Podcast appearances and mentions of anna zilboorg

Next Monday (07/06/2020) my guest will be the talented designer, author, and teacher Anna Zilboorg. Anna's pronouns are she and her. Anna, an Elder of the knitting community, is an Anglican solitary who now lives on the seaside town of Rockland, Maine. According to a quote by her (that I found online), she says that she was… "Born and reared in New York City; educated at Harvard; taught at MIT. Fled from the madding crowd's ignoble strife until I found myself in Big Stone Gap, VA. Got religion. Returned to my childhood love of knitting; became a hermit." At this point, Anna is retired. Before she retired, she devoted her energy to teaching the living craft (as opposed to just following directions). She has been called the Anarchist Knitter because of her book Knitting for Anarchists, and the 'Mad Bobbler' due to her love of three-dimensional stitches. Other books include Magnificent Mittens and Socks and Splendid Apparel, both available, as well as Sock for Sandals and Clogs, Fancy Feet, and 45 Fine & Fanciful Hats to Knit. Beyond her impressive career, Anna is one of the most interesting people I have ever met. I'm so happy that she agreed to be on the show. Please tune in—you really don't want to miss Anna!  

On the Needles:(0:32)   Jasmin’s Dissent Cardigan is finished. She mentions Splendid Apparel, by Anna Zilboorg. She mentions the Couture Button tutorial.  Jasmin improved the perfect buttonhole! Gigi purloins  "Feel Free to Compliment Me" from the Sewing Out Loud" podcast Jasmin mentions the Welcome to the Flock cardigan there are two! and the Frozen Hearts Pullover   She mentions the Diaphanous Raglan, the Rihanna Fenty lipstick.  She says it matches One Red Shoe from Anzula. Gigi cast on another pair of Vanilla is the new Black socks out of vacation yarn, and knitted most of the leg during knitting group #operationSockdrawer Gigi went to  EspaceTricot in Montreal while on Vacation Jasmin mentions Diane (Lady Dye Yarns) and a Rhinebeck Garment KAL we're collaborating on! She knitted on her  White Birch Fiber Arts socks in "A Study in Peach, Mint". Jasmin has swatched for the Diaphanous Raglan. (#MyRhineBIPOCSweater, #BIPOCMAL2019). She has also swatched for her Sevrine out of Neighborhood Fiber Co. Capital Luxury Sport in “Reservoir Hill”.   Jasmin mentions a kit from Neighborhood Fiber Co.(The #MyRhineBIPOCSweater KAL!). Join the Ravelry Group, if you’re a BIPOC dyer, fill out the form, if you’re a BIPOC designer, make sure you’re on the Black Squirrel List.  Gigi is working on the Rocky Coast cardigan and finished hip increases  Jasmin mentions the  #BIPOCMAL2019 , which starts in September and ends in November   Jasmin mentions Jessie Mae.  Check out her designs! And TinaTse Knits  Jasmin mentions LittleSkeinAnne from the Social Proofing episode  Jasmin’s Viajante is inching towards the mesh section. Gigi: put a few rows on The Joker and the Thief shawl  In Stitches (25:49) Gigi wore a dress from over ten years ago.  It brings out the silver in her hair    Events: (28:34) - #ChooseYourOwnAdventureKAL is ongoing.  - Stash Dash :May 24 till August 24. Hosted by the Knitgirllls FINISHED . Concession speech. Act Blue Families Belong Together Donation - May  31 till end of August: Two Ewes Not Along  Not knitting, crochet, spinning or weaving -#MyRhineBIPOCSweater - PIQF October 17-20   Mother Knows Best:(35:12) This week we talk about  baby gifts, True North Hearts and Hands donations: https://subcultureyarn.com/craftivism-hearts-hands-baby-layette-bag-donation/    When Knitting Attacks:(41:24) Gigi :Discovered that I made a mistake with where I put one dart for the hip increases  Podcasters: if you have a promo that you would like us to air, send it!   Straw into Gold:(45:44) Jasmin finished weaving a diaphanous shawl for Gigi. On her Schacht Flip   And Sew On:(50:10) Gigi’s sewing class at Cañada College got fitted with the paper patterns.  She can start on the muslin now Couture Embellishments class at Westvalley College started.   Thinking of embellishing home dec items for final project.     Also the class is supposed to make an "ethnic inspired" project.    

