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 April 2005 Back to Table of Contents Back to Archives Main Page Section: Home & Garden HOBBIES, PART II A Recipe for Pi By Linda Collignon I love to read about cooking, I also love to knit. So, when asked to commenton my favorite hobby (and, there are too many to mention) it only seemed fitting to share with you a “recipe” for knitting my favorite thing — a simple, endless project with no size or gauge requirements — a shawl. To me there is nothing more becoming or satisfying to knit than a nice big shawl. I adore knitting shawls and have been patiently waiting for them to come back into style. Guess what? Their time has come and they’re here to stay, for quite awhile too, from the looks of it. We have finally come to appreciate the beauty of this garment that fits any body — from infant (think baby-blanket) to Winston (Churchill that is. I am told he was a huge fan of the shawl, keeping one about his shoulders while reading in those draughty English bedchambers). By the time the shawl has run its course as a fashion forward garment I figure that I’ll be old and eccentric enough to be able to continue to wear them anyway. Comfort first, I always say. And nothing could be cozier and more comfortable than a large, slightly stretchy wool shawl to keep the chill away. But besides being a lovely thing to wear, it is truly a lovely thing to knit. And the Pi shawl is the loveliest of all. Elizabeth Zimmerman, the Queen Mum of Knitting concocted this idea for what she dubbed the Pi Shawl way back in 1969. It is, of course, based on the circumference of a circle-pi-r-squared. By doubling the stitches, and doubling the amount of rounds in between those increases (you start to knit this at the center and work your way out) a flat-lying knitted circle is the result. In between those increases your stitch count stays the same, which means you can play around with stitch patterns and yarn-overs to your hearts content without worrying about shaping details at all. Even if you decide not to do anything but knit, the whole thing still ends up looking as elegant as can be. Think of all the reruns of Murder, She Wrote that you can watch and not feel guilty. After all, you are actually accomplishing something quite spectacular (and being mathematical to boot). If you are clever enough to figure out how to prop a book open in front of you, I’d bet that you could read all of Diana Gabaldon’s books (another guilty pleasure) while you knit that shawl. Or nibble cookies and drink tea and listen to all of the old music that you haven’t listened to in ages. Being quite portable, it travels well to the hospital, doctor’s office, or the auto repair shop. Time sure does go faster when you’re fingers are flying. If any of this intrigues you at all, let me put forth the magical formula that makes all of this — and more — possible. Be warned: once you get started, you may never stop. Here goes: First off, pick some yarn that you really like — don’t forget, you’ll be working with it for possibly years to come (nobody said that this was a quick project). Wool is usually my first choice, and since this big round thing will be folded over itself to go around the shoulders, something on the finer side is usually a good choice. I usually use a fine singles wool that I have spun myself (oops, I’m mentioning another hobby). You will need a set of double pointed needles and a circular needle about 24" to 26" of the same size. What size you ask? For a fingering weight wool, a 9 seems to work, but again, your choice. The fiddly part: Cast on nine stitches, divide amongst three double pointed needles. You may have to lay the needles flat on a table top as it is difficult to do this on your lap. As you start you’ll see the reason why. Then, knit one round. Next round: knit one, yarn over, knit one, yarn over, blah, blah, all the way around so that you have doubled your stitches (now you have eighteen). Knit three rows around. Next row: knit one, yarn over, knit one, yarn over, repeat these two all the way around (36 stitches). Knit six rows around. Next row: knit one, yarn over, knit one, yarn over, you know the drill (72 stitches). If you like you can now switch to the circular needles. Knit 12 rows around — maybe it’s time to start playing around here — do what you want. Next row: knit one, yarn over, knit one, yarn over, blah, blah, blah, blah, all the way around (144 stitches). Knit 24 rounds. See the pattern here? Next row: knit one, yarn over, knit one, yarn over, do all those increases and you will have 288 stitches to fool around with. Knit 48 rounds — lots of rows to do something with or nothing with, as you choose. Sixth increase — here we go — knit one, yarn over all around and we have 576 glorious stitches. Now, at this point, you will still continue to knit those rounds even to have a nice big circle. But I really doubt that you will knit 96 more rows and increase again, unless you are planning to use this over a tent frame (who knows, maybe you are; actually, that could be a really good idea). So there you have it. A project for a few weeks or a lifetime, however you choose to do it. Whichever it is, you can knit and knit and knit without much thought…which allows you to relax a bit or think about Nietzsche and Derrida and the meaning of existence. Either way it’s very rewarding. And, I’m sorry, I have to say it — easy as pi. back to top back to table of contents Current Issue | About Forever Young | Where to Find | Advertise | Our Advertisers | Community Calendar | Contest | Clubs | Contact Us | Archives | Home |