Shawl Geometry: Pi Circles
This is the third post in a series about different shawl shapes and how to knit them. All the posts in the series can be found right here.
PI Circle from the center out
The PI Circle falls into the circular shawl shaping camp of “start with a tiny circle, and radiate concentric circles outwards.” The basic idea is that you start with a small circular cast on, then alternate expanses of straight knitting, with dramatic increases. If you work these in accordance with EZ’s concept of PI Circular Shawl Shaping, (which is based on the mathematical relationship between the rate of growth between a circle’s circumference and radius), then you’ll create a circular shawl that lays flat.
The basic concept is, if section A has X rounds and Y stitches, then section B has 2X rounds and 2Y stitches, section C has 4X rounds and 4Y stitches, section D has 8X rounds and 8Y stitches, etc.
Center Out Knitting Instructions
CO 6sts. Join in the round, being careful not to twist.
Section A: knit 1 round.
Inc Rnd: (yo, k1) around. 12sts.
Section B: knit 2 rounds.
Inc Rnd: (yo, k1) around. 24sts.
Section C: knit 4 rounds.
Inc Rnd: (yo, k1) around. 48sts.
Section D: knit 8 rounds.
Inc Rnd: (yo, k1) around. 96sts.
Section E: knit 16 rounds.
Inc Rnd: (yo, k1) around. 192sts.
Section F: knit 32 rounds.
Inc Rnd: (yo, k1) around. 384sts.
Section G: knit 64 rounds.
Inc Rnd: (yo, k1) around. 768sts.
Continue to desired dimensions.
Bind off loosely.
Pi Circles from the hem in
Knitting any shawl from the hem inwards takes a little more planning than working one from the center out. With a shawl knit from the center out you can keep increasing until you reach your desired size, or until you run out of yarn. But knitting a shawl from the hem into the center requires that you know your size information before you begin, so you can cast on an accurate number of stitches.
Calculating your round count
Determine your final gauge and desired radius of your shawl.
The radius is half the width of your final shawl, or the length from the center to the edge.
[Rnd gauge] x [desired radius] = [# of rnds total]
This will be your magic number.
Calculating your shaping using increases
Determine how many stitches you want as the bind off at the center of your shawl.
Next work out shaping for a PI Circle as you would if you were knitting it from the center out. Work out the instructions for your shawl pattern until you reach your shawl’s magic number.
Remember: Your magic number is your TOTAL number of rounds knit, NOT the number of rounds in one section.
Example calculations
We’ll use the same math we did for the center to hem version of this shawl.
So if your magic number (number of rounds total) is 100 and your desired BO number is 6sts, the calculations for your shaping would be as follows:
CO 6sts.
Section A: knit 1 round.
Inc Rnd: (yo, k1) around. 12sts.
Section B: knit 2 rounds.
Inc Rnd: (yo, k1) around. 24sts.
Section C: knit 4 rounds.
Inc Rnd: (yo, k1) around. 48sts.
Section D: knit 8 rounds.
Inc Rnd: (yo, k1) around. 96sts.
Section E: knit 16 rounds.
Inc Rnd: (yo, k1) around. 192sts.
Section F: knit 32 rounds.
Inc Rnd: (yo, k1) around. 384sts.
Section G: knit 31 rounds.
Notice how we stopped in the middle of a section?
If we hadn’t stopped at our magic number of rows (100) we would have knit 64 rounds, not 31, in that last section (section G).
We stopped because, if you add up all of the rows (not counting the CO) you get 100. Which is the magic number for this shawl.
Turning Increases into Decreases
Once you’ve worked out your calculations as though you were knitting from the center out, you knit a shawl from the edge in, by working backwards.
To do this, the number of stitches in your final increase round (when working center out) becomes your cast on number. And rather than working increase rounds that double your stitch count, you work decrease rounds that cut the number of stitches on your needles in half.
Knitting Instructions
CO 384sts. Join in the round, being careful not to twist.
Section A: knit 31 rounds.
Dec Rnd: (k2tog) around. 192sts.
Section B: knit 32 rounds.
Dec Rnd: (k2tog) around. 96sts.
Section C: knit 16 rounds.
Dec Rnd: (k2tog) around. 48sts.
Section D: knit 8 rounds.
Dec Rnd: (k2tog) around. 24sts.
Section E: knit 4 rounds.
Dec Rnd: (k2tog) around. 12sts.
Section F: knit 2 rounds.
Dec Rnd: (k2tog) around. 6sts.
Section G: knit 1 round.
Bind off loosely.
Break yarn leaving a tail, and thread tail through live stitches, pull tight and weave in your end. (The same way you would finish off the crown of a hat.)
The previous post: Wedge Circle
The next post: Octagon Circle
Shawl Geometry: Wedge Circles
This is the second post in a series about different shawl shapes and how to knit them. All the posts in the series can be found right here.
The Wedge Circle from the center out
The Wedge Circle falls into the category of shaping a circular that I call the “knit an octagon and block it into a circle.”
