I like Pi.

Last night I finally finished the border on my second Pi Shawl. The Pi shawl is started in the middle and worked out from that center. A piece of brillance from Elizabeth Zimmerman and July of her Knitter's Almanac. This border, the "plain border," is in leui of a plain bind off and is well worth the effort. You need to be in a fairly zen place as you work it and keep calm and carry on. If you can keep your focus, then it takes a few hours; if you cannot keep your focus or discipline, it could take you from about August 19 to September 2. I chose emersion blocking and laid it flat to dry on two towels. No pins or wires involved, I am not much for persision work; it is round enough for my tastes.

There are 3 styles of this shawl contained in the almanac: a simple stockinette, this simple lace or concentric circles, and a more involved lace pattern.

Today's knitting adventure is trying to stay centered on work knitting (it ain't digging ditches, right?). I still have two substantial class samples to complete: the third pi and the mystery lace scarf or faux crochet.

The first 3 or 4 tiers of a Pi shawl move very rapidly but the 5th and 6th slow down significantly as your stitches have doubled and double again (144 to 288 to 576). I am also bracing myself for the lace edging that is worked over nearly twice the number of sts. as the plain border.

The mystery lace scarf is a free pattern from Misti Alpaca that very successfully imitates single crochet and a scalloped edging all with knit stitches and techniques. It is pretty simple but is the kind of work that you need to keep your eyes on rather than read or watch tv.