When I first started swatching this shape last week from a stitch I found in an old German knitting book, I wondered what it would be called. Septagon came to mind, though it didn’t sound quite right. As it turns out, use of the term “septagon” is not recommended by Wolfram Mathworld:

A heptagon is a seven-sided polygon. It is also sometimes called a septagon, though this usage mixes a Latin prefix sept- (derived from septua-, meaning “seven”) with the Greek suffix -gon (from gonia, meaning “angle”), and is therefore not recommended.

Wikipedia nicely shared the formula for finding the area of a heptagon. Rather mind-boggling, isn’t it? I don’t know about you, but I’m sure I don’t care to rely on my answer if I tried plugging my own numbers into this formula.

Although, after looking at the formula again, it looks like I might be able to get close enough by multiplying the length of one side by 3.63391… But do I really care? At this time and place: no, not at all.

Okay, okay. I give. The sides of my swatch are about 6 inches each, which means that the area of this knit heptagon is approximately 130.8 square inches. Or are they heptagonal inches, since we’re not dealing with a square? The mind reels.

What does all this mean? It means that the regular heptagon is much easier to knit than it is to calculate the area of, much less to draw. Start with seven stitches arranged in a circle, increase regularly, seven times evenly spaced around each increase row, and off you go.

Blocking this swatch, which is only about 13 inches across, was actually rather fun. I have a feeling that blocking the finished shawl will be a little more challenging. Finding a flat spot in this house that’s big enough to do it, will be just as challenging. I wonder if the floor under the pool table will provide enough space? Egads. I can just see me crawling around on the floor under the pool table with wet wool, blocking wires, and pins, while trying not to hit my head in the process.

Spring Knitty

Have you seen the new Knitty yet? It came out this morning. Here’s my take on it.

Miriam Felton has a lovely new shawl pattern in this issue, Anthemion. Elizabeth Freeman has a new shawl pattern out, Torreyana. It’s very pretty, but I don’t think it’s the standout pattern that her first two were.

Brenda Patipa took the old frost flowers pattern, made it smaller, and knit it on a sock that she calls Tribute.

Kirsten Kapur has a nice little lace cardigan in this issue called Que Sera. Petrie, a sleeveless top with a boat neck, by Beautia Dew has simple, elegant lines. Tappan Zee by Amy King is a short-sleeved cardigan with a yoke knit from the top down. The short sleeves, as with so many on sweaters of this style, I think are too big around. They seem to stick out too far from the arm. Then there’s the button band, which looks like the wearer has to struggle with to get it closed on top, and which flops open to either side of the tummy. Why are these sweaters always like this?

The one thing that I need to spend time with in this issue is Franklin Habit’s Stitches in Time, a column on old lace edging motifs.

There are more socks, another shawl, his and hers knit shorts, more sweaters, a hat, a bag, a pair of baby socks shaped like duck feet, which is absolutely hysterical, though I don’t know that the baby modeling them is all that amused.