Feel Like Pi

It is still graduation party season.  We have 2 more to go to this evening.  My niece is having one tomorrow, but we won't be able to make it since we don't live in the same city.  The next couple weekends have one each.

Last week as we were pulling in the driveway, returning from one of the many parties, something in the front yard caught my eye.  After getting out of the car, I discovered it was a $20 bill.  There was no one else out on the street, so I invoked the 'Finders Keepers' rule.  When I find money like that (has only happened a couple other times in my life) I figure I am not meant to keep the money, but to spend it so that the bill keeps on its traveling ways.  I promptly grabbed the LYS gift card my daughters gave me for Mother's Day, and along with that $20, headed off to my LYS.  I spent about an hour browsing through every shelf of yarn and fiber and paging through every book.  After I was done, I walked out with 4 skeins of Malabrigo sock in Primavera colorway.  When I got home I promptly cast on the EZ 100th Anniversary Pi Shawl - Hearts.  Here are a couple pictures. 

I absolutely love the colors and the way they are scattered around the circle. 

This is the first circular shawl that I've ever made and also my first Pi shawl.  I understand the theory behind it, but I still am having trouble understanding how keeping the same number of stitches  for many rows is adequate for keeping the shawl flat.  As the increase rows become further and further apart, intuition tells me that intermediate increases would be necessary.  I guess it all works out since the pattern is lacey.  The design will stretch on the outer rows and will apear larger than on inner rows.  This is a learning experience for me, so we'll see how it turns out.

I'm not sure who will be the owner of this when I'm done.  Part of me wants to give this to my daughter who is going away to college in August.  But since I am not sure of the color scheme of her dorm room, I may just keep it for myself and design something original for her.

Clue 2 of the Through The Loops 2012 Mystery Shawl came Thursday night.  I haven't had a chance to work on it.  I'm anxious to get moving on it, but I have a few chores to do first.  Stay tuned for an update on that project and the Pi shawl.

Mysterious

The other day while browsing through the blogs that I follow, I saw that Through The Loops was going to start a Mystery Shawl KAL.  Feeling like I needed something for me after the exceedingly busy month I've just had, I signed up.  The clues come each Friday in June.  Clue 1 came bright and early Friday morning.  All day I was anxious to get home from work and get started.  A few rows into it I realized I needed stitich markers.  Since I cleaned my house for the graduation party last week, and that cleaning involved boxing up all of my knitting stuff laying around, I couldn't find my markers.  Luckily I found my box of beading supplies.  I quickly made up a set of markers.  Here is a slightly blurry picture of the markers with the bunched up Clue 1.  If you want to see a clearer picture of both the markers and the knitting, go to my Ravelry page. (SPOILER ALERT)

Turn The Page

Major milestone this week.  Kristin graduated high school.  Here she is after the ceremony with her three best friends.  Kristin left her mortar board on because she said she had hat hair.

It doesn't seem that long ago that she was like this.  Kristin is on the right sharing her thumb with her cousin Maria.  Those two have always been close.

At an early age she developed a love for being in the sun and near the beach.  Here she is modeling an outfit that her Mammaw and Pampaw brought back from Hawaii.

A visit to Mammaw and Pampaw's always had to include ice cream.

She played volleyball from 5th grade through Junior year of high school.  Here is a picture of the varsity team before a benefit match for breast cancer research.

She love Halloween.  Kristin and Trisha were able to reuse the ladybug costumes I made back in 1997.

We tried to fit in a family vacation every year, like this one to Disney.

And an annual trip to Norris Lake with cousins.

Again with Maria.  Both girls were turning 16 about a month after this photo was taken.

I'm very proud of my daughter and love her very much.  I made it through the ceremony without crying, but I can guarentee my eyes won't stay dry when she leaves home in a couple months.

PS.  She has started knitting!!! She's a smart girl!

Busy Times

As usual, life has been busy. 

In mid-April, I went to Stitches South with a couple friends.  It was a fun weekend.  I took a class from Candace Eisner-Strick and one from Melissa Leapman.  My friends took a beading class and shared what they learned with me.  The weekend was filled with crafts, good friends, good food and a fair amount of good beverages.  It was a nice escape from reality.

Last weekend was my oldest daughter's senior prom.  Because of some drama with her now former boyfriend, she wasn't going to go.  She had a if not with him, then I'm not going attitude.  There were several other boys asking her to go but she wouldn't say Yes to them.  I didn't want her to miss her senior prom and later regret it.  Fortunately, she and former boyfriend came to an understanding and they went to prom together.  They are not getting back together, but they are now able to be friends.  I think that is the best, most mature outcome.  They will now go off to separate colleges and have new adventures on their own.  Since so much of their high school was spent together, either as friends or as a couple, I didn't want them to part with bitter feelings.   Here is a couple pictures from prom.  I have to say they were the handsomest couple there.

Last night was Blake's confirmation.  It was a very nice mass.  Our bishop is a very good speaker and is very relatable.  Since this was my third child to be confirmed, I knew what the bishop was going to say, but I was still engaged with what he said.  I escpecially liked his closing remark to the young people.  'Don't forget your dignity."  That says so much, especially in today's world.  My sister, Nancy, was Blake's sponsor but she was not able to make up for the ceremony.  My brother, Joe, took her place.  Joe is developmentally disabled, so he couldn't be Blake's sponsor outright.  However, Joe is the model of devotion and faithfulness.  He looks forward to going to church every week and participates fully in the mass.  He listens to Catholic cable station everyday.  He enjoys the simple things in life and never complains about anything or stresses over life.  I wish I were more like Joe.  Here is a picture of the two handsome men.

The next week is very busy with Kristin's graduation, Ed's 50th birthday, and a weekend full of graduation parties.  There won't be much knitting or spinning for a while.