stop work on the project by my so-called assistant.

Winter Break Dyeing

2011-01-26T19:29:00.002-05:00

Winter break is officially dead, but I'm still enjoying it through this batch of yarn.

As I wound the first skein into a few balls I was able to separate out the grey portion. I'm going to make a sweater that has a higher proportion of the red yarn than is shown in the swatch.

lace progress

2011-01-15T15:55:00.002-05:00

Wabenschal is getting longer!

Bro's b-day sweater

2011-01-12T11:24:00.004-05:00

I got ambitious when my little brother turned 40 and decided I would make him a sweater using yarn I spun myself. I finished about half of the spinning when I realized I would not have enough yarn to make a sweater, so then I decided it would be done in a 2-color pattern, which was looking awesome before I realized I would STILL not have enough. Now brother is 42 and still had no sweater, so I bought the yarn and gave him the sweater when he was 42 1/2 years young.

It looks rather great!

Here is a close-up of the cable pattern at the neck, which extended from the narrow ribbing on the center of each sleeve and the border of the raglan sleeve and the body. The rest of the sweater was done in Andalusian stitch, with a brick color cast-on border at the body and sleeves. I used Berroco Ultra Alpaca in the color "potting soil".

Gossamer lace challenges

2011-01-08T15:04:00.005-05:00

This is Victorian Ruby from Jane Sowerby's Victorian Lace Today book. I've reached row 14--one of the earlier rows took me 45 minutes, and then I finally K2tog at the end because I kept having one too many stitches. It's so satisfying to reach the end of a row and have the right number of stitches. It's not easy to see the silver flecks in this picture, but they are looking cool in this pattern. This is the border--the center of the scarf is a very simple slip stitch pattern that will let the yarn do the work.

Wabenschal unearthed!

2011-01-04T20:55:00.005-05:00

Look what I found! Actually, I found what was left of the yarn and the instructions. I believe I have thrown out the foot or so of scarf that I had finished because I was not pleased with the electric yellow color. The original is pictured on Dec 23, 2008 post below...this bit is what I knitted today.

I think this will be a better balance of yellow, orange, and honeysuckle (?).

Happy New Year!

2011-01-02T21:07:00.004-05:00

Rats in residence:

The official beginning of this year's theme, making lace projects, is hanging in my kitchen. Nice job oogyknitter!

There is great potential for lace making, as one can see by the collection from my stash.

The falling leaves scarf is there to show that I really can make lace projects, and the other stuff is waiting patiently. The blue and silver Gossamer is up first.

"Natural" Dyeing

2010-08-18T20:00:00.004-05:00

When I started knitting 20+ years ago I thought it was just silly that someone would spend time making yarn. It never occurred to me that someone could dye their own yarn, but I would have thought that was a waste of time, too. While I have developed a different view over the years, a recent experience of using a plant as a source of dye is making me rethink all of this again.

I took a day-long workshop last year in which each student, led by an expert dyer, was given a small batch of yarn or roving and a choice of dye baths from plants like black-eyed susans and goldenrod. We soaked our fiber in the baths and took the results home to dry. It was really fun. I was told about all the work that went into collecting the plant and pre-mordanting the fiber, but only when I did it all myself did I discover how much work it was. I have planted several more dye sources, but I’m not sure I’ll be doing this again!

First, I grew the plant. This was not difficult, but it took some time (about 1 year). Then I collected the flowers. Also, not difficult. (the picture shows what is left of the plant now).

Then I boiled the flowers. This was not difficult, either, but it did smell rather bad. And then it became caustic, forcing me, husband and cat to evacuate the house for the afternoon. We sat outside while the cauldron bubbled its toxic fumes. Husband said he was fine with it, and it was nice when our noses stopped burning. It’s his fault for getting me the books.

It all sounds so natural, right? Growing plants, harvesting flowers, creating toxic fume clouds in one’s house. The part that seems less natural is the application of chemical solution to the wool so that it can accept the dye. This is the mordant step. I could have ordered the chemicals online, but instead chose to go to the garden center and purchase 3 lifetime supplies of mordant in the form of fertilizer (potassium aluminum sulfate) and fungicide (copper sulfate). Then a trip to the store to get cream of tartar (potassium acid tartare). True, all these chemicals are technically NATURAL, but it might not be what you had in mind upon hearing the term “natural dyes”.

Anyway, it was fun (husband agreed, cat won’t say) and the yarn looks cool.

The darker color was produced by briefly soaking the dyed yarn in an ammonia solution (more chemicals). It was supposed to be green, according to the book, but I was happy that it turned ANY color.

finished the diminishing rib cardi

2010-07-28T19:09:00.007-05:00

There are a few left-overs...

but, it's done!

Almost completely-diminished cable-down raglan

2010-07-13T15:05:00.001-05:00

Making progress!

making progress on the diminishing rib cardi

2010-07-07T07:34:00.000-05:00

It's the diminishing cable-down raglan.

In the catarondack chair

2010-07-06T19:23:00.001-05:00

Outside is nice this time of year.

2010-07-06T19:19:00.001-05:00

This is diminishing rib cardigan so far. It is definitely a striatum-dependent project, but I am very happy with the pattern. I'll get to the ribbing in another 3 inches--that will engage the prefrontal cortex a bit.

The prefrontal cortex-striatum continuum, as it applies to knitting.

2010-07-02T20:34:00.006-05:00

You know when you are totally stressed out you can’t follow a complex pattern, but instead seek out a simple, mindless project to work on? This could happen because the stress makes you more likely to use your striatum, which governs habitual behavior. Stress makes function more difficult for the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for decision making and following a sequence of events that are not habitual. While the striatum is activated when behavior is ongoing and doesn’t require paying attention, the prefrontal cortex is active when something new is being learned with a particular goal to be achieved.

