I often get very excited about the Friday Freebie projects I post. I
mean, I post them because they are patterns I would actually consider
knitting so naturally I would cast on something sooner or later. What
really caught my fancy was the moebius cowl from a few weeks back. I
have never knit a moebius before and I have wanted an extra long cowl
for a long time. The moebius aspect of it means it is essentially a
figure 8 so you can drape it over your head, the twist goes under
your chin and the rest coils pleasantly around your neck - providing
you made it long enough - it fits fairly loosely and is nicer than a
touque and scarf by a mile.
My son had been considerate enough to encourage me to wind a lone
skein of oatmeal chunky into a center-pull ball so I used it to cast
on a ton of stitches onto circular needles and away I went.
Now I have to say that several very odd things happened. First, I
didn't actually count the number of stitches I cast on, I just used a
long-tail cast on until the circ was barely-comfortable full. I
decided the easiest way to make it not curl was to make it a basket
weave pattern of 6 stitches of stockingette and 6 stitches of purl,
alternating in blocks for 5 rows and then switching them around.
After the first round I discovered I had exactly the correct number
of stitches for this stitch pattern! That alone should have twigged
me that something was wrong! But instead I was delighted and kept on
going.
I was using chunky yarn and 7mm needles to ensure a soft, smooshy
fabric so it didn't take long to use up all 200-and-something yards.
I had found it a little awkward having to deal with knitting
something in the round with a twist but I got used to having to move
as well as turn the project along the circs. In the end, I was able
to finish the last set of pattern blocks and cast off with only a few
yards of yarn left - another too-strange occurrence! I soon found the
rue in this run of too-good luck!
I washed the lumpy thing and then went to lay it out to dry. There
was only one way I could lay it so it was flat....

Yes - look closely - it has TWO twists, not one!!!
AAAAARRRGGGHHHHH!!!!! This was one of those crawl-under-the-bed-and-
stay-there moments! Since it was damp there was nothing I could do
but leave it to dry and slink away to lick my wounds..... and ponder....
Several thing were abundantly clear - because it was knit side to
side, basically, there was no easy way to get rid of the extra twist,
certainly nothing that wouldn't involve cutting. IF I was brave (or
crazy) enough to cut it, it would be a point-of-no-return proposition
because it would involve cutting across all the strands of yarn
making it impossible to salvage it if I was unhappy with the end
result. If you can't get your head around this last idea, let me tell
you, all I would have is about 50 strands of yarn five yards long
because the cut would go up the rows not across them.
Alternately, and completely contrary to my nature, I could ravel the
WHOLE thing but that thought was fleeting at best and a relief to be
rid of!
So here I am, Saturday morning, fondling a very soft, very pleasing
piece of knitting, and trying to sort out in my mind what I need to
do to get the best outcome when I cut it. I have made a preliminary
row of crochet to hold the stitches and was contemplating making
another when I realized that if I decided to make it a short scarf
instead, I could simply make a knotted fringe of the cut ends and I
wouldn't need the crocheted stay-stitches. Unfortunately I have no
affection whatsoever for scarves, short, long or otherwise and have
never ever worn one. I'm a cowl girl and that's all there is to it
(only in "my" day they were called "neck socks").

Looking at this first row of crochet I was thinking how much easier
it would be to have made them, not need them and simply take them
out, rather than cut, have an oh-my-gosh moment and realize I would
have to try to add them to avoid disaster. As of this moment, you're
looking at how far I've gotten with this assault. I think I'm waiting
for my courage to bolster. I have to keep telling myself I've made
much wore mistakes and ruined much larger quantities of yarn before -
how bad can this be???? I'll let you know! LOL! Cheers!