In this circular shawl, we use eight right triangular wedges that, when blocked, create the “swirl” effect that this shawl is sometimes named after. The eight right triangle wedges are created by working eight single, evenly spaced increases (or decreases) every other round.
Knitting Instructions
CO 8sts. Join in the round, being careful not to twist.
{8 sections}
R1: (pm, yo, k1) 8 times.
R2: knit around.
R3: (sm, yo, k to marker) 8 times.
R4: knit around.
Rep R3&4 to desired dimensions.
Bind off loosely.
This shaping actually creates an octagon, which you then block into a circle.
Note: To make the swirl curl in the opposite direction simply (yo, k to marker) every other round, rather then (k to marker, yo).
The Wedge Circle from the hem in
To work a circular shawl made up of wedges from the hem to center, use the same concept and similar formulas as working a square shawl from the hem to center.
Calculating your cast on
Determine your final gauge and the desired radius of your shawl.
The radius is half the width of your final shawl, or the length from the center to the edge of your shawl.
[Round gauge] x [desired radius] = [# of rnds]
[# of rnds] / 2 = [# of dec rnds]
[# of dec rnds] x [8sts decreased per dec rnd] = [# of sts decreased]
Make sure this number is divisible by 8.
[# of sts decreased] = [# of sts to CO]
Calculating your stitch marker placement
[# of sts decreased] / [8 shawl sections] = [# of sts in one section aka Y]
Knitting Instructions
CO [# of sts to CO].
R1: (pm, ssk, kY minus two) 8 times.
R2: knit around.
R3: (sm, ssk, k to marker) 8 times.
R4: knit around.
Rep R3&4 to 8sts.
Bind off loosely.
Break, yarn, leaving a tail, and thread the tail through all live sts, pull tight and weave in your end. (The same way you would finish off the crown of a hat.)
So if you cast on 48 sts. Join in the round, being careful not to twist.
R1: (pm, k6) 8 times.
R2: (sm, k4, k2tog) 8 times.
R3: knit around.
R4: (sm, k to 2 sts before marker, k2tog) 8 times.
Repeat R3&4.
Bind off loosely.
The previous post: Square Knit in the Round
The next post: Pi Circles
Looking back at knitting Gene Tierney
I’m always working on some project or another, which means I often have FOs and new designs to share. You can see all my FOs … here … and all my designs … here.
I don’t have any new FOs this Friday, so I thought I’d take a look back at one of my older pieces. Gene Tierney, the divine
I’ve recently fallen back in love with this shawl and have been wearing it everywhere the past couple days. It’s large and cushy without being heavy or dense. It’s super easy to wear, and looks great with just about anything.
I originally designed this shawl for the Sanguine Gryphon’s Fall 2011 “Film Noir” pattern line. The original sample was knit with two skeins of Mithril (which the Verdant Gryphon now carries) in the “Der Blaue Engel” colorway. I’ve since re-released the pattern, which you can get here.
The craziest thing about this shawl is how much I LOVE it now, compared to how over it I was when the pattern first came out.
Since I tend to design very large, intricate shawls that can’t generally be whipped up in a couple days, I try to be very conscious of deadlines and how much I’m knitting when I’m knitting on a deadline for a publication. Usually I work out how many days between when I get the yarn and when I need to mail off the sample, then I determine the number of rows I need to knit every day between now and then to get the sample done with plenty of time to block it and mail it, and make sure it gets to the publication on time. Usually I try to build in plenty of cushion into this schedule because I’ve found that, just like I don’t really knit small shawls, I don’t really make small mistakes either, and the larger the shawl the larger the mistake.
Somehow this didn’t whole planning thing didn’t happen for Gene Tierney.
I don’t remember why this process didn’t happen. Maybe it’s because it was summer, or I had a lot of other work at the time (theater and knitwear), or because I knew I was going on vacation for a week so I’d have lots of knitting time, or I just got distracted because I knew it was a rectangle so I didn’t have to front load so much of the knitting like I do with shawls where the stitch count increases. But for whatever reason it didn’t happen.
So about half way through my week-long family vacation, in the middle of August, in the middle-of-nowhere upstate New York, I glanced at my calender and said “shit.”
The shawl was due in something like two weeks, and I hadn’t exactly been power knitting through the sample. I think I had maybe one repeat done (out of six).
So I flipped. And then finished knitting the shawl in seven or eight days. Not something I can highly recommend.
I blocked the shawl, wrote the pattern, sent the shawl off asap and just made the deadline. At which point, even though I loved the pattern, and the yarn, and the design, I was a little over it.
Needless to say the feeling I had when the pattern finally came out, all I could think was “thank god it’s done.”
So, I eventually got the sample back, put it in a drawer, and didn’t look at it for awhile. Re-released the pattern, but then put it back in the drawer. Only to pull it out one day this spring and fall in love all over again.
You can find the details for the pattern here.
If you’d like more FO Friday posts, visit Tami’s blog.
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