Sunday, September 20, 2026

Episode 301a: (301 fixed) 2027 LA Yarn Crawl Begins


Check out this episode!

Episode 302: Well, that was….interesting.



This episode will upload Sept 26, 2026
Yes, I did re-upload episode 301 to repair the damage that Audacity inflicted on the opening.

Comments are welcomed! Either comment here or go to our group on Ravelry.

Buy Dr Gemma a Ko-Fi, if you're enjoying the podcast and feeling up to it. Remember that I am still working, though, so feel free to give the money to a charity instead.

I will NOT add you to any of my follower groups currently, due to robo-accounts. Please follow me here. You can contact me through our group on Ravelry or on this blog.

Warm Thanks :
ChrisAah: For posting those beautiful dresses that you made for our Lydia. Just adorable.
DCAlaneKnits: congratulations, by the way on your kids being adults. No, we’re not old! We’re just a lot more interesting.
Vanessa of The Altered Stitch for a great interview and interest in CFR.
Susan M: please give our love to Karen and WHAT A DELIGHT! to see you at The Altered Stitch!
My communities: on Finch, on Reddit, on the ground in the SCV and AV, in this group.

 Finch app ID is XRVW2WQW3C.

Cogknitive Fiber Retreat 12 (2026): ALL INFO IS RIGHT HERE It's the info thread on 
Ravelry. Yes, I have updated the thread on Ravelry.

CHANGE: Cogknitive Fiber Retreat 12 is scheduled for Nov 7, 2026.
 MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
This is a Developing thread, so check back often.
Don't forget the Bloodroot tee fashion show

Registration for CFR 12 (2026):

Via Paypal to Dr. Gemma at gemmadw AT yahoo.com
Payment is due at time of registration and is NOT refundable.**
Sign-ups begin Sept. 1, 2026

Classes

Gemma will show us how to make a no-sew bag from an old t-shirt (bring an old shirt; Gemma has about 12 though to share). If we are all feeling brave, we may work on making T-shirt yarn from any extras

The Burbank Squad also plans to teach a class/lead a demo.

Loretta 1031 left a message about donations for her crocheting club for school kids. This still applies! 

From Loretta :

 Current Wants:

-Project bags (larger plastic baggies work great!) 
-Plastic clasp stitch markers 
-size G, H, and I crochet hooks 
-Worsted-weight yarn — washable and light colors, please”

What's On My Hooks and Needles:

 Finished: nada

In Progress:

Stash toss 2026 (29 in, 107 out) 

Doing the sides, all the blocks are joined. Done up the side panels. Thinking of the liner, digging out an old flannel sheet.

Lakeside cardigan : Remaining: 1 set of front on panels, each is 2x2, weaving those ends, attaching, then major remaining seams.

It's crocheted and has been on my Rav projects page for months. I’m done the second torso piece and I've sewn it all together. On the left arm! That will leave the bottom ribbing section and some fixes on the bottom of the other arm.


A great video by The Shetland Trader on steeking armholes for stranded -pattern vests. A fine discussion of reinforcing and cutting a steek by Brooklynn Tweed. You do put underarm stitches on a stitch holder. You do still shape the armhole per the pattern. Currently shaping the armholes as I head for the neckline.
At neck and upper armhole shapings

Bloodroot Tee: Done sleeves and just heading down the body. Hooray! 7” of body and probably about 9” to go! Still going!

Oceanside Top: Now on color #4 and onto the flutter sleeves section

Quilt squares and organizing—we are at 69 finished so far. 10 more in the early stages. Fusible interfacing pre-cut rectangles for t-shirt quilts.
Block assembly. I have 20 more blocks done! As I type this, I am assembling them into 10x1 block strips and then adding them to the current top assembly.

Dizzy Blondes: nope.
Using the electric eel 6.1. 

Strategy: 30 mins EMDR/evening with Calm app continues. 
Taking rest when needed. Changing pace, changing setting, changing diet, changing sleep.
Buying used books, upcycling old clothes

AW shoot! Bike desking , 3-4 miles/day

Upcoming:

Be the Light 5K: Sept 26, 2026
SC Marathon 5 K: Nov 6, 2026
Oceanside 5K: Nov 26,2026

Fluffy Books: 

Listening:, My Man Jeeves (Project Gutenberg), We Three Queens by Rhys Bowen
Finished: Smallhope and Pennyroyal 2: A Family Affair.

