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Pi Shawls for Pi Day

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It’s March 14, also known as Pi Day, so who could resist thinking about some pi-shaped (or pie-shaped?) shawls?

The most famous Pi Shawl is of course Elizabeth Zimmermann’s. Originally shared in her print newsletter, it’s been republished in Knitter’s Almanac, where it’s the project for July because it’s “good travel-knitting.” She likes this particular project for its simplicity, with only six increase rounds in the whole project.

Towards the end, by the time your state of mind has become more and more frayed, and your need of mindless comfort greater and greater, your knitting will be nothing but almost endless rounds of hundreds of stitches, with no thinking required, at all. You will end up with an heirloom.

Looking for more Pi Shawl patterns to knit? Check these out on Etsy.

Sounds pretty good, right?

There are lots of great pi shawls out there in the world now; here are a few.

The Simply Pi Shawl form Kay Meadors is really simple, almost all straight knitting. An optional beaded edging gives it a little sparkle and weight.

Ravelry user MMario’s Easy Peasy Lace Shawl uses simple eyelets throughout, while his Pi-napple Strudel gets points for the cute name and lovely design.

The Flower Pie Shawl by Megan Elligner adds a bold flower pattern to the basic shape, while Jan Henley’s Pi in the Sky I is actually a semi-circle using the same concepts.

If you’re willing to pay a bit for a pattern, check out Mindy Vasil’s Camellia, Susan Pandorf’s Evenstar (you’re going to want to look at the amazing variations on this one, including a knit dress), the Butterfly Pi shawl from Linda Farrelly, Margrit’s Pi Shawl by Tanja Luescher and the Diamond Rings Pi Shawl by Donna Druchunas, who inspired me to collect this roundup in the first place.

And if you want to go your own way with a circular shawl worked from the center out, Holly Peacock has a great calculator in a Google document that you can use. Just plug in how many stitches you want to cast on and it will tell you where to increase, how many stitches you should have once you’ve increased, and how many usable rounds you have between increase rounds for plotting out your pattern. Awesome.

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Comments

  1. I am knitting Jared Flood’s “Leaves of Grass” pattern right now, it is a beautiful paid for pi pattern. I am making it in worsted weight so it should be more like a blanket. I am loving it, I love pi shawls

Have you read?

Stitch Your Favorite Fruit on a Sweater

The other day I saw a post from Pinterest about trends for summer and it said one of them was “cultivating whimsy.” 

Well, I don’t know where Pinterest has been all this time, but we’ve been cultivating whimsy here at Craft Gossip for a long time. I love sharing projects that are a little different, things that make you smile when you see them, and will make you smile when you knit them and wear them or use them. 

Such it is with the Tutti Frutti tee knitting pattern from Bea Creative Knits. 

This cute little baby tee is worked top down in the round with contiguous shoulder construction to shape the sleeve caps. There are short rows for the neckline and folded hems with picot edging at the hemline, neckline and edges of the sleeves. 

All of this would be great on its own, but then there’s the addition of a super cute fruit icon, which is added with duplicate stitch. There are a lot of options, including strawberry, banana, orange, cherries, watermelon, lemon, blueberries, kiwi, peach, dragon fruit, apple and pear, so it’s likely you can add on your favorite fruit. 

It is offered in eight sizes, to fit a bust measurement ranging from 28-30 inches (71-76 cm) to 56-58 inches (142-147 cm). The design is meant to be worn with around 6.3 inches/16 cm of negative ease, but you can choose the fit you prefer. There’s also optional bust and waist shaping included in the pattern if you want to make it even curvier.

This is considered an advanced beginner or intermediate project because of all the skills involved, but it’s sure to be a lot of fun even if some of these techniques are new to you.

Grab a copy of the pattern for yourself form Bea Creative Knits on Etsy. 

[Photo: Bea Creative Knits]