Everybody wants a rock...

The internet ate my brain...

But that is okay, since I will never need to think again! Prompted by a comment from my ringneighbor, the esteemed laurie from Crazy Aunt Purl, (who is kind enough to read even though there is no personal information! Sorry! Not really worth the blogstalking effort!), I started hunting the internet for more clues about Elizabeth Zimmerman's Pi Shawl, which was the original inspiration for Wendy's Kitty Pi Bed. I confirmed that my original shaping was the same as EZ (work even double the previous number of rows, then increase in each stitch). I knew before I knit the original giganto Kitty Pi that the shaping was only approximate, and would get worse with size, but thought it would felt out okay. And in a relative sense, it was okay - it's only a cat bed! But the outer part was wrinkly (too abrupt a change at that size), and the decreases should have been spaced out farther - plus with the Noro, the striping changed drastically at that point.

But, I actually like math, so I was looking forward to making a nice formula for the kitty pi. Unfortunately for me, everything that is possible in knitting has already been done, and now people have blogs to communicate them... and doubly unfortunately for me, I'm pretty good at finding information on the internet. So, I present the already worked out formula, from Rudbeckia at Learning Curves; lots of knitting! and math! check it out. I can't get a direct link, so I'm quoting here (check out the original post, on June 26, for the justification):

And so I present my method for knitting a circle that lies relatively flat, or at least as relatively flat as something knit entirely in stockinette can be:

CO some stitches on dpns. Join for working in the round.

Rnd 1: k, inc 4 sts relatively evenly spaced
Rnds 2 - 4: repeat rnd 1
Rnd 5: k, inc 5 sts relatively evenly spaced

Repeat rnds 1-5 until circle is desired size, switching to a circular needle as desired.

Perfectionists may choose to inc 4 instead of inc 5 in rnds whose number is divisible by 100.

The reason that the increases are linear (i.e. inc 4.19 sts every rnd) is that the number of sts is a linear function of the circumference, which is a linear function of diameter, which is a linear function of the number of rnds. As a knit stitch has height:width as 2:3, the number of sts to increase each rnd is 2&pi(2/3). For some other stitch, multiply 2&pi by its height:width ratio to determine how many sts to increase each rnd in order to knit a circle.

And for the order-of-magnitude back of the envelope scientists, myself included, increasing 4 sts each row works just fine. It's just a cat bed!

I have yarn left for one more Kitty Pi! I've done one with Wendy's method, which will be the control, and use the other half of the yarn for the new method. Yes, I'm a geek, why do you ask?

Is this one mine, too?

Is this one mine, too?
Originally uploaded by thomasina.

Savannah checks out the gigantimungous kitty pi bed. Or perhaps area rug. I was considering trying to felt and block again to get a bit more side, but since the cat this is going to is big on sprawling, perhaps an area rug is just as well. The sides are puckered a bit, so if I did this again, I would just increase every other stitch, or perhaps two out of every three stitches.

Upper right corner: piece of Savannah's Kitty Pi. Lower left corner: sadly, not gifts for my SP. The bag contains an extremely ugly plastic plaid tablecloth from Target, to be used as a guide for blocking the DNA scarf.

(Someday, someone is going to tell Savannah that is not all about her. And really, I don't want to be there when it happens. In the meantime, the FO column keeps the score: cats 6, humans 2.)

St. John's Cross take II

Charity knitting
Originally uploaded by thomasina.

All work and no play and all that... too tired for a proper post, so here is the charity scarf as it stood at 2:30 pm Sunday. No energy to lay it out, photograph, upload, etc. It is now 8 rows of garter stitch away from binding off, where it has been stalled for the past 24 hours.

I've also re-felted the giant humongoid kitty pi bed, and am hoping that the sides don't end up as wrinkly as last time. I might have tried too many decreases on the sides to get them to stand up, or I just might not have a felting form that is large enough. It is over the 12" pot surrounded by two layers of towels, which doesn't stretch it quite as much as I would like.

Monster bed

Kitty Pi Bed 3
Originally uploaded by thomasina.

Here is the 3rd Kitty Pi. I had 4 rounds of 216 stitches left, plus the bind-off. I optimistically thought I could get through both the scarf and the kitty pi, and brought the shadow shawl to work on, but ended up with about 50 stitches left to bind off. To be fair, the Baby Monkey eyelash is difficult to work with. I was about 20 stitches short on the Baby Monkey, but I don't think it will really matter on the felted cat bed. I might have been able to squeeze in one more round from the Big Kureyon, but that would have been pushing it. That means I pretty much planned out using the three skeins exactly, so yay me.

The Kitty Pi that Ate New York

The Kitty Pi that Ate New York
Originally uploaded by thomasina.

Okay, not really, but it is monstrous. After the first Kitty Pi cat bed felted down to "my cat" size (7.5 lb) rather than the intended cat size (22 lb), I decided I needed to rework the pattern a bit for a (much larger) cat. The extra rows (12) I put into the "straight" section of the first Kitty Pi didn't do much good, since they ended up on the sides (along with about 5 rows directed in the pattern!). I decided that I needed to increase another round (to 288). Based both on where the sides started in the first Kitty Pi, and on the internal logic of the pattern (knit as many rows that you knit straight before increasing), I put the increase after 24 rows of the "knitting straight" section. I then did 15 rows before starting the decreases. (I also put in an extra round of decreases in an attempt to give the sides a bit more stability). It is currently on the last row of the decreases, with the fun fur starting immediately after. The amount of yarn used so far is 2 and 2/3 skeins of Noro Big Kureyon, with 5.5 rows remaining to be knit.

Kitty Pi with cat filling

Kitty Pi with cat filling
Originally uploaded by thomasina.

Yup, I think it belongs to Savannah now.

Adventures of a felting virgin, part deux (Or: Honey, I shrunk the bed!)

Fels Naptha
Originally uploaded by thomasina.

So, after the trama of non-felting in part one, I went in to Borealis for triage. And I learned the secret ingredient for felting was...

Well, what are you waiting for?

Well, what are you waiting for?
Originally uploaded by thomasina.

Go on and felt it, then!

WIP it baby, WIP it good

Kitty Pi, take two
Originally uploaded by thomasina.

Went in for help on Thursday, got over the blocks in three(!) projects. So all of the WIPs have been gettin' a little lovin'. More later -- unfortunately knitting and blogging are somewhat exclusive. The progess has been updated in the sidebar, and here is a pretty picture to tide you over.

A letter to Kureyon

(I thrill to wrap your colors on my winder)
Originally uploaded by thomasina.

Dear Big Kureyon,

You are so pretty. I am in love with your crayon-ey goodness. When I am with you, I forget all about the knots, the vegetable matter, the refusal to felt. All is forgiven.

Love,
thomasina