This is what I really want to do right now

When those first few signs of fall are evident, I always want to break out the knitting and start a new project. I really love to knit because it engages a totally different part of my brain than painting and quilting and frankly I have a hard time just relaxing without something in my hands.

For some time now I have wanted to try knitting a mobius scarf, click on the link to get a full description of the mathematics of a mobius circle. A mobius scarf is a knitted circle with a twist in it, that only has one edge. If you run your finger along the top edge starting where the knitting was tied off, it will go along the whole top and bottom of the circle in one long continuous line bringing you right back to the beginning.

This is a small sample to help understand how it would knit up.

When you knit a mobius, the top and bottom edges of the scarf are all on one long circular needle. It has an unusual caste on, I followed Cat Bordhi's great tutorial here. I found that it helped not to try and figure out what was really happening as you cast on and knit those first few rows, but just have faith that it's going to work.

That tail sticking up next to my thumb is the beginning of my first row, it ends up in the middle because when you knit the first row you knit the top and bottom edge in one continuous line. The first row is knit all the way around but half the stitches will be knit and the other half will create a row of purl.

For my scarf I cast on 150 stitches of heavy weight worsted yarn on size 10 US needles, this should create a 50" circular scarf that can be looped around twice for a big cowl. I have two skeins of yarn and am just going to knit until it's a width I want (maybe 10"?) or until I run out, whichever comes first, using a pattern of knit four rows and purl four rows and repeat.

I am getting the itch to start painting and sewing, it seems like it has been so long since I have worked on something for myself. I really need to unpack my suitcase from my trip to Cleveland

and then clean off my table so I have a place to work

but first I have to write an article for Quilting Arts magazine based on one of the segments I taped a couple weeks ago for QATV.

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