I’ve been getting more and more interested in this effect of stress because we are doing research on obsessive-compulsive disorder, which is characterized by dysfunction of the prefrontal cortex and the striatum. People who have been diagnosed with OCD report that their experience is more intense when they are feeling stressed. There’s also evidence in rats that diminished activity in the prefrontal cortex is associated with stress-induced changes in behavior. And, one group has shown that rats will revert to habitual behavior that is governed by the striatum when they have been exposed to stress, when they would normally be using their prefrontal cortex to help them figure things out.

It seems I can’t knit without feeling rather geeky, so I’ve been viewing my projects on the PFC-Striatum continuum, with mindless projects at the striatum end and complex projects at the PFC end of the spectrum. Projects are rated by how much attention they require (can I bring the project to group knitting and drink wine, or does it require silence and high doses of caffeine?). Here is an example of striatum-dependent knitting:

The scarf in the middle shows how Noro yarn does all the work, while I mindlessly knit one row after the other. I may have used my PFC a little bit in the beginning, when I had to follow the pattern on the first 4 rows, but now it’s all striatum. The other 2 scarves pictured are similarly striatum-dependent. The rose-colored one is 31 stitches of spaced checks, June 9 on one of those perpetual calendars. The curly one is from Scarf Style, called Ruffles and designed by Amanda Blair Brown. The scarf pictured at the top is called Triangle Scarf and is from Norah Gaughan's Knitting Nature. This would be closer to the PFC end of the spectrum.

At the other end of the spectrum, maybe even a bit beyond the extreme PFC boundary of the continuum, is Kelmscott:

This is what I have accomplished so far of the left front. The pattern changes on every row (no “wrong side rest” on this one), requiring constant attention to the pattern chart, like the few rows pictured here:

I only tore out the first few rows about 10 times before I discovered what I was doing wrong (the chart is knit in the opposite direction on the wrong side, which the directions made clear but I did not get it at first). I can manage about 5 rows before I need to put it away and do something more striatum-dependent. I don’t even attempt it if I’m feeling stressed or tired.

Here’s what makes Kelmscott so PFC dependent:

1. Each row is different, requiring close attention to the chart. While the individual stitches are easy, their sequence is not. The dorsolateral portion of the prefrontal cortex makes following the pattern possible, by allowing me to know where I am in the pattern (which row, right side or wrong, which stitch was just completed) and directing my motor system to follow the sequence of movements needed to do the different stitches. Stress would reduce the ability of the dorsolateral PFC to do its job, so I would be losing my place and making mistakes.

2. Kelmscott is going to take forever to finish, so what keeps me going, 5 rows at a time? My orbital frontal cortex allows me to balance the immediate and delayed rewards of the project so that I can stay motivated by keeping in mind the long-term benefits of what I am doing. So, while I might opt for a mindless project that produces quick results when I am stressed out, I am able to be more patient and work on the delayed-reward project when things are more under control. (I do gain some satisfaction when I make it through a row without having to tink back to the beginning).

I’ve been wondering if knitting Kelmscott could be used to strengthen my PFC? If this brain area is less active when stress perception is high, maybe increasing its activity could counteract the impact of stress. It has been shown to do this in rats (but not while they were knitting…). Am I doing myself a disservice by picking up the easy mindless project when I should really be getting the PFC revved up?

Next time: how I used my anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) to abandon Cable-down Raglan.

How I needed to use my anterior cingulate cortex

2010-07-02T20:18:00.004-05:00

I found this yarn at Webs a few years ago. It’s Berroco Ultra Alpaca, a blend of wool and alpaca, in a color that I love but probably should not wear. I am now on the 4^th project with this yarn, having abandoned the first 3 after making considerable progress toward their completion. Attempt 3 (pictured left) went farther than 1 or 2, and I still decided to ditch it and make Attempt 4.

Attempt 3 is Cable-down Raglan, designed by Stefanie Japel and found in the Spring 2007 issue of Interweave Knits. Attempts 1 and 2 were my own creations, but after they went pear-shaped I decided to follow a pattern. I thought it was nice how this design “follows the rules” per Stacy and Clinton, (linked in case you are living under a rock and don’t get that reference—please join us soon!) but it did not follow the same rules on me that it appears to have followed on the model pictured in the magazine. No, I believe that the model and I have different rules. I was also not pleased with how the cables looked a bit sloppy, like maybe I needed to use a smaller needle (granted, the picture does not support this concern). After Cable-down Raglan sat for about a year in this 1-sleeve-to-go state, I am now ready to tear it apart and use the yarn for Attempt 4. This decision was weighed carefully (and avoided for an extended period), and I believe it required a great deal of activity in my anterior cingulate cortex. This is a portion of the prefrontal cortex that allows one to recognize conflicts and make decisions when there are options to consider. Do I finish Cable-down Raglan and see if I like it after I’ve worn it a few times, or do I abandon it now and use the yarn for something I might actually wear? The conflict is that so much work has already been done (work that required my dorsolateral PFC, even), but it looks terrible on me. My extensive experience of completing items that look terrible has helped tip the balance toward Attempt 4.

Attempt 4 is Diminishing Rib Cardigan designed by Andrea Pomerantz (fellow science geek knitter; see her blog here) from the Spring 2009 issue of Interweave Knits. I’ve decided that the only way to make this color work for me is to keep it very simple. This pattern is considerably less PFC-dependent than was Attempt 3. You can see the modeled version here.

