I signed up to Laura Nelkin's "The N Club" this year
Years ago, I discovered Cat Bordhi's Moebius cast on. I cast on in excitement, and then knit a random something I devised, until it seemed "finished", and then I cast off. And never wore it. I don't think I had even discovered the magic of blocking at the time. My knitted moebius cowl sat there, neglected, until someone in a fb group asked if anyone had a particular yarn available so that they could finish a project, and I decided to frog the cowl and send the yarn off to a more loving owner.
Thus ended my relationship with moebius knitting... until this year!
Laura's second pattern for The N Club this year was a cowl that starts off with a moebius cast on, so I was back to this! I referred back to Cat Bordhi’s trusty cast on video, cast on the required number of stitches on circular needles that were too long, and I was up and running! I had cast on my 168 stitches (times 2, because Moebius Magic) and worked 13 rows plain rows before I came to the first lace/beads row. My progress immediately slowed, but this was to be expected. After all, two types of beads won’t just place themselves on the stitches in the right order… I was nearly at the end of the round when I realised that I didn’t have a full 28-stitches left for the last lace repeat… I only had 20, and 8 stitches is a lot to just sneakily sweep under the figurative carpet. I counted my stitches, and counted them again… and realised that I had cast on 10 (times 2!) stitches more than I needed to!
Yay, free knitting?
But also free un-beading…..
I couldn’t do anything other than just rip everything back and start all over again. I chose a shorter cable for my cast on this time, as my previous selection was definitely too long… and I was off again! Once I had definitely cast on the correct number of stitches, the lace and bead stitch repeats all made sense, and I was able to happily work the full length (width?) of the moebius section, before the fun beaded i-cord bind off and then half the stitches left on the needles… and then it was just straight stockinette in the round for a while!
Now, I know that I seek out patterns that I think will be interesting to me, but I have to say, that large swathe of stockinette in the round was so enjoyable for me to knit! Literally just mindless knitting, not needing a stitch marker or to count rows or anything!! I think this is actually what made me start to seek out simple sock patterns, actually… I knit to the required length, and then finished off with the lace border and more beads! Such a fun knit!
BUT
I haven’t blocked it yet. Because how do you block a Moebius?! I’m sure it’s pretty simple, because the design has a clear place for the twist to go, so I should just let it be there… But I have been lazy, and so I need to revisit this cowl one last time before it’s actually ready to be worn in the wild… at least I can take comfort in the fact that it was designed as a Spring piece, and here in the summer hemisphere, spring is coming up! Really, I’m not late in finishing the project… it’s about to become the perfect time to finish it!