Something I Really Like: The Altered Stitch,  6740 Balboa Blvd, Lake Balboa, CA 91406
The charity is Stitching Kindness


Remember “ICEBlock”? Now there’s Antifreeze: https://antifreeze.app/

Put a Lid on It: Making the stand-bys: iced tea, bread, egg salad, iced coffee. ACV.

Blather: Jury duty fallout. Kaze Sushi  1232 W Ave K, Lancaster, CA 93534

Saturday: quilting and recovering. knitting, audio books, pumpkin soup. Adding to the recipe box.

Sunday: The Yarn Crawl continues: The Altered Stitch and Stitch Stop LA. Lunch at Kura in a Mall tucked away at Hazaltine Avenue in the SF Valley, almost atop Stitch Stop.

Remainders Creative Reuse, 787 E. Washington, Pasadena

Community Resources:
Books I’ve UsedA Knit/Crochet Library on the Ravelry group for CogKnitive
My Favorite Resources to Buy: The entire list can be found right here.
Skills and techniques list : links
Social Services: link to page (ICE, LGBTQIA+, etc.)

Calendar: 

Be the Light 2026: Sept. 26, 2026
Haunted Heroes 5K Oct  4, 2026
Finish the Run Oct 25, 2026
CFR 12 (2026): Nov.7, 2026 
SC 5K, 2026: Nov 15, 2026
Oceanside 5K: Nov 26,2026
Jingle Bell 5K: Dec 6, 2026

And Minerva gets the last word:  mmmmmm.sockssssss…you’ll never simply knit or crochet just for your own (human) use, you know that, right?




Tuesday, September 15, 2026

Episode 301: 2027 LA Yarn Crawl begins!


This episode will upload Sept 19, 2026

 I HAVE RELOADED THIS TO REPAIR THE DAMAGE TO THE OPENING

Comments are welcomed! Either comment here or go to our group on Ravelry.

Buy Dr Gemma a Ko-Fi, if you're enjoying the podcast and feeling up to it. Remember that I am still working, though, so feel free to give the money to a charity instead.

I will NOT add you to any of my follower groups currently, due to robo-accounts. Please follow me here. You can contact me through our group on Ravelry or on this blog.

Warm Thanks :
ChrisAah: Big, warm hug for all the birthday wishes! Your hubs is obviously a wise man, as well as a computer science prof. I really want just a sense of the basics, including terminology. Also, I am deeply complimented that he would share my psychotherapy tips with one of his students.
DCAlaneKnits: thank you very much for the congratulations on the 300th episode!

My communities: on Finch, on Reddit, on the ground in the SCV and AV, in this group.
 Finch app ID is XRVW2WQW3C.

Cogknitive Fiber Retreat 12 (2026): ALL INFO IS RIGHT HERE It's the info thread on 
Ravelry. Yes, I have updated the thread on Ravelry.

CHANGE: Cogknitive Fiber Retreat 12 is scheduled for Nov 7, 2026.
 MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
This is a Developing thread, so check back often.
Don't forget the Bloodroot tee fashion show

Registration for CFR 12 (2026):

Via Paypal to Dr. Gemma at gemmadw AT yahoo.com
Payment is due at time of registration and is NOT refundable.**
Sign-ups begin Sept. 1, 2026

Classes

Gemma will show us how to make a no-sew bag from an old t-shirt (bring an old shirt; Gemma has about 12 though to share)

The Burbank Squad also plans to teach a class/lead a demo


Loretta 1031
left a message about donations for her crocheting club for school kids. This still applies!
 

From Loretta :

 Current Wants:

-Project bags (larger plastic baggies work great!) 
-Plastic clasp stitch markers 
-size G, H, and I crochet hooks 
-Worsted-weight yarn — washable and light colors, please”

What's On My Hooks and Needles:

 Finished: nada

In Progress:

Stash toss 2026 (27 in, 107 out) 

Doing the sides, all the blocks are joined. Done up the side panels. Thinking of the liner, digging out an old flannel sheet.

Lakeside cardigan : Remaining: 1 set of front on panels, each is 2x2, weaving those ends, attaching, then major remaining seams.

It's crocheted and has been on my Rav projects page for months. I’m done the second torso piece and I've sewn it all together. On the left arm! That will leave the bottom ribbing section and some fixes on the bottom of the other arm.


