Geekery

Going Round and Round

Categories Coloring, Crochet, GeekeryLeave a Comment on Going Round and Round

This Thursday, 3/14, is one of my favorite days of the year: Pi Day! I love geometry and Pi is an important number to many of the calculations I use as a designer. Most of the time it is all about the circles.

circle-geo-coloring-pageDownload

For those of you that love to do some coloring, I have a new coloring page for you. You can download the page right here.

Since March is Crochet Month I thought we could revisit my blog post on crocheting circles from Pi Day 2017. In that post I gave you the basic formula for crocheting flat circles in single, half-double, double and treble crochet stitches.

Let’s talk today about some other helpful tips when crocheting circles. First off: crocheting continuous rounds. For me these are all about the stitch markers. I use stitch markers in each increase stitch, with a different color stitch marker for my final increase stitch (it also marks the last stitch of the round). After I make 2 stitches in the marked stitch I move the stitch marker up to the 2nd stitch made.

I think the trick that I geeked out about the most was how to keep track of which round I am in when crocheting continuous rounds. The number of stitches worked in each increase section will be the same as the number of Round. For example: in Round 5 I would work 3 plain stitches, then 2 stitches in the next (marked) stitch, 5 stitches total.

You can experiment with both of these techniques in my “Simple Double Crochet Hat” pattern here on the blog. Work it in a worsted weight yarn for a fun quick basic hat to chase away Springtime chills. Worked in a plain solid color this hat makes a great base to add decorative crocheted embellishments to.

If you want to experiment with making sure your hat fits who it is intended for, you can use Pi to help you. I have a detailed tutorial from 2011 here on the blog on making a hat fit using my “Pi Recipe”.

Have a wonderful Pi Day and celebrate all things Round this Thursday. I’m hoping to have some actual pie as part of my celebration.

Celebrating Circles

Categories Celebrating, Creativity, Crochet, Crochet Design, Geekery, Indie publication2 Comments on Celebrating Circles

This coming Monday is March 14th, and you know what that means? Pi Day!

Okay, for those of you that somehow have managed to be reading this blog and have missed it…

I’m a Geek!

I love math and science, plus all the other wonderfully related things. There have been rumors that I am a nerd, but I’m not paying them any notice. My favorite math, and one that I use frequently in my design work, is Geometry. That takes us back to Pi.

Pi = 3.14 and that makes March 14, a date that can be written 3.14, Pi Day. See, you knew I’d get to the point eventually.

Pi in lay terms is the number that allows us to compute the circumference of a circle. Actually it is much more than that, but that gets you in the general vicinity. It is a handy concept to understand, especially if you are making hats.

Perfect Fit Crocheted Hat
Perfect Fit Crocheted Hat

I’ve talked a lot about using Pi in sizing hats, in fact my “Perfect Fit Crocheted Hat” pattern/lesson has a lot of information about using Pi to determine the size of hat you can make. The sizing in that pattern is very flexible because once you master the method, you can use any size yarn with the appropriately matching hook to create a hat that fits perfectly.

Spiraling Xs Hat 3 Andee Graves

Of course, since I’m in a mood for celebrating Pi, it seems only appropriate to introduce you all to my latest hat pattern: “Spiraling Crosses Hat”. I designed it in Tahki Stacy Charles “Mesa” yarn, a lovely squishy thick/thin aran-weight superwash wool that is dyed in long gradual color changes. This hat design is perfect for spring-time transitional weather. The stitch pattern has a bit of laciness to it and lots of stretch. The warmth of the wool is there to chase off a chill and the laciness allows your scalp to breathe.

As part of my celebration of Pi-Day this hat pattern is available to you dear readers at a 10% discount until almost Midnight (11:59 p.m. Mountain Time) Monday, March 14, 2016. Just use the coupon code PiDayHat16 when purchasing it in my Ravelry Shop.

Speaking of Ravelry, have you joined the fun at the month long party for crochet? Check out the forum for celebrating NatCroMo. You can even join in the Hat CAL with any hat pattern you so desire. Like maybe a Perfect Fit or Spiraling Crosses Hat?

 

Happy Pi Day

Categories Celebrating, GeekeryLeave a Comment on Happy Pi Day

Today is March 14 or 3.14, the short version of Pi. I’m not sure when folks starting celebrating Pi day. I am sure it was some geeky types that got it going.

Pi

Pi is actually much longer than 3.14. Figuring the decimal digits of Pi is a math problem without a final solution. Mathematically Pi is referred to by the number of decimal digits, ie… 3.14159 is referred to as “Pi to the 5th degree.

A couple of years ago I posted my “Pi recipe”.  Where I showed you step-by-step how to make crown down hats that fit using Pi.

So if you want, today you can crochet a hat as part of celebrating Pi Day. Have fun.

The Last One

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121212

It’s been a fun thing watching this new century un-fold. Particularly from a numbers standpoint.

Every year, since 2001, there has been a date that lined up with all the same number. Like 01/01/01.

I don’t attach any special significance to it, but it does entertain me when the dates are interesting numbers. 01/02/03 was a smile too.

Today is the last day of this century that the numbers will all be the same. 12/12/12.

I hope it is a lovely day for you, and that you will find a moment to discover some small joy (like the date) amongst the hustle and bustle of the season.

I will be spending my day, typing up crochet patterns, writing articles and getting some gift stitching finished for packages that have to be mailed out.