I've made it to the arm-holes with yarn I had not used yet, but now it is necessary to start taking yarn from the sweater in the picture...I'll share my progress soon.

Listening to my amygdala

2010-01-09T13:26:00.006-05:00

I was recently reminded to heed the danger signals when a project is not going well.

Few hat patterns have caught my attention as much as Mary Ann Stephens' Polar Chullo. I am a big fan of Fair Isle knitting and I have a HUGE stash of fingering weight yarn--the chullo is a perfect project.

As I cast on 192 stitches (foregoing the flaps) I thought "that's a lot of stitches". The smallest circular needles I could find that were not already being used in my abundance of partially started projects were #2s and the patterns calls for #1s. Well, it's Fair Isle and tight is tight, so it wouldn't make much difference. These needles were 16 inches long, so the work was very bunched up. You see where this is going. I did, too, but I didn't LISTEN.

Here is a picture of the 30-inch hat band.
I have learned that my color choices look fine, that it would look better if the stitches were tighter, and that a 16-inch circular needle is too short. So, I have ordered a special pair of addi turbo size #0 20-inch needles.

Before I reached this Zen state of "it's the process, it's all good", I had an episode of rage. I got my indignant self on Ravelry to commiserate with everyone else who had a 30-inch hat band. Instead I saw 21 or so gorgeous hats, a bunch of colorways that were spectacular, and not a single mention of 10-inch distortions in hat band size. I was reminded that there are some amazing knitters out there. I was not feeling like one of them, and I got rather sad.

Not one to stay sad for long (it did last longer than the typical result of a knitting project gone awry), I pulled out of the episode by using some positive reappraisal: "at least you stopped before you completed the entire hat" and "now you know it's worth trying with a smaller needle size". I also reminded myself that my hat will look just as good as some of the ones on Ravelry.

The danger signals were coming from my amygdala, where past disappointments of failed knitting projects are stored in my brain. This brain area is part of a primitive circuit that coordinates a defensive response in the face of danger. A big bear jumps onto your hiking path, so your amygdala gets signals from your eyes and nose (big stinky dangerous thing) and also from your cortex (brown bear, more scared of you than you of him, but be careful anyway) and sends signals to your brainstem and hypothalamus to coordinate the appropriate response (increased heart rate, sweaty palms, courage to make yourself look bigger by jumping up and down, arms waving). This response begins subconsciously, before the cortex has time to interpret the details. Good thing, because sometimes thinking takes too long.

It might be good to get more in tune with the early signals from the amygdala. It's usually very accurate about detecting danger, like when 192 stitches on #2 needles seems like too much. It would be better to listen early on, before it becomes all too clear that disaster has struck.

2009-12-27T20:35:00.005-05:00

Can't we open the presents YET !!!!!!!!!

This is my favorite holiday project. Roving dyed to match a Georgia O'Keeffe painting.

We had a white Christmas, much to Brown's delight.

Wool maven and a wurm

2009-12-02T21:11:00.002-05:00

Brownie is growing into a teenager. He has developed a fondness for the yarn in my "random" basket, where he is often found making himself comfortable, treating a specific skein of hand spun like it was a mouse he's captured, and diving to find more yarn to molest.

He still likes to be carried around. Here he is helping me model Wurm (see Wurm on Ravelry for the free pattern, or, if you read German, you can go directly to umschlagplatz.at). It's the coolest hat to make and is surprisingly comfortable.

New blog guest

2009-10-08T07:25:00.007-05:00

My former test-driver, Barney, is no longer with us. He passed away July 28 after being our buddy for 4 years. We miss him very much. We decided very quickly that we needed another cat, so we found Brownie. He is a kitten, though he's grown so much in the last few weeks you would not think so. Here are a few pictures taken in the last week. He does not yet understand the concept of sleeping in a cat bed, but at least he is touching it in this shot.

His favorite thing to do is burrow in the magic blanket and make air biscuits.

Barney had no interest in yarn or fiber, but Brownie is a big fan of both.

Knitting as a procedural memory

2009-09-12T10:23:00.002-05:00

The person who I consider to be the most famous psychology human subject passed away last December, at the age of 82, after being studied since he was 27 years old. It was at that time in 1953 that H.M. (as he was known until his death) lost his ability to store new memories as a result of a surgical procedure that was done to treat severe epilepsy. While the surgery was successful in preventing the seizures that had incapacitated H.M., it had a devastating effect on the rest of his life. It was thought at first that he was no longer able to form any new memories, but the work of Brenda Milner revealed that he was able to form some types of new memory, just not the kind that we usually think of. He could learn new skills, but he would not be able to say when and where he learned the skill or even that he had the skill. It would only be revealed in his actions.

When H.M. died, and it was revealed that his initials stood for Henry Molaison, it was also revealed that his brain was to be studied at UC San Diego, and that the public would be able to view the process and the resulting brain images at the Brain Observatory (see description of the HM project here). I was delighted to find the link to a NOVA episode that featured this work. It's definitely worth 10 minutes of your time! You can get there by clicking here: NOVA

I'm sure that if Mr. Molaison had been taught to knit after his surgery, he would have retained that skill and made some pretty awesome projects!

new box

2009-07-16T07:55:00.000-05:00

My mumma gets a new toy and all there is for me is this box.

New (and last) wheel

2009-07-16T07:51:00.004-05:00

A Schacht Matchless!

It's a bit different...

hand-all hat

2009-07-16T07:47:00.002-05:00

Here is a hand-dyed, hand-spun and hand-knit hat that I really like.

It might be some of the last yarn I spin on the old Babe's wheel!

new twine

2009-06-28T10:36:00.004-05:00

It was not twine when I made the purchase.

