A Little Slice of Pi

Christmas knitting is done; I am even caught up with my SamplerM. I was compelled to start something new, I couldn't help myself. I have plenty of UFOs and yarn for baby hats, but I heard the lace weight yarn calling my name.
I had a hard time deciding what shape shawl I wanted, what pattern to use, and which stitches were within my capabilities. Yesterday I stopped dithering and cast on for a Pi Shawl, after picking 3 of the simplest lace patterns I could find. I want to make a simple shawl, and then decide if I need to knit a lacy, spectacular shawl like I see on other knitters' blogs.
The camera never lies. You can see the loose stitches from knitting on dpns. It will have to block out or pass the galloping horse test. I have already frogged once, (without a lifeline!) and can't bring myself to frog again.
I love the color, but freely admit that it is basically the color of dirt. Sandy dirt. Dusty dirt. Summertime dirt in my toes dirt. I love this yarn! I can't see variegation in the skein, but I can see muted changes when I spread my knitting out in natural light. You can see how much darker it is after my last increase, the stitches aren't stretched as much after I doubled. I am watching closely to see when it changes back to the lighter colors.
Here's the obligatory knitting information: Knit Picks Shadow, Oregon Coast, #5 needles. I'm 9 rounds into the 144 stitch section, 15 rounds to go. My first pattern is one of the many flavors of Cat's Paw Stitch. I'm thinking of the 2 cats in my life as I knit this section. Blessings to Ollie and Kisar, I'm thinking of you!