Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Moebius Neck Warmer

Happy Tuesday!

Last night I finished my first Moebius Neck Warmer and I have Nona Davenport to thank profusely for her help in getting me started. A few months ago, I came across this post on her blog, Nona's Pearls of Wisdom, where she talks about this cool new scarf/neckwarmer she'd found and started working on. I thought it looked cool and a great idea to try to raise money, but didn't think too much more about it. Then she modeled the neckwarmer here and I thought...those are REALLY neat. This is when I started getting a niggling urge to knit, but still didn't do much about it. Then she posted these neckwarmers and I thought...I want to make one. However, I knew she was knitting these for selling to raise money for their adoption. I felt a little funny asking her for where to locate the pattern, so I hesitated for a while. But I couldn't get them out of my mind, so I took a deep breath, wrote an email and sent it to her. She couldn't have been sweeter and she kindly let me know of the book The Treasure of Magical Knitting by Cat Bordhi and so my quest began to find the book (and a pair of 47 inch long circular needles-the ideal length needed to make the neckwarmer). Which apparently is either very popular or not so much because I had a dickens of a time trying to find it. I knew I could have ordered it off of Amazon, but remember my dog with a bone personality? I decided I wanted to make some as Christmas gifts and I wanted to start yesterday! Anyway, I finally found a shop called Showers of Flowers that actually had the book in stock. Whooo hoooo! When I had just about resigned myself to having to order the book, I was doing some sleuthing on the internet and came across this video by Cat Bordhi which shows how to do the cast on (Moebius Cast On video). Because it's out there, I thought I would share.

Here's the neckwarmer I made:100_5282 It's kind of hard to see the ribbing because of the variagated yarn I used, but it's there. I had started one with a different yarn, but I determined it was actually too itchy to be worn comfortably around the neck. So I found some softer yarn and started again. This is the yarn that gave me fits the other night getting all tangled up. I discovered why last night.

Most skeins of yarn have an end that you can pull from the side of the skein which is tucked into the skein and when you search for it, you sometimes pull a clump of yarn out with it. Well, apparently this yarn I selected (a type I've not used before) they make it easy for you by not tucking the end into the side of the skein and instead wrap it around the skein and tuck it under the wrapper! Not noticing this the first time, I bungled the whole skein that night. But last night when starting a new project with a different skein I happened to see it. Whew! Who knew? LOL

Now, I'm sharing quite a bit of information with you on where to find the book and how to cast on yourself and I am happy to share, but at the same time I don't want to take away from Nona's efforts to raise money. I want to really encourage you to check out Nona's Neckwarmers on her Etsy shop, where you can purchase one already made for you and you'll also be helping her family raise money towards their adoption. Nona's Etsy Shop I truly think you'll be pleased!

I've asked Nona for permission to share all this information, because I honestly don't want to take away from her efforts to raise money, and she is fine with it. While I've never met her in person, I can tell you she is super talented and super sweet. She is a Close To My Heart Consultant and as you can see, if you check out her blog, she is VERY crafty. She has an adorable daughter, Sammie, who is featured regularly.

Thanks so much for reading all of this if you've gotten this far. I'm working on another neckwarmer and will be trying something a little different with this one. I'll share when I'm done, if you like.

Thanks again, Nona, if you read this! I SO appreciate all your help!!!

Jeanne

Jeanne

3 comments:

Holly Young said...

Really nice Jeanne! I used to machine knit and hand crochet and I know how much work goes into things like this. I really love the poncho you made for your daughter! She looked pleased as punch to be modeling it too!

Barb said...

Great job, Jeanne! You're really working that yarn thing out,girlie! And you're right...Nona is a real sweetie and very talented, too. Just like YOU. Keep up the good work,can't wait to see what's next from you...I really feel the need to get some yarn! Oh! Thanks for sharing the link for video,too. Who knows, maybe I'll add knitting to my crafting repertoire! BTW...are you reading The Friday Night Knitting Club?

nonapearl said...

Jeanne, You are just so wonderful! Thank you for all the plugs in that last blog.

And your moebiuses look AWESOME!!!! Aren't they so much fun and addictive!

I'm so glad I could help you with this. It's great to share the love of knitting with each other. Keep up the amazing work! I can't wait to see what pattern you tackle next in the book.

=) Nona