Happy New Year!

It is 3 degrees right now in Grand Junction, CO. Brrrrrrr

Have a safe New Year's Eve, whatever your plans. DH and I are staying home and reviewing the best of 2008 which tv has to offer.

Be safe and I will be back tomorrow with a tutorial on making Japanese knotted purses.

How to Knit a Moebius Scarf

What is a moebius, exactly? It is a mathematical term and is simply a half turn in a loop of "something"; go here to see a diagram of a moebius.

It makes sense that a scarf can be make like a moebius, and can be used as a head scarf, a neck scarf, or as a tie around the waist.

Cat Bordhi gives a free pattern to make a moebius cowl scarf at Cat's Website.

An even simpler explanation of making a multi yarned moebius can be found at Planet Shoup. This is the pattern I am following. Here is a picture of my moebius cowl in progress, using size 7, 16" length circular knitting needles and two different types of wool yarn:


Linda at Planet Shoup says:

Here's a third method that's easy as pie - it's all flat, back and forth knitting. Approx. 150 to 200 g worsted yarn (5 1/2 to 7 1/2 oz) in however many colours you want, wool or wool blend preferred (like Fisherman's Wool or Wool-Ease)
Circular needle or pair of single points of suitable size for your yarn
Gauge: approx. 5 stitches per inch with worsted, though it's not critical

Choose a stitch pattern. It should be reversible, ideally one that looks the same on both sides. It should also be non curling (garter stitch works great). Cast on your desired number of stitches (50 or 60 work well in worsted for an adult scarf), using a suitable size needle. Note: If using more than one colour, you can change colours across each row, or every few rows, whichever you prefer. Just make sure your colour changes are well hidden - this scarf is basically reversible.

Work until the length of the piece is twice the length needed to fit over the wearer's head. Cast off.

Lay this strip horizontally in front of you. You're going to fold this strip in half and twist it. Bring the upper left corner of the fabric over and down to meet the lower right corner of your knitting , then, still holding this in place, flip up the (former) lower left corner to meet the upper right. Graft them together along their short edges (or sew) as neatly as possible. This creates the half twist that identifies this as a Moebius strip.

That's it - you're done!

How easy...how effective! It is easy and mindless to knit, and will add a bit of color to neutral based winter sweaters and jackets.

Art in the Eye of a Needle - Microscopically Small

Some of Wiggins' sculptures, often made from a fragment of a single grain of sand or a dust fragment plucked from the air, sell for $300,000. A hair plucked from the back of a housefly is used as a paintbrush. All his instruments were crafted by Wiggin.

Don't you love it that he inhaled Alice in Wonderland?