You will need some wool, or other type of yarn (you could try cotton, or a polyester blend for an easily machine-washable universe). Black would be my first choice, but you can make your universe any colour you like. You could even make a Fair Isle universe if you really wanted, blending psychedelic colours in and out, like a billion sunsets, or even the final one. My friend Meg Carpenter teaches these writing retreats for ghostwriters of Zeb Ross novels (I don’t think I’m supposed to say that they’re ghostwritten, but whatever), and she uses Fair Isle knitting to show her ghostwriters how to weave in plot strands.
Once you’ve decided on your yarn, you’ll need to choose your needles. For a seemingly opaque universe, just get whatever needle size is recommended on the label on the yarn. For a denser universe get smaller needles, and for a lacy universe, with lots of potential wormholes, choose bigger needles. I used Kidsilk Haze and 3mm needles, and it’s fair to say it took me almost forever to complete it. I don’t think Meg ever appreciated it enough as a present. Such is the joy of knitting. Next, cast on some stitches. It is up to you whether you cast on a finite or an infinite number of stitches. If you imagine that the stitch is the point, and the row is the line, be aware that an infinite number of stitches will lead to a two-dimensional universe, at least according to my father-in-law, Conrad. If you want your Fabric of the Universe to also function as a shawl, as Meg’s does, you should make it a rectangle, a golden rectangle if you like, using the golden ratio. But that’s quite hard. I would say just keep knitting until it feels complete and you have a finite number of rows and then cast off. If you want to you can stitch some stars onto your universe using silver thread that you can buy from any yarn shop.
Our Tragic Universe contains:
(in no particular order of preference)
A labyrinth
A broken relationship
The river dart
Faeries
A knitting pattern
A beast
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