A great video by The Shetland Trader on steeking armholes for stranded -pattern vests. A fine discussion of reinforcing and cutting a steek by Brooklynn Tweed. You do put underarm stitches on a stitch holder. You do still shape the armhole per the pattern. Currently shaping the armholes as I head for the neckline.
At neck and upper armhole shapings

Bloodroot Tee: Done sleeves and just heading down the body. Hooray! 7” of body and probably about 9” to go!

Oceanside Top: Now on color #4 and onto the flutter sleeves section

Quilt squares and organizing—we are at 69 finished so far. 10 more in the early stages. Fusible interfacing pre-cut rectangles for t-shirt quilts.
I spent my week washing and pressing those new cottons that I bought last week at Michael’s after my blood draw. I also finished making my six strips of 10 x 1 blocks. I found it surprisingly easy to pin together these stripes and start sewing them together into 2 x 10 block stripes. As you can guess, after that, I will sew these together to get a 4 x 10 block stripe and then a 6 x 10 block stripe. The next step after that is to set myself up again to make the remaining 31 blocks.

Dizzy Blondes: nope.
Using the electric eel 6.1. 

Strategy: 30 mins EMDR/evening with Calm app continues. 
Routine when scrambled with anxiety.

AW shoot! Bike desking , 3-4 miles/day

Upcoming:

Be the Light 5K: Sept 26, 2026
SC Marathon 5 K: Nov 6, 2026
Oceanside 5K: Nov 26,2026

Fluffy Books: 

Listening: Smallhope and Pennyroyal 2: A Family Affair., My Man Jeeves (Project Gutenberg)

Something I Really Like: The Woven End Yarn Café



Remember “ICEBlock”? Now there’s Antifreeze: https://antifreeze.app/

Put a Lid on It: Making the stand-bys: iced tea, bread, egg salad, iced coffee

Blather: 

Saturday: with all sorts of problems on the Los Angeles metro system, I did an unexpected yarn crawl to the Little Knittery and The Woven End Yarn Café along the B underground and Metro bus 224.


Sunday: puttering and phone calls at home. Quilting, Fabric prepping, knitting, audio books, treats

Remainders Creative Reuse, 787 E. Washington, Pasadena

Community Resources:
Books I’ve UsedA Knit/Crochet Library on the Ravelry group for CogKnitive
My Favorite Resources to Buy: The entire list can be found right here.
Skills and techniques list : links
Social Services: link to page (ICE, LGBTQIA+, etc.)

Calendar: 

Be the Light 2026: Sept. 26, 2026
Haunted Heroes 5K Oct  4, 2026
Finish the Run Oct 25, 2026
CFR 12 (2026): Nov.7, 2026 
SC 5K, 2026: Nov 15, 2026
Oceanside 5K: Nov 26,2026
Jingle Bell 5K: Dec 6, 2026
Los Angeles County Yarn Crawl: April 23-26, 2027

And Minerva gets the last word:  blessing the quilt in progress 


Thursday, September 10, 2026

Episode 300: Boxcars


Shownotes can be found on our blog at cogknitivepodcast.blogspot.com and also on our group on Ravelry.


Check out this episode!

Tuesday, September 8, 2026

Episode 300: Boxcars


This episode will upload Sept 12, 2026

Comments are welcomed! Either comment here or go to our group on Ravelry.

Buy Dr Gemma a Ko-Fi, if you're enjoying the podcast and feeling up to it. Remember that I am still working, though, so feel free to give the money to a charity instead.

I will NOT add you to any of my follower groups currently, due to robo-accounts. Please follow me here. You can contact me through our group on Ravelry or on this blog.

Warm Thanks : for all the birthday wishes!

DrewKaitlin: I am dying over here, wanting to see what you've got for CFR!
 
DCAlaneKnitsFirst, big warm hugs!
Second, thanks for the birthday wishes. It was, indeed, epic!
Third, I hear you on the computer science. I am going to skim the text book first, as a warm up. Then we shall see.
My communities: on Finch, on Reddit, on the ground in the SCV and AV, in this group.


 Finch app ID is XRVW2WQW3C.

Cogknitive Fiber Retreat 12 (2026): ALL INFO IS RIGHT HERE It's the info thread on 
Ravelry. Yes, I have updated the thread on Ravelry.

