CogKNITive--A Knitting + Psychology Podcast: 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!

DCAlaneKnits: First, 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)

The 10-square bag:

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.

September Sweater: paused.

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.

Coral Strange Brew: paused

Vestuary 2026: paused

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:

Listening: The Wizard's Cat, I Will Teach You to be Rich

Finished: The Wizard’s Butler

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/

Hate AI? https://airesistlist.org/

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.