Marilyn's Mobius Wrap



Meet Marilyn

I made this Echo Reversible Drop Stitch Mobius Wrap in a week's time. I used the remainder of my Berroco Comfort Chunky yarn (almost two skeins) and some big size 13 needles to make the wrap so it was a pretty quick knit. I saw the pattern in my copy of Interweave Knits Spring 2011 Magazine which came in the mail... such a treat. I dropped dead in my tracks when I got to page 19, where this pattern appeared.  I stopped flipping pages in the magazine and starting rooting around in my bags for this yarn and the needles I needed and then promptly cast on.  I found the pattern that intriguing with those long dropped stitches stretching between tidy, wide cables.

I did not stuggle much with the pattern except I found it awkward when you start some rows with the very first four stitches going on to a cable right away and then knitting stitches five through eight before returning to the stitches on the cable needle.  Those first four stitches would dangle sort of precariously... flailing about before I could wrangle them back in.  I worried that I would breeze through the pattern but I would not be able to figure out the final cast off row where all of the magic happens.  You see, just a few rows into the pattern, when my project looked like nothing like the photos in the magazine and I thought maybe I was making an all together different pattern, I read ahead to the final row where I found a very brief description of how to cast off where you "fasten off" two stitches, leave some stitches (so they can be dropped), and bind of some stitches.  Oh no... I knew I was going to struggle with this row.

Enter Marilyn... my knitting Guru. Marilyn is my knitting gal pal.  She is a lady I met at Anne's Knits and Such (my old yarn store which sadly closed down).  Marilyn appeared at the shop one day and became a permanent fixture. She taught private lessons and an assortment of classes, including my Great American Afghan class.  Marilyn is from England and speaks with a lovely accent and I love hearing her voice in the shop.  She's very talented and artistic.  I knew she'd be my "go to gal" for this challenging cast off row. I madly worked on my wrap to get to the cast off point during our Thursday knitting group last week.  A few of the gals in the group hung out with us as as we figured out the cast off row... the knitters ordinarily leave at 3:00 pm but some stayed late as they were excited to see the magic of the dropping stitches. Ahhh, the pressure.   We got to this point... it was pretty exciting stuff.

Before dropping

After dropping

I finished the wrap when I got home.  I almost had a disaster when I realized I had made mistake in the cast off row... I almost dropped the second dropped stitch in the incorrect spot.  I undid the last half of the cast off row, corrected the mistake, and then dropped the correct  stitch. Phew... crisis diverted. I added the buttons and blocked it to make the dropped stitches lay nicely.



Sue took this photo of me in the shop

 While I enjoyed making this project, I decided it was not a garment I would enjoy wearing.  I gave it to Marilyn at our Thursday Knitting Group (yesterday) and she was tickled pink.  I am so appreciative of how much I have learned from her over the past 2+ years.  During our group yesterday, she wore the wrap in this asymmetrical way which you can see in the photos above... she's so fashionable and clever... I am sure she'll come up with a dozen different ways to wear this versatile wrap.  I was tickled pink to see how happy this gift made her.