It's winter here in New England. A time when this woman's thoughts turn to knitting. Or, rather, the desire to be a knitter.Cold nights coupled with a growing maternal nesting instinct, have forced me to buy some yarn, pull out the needles, and learn how to knit. Yet again.
This impulse hits me every few years. Needless to say, yearly knitting events have not lead to great skill retention or mastery. These infrequent learning events are spaced way too far apart. I've forgotten most everything I learned the last knitting go-around.
As I was struggling to figure out once more how to purl, I thought about the spacing effect and forgetting. These two resources came to mind:
- For more on the spacing effect, be sure to read this 2006 article by Lars Hyland: Less Learning More Often.
- For more on the power of forgetting, be sure to view Will Thalheimer's The Learning Show: Don't Forget Forgetting
Luckily, I've found a great knitting book. Stitch & Bitch: The Knitter's Handbook by Debbie Stoller.From an instructional design perspective, I think it's a great resource: excellent illustrations, written in a conversational tone (as if you were sitting next to the author and she was teaching you), with lots of hipster humor.
Dan Roddy recently shared a link to a great article on tips for writing in a more conversational tone. Because the brain thinks conversation is important, it remembers the content better. Me likey.
So here's to me remembering something this time around.
And, yes, I am knitting a baby blanket (although it's not for my baby).
Photo credit: Learn to Knit by abbynormy
