Monday, January 12, 2009

Moebiuses (Mobeii?)

More than one of them, at any rate.

I cast on a moebius on Election Day 2008 (see why here if you like), and finished in the run up to Christmas. It wasn't intended as a Christmas present - in the interests of sanity, I do not knit very many Christmas presents - but I gave it to my sister when it was done. It seemed fitting. I bought the yarn when I was with her, it was much more in her color palette than mine, and it may have convinced her that not all wool is Brillo-like. Here are a couple of pictures of the finished product. They aren't fantastic pictures, and my hair wasn't really feeling it that day, but it does give you an idea of how a moebius scarf/hood works.



The pattern alternates knit and purl ridges. If you are a math geek, you might like to know that the rows of knit/purl in this particular piece follow the Fibonacci sequence. The yarn is Malabrigo merino worsted in the loro barranquero colorway, purchased at Lettuce Knit in Toronto.

I really enjoyed knitting this - I find the construction of the moebius fascinating. The cast on is slightly fiddly but not hard at all (see the first link for a step-by-step video), and does not create an edge, but the very middle row of the moebius. So you begin knitting a thin piece of fabric, and it grows not longer but wider. I think Cat Bordhi, who invented the cast on, can see an extra dimension.

Anyway, I had so much fun with it that I cast on another yesterday evening. This one is probably for me, and I'm using stash yarn - some Malabrigo merino worsted that didn't know what it wanted to be when it grew up. It's a yummy warm red (yeah, I know) and I'm loving working with it.

2 comments:

Chiot's Run said...

Beautiful yarn! I would love to start knitting again. I quit after my guinea pig had one too many and scarves hats in jr high (I even have photos).

I love Manos de Uruguay yarn, it's so lovely (as is the idea behind it). Here's a link: http://www.jimmybeanswool.com/knitting/yarn/ManosDelUruguay/ManosDelUruguayYarnProducts.asp?gclid=CLPvzsiHipgCFQEoGgodBjXbDg

Pauly Z said...

Sweetie; you act like I'm speaking a foreign language when I talk farming...