Bare Hands Mobius Cowl

I've heard arm-knitting talked up a lot recently, so I finally decided to give it a try. I knew it would be super easy and fast, but sometimes the problem with really reeeaally easy and fast projects is that they can look a little boring. At first I couldn't figure out why the simply arm-knit scarf made me just go "meh," but I decided it was missing a certain type of texture that is so key to the look of yarn crafted items. My solution was to crochet a single continuous chain and then use the chain to arm-knit.

Crocheting the chain adds basically nothing to the difficulty of the project. Even though it certainly takes longer, I think the final product is well worth the time. The extra texture really adds some nice dimension and subtly makes the cowl a bit more complex. Overall it's is not super dense, but has a great weight and a lacy look that drapes beautifully. Wearing it is completely effortless.

I admit that slip stitching for 170 yards is not very exciting, but the fact that it doesn't require very much effort or attention (no counting stitches!) frees up your brain for other activities. Think of all the things your wonderful head can do! My personal favorites include: reading, watching a movie, holding a conversation, day dreaming about cuddling a black bear cub, or contemplating your existence as a tiny lump of organized cells in the universe.

Bare Hands Mobius Cowl

Materials

Yarn: ~170 yards worsted weight. Featured here is Sheep(ish) by Vickie Howell for Caron in "Pink(ish)" but I also made a couple using Caron Simply Soft in Dark Country Blue and Autumn Red.

Hook: US K (6.5 mm)

Hands: Bare, preferably two of them

Instructions

Crochet
Chain 170 yards of yarn. You can do this all outright, or crochet a few yards at a time as you arm-knit your chain into the cowl.

Arm-knit
Several Instructables are extremely helpful for learning how to arm-knit or brushing up on your skills. It's nice to not just sit with a tangled mess saying "I don't know what to do with my hands!!" Trust me.

Cast on 15 stitches.
Row 1: knit 1 to end
Rows 2-12: repeat row 1
Bind off.

To finish, lay the cowl out flat. Take one corner and match it to the corner diagonally across (i.e. bottom right corner to top left corner), and do the same with the other two corners (i.e. bottom left to top right corner). Sew edges together, break yarn, and weave in ends.