Pi shawl - finished at last

I have, at last, finished my first pi shawl and already I know that it won't be my last! I love the way it lays so perfectly flat and it is so impossibly easy to knit! I have a few more pictures on my blog and the shawl can be found on Ravelry, where I'm know as teeweewonders.

pi shawl

This is actually something I made awhile ago and never blogged about: a pi shawl from three skeins of Misti Alpaca lace weight.
Pi shawls are so brilliant. I can't get over them. This was so easy and fun to make and I probably wear it more than anything else I've ever knit.
I picked out the border from Barbara Walker's Second Treasury. Mostly I would just YO, K2tog every 10 rows or so, but in the middle there's another Barbara Walker pattern because I got bored.
I love this picture because it looks like it has a heavenly glow.

Doggy Pi

Just finished a stash-busting project: a felted dog bed made from leftover Lopi.

I adapted the pattern from Wendy's felted kitty bed, which is based on the increases used in Elizabeth Zimmermann's Pi Shawl (hence Wendy's name of "Kitty Pi").

I followed Wendy's instructions exactly except that I made it much larger by doubling stitches an additional time at 24 rows--288 stitches--and I used size 13 needles. It was a super-quick knit-up--chunky yarn, huge needles, knit in the round (which is much quicker for me than straight knitting). I knit in the car during the last two camping trips (feeling like EZ herself!), and it rolled off the needles lickety-split.

From her pattern, it looked like Wendy was counting on 40% shrinkage, which seems high, but I used that in my own adapted pattern and did indeed get the size I was after (about three feet in diameter). It will suit James for a while, since he typically curls up when he sleeps.

I didn't block mine as severely as Wendy did--in fact, I couldn't stop the puppy from playing with it while it was still wet!

My knitting friends asked me about being worried if he will chew it. I'm not really. The felted knitting is super thick (like carpet), and the dog has a soft bite. Also, if he does chew a hole in it, it can't really unravel (thanks to the felting), and I can just throw it into the washing machine for re-felting to mend the hole!

More Pi, Anyone?

March 27, 2007

Last April, I bought 2 skeins of Fleece Artist Blue Face 2/8 at the Downtown Knit Collective's Knitters' Frolic.


I knew yarn this beautiful was destined to become shawls, but I had trouble finding a simple pattern that wouldn't detract from the loveliness of the wool. I finally settled on EZ's plain Pi shawl, which would show off the subtlety of the hand-dyed colours.

In the Almanac, EZ points out how the WIP forms a little bag, perfect for holding the ball of working yarn. Indeed!


As it grows, it strikes me how similar this shawl is to blogger Bluestocking's version, here. I can't help but think that the purple skein will turn out to be much like her purple Pi as well.


EDIT: April 8, 2007
It's done. Here it is being modelled by my guitar.


I had to block it twice. The first time, I tried to make it perfectly circular, but it came out wonky. The second time, I pinned out 12 points, so the FO ended up with scallops.


If anyone knows some trick to pinning out a round shawl, please let me know. I'd really like this shawl to have a smooth border, but failing that, I guess I can live with the scallops.