double-knit moebius

It all started at the Island Retreat a couple of weeks ago. Some well-meaning knitter – I forget the exact context now – said something about double-knitting a moebius. I immediately wanted to do just that. Because I never had. And it sounded really cool. And you could have a moebius that had no purl side, but only a smooth knit side. And different colors. And what would those colors do when swirled around a non-orientable surface that has only one side and one edge?

I immediately headed to Island Wools for yarn. Cat, who is wiser than I, perhaps saw the gleam of scientific inquiry in my eyes because she smiled and nodded and said nothing but sounds fun.

Yeah.

Thus began a quest for how to cast the darn thing on. It kept twisting around itself in strange and other-dimensionally ways. After much frustration and frogging bad words were said in my out-loud voice several false starts, I finally hit on a method that seemed to sort of work: I cast on two individual moebii, knit 1 ring on the white one and purled 1 ring on the green one. Remember it takes two rings to make a round, so I had worked 1/2 round on each. Then I threaded both on to a single long cable needle by alternating stitches.

Gentle reader, I have learned more about topography in the last week than I ever expected to in my wildest dreams.

I turns out that when you take two moebii and attach them along the edge, essentially what I did when I threaded the two on to one needle, the result is a torus (that’s a fancy word for a doughnut) with a moebius twist in it. And that’s one representation of a non-orientable surface called a Klein Bottle. And such beasties do not live in 3 dimensional space without some contortion. And I haven’t yet figured out the knack of knitting in 4-space, where they live happily but I do not.

So what I knit in my little experiment is a Klein Bottle represented locally in my particular patch of 3-space by letting what I thought would be a moebius intersect with itself – which it wouldn’t do in 4-space. You can see the insertion point – it’s the point at which the green suddenly changes to white.The green has actually crossed through the white to reappear on the other side (if it could be said to have sides, although it really only has one), and the white has crossed through the green. But if you trace either color by itself, ignoring the other color, you will find that each is, really, a moebius. And together they appear to be a moebius. Sort of. If it weren’t for that pesky insertion point.

I don’t think there’s any way to get around the color change, short of knitting the whole thing in one color. But then what would be the point of double-knitting? I’ve decided instead to make the intersection a design feature by adding in random ones scattered about various places. We’ll see how well that plan works out. I may end up with a mess. And I have no idea how I’m going to bind this thing off, but I’m open to suggestions.

I hope I don’t sound like I understand what I’m talking about, here, because really my math is not good enough to understand it in more than lay-person’s terms. All of this stuff makes my brain hurt. But, nonetheless, this is the sort-of-moebius that’s on my needles and that I will be knitting today with healing intentions.

I do think it’s cool that, even though there are two colors, there are really no sides. And although the green and white started out as completely separate entities, they have now merged in new and unexpected ways.

Knit on!

This morning I received the following email from Cat Bordhi. It was sent to the participants of her two island retreats. Cat has asked that it be passed on to knitters all over the US, and I think it’s a lovely idea. I currently have a moebius on my needles, and I will knit along with Cat tomorrow with healing intentions.

November 3, 2008

Heal the Election Wounds and Embrace Humanity with a Moebius

By Cat Bordhi

I awoke this morning realizing that publicly knitting a beautiful Moebius scarf as I begin to float (I live on an island), drive, and fly toward Stitches East on Tuesday would be a beautiful and profound public expression of my hopes and dreams for the world, as well as a symbol of the healing that our country will need after the election.

If you want to follow along, I recently made a Youtube video which will clearly teach you how to knit a Moebius whether you have my books or not. Here’s the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVnTda7F2V4

So – here is why the Moebius is a perfect expression of the best of humanity, and the healing of the fractured country and world that I trust is coming:

1. The Moebius appears to have two surfaces and two edges – ie, polarities such as black and white, right and wrong, good and bad, Republican and Democrat – but when you follow the surface around you will run right into your starting point without ever having changed to the other “side.” For there isn’t one. Everything flows into itself. Polarities are an illusion. What lies beneath the apparent polarities is oneness, beauty, and grace. In a Moebius you can see it, hold it, be awed by it. Once the frenzy dies down, hopefully those with opposing views will slowly rediscover their common humanity.

2. Like the surface that flows into itself, so too does the Moebius’s single continuous edge – thus everything is recycled. In fact, I would not be the least bit surprised if the ultimate alternative energy involves a Moebius form or dynamic. By the way, the recycling symbols (2 are in common usage, one with a single twist, the other with 3) you see everywhere are actually Moebii (too hard to say Moebiuses – try it!). I think we are all hoping for significant and effective new discoveries in alternative energy – and the Moebius would be a great symbol for this global effort.

