Mobius Looms
Aug. 22nd, 2015 10:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kerravonsenDue to a conversation with dawnmist at lunch time on Tuesday, I got the urge to see if I could construct a Mobius-shaped knitting loom.
(apologies to NaArMaMo folks for not yet posting my bubble-wrap plastic pendants; thought it would be better to post something than nothing, and the loom stuff is what I have photos of right now)
Craft-tool experimentation ho!
1. Large piece of bubble-wrap
2. fold, iron, fold, iron... (I lost count), trim the edges. Ended up with a piece about a metre long and an inch wide.
3. Large paper clips, snip out the middle bit with a memory-wire cutter
4. Black hot-glue (for metal). Managed not to burn myself. Alternated the paper clips, one above, one below, all the way along (except for the very ends)
5. Cover the glued side with aluminium tape.
6. One half-twist, glue the ends together.
7. Go through with pliers, bending out the edges of the paper clips.
Then I started knitting on it, to see what it produces. I had to rip the aluminium tape off, though, because it started peeling off by itself. I was hoping that a Mobius loom could be used to make a Mobius scarf, but I realized that was not the case, after I'd knitted six rows or so. Because a Mobius is a single edge... which means that what you get is a big loop of knitting which is twice the circumference of the loom itself. The loom also turned out not to be very robust. Because one has to keep on flexing it as one goes along the row, the paper clips started coming unglued. By the time I'd done the sixth row, a few of them were half-unglued, so I decided to cast off. By the time I'd finished casting off, two clips had fallen off, and four more fell off shortly afterwards.
Mobius loom; bubblewrap plastic, paper clips, black hot glue. Knitting done on the loom
There was an additional problem which took me completely by surprise, though it shouldn't have, given the strange topography of a Mobius strip. The finished knitting... was looped inside the loom. That is, if one considers the loom to be a link in a chain, the knitting was the next link; they were linked together. So it was just as well that the loom was falling apart, because I had to pull it apart to get the knitting out. Not a very practical loom after all!
But still, I wanted to see if I could make a more robust loom, try again. So this time I took fibreglass-reinforced packing tape, laid out the large paper clips on a strip of it, laid another strip on top, then a few more strips to hide the poking-out wires so the yarn wouldn't catch on them (a problem I had with the first loom). I fastened it down with more packing tape, but after I cast off on the first loom (I started this before I'd done the casting-off) I realized I might need to open up the loom to let knitting out, so I dug up some industrial-strength Velcro and removed the original joining and used the Velcro instead.
Mobius loom; fibreglass-reinforced packing tape, 50mm paper clips, interlocking fasteners (strong velcro)
I have not yet tried using this loom, though. I have plans for an alternative technique which may be able to produce a Mobius from the loom, but it is only theory at this point.
dawnmist at lunch time on Tuesday, I got the urge to see if I could construct a Mobius-shaped knitting loom.(apologies to NaArMaMo folks for not yet posting my bubble-wrap plastic pendants; thought it would be better to post something than nothing, and the loom stuff is what I have photos of right now)
Craft-tool experimentation ho!
1. Large piece of bubble-wrap
2. fold, iron, fold, iron... (I lost count), trim the edges. Ended up with a piece about a metre long and an inch wide.
3. Large paper clips, snip out the middle bit with a memory-wire cutter
4. Black hot-glue (for metal). Managed not to burn myself. Alternated the paper clips, one above, one below, all the way along (except for the very ends)
5. Cover the glued side with aluminium tape.
6. One half-twist, glue the ends together.
7. Go through with pliers, bending out the edges of the paper clips.
Then I started knitting on it, to see what it produces. I had to rip the aluminium tape off, though, because it started peeling off by itself. I was hoping that a Mobius loom could be used to make a Mobius scarf, but I realized that was not the case, after I'd knitted six rows or so. Because a Mobius is a single edge... which means that what you get is a big loop of knitting which is twice the circumference of the loom itself. The loom also turned out not to be very robust. Because one has to keep on flexing it as one goes along the row, the paper clips started coming unglued. By the time I'd done the sixth row, a few of them were half-unglued, so I decided to cast off. By the time I'd finished casting off, two clips had fallen off, and four more fell off shortly afterwards.
Mobius loom; bubblewrap plastic, paper clips, black hot glue. Knitting done on the loom
There was an additional problem which took me completely by surprise, though it shouldn't have, given the strange topography of a Mobius strip. The finished knitting... was looped inside the loom. That is, if one considers the loom to be a link in a chain, the knitting was the next link; they were linked together. So it was just as well that the loom was falling apart, because I had to pull it apart to get the knitting out. Not a very practical loom after all!
But still, I wanted to see if I could make a more robust loom, try again. So this time I took fibreglass-reinforced packing tape, laid out the large paper clips on a strip of it, laid another strip on top, then a few more strips to hide the poking-out wires so the yarn wouldn't catch on them (a problem I had with the first loom). I fastened it down with more packing tape, but after I cast off on the first loom (I started this before I'd done the casting-off) I realized I might need to open up the loom to let knitting out, so I dug up some industrial-strength Velcro and removed the original joining and used the Velcro instead.
Mobius loom; fibreglass-reinforced packing tape, 50mm paper clips, interlocking fasteners (strong velcro)
I have not yet tried using this loom, though. I have plans for an alternative technique which may be able to produce a Mobius from the loom, but it is only theory at this point.
