Thrilling Obsession

I said last week in my newsletter that several of us at Knit Knite were obsessed with discovering a new møbius cast-on. We all know about Cat Borhi's but find that one a bit hard to do.  We tried quite a few ideas we had to no avail.  They all turned into 2 sided tubes.  sigh.

However as a result of announcing our craziness to the world, one courageous woman wrote to say that Rita Buchanan wrote an article for Spin Off in 2000 with her very own Møbius Cast-on.  Of course, I cleaned out all my old Spin-Offs last year. Why is it that when one finally gets rid of something that hadn't been used in umpteen years, it then becomes needed?
I googled Rita Buchanan Møbius and got this page.  While informative it leaves out a few basic instructions.  I tried it on 16" needles as I didn't want to be casting on a zillion stitches only to rip them out a few rows later.  Alas my attempt did not work and I frogged 70 stitches.

Then Lynne S. graciously scanned her copy of the article and sent it to me.  Of course I wanted to try it out immediately but that would mean 2 new UFO's and I'm trying to get samples ready for FF of New England.  So I compromised by spinning the yarn needed for this cowl.  I took breaks from dyeing and knitting to spin.  Seemed very balanced to me too.

4 ounces of Cattleya Orchid Falkland worked up into 300 yards of 2 ply plus silver thread making it technically a 3 ply yarn.  I thought it was sportweight but once washed and dried the whole thing blossomed into closer to DK.  Had US 6 needles ready but upped them to US7's.  Did a swatch and came out with 4.5 st/in on US7.  Close to worsted I guess but whatever.  It's soft and springy.

On Wednesday I couldn't stand it any longer and cast on the needed 200 stitches.  With a backwards loop it didn't take very long and this time the cable wrapped itself around just as in the instructions.
Deirdre kept saying I was obsessed but really I was so delighted to actually have this working and being so easy to do. Got so excited I drove 15 miles to Joanne's with a 20% off coupon and chose some 2/0 beads.  I thought I was adding them to the edge but now realize they are probably in the middle so will add more later when it's almost done.  A Mobius is such a magical creation and knitting one is doubly so.

Only 6- 7 more inches to go, then I'll use EZ' stretchy bind off. 

Wonder how one blocks a møbius cowl?  Have only done Cat Bordhi's møbius baskets which are felted.  Hmmmnnnn

I can see myself playing with making different stitch patterns that go with this.  Maybe a spiral. Or how about a knitted Klein Bottle? Or maybe a simpler item - Sea Change slip stitch mobius cowl.

A Cautionary Tale

I don't know about you, but I spend a lot of money on ink cartridges.  Probably because I print a good deal of patterns and fiber and yarn labels.  It really adds up at almost $100 a pop.  I was thinking of what do the recyclers do with the empties I turn in when I buy new?

hmmmm and I found a business online, ClickInks, that refills those cartridges and sells them for about half the price.  Well, I thought that was a great idea and a great bargain so I ordered a set.  A few hours later I received an email telling me my payment didn't go through and to click on the link to try paying again so my order would not be held up.  So I did.

Then I went online to check this charge.  Sure enough this one went through but so did the first one.  Huh??????  I called but since it was the weekend, they were not open. I then called first thing Monday morning and got a person who told me the second order would be cancelled.  Whew.  Good.

Later that day I received an email telling me my inks had shipped.  A few minutes later I received a duplicate email but when I checked it I saw it had a different order number.  Sheesh.  So I called again.  This time I was told that they could do nothing for me until the second box was returned!!!!!  It was their "policy'.  Sheesh again.  I asked to speak to a supervisor but was not put through.

I sent them an email and received a reply that a ticket had been opened and I would get a response within 24 hours.  NADA in over a month now.  I called next morning but was put off again.  The person I spoke with said to refuse the second box and then when it was returned so would my money.

UPS arrived on Friday with both boxes.  I refused one of them.  I waited until the following Thursday and called again.  BTW the wait time on these calls was 15 - 20 minutes.  I was told my package had not yet been clocked in by the warehouse.  I was also told that it would be 5 days after that before my refund was made.  That was it!!!!

I called PayPal and told them the whole story.  They told me they would contact ClickInks but that my money would definitely be back in my account by 9/21 no matter what.  On 9/21, they emailed me that the company never responded so my money was automatically returned.

Meanwhile this was all going on, I was printing patterns for the Finger Lakes Fiber Festival when the magenta started getting streaky.  I cleaned the printheads 3 times and it only got worse.  arghhh  I went onto the HP website and after a couple hours of doing whatever it said, the verdict was I needed a new printhead.

So by trying to save $45 I have now spent $100 for replacement cartridges and will be buying a new printer too as that will cost $20 less than a new printhead. For sure I'll only buy printer maker approved cartridges from now on.

I told ClickInks I would tell my story far and wide but they didn't care.  Be forewarned my friends.