Celestarium

Celestarium is an accurate view of the night sky from the North Pole in the form of a pi shawl. It is the sister shawl to [Southern Skies][1] and cousin to [Equatorial Nights][2], an infinity scarf featuring all the stars around the celestial equator. Eyelets and beads are used to represent the stars. The center bead represents Polaris. The first bead is prestrung, the rest are attached using a small crochet hook. The edge of the shawl is a knitted on garter stitch border. To help keep track of the star placement, stitch markers are placed every 72 stitches once the shawl reaches above 72 stitches. There will always be 72 stitches in between markers. No stitch markers have be moved around to accommodate star placement. The pattern includes a star chart that shows what constellations have been knitted. Finished measurements: 46" / 117 cm diameter Suggested yarn: 3 skeins Blue Moon Fiber Arts Seduction (400 yd / 366 m per 4oz / 113 g skein; 50% Merino, 50% Tencel) in Haida Needles: Size 4 US / 3.5 mm: • needles in preferred style for small circumference knitting in the round • circular needle 24" / 60 cm long • circular needle 40" / 100 cm long Adjust needle size if necessary to obtain correct gauge. Notions: 0.75 mm crochet hook for beading, 8 stitch markers, 370 size 6/0 silver-lined crystal seed beads Gauge: 22 stitches and 28 rows = 4" / 10 cm in Stockinette stitch Getting exact gauge is not critical. It is more important to get the row gauge than the stitch gauge. To save time and to ensure accurate sizing, check gauge For those of you who are knitting Celestarium under a deadline, [MissAudrey][3] has kindly made a google doc with stitch totals and percentages finished which can be found [here][4]. An alternate edging by [Existentialist][5] called [Stellar Wave Edging][6] has been adapted to fit the Celestarium. [1]: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/southern-skies [2]: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/equatorial-nights [3]: http://www.ravelry.com/people/MissAudrey [4]: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B-Crrtk4EbzVZG01QzNJM1lIYmc/edit?usp=sharing [5]: http://www.ravelry.com/people/Existentialist [6]: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/stellar-wave-edging