A Thousand Rainy Days
Yes, I’ve done it again. Another shawl in lovely madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light. I can’t help myself. The stuff is addictive. This time I used two different and perfectly coordinated new colors; Fog and Undergrowth. Aren’t they gorgeous together? The pattern took shape on the needles, which is not my usual way of working, and as a result I had to knit the shawl three times! It was totally worth it though, because I love the way it turned out. I also had ten faithful test knitters and my tech editor Stephannie Tallent to massage the mistakes out of the pattern, so it could not be more ready! I’m planning to release the pattern later this week, and if you are on my mailing list you’ll receive an email with a coupon code for 30% off when I do. If you’re not already on the list, sign up here.
A Thousand Rainy Days is a half circle shawl shaped by Elizabeth Zimmermann’s Pi formula. The Pi shawl first appeared in The Knitter’s Almanac and the shaping is based on the mathematical formula for determining the circumference of a circle. In knit-speak; every time the rows double, you double the stitches. This simple shaping makes it really easy to fit in a lace pattern, or a few short rows, because the stitch count only changes six times! Don’t be intimidated by the short rows, they are simple to work with the German Short Row method and practically invisible.
My shawl is 60 inches along the straight edge and 24 inches deep, but I think I could make it a little bigger if I blocked it harder. The mesh lace looks really scrunched up as you’re knitting it, but when it hits water it’s amazing how much it opens up! I also didn’t use up all of my yarn, so you can make the shawl larger by adding more rows, and the pattern tells you exactly where to add them. If you have any questions about the pattern you can ask them in the Kephren Knitting Studio Ravelry group.
Thank you for knitting!