Maine Knuts

2009-06-10T20:13:00.003-05:00

Some of the knuts visited Harpswell, ME for the weekend. We had a great time!

Melville Workshop Musings

2009-04-28T07:34:00.007-05:00

I’ve been knitting like a fiend for 23+ years, but it is only in the last 3 days that I have been to a knitting workshop. Not just any ‘ole workshop, but one run by Sally Melville. The LYS that I frequent most often was offering the workshops, and I decided to rope a friend into attending. The only one that fit both our schedules was called Knit to Fit and Flatter and required us to produce paper doll replicas of our own bodies. This form of reality took multiple days to process and should be on every health-conscious person’s refrigerator. It might also help if it was posted at every donut/coffee shop between one’s house and workplace. Anyway, I recovered from that shock in time to listen to some instructions, which included producing clothes for our doll selves. It was good to get covered up and to learn that certain styles can be made to be flattering. I went home and dragged out all the sweaters that I wear frequently and discovered that these were the ones that “followed the rules”. I now feel totally empowered to make sweaters that will look appropriate on me and I will hesitate less to get rid of the sweaters that I love to look at, but not wear. I can’t promise I will actually get rid of these, I’m just leaning that direction. Small steps.

The best part was to return for another workshop a few days later with some of those rule-abiding sweaters, plus one that I knew could look better on me. It was made prior to my new understanding of the rules. I thought it would prompt Sally to say, “see what I mean”? She did say something like that, and then asked for some scissors to show me how to fix it. I don’t have a before close-up, but here is the aftermath of the sweater modification. Perhaps my other rule-breaking sweaters will meet a similar fate. I’m very excited to bind off the raw edge and add it to the rule-abiding pile.

In general the workshops were productive and very fun. I hung out with 2 good friends at the first one (I only roped one into it, the other came under her own volition). We all bonded by enduring the distress of viewing our paper doll selves. Here is mine, fully and appropriately dressed in my ideal short-length unfitted sweater and an A line skirt. I don’t actually own such a skirt, but that’s what I should be wearing. Maybe not those colors.

Sally’s view is that patterns should be more flexible than they are, with indications of where to lengthen or shorten the body or to adjust the sleeve to fit better. This principle is applied in the Knitting Experience series, but it’s dialed up a few notches in Mother-Daughter Knits, with the first chapter all about the fit and flatter material that was covered in the Paper Doll Self workshop. I know that this book is going to be an important reference for my projects going forward. I don’t generally follow patterns, but I may be convinced to follow some from this book. It helps to have seen some of the sweaters, modeled by Sally herself. More info about Sally is at her website: http://www.sallymelvilleknits.com/index.html

Thanks, Sally, for the inspiration and the useful information.

mahogany vest progress

2009-04-12T10:21:00.003-05:00

Here is the vest in progress. The idea is to have a front that overlaps and ties on one side, with a very simple lace edge design.

Not a pipe-dream

2009-04-09T12:59:00.003-05:00

As part of the no-new-twine-in-2009 effort, I have been raiding the stash and coming up with some rather random small projects. People who don't usually get a knitted item from me for their birthday have not been so lucky this year. This is a hat for one of the plumber brothers.

Mahogany?

2009-03-31T11:52:00.007-05:00

I experimented with some Knit Picks Palette in Tan. I originally got the yarn to make a vest, but it wasn’t the right color tan, so it was sitting around doing nothing. It was a convenient target at the beginning of the dyeing bout.

I used “cranberry”, “butterscotch” and “mahogany” ProChem One-Shot acid dye for these skeins. This is when mahogany hinted at its leanings toward rosey. Husband calls this color “autumn leaves”. Evidence gathered over 17 years of coexistence suggests that we have different sets of color receptors (he’ll say grey when I say purple). Despite this, I can see where he gets that idea.

Now knowing and liking “mahogany”, I dove into a bigger, more risky endeavor. Oogyknitter gave me 2 huge skeins of undyed Kid Silk Haze, an estimated 1800 yards of dreamy yarn. One does not just throw dye at such a prize before considering carefully the consequences. So it took me a few months to decide to dye the kid silk haze in combination with some Knit Picks lace weight wool/silk blend yarn, with the idea of stranding them together for a vest or some such project. I even did a swatch to see if the stranding would be feasible before I did the dyeing.

Here is the kid silk haze getting dyed.

And here is how both yarns looked when they were finished. Rosey!

I recruited an eager accomplice for the Dyeing Bout of March 2009. Nova brought over a truckload of wool from various sources and we spent the afternoon in colorful bliss. Check her blog for spinning/knitting progress.

The bout ended with the end of our Spring Break. I know, I should have been grading lab reports…Stay tuned for how the stranded rosies look.

Niece's scarf

2009-03-05T16:56:00.003-05:00

In the continued effort to use up my endless supply of yarn I am happy to report that another finished object has left the premises! This is hand dyed merino worked in a simple entrelac design (simple once you make 3-4 unsuccessful attempts at the second row).

Psi Hat

2009-02-05T22:08:00.003-05:00

This is another hat made from the big wheel of wool. If you use your imagination, you can see the Greek letter psi repeated in the pattern, or maybe you see IgG antibodies like my geek husband.