CHANGE: Cogknitive Fiber Retreat 12 is scheduled for Nov 7, 2026.
 MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
This is a Developing thread, so check back often.
Don't forget the Bloodroot tee fashion show

Registration for CFR 12 (2026):

Via Paypal to Dr. Gemma at gemmadw AT yahoo.com
Payment is due at time of registration and is NOT refundable.**
Sign-ups begin Sept. 1, 2026
Loretta 1031 left a message about donations for her crocheting club for school kids. This still applies!
 


What's On My Hooks and Needles:

 Finished: nada

In Progress:

Stash toss 2026 (27 in, 107 out) 

Doing the sides, all the blocks are joined. Done up the side panels. Thinking of the liner, digging out an old flannel sheet.

Lakeside cardigan : Remaining: 1 set of front on panels, each is 2x2, weaving those ends, attaching, then major remaining seams.

It's crocheted and has been on my Rav projects page for months. I’m done the second torso piece and I've sewn it all together. On the left arm! That will leave the bottom ribbing section and some fixes on the bottom of the other arm.


A great video by The Shetland Trader on steeking armholes for stranded -pattern vests. A fine discussion of reinforcing and cutting a steek by Brooklynn Tweed. You do put underarm stitches on a stitch holder. You do still shape the armhole per the pattern. Currently shaping the armholes as I head for the neckline.
At neck and upper armhole shapings

Bloodroot Tee: Done sleeves and just heading down the body. Hooray! 7” of body and probably about 9” to go!

Oceanside Top: Now on color #4 and onto the flutter sleeves section

Quilt squares and organizing—we are at 69 finished so far. 10 more in the early stages. Fusible interfacing pre-cut rectangles for t-shirt quilts.
I have a ten-block strip pinned! And I have sewn the entire first stripe of ten blocks! Here it is, including the pics to measure it on the actual bed:

Dizzy Blondes: nope.
Using the electric eel 6.1. 

Strategy: 30 mins EMDR/evening with Calm app 



AW shoot! Bike desking , 3-4 miles/day

Upcoming:

Be the Light 5K: Sept 26, 2026
SC Marathon 5 K: Nov 6, 2026
Oceanside 5K: Nov 26,2026

Fluffy Books: 

Reading: Smallhope and Pennyroyal 2: A Family Affair

Something I Really Like: the XteInk X3! (Computer science free, for the masses) Diving headfirst down the open source rabbit hole and into computer science


Remember “ICEBlock”? Now there’s Antifreeze: https://antifreeze.app/

Put a Lid on It: 4 Ingredient pot roast and pumpkin cream soup

4 Ingredient pot roast:
Chopped onion
1 can chopped tomatoes 
1 cup brown soda (I use Diet Pepsi)
1 hunk of beef roast or pot roast
Sauté onion in Instant Pot. Add beef and sauté for 3 mins on one side.
Switch pot to manual.
Add soda, tomatoes.
Manual for 100 minutes; allow to depressurize naturally.

Save the juices for…

pumpkin cream soup
Stock from pot roast, can also mince leftover meat into this.
15 ounce can pumpkin
1tbsp salt
8 oz salted butter
Heavy cream 
Put it all in instant pot on sauté for 15 min. to melt everything, then just leave on warm until consumed.

You can mince the leftover meat or purée it in a strong blender or processor with heavy cream and/or water. Add that right in with more pumpkin.


Blather: 
Friday: Happy Birthday to me! A morning of quilting, a day of train travel with my Belovedest, and, of course, cake and silly string!


Saturday: on which we all realized that we had colds, but I did some errands (Covid tests and cough drops) anyway.


Sunday: home sick, so I puttered and quilted, making the 10 block strips. I also taught myself to make a bag out of t-shirts from various YouTube vids.



Monday: still home sick, more quilting

Remainders Creative Reuse, 787 E. Washington, Pasadena

Community Resources:
Books I’ve UsedA Knit/Crochet Library on the Ravelry group for CogKnitive
My Favorite Resources to Buy: The entire list can be found right here.
Skills and techniques list : links
Social Services: link to page (ICE, LGBTQIA+, etc.)

Calendar: 

Be the Light 2026: Sept. 26, 2026
Haunted Heroes 5K Oct  4, 2026
Finish the Run Oct 25, 2026
CFR 12 (2026): Nov.7, 2026 
SC 5K, 2026: Nov 15, 2026
Oceanside 5K: Nov 26,2026
Jingle Bell 5K: Dec 6, 2026

And Minerva gets the last word:  I’m collectible and I’m everywhere!