Moebius Knitting

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Moebius cowls are a classic. I'm having a try at my first one right now.
I do apologize for the awful picture... You can't even see it is a Moebius! You'll just have to trust me.

There are a few ways to do them.

Vertical:
  1. Start with a provisional cast-on and the number of stitches that correspond to the desire width.
  2. Knit to the desired length with a reversible stitch (the right and wrong side must be identical).
  3. Finish off by joining the first and last rows using Kitchener stitch.
  4. The trick here is that before you join the two rows, you twist them, so that the right side is joined with the wrong side, making a Moebius strip.
Horizontal (in the round):
  1. Cast-on using Cat Bordhi's Moebius cast-on.
  2. Knit to the desired width with a reversible stitch.
  3. Bind-off as usual.
I'm using the horizontal method, and this very simple, beautiful pattern: Posie Moebius.

Here is what you should be aware when using the Moebius cast-on.

A Moebius strip has a funny property that is difficult to explain in words. If you start on one of the sides and paint a line along it, when you go back to the same point (like in a regular circle) you'll realize that you've painted both sides. This is because there are not really two sides in a Moebius, there is only one. The same way there are no two edges, only one. The Moebius cast-on implements this and that means that:

  1. In this method, you start knitting in the middle of the piece and continue to knit outwards to the edge.
  2. The cast-on is automatically invisible. The bind-off is the same for "both edges", because there is only one.
  3. One round is equal to two rows. If you place a marker at the start and continue to knit until you've reached it again, you'll see that you've just knitted 2 rows. This is again because there is only one edge.
  4. Like Cat Bordhi explains, you count only the stitches on the needle. These are the ones that will give the width of the piece and correspond to one row. The total stitches are twice that.
  5. You'll find that your work is half in knit stitches and half in purl stitches, even if you've only knitted and never purled. This is unavoidable, because when you've finished one round, your work has turned itself around to the other side.
  6. Last but not the least. You need to use circular needles with a long cable! It must be at least 100cm. Before you start the cast-on, check that you can do one double circle and join the needles in a way that allows you to knit.

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