This week's episode is sponsored by:     So, you already know about the Akerworks Yarn Caddy Kit. Now, we are adding a little twist for you: Introducing the Akerworks Butterfly Kate, designed to fold into itself, making it incredibly easy to pack in a bag and take on any adventure! The Butterfly Kate has a wooden base, a carbon fiber shaft with two angle settings, a nifty pattern holder, and our patent-pending TensiTamer gizmo to keep everything in place and select your desired tension. It's designed either for use with our Yarn Caddy, or as a single shaft Lazy Kate for use with spinning bobbins. Akerworks: We like making things.         No matter what you need, the barmaids have you covered from head to toe. Face pudding to keep you smiling, Lolo lips keep them kissable, probiotic deodorant for keeping you fresh as a rose, oh for feet’s sake to keep your feet soft and sandal ready, and the Lolo body bar for everything in between. You can find all this - and more! at bar-maids.com         Carry your creativity with Erin Lane Bags! Whether you show your fiber fandom with the woolly wonder Sheepleverse, or dive into history with the Curiosities collection, our project bags, totes, and hook and needle organizers are at the ready to keep your hobby happy.     We all have it, we all snicker about it. Fun Fur. Whether it’s eyelash, boucle, or just generally furry, it’s hard to find projects for novelty yarn. With a sweet face, spiraling horns, and delightfully rotund body, Friendsheep by Cate Carter-Evans lets you transform your novelty and textured yarns into sweet, fleecy little friends. Pattern available on Ravelry; more info at infinitetwist.com   Have you ever had to frog because you forgot a step several rows back? Or lost your spot because you dropped your magnet board or lost track with your highlighter tape? Instead of wrestling with paper, use the knitCompanion app. It keeps you on track so you can knit more and frog less. knitCompanion works with ALL your patterns and is available for apple, android and kindle fire devices.     On the Needles:(0:32) Jasmin is excited about dog sweaters.  Gigi spoilers Jasmin's plans for the Diaphanous Raglan. Jasmin mentions a kit from Neighborhood Fiber Co.   Gigi mentions the Where's the Opaque sweater Our personal instagram handles are @gigidahling @cuteknitter . Gigi finished a pair of Vanilla is the new Black socks out of the Mani-Pedi vacation yarn. #operationSockdrawer The button band on Jasmin’s Dissent Cardigan is in finished. She mentions Splendid Apparel, by Anna Zilboorg. She mentions the Couture Button tutorial.  Gigi is working on the Polygon blanket again. She finished a turquoise ball of yarn Jasmin mention plans for the Persian Tiles blanket. Jasmin’s Viajante is inching towards the mesh section.   Jasmin mentions Diane (Lady Dye Yarns) and a Rhinebeck Garment KAL we're collaborating on! She did an IG live on Friday with Diane . (The #MyRhineBIPOCSweater KAL!). Join the Ravelry Group, if you’re a BIPOC dyer, fill out the form, if you’re a BIPOC designer, make sure you’re on the Black Squirrel List. Jasmin is going to be making Sevrine out of Neighborhood Fiber Co. Capital Luxury Sport in “Reservoir Hill”. Gigi frogged the Rocky Coast cardigan to the waistline to start hip increases    Name change - AVFKW Pioneer is now HORIZON. Check their announcement.   In Stitches (25:16) Gigi wore the A line skirt from sewing class.    Events: (26:44) - #ChooseYourOwnAdventureKAL is ongoing.  - Stash Dash :May 24 till August 24. Hosted by the Knitgirllls - May  31 till end of August: Two Ewes Not Along  Not knitting, crochet, spinning or weaving -#MyRhineBIPOCSweater - PIQF October 17-20   Mother Knows Best:(33:58) This week we answer a question from the "What do you want to hear about?" thread about  wiggly ends. Jasmin talked about the Knit Evenly app.  Gigi mentions the buttonhole spacer gadget.    When Knitting Attacks:(40:05) Gigi  had to frog back the Mani Pedi sock. Yarn had a knot. Undid the knot , and did a Russian join Working on another Pairfect sock.  Halfway through the sole, the yellow end of the sock part popped up. A line skirt.  Machine hem came out. Also, bias neckline did not turn out well.   Review:(44:42) Knit One, Girl Two  Rachel Herron has a new book : Stolen Things Jasmin mentions accessibility on the iPhone   Straw into Gold:(53:32) Jasmin finished plying a charcoal grey sweater’s worth of singles, 2670m added to Stashdash totals.   And Sew On:(56:03) Gigi’s sewing class at Cañada College started. Expected result for this semester: fitted sloper for skirt, bodice and sleeve    Bookstore had binders with supplies for this class