3. Once you complete the first ring (it takes 2 rings to make a round – watch the video) of your Moebius, you are in for smooth and happy sailing. All you have to do is to knit the stitch in front of you, then the next stitch in front of you, with not a care in the world for what came before or what has shifted into the “future”. You’ll look at the mysterious shape on your needles and wonder how “those stitches” can ever come to you . . . well, they will, without your needing to understand how. And they will all come in perfect sequence, resulting in a beautiful and graceful Moebius. The Moebius rewards your faith in its mystery with the easiest knitting you will ever do. And the result is always graceful – for this is the very nature of the Moebius. You can knit along while you watch the election results, while walking, while standing in line at the store, wherever you may find yourself during these days to come. You will be knitting the graceful healing and ease that I believe is flowing toward us, requiring only of us that we stay true to the powerful sense of loving kindness that resides in the center of every person. No one could ever possibly understand enough to make the healing happen, but if we all just knit the stitch before us, as they come, marveling at the innocence and sweetness of it all, with our oh so familiar continuous strand of yarn, the healing will happen. We need not understand either one fully – the Moebius or the world. They both operate with inherent grace.

4. I looked through my stash and chose a luminous yarn in deep watery colors from Blue Moon Fiber Arts – LSS (Luscious Single Silk), and did not realize until I looked at the label that the colorway is absolutely apropos: Lunasea. Tina no doubt named the colorway after the moon and the sea – and after lunacy? So let the lunacy of the election months give way to Lunasea – the grace of the moon, the sea, the Moebius, and the beautiful heart of humanity, of all people, the “us” and “them” who merge into one. I shall be winding the skein on the ferry tomorrow, then knitting all the way to Baltimore. I hope to see many, many of you there.

With love from Cat Bordhi

Note: If you alternate sets of knit and purl rounds, you will have purl ridges all around. Then your Moebius will not curl along the edges when you are done.

Arlene and friends

I’m home again, and last night I slept in my own bed with my cats around me. I brought home wonderful memories, a bit of yarn and probably 10 lbs from Richard’s amazing meals.

The Island Retreat was held at the States Inn & Ranch, a wonderful B&B and working ranch in the heart of San Juan Island. The accommodations there are cozy and homey and Richard, Angel (who was, unfortunately, away from the ranch during my visit) and all the staff do their best to make everyone feel welcome. Usually the ranch only serves breakfast (slow-cooking oatmeal, homemade granola, fresh fruit, eggs from the ranch’s chickens, fresh-squeezed orange juice, I could go on and on), but since the retreat had taken over the entire ranch, Richard agreed to feed us three times a day. And did he feed us! I’m glad that we had the afternoons off to get a little exercise, or I probably would have had to roll home.

This was one of the most relaxing vacations I can ever remember having – including previous knitting ones. Cat planned material for us to learn every day. But if you were interested in working on something else or brought a project with you to work on, that was OK, too.

Mornings were spent gathered in the Inn great room, learning and sharing. After a sumptuous lunch each day, afternoons were free time until dinner. The Inn was close to town and to many of the attractions. Quite a few were within walking distance, and the exercise, as I mentioned, was welcomed.

In the picture, Arlene is making friends with some of the ranch inhabitants. All of the ranch alpacas are rescues that were given to the ranch. Like all of the animals there, they are friendly (especially if you come bearing carrots) and love to great visitors.

Cat modeling

There was always time during the retreat to follow interests or whims. The sweater Cat is modeling was bought in an Amsterdam thrift store 10 years ago by one of the retreat participants. Cat and I spent a really fun afternoon trying to deconstruct how it was made. The pattern may be made available in the future if it turns out we were right – or even close. It has been named the Altered States Inn Sweater.

Dinner was another sumptuous meal. Cat gave away prizes each day. On the last day a prize was given to the person who could name all of the meals we’d had, in order, backwards. So maybe that gives you a clue about how amazing the meals actually were. All ingredients, where possible, were locally grown — if not on the ranch, at least on the island — fresh and homemade. Many of the recipes are prize-winning. Everything was amazing.

After dinner we gathered in the great room again. Cat would briefly discuss what we’d learned in the morning, and then there was time for questions and talk and knitting. Until everyone wandered to their rooms and fell into bed. I slept like a log every night.