Knitting as an Effort-Based Reward System

2009-01-21T11:15:00.003-05:00

I’ve heard many knitters say that they use their hobby/craft as a type of therapy. I often joke that yarn is cheaper than Prozac, though I’m not so sure about that now. Fewer side effects, certainly! I have recently read a book called Lifting Depression by Kelly Lambert, who proposes the idea that our current social context is contributing to an increased incidence of depression because we don’t use our hands enough. She supports this idea by describing how the motor system has evolved to specialize in fine motor and sensory processing for the hands, first as our primary form of communication and then as the main tool for the tasks of daily living. She believes that a person can avoid depression by managing stress effectively and by establishing regular, daily effort-based reward experiences. So what is effort-based reward?

The idea is that completing a task that requires some effort, especially tasks that use the hands, provides a person with a sense of accomplishment. The regular experience of such accomplishment encourages the person to continue the behavior. The continued behavior strengthens circuits in the brain that counteract the processes that lead to negative mood states.

She gives a personal example of recovering from a bout of depression that was prompted by the death of her mother. She didn’t feel better until she rediscovered the joys of vacuuming. Her experience was that the manual labor led to the very obvious improvement in the appearance of her surroundings, a clear reward for her efforts. She was DOING something, taking control of her immediate situation (dirty house) and making a noticeable difference (clean house). Her experience was in keeping with the findings of her research program in which she explores the impact of stress on behavior in rats.

I find this idea very appealing. I have often noted that if I feel stressed at work the best remedy is to get in the lab and clean the glassware, or clear off the lab bench, or wash some rat cages. I realize as I’m performing these tasks that I should be leaving it for a work-study student, but I just feel like doing the work myself. I also find doing the dishes and laundry at home appealing (sometimes). Mostly, though, this idea relates to my long-standing focus on all things fiber.

Lambert actually uses knitting multiple times in her book as an example of an effort-based reward activity. This makes total sense. It involves fine motor control and sensation of the hands. The results of one’s efforts are easy to see, even when you are just learning. It is easy to learn and can be performed in many contexts.

I like to think that we can enjoy the conveniences of modern living (I’m in no hurry to use a washboard or to raise my own cows; sheep maybe…) and still use our brains as they were intended by incorporating effort-based rewarding behavior into our routines. So, next time you get a twinge of guilt for choosing to knit instead of applying harsh chemicals to your kitchen floor, remember that you need to flex the muscle between your ears: keep knitting!

shepherd's hat

2009-01-21T09:19:00.002-05:00

This hat was made for the shepherd who gave my colleague the wool pictured below.

Left-overs wristlets

2009-01-11T20:29:00.002-05:00

Here is a pair of wristlets I made for SIL, using left-over sock yarn. I'm making myself a pair now, less ornate and colorful with some hand-dyed sock yarn. They are rather useful when it's cold and there's lots of typing to do.

weekend dye job

2009-01-11T20:18:00.003-05:00

The oily pile has acquired some color! I left a few skeins blank, but now that they are washed they have turned a few shades lighter. I made the rust skeins progressively lighter by adding them to the pot in 10-minute intervals. The dark blue ones are actually a mistake. I added too much dye to the pot, so they were much darker than I had hoped for. I took them out and added another set of skeins, which turned out the "right" color.
Here they are, close-up.

I have a striped sweater planned for them.

2009 Pledge

2009-01-08T10:13:00.002-05:00

No New Twine in 2009!
As you can see, I don't need any new yarn. Here is the pile of skeins from the big wheel of yarn (see Dec 08 post below). It hasn't been washed yet, so this is the weighed-down oily pile.
Oogyknitter says No New Twine, Or Its Kind, in 2009. I'm still contemplating that extreme stance...

Tree topper

2008-12-24T09:58:00.004-05:00

This is our Flying Spaghetti Monster tree topper. My husband asked me to make it for our multiple-belief holiday tree. You can read about the FSM here and the pattern (for a smaller ornament is here. His eyes are Oobi eyes, which are used for hand puppets.
Happy Holidays!

ready to felt

2008-12-23T09:59:00.002-05:00

Wabenshal

2008-12-23T09:52:00.003-05:00

Here is the progress I've made on the KAL that oogyknitter and I are doing. My version of Tequila Sunrise is more like Tequila Noonday. Lots of YELLOW. I like working this pattern because I can do a full pattern repeat (14 rows) in one sitting. Oogyknitter chose the pattern and I dyed the yarn. The pattern is at www.die-wollust.de

A mammothy wool

2008-12-22T13:38:00.007-05:00

Winter break is here, and there's time to blog! Well, not really, but the alternative is grading, so I'll blog for a distraction from that.

This great wheel of wool was recently bestowed upon me. Woo hoo! Long story, but one of my colleagues is neighbors with a sheep herder (herd of 2, I believe), who gave him this wool for helping care for the sheep. My colleague is not interested in learning to knit, so instead handed over the wool to me.

Raw wool, spun with the oils intact, is not always an impressive sight, but once it gets washed, and dyed (!) it really comes to life.
I've wasted no time in starting a project--a bag (or 2?) to be felted. I think I'll make a hat for the sheep herder as a thank you. The wool is not itchy at all.

More later...

Camel Beach Knitters

2008-08-31T20:30:00.002-05:00

So now you know I hang out with beautiful people.

The pink tube

2008-08-31T20:15:00.007-05:00

Here is oogyknitter's tube-making machine with the first inch of pink alpaca yarn on its way to tube-ville. This is yarn that I purchased in bulk from Webs, when I thought I liked the color and before I discovered that it is not exactly soft. It's great for felting, though!
4 skeins later...I weaved in a nylon clothesline cord to make some holes in the felted fabric for later.

ready for the dye.
Dyed and felted...you can see the notches where the nylon cord was removed.

happy felines

2008-08-31T20:08:00.004-05:00

This post has nothing to do with either knitting or brain function...

Barney likes his new window perch.