This week's episode is sponsored by:       No matter what you need, the barmaids have you covered from head to toe. Face pudding to keep you smiling, Lolo lips keep them kissable, probiotic deodorant for keeping you fresh as a rose, oh for feet’s sake to keep your feet soft and sandal ready, and the Lolo body bar for everything in between. You can find all this - and more! at bar-maids.com   Dragonfly Fibers creates hand-dyed, artisan yarns and fibers in vivid and sophisticated colorways. We can be found in select local yarn shops and at fiber festivals such as Rhinebeck, Maryland Sheep and Wool, Vogue Knitting Live, STITCHES and SAFF. We have a busy fall show schedule! Come see us at Shenandoah Valley Fiber Festival September 28th and 29th in Berryville, Virginia! All of our products are available on our website, www.dragonflyfibers.com. Come see why we say that Dragonfly Fibers are the colors of happiness.         Carry your creativity with Erin Lane Bags! Whether you show your fiber fandom with the woolly wonder Sheepleverse, or dive into history with the Curiosities collection, our project bags, totes, and hook and needle organizers are at the ready to keep your hobby happy.     We all have it, we all snicker about it. Fun Fur. Whether it’s eyelash, boucle, or just generally furry, it’s hard to find projects for novelty yarn. With a sweet face, spiraling horns, and delightfully rotund body, Friendsheep by Cate Carter-Evans lets you transform your novelty and textured yarns into sweet, fleecy little friends. Pattern available on Ravelry; more info at infinitetwist.com   Books plus knitting plus happy memories. That’s Little Skein in the Big Wool. We make kits, yarn and project bags that bring your favorite stories to life. Find *your* favorite story at littleskein.com     On the Needles:(0:41) PUPPIES! Meet Han and Chewie Our personal instagram handles are @gigidahling @cuteknitter . Jasmin finished her  Vanilla is the New Black socks in White Birch Fiber Arts “At Night, the Ice Weasels Come” while shushing kids during the performances.  Jasmin mentions Jade from the Geek Girls Craft podcast  Jasmin started a pair of Vanilla is the New black socks out of White Birch Fiber Arts "Study in Peach, Mint". Gigi is working on a pair of Vanilla is the new Black socks out of the Mani-Pedi vacation yarn.   She  got to the toes, then started another pair with Regia Pairfect Kids color for the nieceling.  #operationSockdrawer The button band on Jasmin’s Dissent Cardigan is in progress. She mentions Splendid Apparel, by Anna Zilboorg.   Gigi is working on the  Polygon blanket again. She finished another hexagon  Jasmin’s Viajante is inching towards the mesh section. Jasmin mentions Diane (Lady Dye Yarns) and a Rhinebeck Garment KAL we're collaborating on! (The #RhineBIPOCSweater KAL!). Join the Ravelry Group, if you’re a BIPOC dyer, fill out the form, if you’re a BIPOC designer, make sure you’re on the Black Squirrel List. Jasmin is going to be making Sevrine out of Neighborhood Fiber Co. Capital Luxury Sport in “Reservoir Hill”.   In Stitches (11:56) Jasmin wore her Sweet ImPEACHment hat to James and the Giant Peach, she mentions Genevieve's. Gigi wore the A line skirt from sewing class.    Events: (15:14) - #ChooseYourOwnAdventureKAL is ongoing.  - Stash Dash :May 24 till August 24. Hosted by the Knitgirllls - May  31 till end of August: Two Ewes Not Along  Not knitting, crochet, spinning or weaving -#MyRhineBIPOCSweater - PIQF October 17-20   Mother Knows Best:(17:12) This week we answer a question from the "What do you want to hear about?" thread about what we look for in a wonderful local yarn store. Let us know what you love about your yarn store in  the episode thread. Jasmin mentions Ysolda. Neighborhood Fiber Company, and Uncommon Threads, A Verb For Keeping Warm When Knitting Attacks:(39:54)) Gigi doesn't like how the Pairfect sock turned out, it was designed for a sock with a flap She needs to frog to beginning of the heel increases    Rocky Coast cardigan. Gigi put it on the dress form.She will need to pull it back to waistline and start hip shaping from there.   Straw into Gold:(45:05) Gigi started a braid of Purl up and Dye on a Jenkins Lark Turkish spindle.   Jasmin has been plying, to get yardage for Stash Dash, and to free up bobbins for her Family Sweater Project   And Sew On:(52:08) Gigi decided to sew more A-line skirts from class. She found some wool tweed and coordinating silk.  Also , she found some corduroy and coordinating squash blossom yellow lining.  Gigi serged the edges,   so the fabric can go in the washing machine.

