[d]
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Copyright © 2005-2008, Kimberly Chapman. All knitting graphics/patterns/instructions on this page were created by Kimberly Chapman. You may link to this page, but please do not steal/hotlink the graphics or copy the patterns to other sites without my written permission. Feel free to print graphics/patterns/instructions for personal or non-profit use, but absolutely no for-profit reproduction is allowed, including selling of finished items (except for registered charitable causes).
Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver acrylic in black, orange, green, yellow, and blue
Needles: US 3 double-pointed (see my double-pointed needle tutorial to learn how they work)
The DNA model was made with two equal black twisted tubes using the right-twist variation of self-twisting tubes. The stitch count for those was 18, or 6 per needle. The full stretched-out length of a black tube is about 13in/33cm, the natural relaxed coiled length is about 8in/20cm. The holes from dropping/adding stitches were woven through with more black yarn, as were any holes from increasing/decreasing at the ends.
The base pairs were 9 stitches around, or 3 per needle. The blue-yellow ones were one cast-on row of blue, then 5 rows of all blue, then as follows:
Then the 9th through 13th rows were all yellow, then a binding off row of yellow.
The orange-green ones were one cast-on row of orange, then 5 rows of orange, then as follows:
Then the 8th through 13th rows were all green, then a binding off row of green.
To put it all together, I held the two black coils side by side in a rough double-helix formation, then used three double-pointed needles jammed through at the middle and each end to hold the proper shape and distance. I pinned the first base pair just below the mid-point, then sewed it strongly into place using doubled-over black thread. Then I added the base pairs down that side to the end, then went up the other side, at each point ensuring that they were about the same distance apart and at roughly the same point on each black coil relative to where the coil's woven lines were. As with real DNA, I varied the pattern of the base pairs, including reversing some of them.
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Page last updated July 2 2007.
Email me at crafts@kimberlychapman.com
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