And "Saddle bags" likes the catnip. He/she visits our yard occasionally to sample it. I grew it for Barney though he seems insensitive to it.

This summer's FOs

2008-08-13T08:00:00.005-05:00

The projects this summer have mostly been multi-step ones: dyeing, felting and knitting, not necessarily in that order.

Here is a pair of socks made from Knit Picks sock flats, dyed with 2 blues and a green. I made concentric circles of green and the 2 blues on the flat, but they didn't really translate that way on the actual socks. It was great fun anyway, and a great way to make hand-dyed matching socks.

Another dyeing project eventually became a shawl.
Oogyknitter gave me a machine-knitted tube of shetland wool meant to be dyed and then made into something. It took me several months to decide what to do with it. I dyed the tube with 2 reds and black, then chose to use the Syrian shawl pattern from Victorian Lace to make best use of the colors.

I got so intrigued by the tube possibilities that I asked dear oogyknitter to lend me her machine. I have lots of wool in the stash that I have discovered isn't what I hoped it would be when I bought it. It's perfect fodder for the machine. I made this purse by first making a tube of alpaca/wool blend pink yarn, then dyeing it blue, purple and black. I felted the dyed tube and then cut it up and pieced together the purse. I'm now in the process of making another tube and hope to make a larger bag with it.
This last project did not involve dyeing, but I did design it myself. It's a simple poncho made with 2 equal-sized rectangles and some edging. My friend Heather was swatching the linen stitch and reminded me how much I like that stitch.

2008-06-13T08:05:00.002-05:00

Here is a pair of socks that I made for Dad. He likes other socks I've made for him, but I discovered that he's not into the random stripe style. "They don't match" says he. These may look boring, but they feel nice and they definitely match!
Happy Father's Day!

2008-06-01T20:29:00.006-05:00

Poor neglected blog. I always promise to be more attentive, and then 2+ months goes by...
My excuse this time is that I decided to buy a house and move in to it during a busy semester. The boys and I are happy in our new home and we have vowed never to move again.

Meanwhile, the knitting has continued. Here is the latest community knitting project that the Camel Knitters have begun. It will be a blanket that we hope will be given to a family that is starting over. Each of us is making some rectangles, any dimension and any pattern, using any of a selection of colors in the same yarn. I periodically lay it out to see how it's looking. Mr. Rubble thinks of this as an invitation to test drive the blanket-in-progress.

Following another pattern?

2008-03-22T20:47:00.003-05:00

Here's another project made from a pattern. I have been ogling the sweaters in Knitting out of Africa, by Marianne Isager for a few years now. I finally decided to make one, called Asante. The little square design at the top of the back captured my interest. So I followed the pattern, for the most part. Even with different yarn and a slight variation of the instructions for making multiple squares on the front (uh, a few other things were done differently...), it was looking just like pictures in the book. That was until husband suggested that another little square on one sleeve would be cool. I believe he was totally right.
I can't wait to wear it--as you can see I couldn't wait to take a picture of it, either.

Small Shawl 2

2008-03-22T20:40:00.002-05:00

Here is another shadow knitting shawl, worked as instructed in the pattern, but with a slight variation, a stripe along the top edge. I find that I have been drawn to using other people's patterns of late. But, I can't seem to leave the patterns intact. I guess that's what is cool about knitting--you can go along with most of what someone else believes to be ideal, but there is always room to add your own elements.

Matching socks

2008-01-21T16:37:00.000-05:00

Enough neuroscience for one day--it's back to knitting for this post. Here are the socks, which you can see are fairly well-matched for ones that are made from hand-dyed yarn.

Neuroscience of blogging?

2008-01-21T16:35:00.000-05:00

It’s common knowledge that each side of the brain has some unique functions. For example, it is well-established that language functions are housed in the left hemisphere in most people. There is some evidence that the left side processes positive emotions. In a book about depression Andrew Solomon¹ describes the idea that the pleasure of communicating is diminished by depression. He points out that depressed people avoid communication and that the opposite pattern occurs in mania, when a person can’t seem to stop talking.

The literature on brain symmetry and depression is not one I am particularly familiar with, but my initial glance suggests that people who respond to antidepressants have stronger left hemisphere processing in a perceptual task compared to non-responders.^2,3 This observation is consistent with the idea that using language, stimulating the left hemisphere in the act of communicating, can counteract the forces of negative mood. Perhaps this is why people find journal or letter writing to be therapeutic. Could blogging be considered therapeutic, or a beneficial coping mechanism to reduce stress?

Now that the personal and social impact of new media is being explored, it will be interesting to learn more about how various forms of communication relate to mood. In the meantime, I will add blogging to knitting as a form of stress management. This might increase the frequency of posting!

Footnotes

1. Andrew Solomon. (2001). The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression. Scribner, New York. In the chapter on evolution, Solomon is focused on communication on pages 414-419.

2. Bruder, G.E., Stewart, J.W., McGrath, P.D., Deliyannides, D. and Quitkin, F.M. (2004). Dichotic listening tests of functional brain asymmetry predict response to fluoxetine in depressed women and men. Neuropsychopharmacology, 29 (9): 1752-61.