Today on episode 104 of the Teaching Your Brain to Knit podcast we have a special treat:  an interview with master knitting teacher Anna Zilboorg.  I recorded this last October while on an Camp Stitches workshop in Coeur d’Alene Idaho.  I was excited to be registered in Anna’s workshop-- Design as You Go Construction.  I have all of Anna’s book and I’ve long admired her philosophy and approach to knitting that she lays out in her book Knitting for Anarchists.   In this interview about both quilting and knitting, Anna shares a bit of her own history, she touches on meditative knitting,  she celebrates our hands,  she talks about learning through the mind and learning with the hands and she worries about knitting becoming rote and- rule bound rather than people growing into being being craftspeople.   Anna's books on Amazon:   https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Anna+Zilboorg&ref=nb_sb_noss_2   Look for her classes at Stitches events.     Information from Wikipedia on terms Anna uses:     accusative —  i.e.  They like them — they is nominative, them is accusative   reflexive  is used when the object of a sentence is the same as the subjective   myself, herself, oneself  In grammar, a reflexive verb is, loosely, a verb whose direct object is the same as its subject, for example, "I wash myself". More generally, a reflexive verb has the same semantic agent and patient (typically represented syntactically by the subject and the direct object). For example, the English verb to perjure is reflexive, since one can only perjure oneself. In a wider sense, the term refers to any verb form whose grammatical object is a reflexive pronoun, regardless of semantics; such verbs are also referred to as pronominal verbs, especially in grammars of the Romance languages. In the Romance languages, the pronominal verbs is a parent category with reflexive verbs as only one of its sub-categories. Other kinds of pronominal verbs are reciprocal (they killed each other), passive (it is told), subjective, idiomatic (the presence of the reflexive pronoun   In her book Splendid Apparel,  Anna writes that her mother worried she thought too much about her knitting and directed her towards more academic pursuits.   Anna was educated at Harvard and taught at MIT but eventually left the academic world of the mind.   She is skeptical of brain oriented knitting and credits the hands for their own intelligence, especially in crafts.   She encourages people to understand their knitting and not just follow the rules.   She’s a bit like Elizabeth Zimmerman in that way.   But Anna also offers detailed instruction on techniques.  The traveling twisted stitch is one of them.  And she’s unvented and adapted a number of other techniques     I’ve edited out a lot of this free wheeling interview although I believe some of you would have enjoyed discussions of feminism and academic politics.   But I wanted to focus on Anna’s journey from the straight lines and head thinking of the academic world to the wandering and explorative world of her hands and her heart.   She is now an Anglican solitary who lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia and she teaches knitting  at workshops and conferences on the side.    Throughout the recording, I’ll stop and explain what I’ve edited out and where we’ll head next.      I begin by asking her about something she said in class and writes about in her books:  Knitting instructions never used to be written and learned from —They weren’t even spoken and listened to.  They were demonstrated and copied.     Just to expand a bit on hand learning versus mind learning.   Anna writes in her book Magnificent Mittens and Socks:  “About learning, there is one thing to say:   it isn’t easy.  It is always difficult for fingers to learn to do something new.  On the other hand, when they do, they learn it.   They never forget it , unlike the mind which learns easily and forgets quickly.”   BAck to the interview.     Even though I got the gist of what Anna was saying, I wasn’t familiar with the terms accusative and reflexive so I looked them up.  In Russian, teach and learn are the same verb but a different form.   The reflexive is when something is done to oneself.  Like, I perjure myself.   A person can only perjure one’s self.   No one else can do it to them.   In this instance I believe , the students teach themselves.    The Accusative is when something is done to someone.   In English we say the teacher teaches the student.   Something is being done to the students.   Like Anna says, like a mother bird stuffing the mouths of a baby bird.  This wasn’t very appealing to her.   From this insight of another way of teaching, Anna was more open to teaching as a career.  But as you can imagine, she didn’t approach it in an orthodox way.   A portion of the interview is edited out although I left in our discussion of climate crisis.  Then we broach the subject of brain or mind learning versus the hands learning.     I’ve edited out a large section of discussion on academic politics.   