"Third time's the charm" right? I sure hope so! Last week, Kurt's sweater looked like this:



But the further I got, the more I realized I had a tension problem. I knit the ribbing loose and the pattern much tighter. So during the week, Kurt's sweater took on a new appearance:



He was not happy. My poor husband despairs of ever getting his sweater. However, I've tightened my tension and the ribbing now looks like this:



I've realized I knit much too loose and am going to have to cultivate better tension behavior. With that in mind, I am contemplating ripping out the three month's work I put into my Legends of the Shetland Seas shawl last Fall. This project sits all alone at the bottom of my knitting bag because it is unloved, because it is too loose. I know what must be done, but I am weak. . .

In the meantime, I am slowly plugging away on the orange shawl. A cyber friend, Trish, called it the "Fall Leaves Shawl." I really like that name and the images it evokes. I think I shall so refer to it from this point forward!



I'm almost done. I've had many problem solving opportunities arise with this shawl. Most recently, I ran short of fiber for the fringe. I threw all I had left onto the drum carder, carded it up with some sparkling Angelina and spun it a bit finer than the yarn for the shawl.



To make it work, I'm going to have to reduce my normal fringe length by a few inches. Now I pray that my math skills were sufficient for the task!

For quite some time I've been planning a shawl for a very dear friend. She is the kind of person who is always there when I need her, even if I have not seen her for awhile. I blended up some colors and fibers for her shawl last Fall. However, in light of running short on fiber with my last two shawls, I thought I'd better increase my quantity since this is a one of a kind blend!



I blended silk, mohair, Merino, BFL, Gulf Coast Native and Angelina for this. I used white, blue, pink, purple and a touch of several other colors to create a silver looking fiber. Then I carded and carded and recarded to get it in spinnable form. And I still have piles to card!



I find that I really enjoy blending fibers on my drum carder. I love this part of the creative process. I suspect I might enjoy the dyeing process as well.

I want to spin my present blend up into a boucle yarn like I used for my lacy sea kelp green shawl using a silver, metalic thread for the cable ply. I think it will be beautiful and look fabulous on my friend! These are great colors on her and will match many of her evening gowns.