3. Bruder, G.E., Sedoruk, J.P., Stewart, J.W., McGrath, R.J., Quitkin, F.M., and Tenke, C.E. (2007). Electroencephalic alpha measures predict therapeutic response to a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor antidepressant: pre- and post-treatment findings. Biological Psychiatry, Epub Nov 29, 2007.

making sock progress

2007-12-28T12:01:00.000-05:00

The dyed tube of yarn, folded in half, becomes 2 skeins that are fairly close in color intervals.

striped sock yarn in progress

2007-12-27T09:17:00.001-05:00

The experiment continues...
A mile of plastic wrap and 2 colors later, the tube of sock yarn patiently soaks up the dye.

new dyeing adventure

2007-12-27T09:10:00.000-05:00

Oogyknitter has done it again: got me started on a new and exciting fiber project. Here is the long tube of yarn she made using Knit Picks Bare wool/nylon blend for socks. The 462 yards of yarn in this tube is destined to be dyed and then unraveled to produce a hank of sock yarn with stripes at regular intervals. I had the foresight to mark the middle of the tube so that I could fold it in half and apply the dye in a similar manner to each side.

back to blogging

2007-12-27T09:05:00.000-05:00

Judging from the recent paucity of posts on this blog you might think the author hasn't been knitting. I've been knitting plenty, but not blogging much!
Here are the 9 x-mas hats for the nieces and nephews.

lace trend

2007-09-23T20:47:00.000-05:00

This is Falling Leaves scarf, which I started before I learned all that cool stuff about lace. Finishing the blue shawl gave me new motivation to dig out the abandoned scarf and finish it. Perfect timing as the leaves really are starting to fall.

Finished Blue Shawl

2007-09-23T20:40:00.000-05:00

Who knew lace was going to be so addictive. All I needed was some education about how lace items are constructed! All of the lace weight yarn languishing in the stash has a renewed lease on life. The blue shawl was labeled "easy" and it really was until I encountered the border. And then I noticed I was going to run out of yarn. So, the border is only on one edge, but folded over it looks pretty good.

Victorian Shawl in Progress

2007-07-31T15:39:00.001-05:00

This is the beginning of an "easy" shawl from the book Victorian Lace Today by Jane Sowerby (thank U Oogyknitter!). I've had this yarn, Feza Kid Mohair. for ages and am glad it finally has a known destiny.

Pomatomus attempt 1

2007-07-23T09:44:00.001-05:00

This is a the first Pomatomus sock I have made. The pattern is challenging and the end result is beautiful. However, this rendition was too loose and the heel was bigger than I like, so it has been unraveled. I am working up the courage to begin again, with smaller needles. The pattern is free online here.

Small Wing Shawl

2007-07-21T19:57:00.000-05:00

It's Day 2 of the short-on-words blog series.
Here is a small wing shawl, based on the pattern in Hoxbro's Shadow Knitting. It is worked with Knit Picks Palette in Bark and Garnet Heather as the main colors and Brindle Heather serving as both contrast colors. The colors appear differently depending on how it is viewed, which is the cool thing about shadow knitting.

Community knitting

2007-07-20T11:06:00.000-05:00

Hi Brainknit fans (all 4 of you)!
I have heard your concerns and will be posting a series of SHORT entries for the next few days, mostly without reference to neuroscience.
Here is the Color on Color scarf, from Scarf Style, that members of the Camel Knitters Guild are making. It is near completion and will be raffled off early this Fall. We have each contributed scrap yarn and time and we hope someone will enjoy wearing it soon.

7 stitch itch hat

2007-06-18T20:19:00.000-05:00

This hat gets its name from the short rowing process that allows it to have a hat shape. I progressively increased the number of stitches in each turn until I reached 7 and decided I was tired of short rowing. Luckily it worked out well. The hat is reversible, and I'm having trouble deciding which side looks best. It is my swatch to determine the gauge for the licorice twist hand-dyed yarn.

Twisted Dye Job

2007-06-18T20:06:00.000-05:00

I have rediscovered the fun of hand dyeing wool! This wool is Henry's Attic Licorice Twist, which is unique because one of the plies takes up the dye more than the others, creating a twisted appearance. Here it is augmented by the space-dyed effect of 3 colors that have intermingled in places. I made 3 like this combination that includes lilac, raspberry and blue-grey, and one skein of a combination of kiwi and spruce green.

Binge Knitting

2007-06-18T19:41:00.000-05:00

The word "binge" has a negative connotation, which would be an apt description of some of my knitting situations, but not this one. In a positive way it describes the process of how this sweater was completed, after it had languished for about 2 years in the far reaches of a remote closet. It was abandoned when my attempt to add the bottom portion to the bodice went all pear-shaped, literally, with far too many stitches that produced an exceedingly wide body, even for me! Somehow it was easy to unravel it after it was dormant for that long. I reduced the number of stitches and finished it in a matter of 2 or 3 days. That's the binge knitting part.

It represents the transition from a very difficult semester to the luxury of summer. I needed to reset my mind, to shift down a few gears, and having this very easy project that was half done already marked the transition perfectly. I enjoyed the soft yarn and the feel of every stitch as I marched through to the end. I felt ready to delve into summer research once it was finished. The fact that it can actually be worn is a bonus!

felting addiction

2007-05-06T19:39:00.000-05:00

What is it about felting that is so compelling? It could be the ease with which a large amount of previously-abandoned wool finds a purpose. Or the thrill of the unknown outcome. A project is often added to the "what the h#*@ is this?" pile, or it becomes the newest addition to my considerable trove of vessels. However, my latest endeavor has actually been used for its intended purpose, and it has generated positive comments from people who I don't know, who wouldn't be expected to feel obligated to be nice and say it's cool. Here are the before and after pictures. I told you I got inspired by your entrelac bag, oogyknitter!

knitting in neuroscience class

2007-04-19T14:05:00.000-05:00

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

2007-04-14T07:23:00.000-05:00

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!