We discussed Anna's frustration and disappointment with teaching at MIT and her leaving it without any firm idea of how she’d make a living.  She used part of this time to explore her spirituality and her interest in what has traditionally been known as “women’s work”.   She turned to quilting and sold her quilts to help   support herself flirted with getting a post doc in divinity but was not willing to return to academia.        As I mentioned earlier, I took Anna’s classes at Camp Stitches. Camp Stitches is a three day immersive knitting workshop with one teacher hosted by Knitting Universe usually at a luxury hotel in some beautiful place.   Yes, it’s a little spendy but what an incredible opportunity to get to know and learn from a teacher.  Anna was teaching the enormously flexible technique of making a vest or sweater by knitting and embellishing strips or panels and then usually joining them as you go.   This approach allows you to design or change your mind as you go.   In addition to the overall construction, we learned Twisted travel stitches, a number of embroidery stitches,  her perfect button hole,  and a variety of general knitting tips and tricks.   She teaches using the traditional way of one-on-one instruction enhanced by other approaches:  she demonstrates to the class from the front of the classroom, sometimes using the board;  then she goes around to each person and watches them execute the technique or coaches them.  She encourages the class for the tricky parts.   She had us learn to knit and purl backwards and kept saying “You can do it.   You can do it.”  And we did.  In the end, our hands learned these techniques.   Anna teaches at Stitches events.   I encourage you to take one of her classes or indulge and spend a whole camp with her.   You won’t regret it.   In our next podcast, Catherine will be back and we have our classic format:  What we learned from our knitting;  A brainy thing;  and Behind the Redwood Curtain where we live.     Looking forward to connecting with you then.  

Brainy Thing:  15:52      Behind the Redwood Curtain:  25:25   What We Learned from Our Knitting Catherine finishes a lace shawl (with beads, of course) called Ocean Kelp and designed by Harry Wells  whose Rav name is knitting ninja  and his design studio is  Good for a Boy Designs.  https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/ocean-kelp   Catherine got more practice with  charts, not her favorite way to follow a pattern. Margaret knits a family of Creature Mittens from Morehouse Farms kits for her family and learns a bit about Mitten thumbs from Anna Zilboorg in Magnificent Mittens and Socks .   She also corrects the mistake she made between Churchmouse Yarns on Bainbridge Island, Washington and Morehouse Farms that raises Merino Sheep in Upstate New York.    https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/owl-mittens-2   https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/penguin-mitts   https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/buggy-mitts   Brainy Thing Catherine explores Gamma Waves, “Ah Ha” moments and lucid dreaming https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SA5HOgf3znw   Behind the Redwood Curtain Discovering local politics behind the redwood Curtain and in your neighborhood too.   Links Facebook:  Also, join our Facebook Group  https://www.facebook.com/Teachingyourbraintoknitpodcast/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel Ravelry Group  http://www.ravelry.com/groups/teaching-your-brain-to-knit website https://teachingyourbraintoknit.com/ for show notes, photos of our knitting and crochet projects, Behind the Redwood Curtain places and things and anything else we decide to post.   In this episode of Teaching Your Brain to Knit, Catherine explores the link between Gamma Brain Waves, “Ah Hah” moments and Lucid Dreaming;  She practices her not so favorite way of following a pattern —that is,  charts;  Margaret learns about different types of mitten thumbs with help from Anna Zilboorg;  We delve into local politics and how you can do the same in your local community; plus we announce updates to indices or indexes for our brain, redwood and knitting topics.  

For which I took almost two weeks to edit and in which we discuss retreats, Stitches West, meeting long lost family and new and old friends, sunning in company of alligators and sharks, the amazining Anna Zilboorg, new contests, and TwinSet Summer Camp -- now with more Caithness Craft!  SO many things!!!

This week, Kelley elaborates on the idea of getting out of your knitting comfort zone. Looking through her past projects, Kelley realized that her projects have become a comforting retreat rather than a challenge to learn new techniques. Hear more about Kelley's goals to help push herself out of her own knitting comfort zone and into new techniques. Next, Kelley reviews a DVD from Anna Zilboorg and a few other books to help inspire your own knitting goals. Finally, Kelley catches you up on her currents WIPs and what she has planned for her upcoming projects.