IT’S HERE! The ultimate Pi Day is here! For those of you who don’t know what Pi Day is, let me explain: it’s on March 14 (3/14) because 3.14 are the first 3 digits of π. This year, it’s more epic than ever because it’s 3/14/15 (3.1415). This won’t come around for another century – therefore, it’s kind of a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It gets better, though. On 3/14/15, at 9:26:53, the first 10 digits of pi will be displayed! I’m posting this at exactly 9:26 AM (so those of you who use a 24-hour clock don’t miss out). And on PiDay.org, someone pointed out that there would be a second that contained all the digits of pi, since the :53 part goes on forever. So what are you going to do to celebrate this wonderful day? I’ll show you what my contribution is…

The Pi Scarf! (Please note the pi shirt behind it – we must commemorate this day, after all!) I’ve wanted one of these for ages after I saw this scarf on Craftster. But since there was no pattern, I improvised one. I should also mention that although I was inspired by that scarf, this is my own take on it – I didn’t copy the pattern from the picture, I just took inspiration from it. 🙂

Since Pi Day celebrates numbers, here are some statistics on this scarf, and also the materials you’ll need if you want to make your own:

• 30 digits of pi
• 1 skein of I Love This Yarn in background color (Greybeard)
• 1 skein of I Love This Yarn in number color (Pink)
• 6 MM crochet hook
• 3.14 days of work
• 1 photo shoot
• 1 blog post!

Some notes before we begin:

1. The turning chain never counts as a stitch in this pattern.
2. I used Foundation Double Crochet for the first row, but you could ch 16, dc in 3rd ch from hk and in each ch across instead if you prefer.
3. This scarf uses the tapestry crochet technique, where you carry the unused yarn on top of your stitches until it’s time to use it. To keep things neat, always drop the number color to the wrong side of the scarf, and the background color to the right side. (The right side is where the numbers turn up legible.)
4. Sometimes there will be a long strand of the number color. This should appear on the wrong side so you don’t see it as much. You can stick your hook under it and sort of crochet over it, which will make it less visible.
5. Each number, apart from number 1, has three rows to it. Then there will be one row of gray to make a space. The number one just has one row, which should make it easy to remember.
6. To change color, make your dc as normal but stop when you have 2 loops on the hook. Then yarn over with the new color and pull through. It might take some practice to make sure your tension is even – my first attempt was skinny in the color-change parts and wider when there was just one color. So I would not recommend this for a beginner, but if you’ve been crocheting for a while this should pose no problem.

Finally, the “pattern”.

I use quotation marks because π is so irregular, it would be nearly impossible to write a line-by-line pattern. Instead I’ll give you the pattern for each individual letter. See note #5. So let’s call this more of a “guide.”

With gray (or substitute your preferred background color here), ch 3, foundation double crochet 14 starting in 3rd ch from hk.

Now we can start the numbers! Each number will start on the right side. Since you’ll be turning at the end of each row, it will go from right side to wrong side to right side to spacing row…like most all crochet patterns. The first 3 will actually start on the wrong side…but follow the “THREE” pattern as it’s written even though it’s not technically the right side. Then do one spacing row, then follow this:

PERIOD/DOT RS: 9 gray, 3 pink, 2 gray, turn. WS: 2 gray, 3 pink, 9 gray, turn. (And of course you can use whatever color you like in place of pink.)

Now do one spacing row and the pattern starts. What you’ll do is follow the directions for whatever digit comes next, then do one plain row of just gray. The trick is to get the number color to end up in the right spot for the next number. For numbers like 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, and 0, it’s at the end of the row. For numbers like 4, 7, and 9, you might have to finagle it a bit. Luckily it’s easy to frog and redo!

ONE
RS: 2 gray, 10 pink, 2 gray, turn.

TWO
RS: 2 gray, 6 pink, 2 gray, 2 pink, 2 gray, turn.
WS: 2 gray, 2 pink, 2 gray, 2 pink, 2 gray, 2 pink, 2 gray, turn.
RS: 2 gray, 2 pink, 2 gray, 6 pink, 2 gray.

THREE
RS: 2 gray, 2 pink, 2 gray, 2 pink, 2 gray, 2 pink, 2 gray, turn.
WS: Repeat last row, turn.
RS: 2 gray, 10 pink, 2 gray, turn.

FOUR
RS: 6 gray, 6 pink, 2 gray, turn.
WS: 6 gray, 2 pink, 6 gray, turn.
RS: 2 gray, 10 pink, 2 gray, turn.

FIVE
RS: 2 gray, 2 pink, 2 gray, 6 pink, 2 gray, turn.
WS: 2 gray, 2 pink, 2 gray, 2 pink, 2 gray, 2 pink, 2 gray, turn.
RS: 2 gray, 6 pink, 2 gray, 2 pink, 2 gray, turn.

SIX
RS: 2 gray, 10 pink, 2 gray, turn.
WS: 2 gray, 2 pink, 2 gray, 2 pink, 2 gray, 2 pink, 2 gray, turn.
RS: 2 gray, 6 pink, 2 gray, 2 pink, 2 gray, turn.

SEVEN
RS: 10 gray, 2 pink, 2 gray, turn.
WS: 2 gray, 2 pink, 10 gray, turn.
RS: 2 gray, 10 pink, 2 gray, turn.

EIGHT
RS: 2 gray, 10 pink, 2 gray, turn.
WS: 2 gray, 2 pink, 2 gray, 2 pink, 2 gray, 2 pink, 2 gray, turn.
RS: 2 gray, 10 pink, 2 gray, turn.

NINE
RS: 6 gray, 6 pink, 2 gray, turn.
WS: 2 gray, 2 pink, 2 gray, 2 pink, 6 gray, turn.
RS: 2 gray, 10 pink, 2 gray, turn.

ZERO
RS: 2 gray, 10 pink, 2 gray, turn.
WS: 2 gray, 2 pink, 6 gray, 2 pink, 2 gray, turn.
RS: 2 gray, 10 pink, 2 gray, turn.

I did the first 30 digits, which you can see below if you scroll a bit (click to enlarge). After that, follow these next rows for the ellipses at the end:

(Starting on the RS) Row 1: 2 gray, 3 pink, 9 gray, turn.

Row 2: 9 gray, 3 pink, 2 gray, turn.

Row 3: Entirely gray, turn.

Row 4: 9 gray, 3 pink, 2 gray, turn.

Row 5: 2 gray, 3 pink, 9 gray, turn.

Row 6: Entirely gray, turn.

Rows 7-9: Repeat Rows 1-3. (Fasten off pink at the end of Row 2.)

Edging

After you finish the last row of the dot-dot-dot, continue with gray and do the following edging.

Ch 1, turn clockwise to work over long side. *2 sc around the next dc post, 1 sc in next ch-2 space* across, finishing with 2 sc around the dc post. Ch 1, turn to work across beginning row (this is where it’s easier if you used foundation double crochet.) Sc in each st across that row. Ch 1, turn to work across second long side. *1 sc in next ch-2 space, 2 sc around the next dc post* across, finishing with 1 sc in ch-2 space. Ch 1, turn to work across last row made. Sc in each st across. Ch 1, sl st to 1st sc made.

Fasten off and weave in ends, then proudly wear your Pi Scarf to declare your love of π!

Happy Pi Day to all of you lovely followers. Please let me know if you make a pi scarf – it was a really fun project!

☮, ♥, & π!