Happy pi-day, everyone!
Here are four of my pi-shawls.
Clockwise from the top:
Mystic Star, Star of Earth, Ra and Apep, Eyjafjallajökull Shawl
A pi-shawl is a circular shawl using the so called pi-shawl construction, as described by Elizabeth Zimmerman. It relies on the relationship between the circumference of the shawl (the number of stitches) and the radius of the shawl (the number of rounds, counting out from the centre). Basically, each time the radius doubles, the circumference doubles. And since knit fabric is stretchy by nature, it’s sufficient to double the number of stitches every time the radius doubles. The stitches are increased in special increase rounds which are worked [k1, yo] to the end.
When knitting in the round, repeating a fairly simple pattern will result in a much more complex-looking pattern. These shawls use both lace patterning and “negative space” – that is the plain stockinette separating the lace patterns – to create the overall patterns.
