Turning a circle into a square

When I posted my "Spring Is On The Way" cushion recently, Carol asked me for some hints on turning a circle into a square. I'm sure this isn't the only way to do it, but here's how I turn a circle into a square, pentagon, hexagon etc.

It's important to have a circle that sits flat from the start. So my circles tend to follow a simple formula, and in the examples below I've used an 8ply yarn with a 6mm hook, and English stitch terms.

Round 1 - create sliding loop and work 12 tr in the loop -  join 12th to 1st stitch with sl st - pull the sliding loop just tight enough so the stitches are all sitting flat.

Round 2 - Ch3 (counts as first tr) - work 1 tr into the same stitch - work 2 tr in next stitch and continue around - join 24th stitch with 1st stitch with sl st.

Round 3 - Ch3 (counts as first tr) - *work 2 tr into the stitch, 1 tr into the following stitch* and continue around - join 36th stitch to 1st stitch with sl st.

From here I visualise the shape I want to form, and work out the stitches I'll need to "fill in the blank" If you have trouble visualising, try drawing the shape you want and laying the circle in the centre.

The key to being able to turn the circle into a square or any other shape with an even number of edges, is to have an even number of stitches. To make it even easier, the number of stitches should be able to be evenly divided by however many sides you want to create ( 4 for a square / 6 for a hexagon etc).

I tend to work from centre edge to corner to centre edge, as a section and work out how many stitches I'll have in the section. For example, the circle above has 36 stitches. To make a square, I'd divide by 4, to give 9 stitches per section. So from 12 o'clock to 3 o'clock is one section of 9 stitches.

Round 4 - *Ch2(counts as 1dc) - 1dc - 1htr - 1tr - 2dtr, 1ch, 2dtr (to form corner) - 1tr - 1htr - 1dc - 1dc* - Repeat to form the remaining 3 sections - join 48th stitch to 1st stitch with sl st

You will see the stitch length extend as you work away from the "12 o'clock" position and towards the corner, then reduced as you work away from the corner towards the "3 o'clock" position on the circle.  



I've used this method to make a hexagon and a pentagon as well. As the pentagon has 5 sides, this doesn't divide evenly into 36, but it is close enough with each side being 7 stitches with 1 left over. I've taken care of the 1 extra stitch by working 2 stitches together in one section.

Don't be put off from giving this a go. You can come up with some fantastic results, just like  Trudy's great circle work.