This project takes less than 25g of each of the two main colours and a few yards of the colour required for the telomeres. In addition to the yarn, you will also need 2 pipe cleaners to stabilise the shape of the chromosome.

The chromosome is knit from a provisional cast on in the middle, using magic loop to knit each leg in the round.

Gauge and yarn weight is not important - thicker yarn will give you a bigger chromosome. If you do change yarn size, you will need to change needle size to compensate. Make sure you pick a needle size smaller than you would normally use for the weight of yarn.

This is a pattern I wrote for a commission for the Science Museum in London. You can make your own chromosome to match the ones in the the Who Am I Gallery in the museum.

April 2011: This pattern is now being re-used as part of MS: The Big Knit at the Cheltenham Science Festival. Read about it here.