Island Retreaters party with Dolores

I shared the Southwestern Suite with two lovely knitters – Flipper and her daughter Kristy. It was a wonderful space. We shared a common area with a small table and two sofas and windows that looked out over the ranch. Flipper and Kristy were in one bedroom and I was in the other. My room was a charming, under the eaves room with a window looking out over the hills and the alpaca paddock.

The Retreat had a surprise visit from Fibertarian Party presidential candidate Dolores VanHoofen. I will spare you from the list of the depraved debaucheries that took place during her visit. Yarn was involved. And maybe a little wine. And maybe a little Bailey’s. And a bit of campaigning. But, although it’s difficult to tell in this picture, Dolores seems to be sporting an Obama button. What can be the meaning of this?

I was sad to leave yesterday morning. But, bright and early, Simone and I left to catch the ferry. Of course Richart provided a sack breakfast, to stave off any hunger pangs.

I arrived home to find the cats alive and glad to see me, and the coffee pot still dead. As #1 Son pointed out, it’s a good thing it wasn’t the other way around.

Yesterday I was up early. I had a knitting retreat to go to. A knitting retreat on a beautiful island where (drum roll please) there is no cell phone service. (Note that there is wi-fi, so I’m not entirely cut off from the world.)

Of course I’d been up too late Monday night. I was up late trying to get ready to go. I wanted to have the car all loaded and the bags all packed so in the morning I’d only have to throw a few last-minute items in and off I’d go. At least that was the plan. So I was up late packing and such. Tuesday morninn when the alarm went off… I told myself just 10 more minutes… And that 10 minutes turned into 45. So I was running late. And that was not good because I needed to pick up the lovely and unfortunately blogless, Simone, who was my companion on my journey. And I was supposed to pick her up at a set time. And she lives across town from me (but fortunately on the way).

So I jumped out of bed in a bit of a panic and ran out to the kitchen where I poured water into the coffee maker and added grounds and turned it on. Then I ran back to my bedroom and jumped in the shower. I’m so glad that I’m mostly ready to go! I was so proud of myself for planning ahead so well.

Clean and dressed and with the final items added to my bag, I ran out to the kitchen to feed the cats and pour my coffee. And found the cats sitting on the kitchen floor staring at a growing pool of gently steaming brown liquid. They both turned an accusing eye in my direction. WTF?

Coffee.

You may have noticed, gentle reader, that I skipped an important step in my coffee making. The carafe sat where I’d left it on the kitchen counter.

With a glance at the clock, I snarled to myself and cleaned up the mess. I added fresh water and grounds to the coffee maker and pushed the brew button. And pushed the brew button. And jabbed frantically at the brew button. And banged the whole thing on the counter a couple of times. And gave it a whack on the side for good measure. And noticed that none of the lights were on and that there was… steam… inside the time display. There was no doubt, I finally had to admit. It was shorted out.

I cannot drive for 4-1/2 hours with no coffee. That’s just not going to happen.

I fed the cats, sent a text message to #1 Son to remind him to check on them now and again and not to make coffee while he was at it, and drove to the nearest drive-through coffee place. I handed over my empty travel mug and requested a fill up. And called Simone to beg mercy. She giggled gentle and told me not to worry. We’d get there when we get there.

Fueled by coffee, the rest of the trip was mercifully uneventful. Traffic was light, construction was minimal, and we made awesome time. And is it ever worth it!

early morning

Eat your heart out, because this was the view this morning as I took a short, pre-breakfast stroll. My companions are a gaggle of wonderful knitters. My neighbors are sheep and alpaca. Yep. I’m staying at a B&B that’s a working ranch. There’s knitting and learning and knitting and walking and knitting and sight-seeing and knitting and animals and knitting.

This morning, along with fresh-brewed coffee, breakfast started with homemade granola (from organic ingredients), fresh squeezed orange juice, apples, bananas and fresh-baked sweet rolls (from organic, whole-wheat flour). I thought I’d died and gone to some breakfast nirvana. But our hosts apparently feel that we might be in danger of fainting from hunger, because in came the real breakfast – an artichoke heart scramble sort of thing made with the ranch’s own eggs, local potatoes and sausage from the ranch’s pigs. I thought I might never eat again. But then came lunch: homemade cream of tomato soup, fresh green salad, Greek salad, cheese and crackers, served with freshly brewed ice tea.

