Shawl Shapes Explained: Circular Shawls and Semi-Circles

---

A knit or crochet circle can be many things: placemat, picnic blanket, wedding veil, tablecloth, baby’s play mat, rug, shade canopy, doily . . . or shawl. It all depends on the yarn and stitch patterns you choose.

Above: Dressel Shawl from Knitscene Accessories 2014

Circular shawls and semi-circular shawls are wonderful ways to display gorgeous stitchwork. But how do you knit or crochet a circle? How do you even wear a circular shawl? In this installment of our series of articles exploring shawl shapes, we’ll take a detailed look at the construction of circles and semi-circles.

How Does One Make a Circle, and What Does it Have to do With Pi(e)?

Circles, whether in knitting or crochet, usually start at the center and are worked toward the outer edge. Regular increases expand the circumference (the measurement around the edge).

Crocheting a Circular Shawl

For crochet, you’ll want to begin with an adjustable ring (sometimes called a magic ring) to avoid a hole in the middle of your shawl. In crochet, the number of increases needed in each round is dependent on the height of the stitches used. The increases should be evenly spaced. If you’re working in single crochet, increase 6 to 8 stitches each round. For half-double crochet, increases 8 to 10 stitches each round. For double crochet, increase 10 to 12 stitches each round. Why are we giving you a range, rather than an absolute number? Because we don’t know how tight your natural gauge is. Working with a range also gives you the flexibility to make adjustments to accommodate your stitch pattern.

You can easily check your work to make sure you’re on the right track. After working a few rounds, lay your circle on a table. Does the edge curl in like a bowl? You need to make more increases in each round. Does the edge ripple and ruffle? You need fewer increases each round.

Knitting a Circular Shawl: Pi Shawls

For knitting, use a circular cast-on that you can snug up to prevent a hole. Emily Ocker’s Cast-On is a favorite. Most circles begin with 4 or 8 stitches. To make a perfect circle, increase 4 stitches every round on average. What do we mean by “on average”? Knitted stitches are flexible and will expand or contract to fit the available space. If it works better with your stitch pattern you can increase 12 stitches every third round, 16 stitches every fourth round, or 24 stitches every sixth round.

How to Knit Pi Shawls

Elizabeth Zimmermann is widely credited with developing the concept of the “Pi Shawl” for knitters. Sorry, not the lemon meringue kind of pie. The π kind. Basic geometry teaches us there is a fixed relationship between the radius of a circle (the distance from the center to the outer edge, which translates to number of rounds of knitting) and the circumference (or number of stitches). Every time the number of rounds doubles, so should the number of stitches.

Kristen Spurkland’s Cherry Blossom Shawl is a glorious example of what you can achieve using the Pi shawl approach. Lace patterns replace the plain knit rounds worked in our example below to create a masterpiece that is much easier to knit than it looks.

Here’s how it works: After casting on 8 stitches (round 1), you work a round of [k1, yo] to make 16 stitches (round 2). Round 3 is just knit. For round 4, work another round of [k1, yo] to make 32 stitches. Rounds 5, 6, and 7 are just knit. In round 8, work [k1, yo] to make 64 stitches. Rounds 9-15 are knit. In round 16, work [k1, yo] again to make 128 stitches.

Do you see the pattern? Every time we double the number of rounds, we’ve doubled the number of stitches. In the example above, when will we increase again? In round 32, then in round 64. And how many stitches will we have after each increase round? 256 stitches after round 32 and 512 stitches after round 64.

One final tip for knitted circles: bind off loosely. Your shawl will never lay properly flat if the bind-off is too tight. If the pattern doesn’t specify a particular bind-off, we recommend the Suspended Bind-Off.

Wearing a Circular Shawl

To wear a circular shawl, fold it in half and place the fold against your neck with the doubled curve gracefully wrapping your body.

Or add triangular wings to your circle, like Zsuzsanna Makai did with the Ventura Shawl.

For Easier Everyday Wear, Try a Semi-Circle

You may not want to wear the doubled fabric of a full circle, but still want the graceful curve of a circular shape. Semi-circles use the same shaping principles as full circles. However, they are worked back and forth in rows instead of in rounds.

A semi-circle with stripes can be a great beginner project. The Cait Shawl by Megi Burcl uses two colors of hand-dyed yarn for a shawl that’s special without being fancy.

Carol Feller’s Orangery Shawl combines garter stitch with a simple ripple lace for a traditional look.

Semi-circles can also be beautiful canvases for knit or crocheted lace. The Droplets Shawl, designed by Anastasia Popova, is essentially a crochet circle with a slit from the edge to the center. Worked back and forth in rows using worsted weight yarn, this would be beautiful worn as a capelet over a plain dress.

Angela Tong’s Monsoon Shawl is a knit lace beauty. Notice that she has avoided a too-tight bind-off by adding an applied lace border, worked perpendicular to the edge.

For a real showstopper, add stranded colorwork to your semi-circular shawl. Megi Burcl took inspiration from ancient Greek pottery when she designed the Dressel Shawl. These simple motifs in high-contrast colors are spectacular!

---

Whether you knit or crochet, give circles and semi-circles a try. This elemental shape is the foundation for some of our most beautiful shawls!

Sandi Rosner
Technical Content Editor, Yarn

P.S. Learn more about the other classic shawl shapes in our roundup!

---

Circular Shawl Patterns and Techniques