Knitting and Oxytocin

2007-03-23T11:32:00.000-05:00

There is a new knitting group that has formed at work. We meet every Wednesday at noon (prompting us to consider a name with “hump” in it), with a different set of people each week, depending on competing demands. I have not missed a week as of yet, so far being able to manage my schedule to keep such a precious time free. This would be the second group in which I am a member. My other group, the Knitting Knuts (or Hens according to the husband) have been meeting for about 4 years, once each month on a Saturday afternoon/evening/night. We knit and drink wine and eat whatever inventions the members have pulled together (one time we had 3 soups and another time there was only dessert items). It has developed into a stable group of 5 people, with 2-3 others who appear occasionally. The formation of the new group at work has prompted me to consider the value and appeal of being a member of a knitting group. And, of course, I have considered the role of the brain and am wondering about the neurochemical basis of the formation and maintenance of these social groups. Oxytocin is a peptide neurotransmitter in the brain that has been linked to a range of social behavior. Perhaps the knitting groups are raising our levels of oxytocin, which contributes to the positive impact of the groups.

Oxytocin has long been recognized as an important hormone for a variety of reproductive functions, including the milk let-down reflex, uterine contractions during labor, and smooth muscle contractions during orgasm. It also is involved in the formation of stable mating bonds, which have been studied most thoroughly in little rodents called prairie voles. It turns out that prairie voles are monogamous, forming a pair bond with a mate and keeping that mate for many breeding seasons. If the brain areas that respond to oxytocin in the female prairie vole are removed or somehow disabled, the pair bond fails to form and the prairie vole becomes polygamous. The links below will connect you to some interesting information about oxytocin and the researchers who are leading the effort to understand its effects in humans.
http://www.psych.uic.edu/faculty/Carter.htm
http://newsinhealth.nih.gov/2007/February/docs/01features_01.htm

Recent studies in humans have revealed that oxytocin has a complex role in social behavior. It does seem to be involved in mate attraction, although these studies are preliminary and more work needs to be done before any definitive role of oxytocin can be stated. You’ll find a compelling article on this subject in the February 2006 issue of National Geographic: http://www7.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0602/feature2/
It is also being studied in relation to trust. If participants in an experiment are given a dose of oxytocin, they are more likely to trust an investment partner with their money than if they were given a placebo (Kosfeld, Heinrichs, Zak, Fischbacher & Fehr; 2005, Nature, vol. 435, pp. 674-676). Oxytocin has been shown to also reduce the threat impact of faces with scared expressions (Kirsch et al.; 2005, The Journal of Neuroscience, vol. 25(49), pp. 11489-11493). Normally, viewing a scared face will stimulate the amygdala, which then initiates a defensive response that is helpful in preparing the person to deal with whatever threat has produced the scared expression. For example, the amygdala can stimulate the hypothalamus, which causes the production of a stress hormone, cortisol, which gets circulated throughout the body and allows cells to use their stored energy to fuel an escape response and then help the body return to its normal state. When Kirsch and his colleagues gave participants oxytocin, their amygdala was not as responsive to the scared expressions. However, they were not aware of a change in anxiety: the oxytocin-treated participants said they felt the same as without oxytocin, even though their amygdala function was reduced. Apparently it’s all happening subconsciously!
For years the dogma in stress research was that cortisol was the pivotal stress hormone, and understanding its function was the key to understanding the stress response. Shelley Taylor has questioned this approach and her group has provided evidence that oxytocin is an important mediator of the stress response, as well. In her “tend and befriend” hypothesis she states that women are more likely than men to form social bonds and to use those bonds to counteract events that threaten one’s well being. Oxytocin is produced as part of the stress response and promotes these social bond responses (Taylor et al.; 2000, Psychological Review, vol. 107, pp. 411-429). This brings me back (finally!) to the knitting groups.

I didn’t expect my knitting groups to be so important to me. I look forward to them more than most other events and am extremely sad when they are postponed or cancelled. They are the only formal social groups I have, not being one to go to church or an exercise class, for example. Is it because of the knitting? I would think so, except that I knit all the time and often knit less when with the groups than at other times. The actual knitting might be important for other members, who only knit when the group meets. But for me, it must be something else. I thought it might be the food and wine, until the “hump” group started meeting and I found myself just as hooked.

One common attribute of the groups that is important for me is the chance to view my role models in a context in which I feel equal to them. As a Knut (Hen) I observe how very successful women have managed their careers and personal lives, how they have struggled to balance their responsibilities and goals. I learn something new at every meeting. They are all somehow connected to financial matters (accountants, financial planner, nonprofit organization consultant, lawyers), and so I find myself picking up that type of information, as well. There will occasionally be a query about how the brain works, a challenge because I want to go beyond the generalities and talk about the particulars, but mostly it’s about people, food and money. And yarn, fiber and knitting tools, of course!

As a Hump…

OK, time to settle on a name for this group. Our school mascot is the Camel (interesting stories: http://www.conncoll.edu/aboutcc/traditions/camels.html) and we meet on Wednesdays, making the use of the word “hump” doubly appealing or appalling. So, from now on I will refer to this group as the Camel Hump Knitters, or, for short and less offense, the Camel knitters.

The Camel knitters are women who work in many areas at the college, including librarians, professors, administrators, a publication designer and the ice rink’s Zamboni driver/women’s cross country coach/grounds keeper. It is unlikely that I would have an opportunity to meet and get to know our Zamboni driver under normal circumstances, but knitting tends to bring together an eclectic mix of people.

Perhaps it’s the oxytocin…to be continued soon.

Nephew's hat and color constancy

2007-03-08T20:12:00.000-05:00

Beginning a new blog

2007-02-23T10:23:00.000-05:00

Coming soon: images and thoughts about the brain and knitting