Seamless Mobius Cowl

1. I hate seams. I hate making them, weaving in their ends, and looking at them. So, while knitting something so large in the round is sometimes kind of a drag, I still prefer it to working flat and having more finishing to do.

2. This particular cowl is for a friend who happens to be a math teacher, so I thought the Mobius idea would be good. It is achieved by making sure the cast on row has a twist in it before beginning the first row of knitting. Somehow, I ended up with a double twist. Dunno how that happened. It looked like a single twist before I bound off...

3. I like the look and texture of seed stitch, but I think next time I'll do it in a basket weave stitch. Could also be done with cables or more decorative elements, but if you're looking for something easy to do with minimal concentration, I think seed or basket weave is the way to go.

4. The yarn and needle info is just what I used; use smaller needles and thinner yarn for a tighter knit. Adjust number of stitches accordingly.

Yarn: bulky weight, in this case self-striping. (If using worsted weight and a solid color, I'd recommend doubling strands as it will speed things up considerably.)

Needles: US 10 circular needles, in this case two cables together for a total cable circumference of about 36 inches. 

Gauge: 17 stitches on US size 10 needles = 4" in seed stitch.

Cast 255** stitches onto size 10 circular needles. I placed a marker every 100 stitches (and at the end of the round) to make counting faster and to break up the seemingly endless rounds, but markers are not strictly necessary.

Straighten out cable before joining and make sure there is one twist in the cast on row. (Still somehow ended up with a double twist. >-<) Carefully pick up and join, starting with a knit stitch. 

FOR SEED STITCH: *K1, p1*, repeat ** around. On second row, begin with a purl stitch. *P1. k1*, repeat around. Alternate rounds, knitting above stitches that were purled on the row before and vice versa. 

FOR BASKET WEAVE: *K3, P3*, repeat between **s around. Repeat round for a total of three rounds. On fourth round, *P3, K3*, repeat between **s around. Repeat for two more rounds. Alternate every three rounds; 3 rounds K3, P3; 3 rounds P3, K3.

When work has reached desired width, cast off in pattern. Weave in loose ends.

Seed stitch *accidental double* Möbius cowl. And a bit of my hair. Front-facing cameras are tough.

Cowl on me. Gotta love the tye-dyed T. If it fits in the 3rd trimester...

**I cast on 255 stitches to create a cowl that was 5 feet in circumference with the given gauge, worked in seed stitch. Or was supposed to. The math was correct, but the finished cowl was 6 feet in circumference. Now attempting 210 stitches in basket weave. Adjust number cast on to reflect your gauge and your desired circumference. ([How big around you want your cowl to be in inches] divided by [4]. Take that number and multiply it by [how many stitches it takes in your yarn and chosen pattern to make 4 inches].) For seed stitch, cast on an odd number of stitches. For a basket weave, cast on a number that is divisible by 6.