Day 17 and the Checkered Mock Mobius

We all know what a mobius is presumably. In geometrical mathematics (oo, fancy!) it's a plane with only one side. In elementary school this was usually demonstrated by taking a strip of paper, twisting one side, taping it together, and drawing a line until you came to an end. The thing is, you never did come to an end! It just kept going around and around and somehow both sides of the paper had a line on it!

If we can do it with paper, we can do it with fabric. This is a mock mobius because it's not made continuously. It's absolutely possible to knit a mobius without a seam and we'll get to that a little later.


Size 13 needles
2 balls (200 g) Rowan Chunky Print (discontinued, but you can still find lots of it for trade or sell on ravelry)
tapestry needle

Gauge is not essential for this item. Aim for around 2.5 sts/in
Cast on 30 sts (provisional or backwards loop will hide the seam best)
Rows1-6: K5, P5
Rows7-12:P5, K5

Repeat these rows until you're happy with the length or until you've run out of yarn. End on row 11 as row 12 will be formed by grafting the end of the scarf to the beginning. Before beginning your graft, lay your knitting out flat, take one side and flip it, then bring both sides to the center. I find this the easiest way to get the twist correct without having to second guess.

Happily, the checkered pattern is precisely the same on both sides and if you've grafted carefully you'll have no idea where the seam is once it's been blocked. Speaking of which, blocking is tricky for a mobius. I think the spray method works best and I position the twist at the front and tuck a couple of clean hand cloths under each raised area so that a crease doesn't form. Steaming also works well, but be careful not to overdo it or you may find your resulting cowl rather limp.