Tag: PiDay

Happiness in a Circle

Categories Celebrating, Crochet, M2H Designs Ravelry ShopLeave a Comment on Happiness in a Circle

If you didn’t know, today is Pi-Day. For those of you that are new to visiting my blog I am a bit of a geek. I use geometry in my designing process all the time, but my favorite geometrical shapes are circles.

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For those of you uncertain what Pi is and how it relates to circles…it is a mathematical constant that is the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter, approximately equal to 3.14159. It also appears in many formulae across mathematics and physics. For most uses the abbreviated version of 3.14 is more than enough. March 14 is written as 3/14 for most of us here in the US, so some of us geeky souls like to refer to today as Pi-Day.

I have been playing with some circles lately, I made this fun little pouch as an experiment. It is still a work in progress, but so far I like what I’ve come up with. This was just 2 flat circles worked in 5 rounds of double crochet, I then crocheted them together and added a Romanian Cord to create a little wearable pocket for my phone and a few odds and ends when I am running around the house. The crochet hook is to give you a feel for the size of the pouch.

If you are wondering about how to get your flat circles as round as mine you can check out my post about Crocheting Really Round Circles here. I get very detailed in that post about crocheting flat circles and keeping their edges round.

If you are more interested in using Pi to crochet hats that fit the person they are made for, check out my Perfect Fit Crocheted Hat pattern. It is basically my Perfect Fit Crochet Hat class in a pattern. Everything you need to know for adjusting the size of your hat for fit and for the yarn you are using. You don’t even need to be a wizard at math, because I have some easy visual cheats included in the pattern. Once you have worked through the pattern you will understand how to adjust any crown-down constructed hat to fit your yarn and whomever you are making the hat for.

I recently purchased some 24 inch diameter floral hoops to use for creating some crochet art. The first piece I have been making is fairly free-form, so math hasn’t been as much help in this project. This is just the start of it. Once the hoop is filled in and the crochet open work is anchored to it, I’ll be adding crochet pieces to the foreground to make a fun little scene. The whole thing is currently anchored to my work surface so that I can stretch it as I go.

I do have some additional pieces planned that will involve more math as I fill in the hoop. I’ll share more images as these projects progress.

I bought my hoops on Amazon and am very happy with the quality of what I received. You can check them out by clicking here. These hoops are strong and well shaped without any distortion from shipping. They have them in variety of sizes, so I may be ordering some of the smaller ones for making framed snowflakes in the fall. The 24″ diameter ones were the largest offered on that product listing.

Pi Day is Here!

Categories Crochet, Online, Pattern3 Comments on Pi Day is Here!

I love March. It is National Crochet Month, National Crafting Month and it has my favorite geeky day…Pi Day.

March 14 is written as 3/14 for most of us here in the US and 3.14 is the short form for Pi. For those of you uncertain what Pi is…it is a mathematical constant that is the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter, approximately equal to 3.14159. It also appears in many formulae across mathematics and physics.

For my crochet design work I tend to use the short form of 3.14. That is more than enough accuracy for creating circles for hats, bags and rugs.

This month I’ve been busy with fun crochet projects at the Longmont Yarn Shoppe. We yarn bombed the tree in front of the shop. My friend Margie in the Casual Crochet group also has us all participating in “Random Acts of Crochet Kindness”. My favorites are the ones made using Googly Eye Finger Puppets.

Like this snuggly “Pocket Hug”. If you would like to make your own Pocket Hug I’ve included the pattern here today. I had fun coming up with the basic circle that I used for this pattern. I had to get a little creative with how I worked the center of the circle, since it is worked around the ring of the Googly Eye Finger Puppet.

Pocket Hug Pattern

Designed by Andee Graves

Skill Level: Intermediate

Stitches used:  Chain (ch), Single Crochet (sc), Half Double Crochet (hdc), Double Crochet (dc), 2 Double Crochet Cluster (2dcCL),

Materials:

Yarn – Premier “Every Day Worsted Anti-Pilling” 180 yds/165 m, 3.5 oz/100 g, #4 weight category

Hook – H  (5 mm) or size needed to obtain gauge

Notions – Googly Eye Finger Puppet, yarn/tapestry needle, 5 stitch markers

Gauge:  3 rounds off puppet ring = 2.5” diameter

Special Stitches/Abbreviations:

CL (2 double crochet Cluster Stitch) –  (yo, insert hook in indicated place, yo, pull up a loop, yo, pull thru 2 loops) 2 times, yo, pull thru remaining 4 loops on  hook.

Pattern Notes:

Round 1 of stitches is worked into the finger ring of the googly eye puppet.

Instructions

Circle with Arms

Rnd 1: With googly eyes of puppet facing, attach yarn with a slip st in the puppet finger ring, ch 1, 10 sc in ring, ch 2, bring hook behind googly eyes, sl st to join to first sc worked in ring. (10 sc, 1 ch-2 sp)

Rnd 2: (Ch 3 {counts as first dc}, dc) in same st as join, 2 dc in each of next 9 sts, 4 dc in ch-2 sp, join with sl st to top of beginning ch-3.  (24 dc)

Rnd 3: Ch 2 {counts as first hdc}, hdc in next st, 2 hdc next st, hdc in next st, ^ ch 6, CL in 3rd st from hook, sc in back bar of each of next 3 chs,  sl st thru front loop and side loop of previous hdc,^ hdc in next st, 2 hdc in next st, *(hdc in each of next 2 sts, 2 hdc in next st)3 times,* Rep from ^ to ^ once, Rep from * to * once, sl st to join to top of beginning ch-2.  (32 hdc, 6 sc, 2 CL)

Heart

This is my Simple Sweetheart pattern from February 2012

Simple Sweetheart
(c)2012 Andee Graves/M2H Designs

Rnd 1: Starting with adjustable slip knot, ch 2, 7 sc in 2nd ch from hook, join with sl st to first sc of Rnd. (7 sc)

Rnd 2: Skip 1 st, 5 dc in next st, 1 dc in next st, (dc, picot, dc) in next st, dc in next st, 5 dc in next st, skip next st, join with sl st to first sc of Rnd 1. Fasten off. (14 dc, 1 picot)

Finishing

Use tails for sewing pieces together. Sew Heart to front of Circle below eyes. Fold arms of circle so they are hugging the heart, sew in place. Weave in any remaining tails.