Let you fear that this become a list of amazing meals, let me reassure you that so far I’ve only eaten those two meals and so can only add that apples and bananas are always available, along with these amazing white-chocolate, macadamia nut, cranberry cookies. Fresh baked, naturally. Lest we become weak from hunger, you know, and be unable to lift our knitting needles.

my friend Oreo, and my friend Oreo

This morning I realized that I’d forgotten a few things besides putting the coffee pot under the drip. Like yarn. I had four different projects with me, and the yarn that goes with them, but no extra yarn to knit into other things that we’re learning about. Oops.

After lunch it was obvious that at least a little bit of exercise was called for. So, having the afternoon free, several of us wandered over to the neighboring alpaca farm. There’s a store there. That sells yarn. And other lovely things that I will tell you about later. But for now, let me introduce you to my friend Oreo. She has soft squishy fiber that has a wonderful hand. I picked up one skein for fingerless gloves for #1 Son (shhhhh… don’t tell him because it’s a surprise). The picture is Oreo in my hand and Oreo out in the field. Pretty girl, eh? She’s expecting her first little one.

From there we went into town where there exists the wonderful shop Island Wools. Although it’s not a large shop, Island wools has lots of yarn. I had no problem finding something perfect to practice with. I did have a problem not buying half the store. But I showed what I consider admirable restraint!

And Island Knits is only a block from this gourmet kitchen store that has an entire rack devoted to all kinds of licorice from all over the world. And another rack devoted to chocolate. But since I wasn’t going to talk about food any more, I will skip telling you how badly my wallet was dented there.

But it is so worth it!

Happy Wednesday.

theater marquee

Something about this sign struck me, and so I had to stop and snap a pic of it.

I really hope that this is not a sign of the times. But, given the current economic and political climes, I greatly fear it is.

Aye, chihuahua, indeed.

brioche scarf for #1 Son

Yesterday (Thursday), #1 Son planned to come down to my work place-of-business to exchange something I needed from him for a few things I had for him.

He had requested that I knit a scarf for him from some of the mystery sock yarn he brought me from Germany, and, although I’m not all that fond of knitting scarves, I was happy to oblige because he is, after all, my kid, and he was nice enough to bring the yarn home, and it’s pretty yarn. But, being not that fond of knitting scarves, I cast around for some manly stitch pattern that could be worked quickly on fairly large needles, but would still be warm and cozy. I cast on last Friday evening, and the timing could not have been better. Autumn has arrived with a vengence, and it’s cold! I’m wearing wool socks every day now, and wrapping up warm. I didn’t want #1 Son to have a cold neck. Although he does have other scarves I’ve knit for him.

So I cast on. And I knit a bit on the weekend, but I was pretty busy. I knit during teleconferences on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. But it wasn’t growing all that quickly. It was the only project that I brought to Wednesday Night Sip ‘n’ Stitch so I had to work on it. And I knit and knit. And I went home and planned to finish it up so all I had to do was the fringe. And I settled down for a little late-night knitting. And promptly fell asleep in front of the TV. I woke up at 3:00 AM, and knew that no more knitting was going to happen that night.

Thursday dawned clear and cold and I was still scarf-less. I knit through teleconferences and while reading email and during conversations and while reviewing presentations. I stopped only to eat a quick lunch and when I had to type or otherwise use my hands – making sure, of course, that work did take priority and was not impacted by several feet of scarf a few stitches here and there.

After lunch, #1 Son and I had the following phone conversation:

Judy: Can you come at 5:00?

#1 Son: No. I have to be at work at 4:30. I could come at 2:00.

Judy: No. You can’t come at 2:00. How about 3:15? Can you come at 3:15?

#1 Son: Uh… OK. Whatever. I can come at 3:15.

Judy: That would be great. But don’t come before then. And don’t come after because I have a meeting at 3:30.

#1 Son: OK. I’ll see you at 3:15.

It should be noted here that #1 Son is used to my peculiar ways, and thus the relative lack of comment on the apparent state of my mental health.

At 3:05 PM I finished applying the fringe and gave it a final trim. Loopy helped model it for me, as trying to catch #1 Son long enough for a photo op is nearly impossible.

At 3:15 PM, the scarf was delivered to #1 Son, who said, Cool! It’s perfect. Or words to that effect.

The Particulars:

• Yarn: Mystery sock yarn from Germany, brought home in #1 Son’s guitar case. I used all of one ball, which I’m guessing had about 450 yards on it.
• Needles: Addi Lace 24″ circ, US#6 (4.0mm)
• Techniques: Brioche stitch. What seemed like miles of it.
• Finished size: 7″ x 50″, unblocked and not including fringe. #1 Son likes shorter scarves, so this worked out about right. There was no time to block it, but it didn’t really need blocking anyway.