Pie Are Square

Ah, Elizabeth Zimmerman. I didn’t know anything about this woman ’till the Pie Are Square shawl. I was poking around on the Knit Picks site looking for something to make that would be a bit of a challenge, however I didn’t feel ready for a sweater yet. I was looking through the shawls and saw one in an unusual shape, that of a capitol U. I looked at the details and discovered that the pattern is in the book Knitting Around, by EZ. I had heard her name, but up until this point had not looked at any of her books or videos. I added the book to my cart and then set about choosing yarn. I had never purchased yarn online before, so to be on the safe side, I chose 3 thinking that I would use one for the shawl and return the other 2. Yeah, right!

So, I ordered the book, the yarn and thought to myself that I could get it done for a wedding in Tampa last October. I had romantic notions of my sweet husband and I on a yacht glowing with twinkle lights and my hand-knit, beautiful shaw flowing in the soft ocean breezes. Well, here’s the state of the shawl today:

Still on the needles 🙂 Tons of garter stitch knitting. What I really like about this project is that I really don’t know what this thing looks like at the moment. The number of stitches keeps growing as you go along and so you can’t really see what the shape is or really what size it is without taking it off the needles, and I’m just not brave enough for that at this point in my knitting life. So, I’m enjoying the mystery factor.

Here’s a detail shot:

I’ve blocked one lace-weight project and so I’m really looking forward to that part of the process. I never knew something like blocking could be so magical. It really puts the finishing touch on a project. But wait. I’m getting ahead of myself. What the heck should I do for the edges of this shawl? A crochet edge would be pretty darn easy – ’cause I can crochet like the wind – but a knitted border would be a good learning experience. I’ll be searching for lace border patterns soon.