This is reflection on fall/winter days and how knitting creates visible proof that slow progress is still progress.

My fall knitting moved slowly, shaped by the many life priorities that filled those months.

Friday Tee by PetiteKnit

It grew slowly, as the broken rib stitch is not fast knitting. The yarn is fingering weight: The Wandering Flock Fingering Singles in the colors Dune and Limeade. It is 100% extra fine superwash merino wool, with 100 grams per skein and 400 yards (365 meters). I used 2.75 mm (US 2) needles, which added to the slower pace of knitting.

The yarn is soft, smooth, ethically sourced, mulesing-free, and hand-dyed in small batches in their Brooklyn studio. I purchased the yarn at Sacred Sheep in November 2024 after a conversation with Geraldine and seeing their sample in person.

Mette Wendelboe Okkels, known professionally as PetitKnit, is a Danish knitting designer recognized for timeless Scandinavian-inspired knitwear patterns. Her designs are known for clean lines, wearable silhouettes and thoughtful construction. I am not a big fan of her pattern structure – this is my 3rd garment using her pattern. Other two are Eva Cardigan and No Frills sweater.

Tee has been finished at the beginning of November. It is soft, lightweight and classic shape that goes with everything.

Sacred Sheep – fiber arts festival

Sacred Sheep is relatively new, annual fiber arts festival in Portland that began in 2023 and has been held each year since. It was created by the team behind Ritual Dyes as a curated event focused on knitting, spinning, weaving, and independent fiber makers.

The festival is held at The Redd on Salmon in Southeast Portland and usually takes place in November. Friday is the VIP night, while Saturday and Sunday are general admission days with timed tickets to help manage the flow of people through the space. They have a Community Tent and a Quiet Tent, as well as several food trucks, a coffee and cocktails truck, meetups with designers, and classes. Everything is very well organized, and because of the smaller scale and curated selection of vendors, it feels like a boutique-style fiber festival.

I attended the VIP night and also went on Saturday. It was nice to get a preview of the vendors and what they had to offer. The swag bag was less exciting than the year before. I do not plan to do the VIP night again this year, as it is not as fun to attend by yourself.

This year, I got a ticket to a colorwork workshop with Caitlin Hunter. I found out about it through Ravelry about a month before the event. Caitlin is very sweet, and her patterns are interesting, but I left feeling a little disappointed. I did not have huge expectations since it was lecture-style, but the format felt somewhat flat. She gave a short presentation, and most of the time was left for Q&A, but there were not many questions from participants, and it seemed like Caitlin is still finding her voice in this type of teaching setting. From the presentation, I did not really learn anything new or gain anything specific related to colorwork knitting. I am not an experienced colorwork knitter myself, as I have only completed two sweaters and know I still have a lot to learn.

I bought yarn from The Wandering Flock — 100% superwash extra fine merino and an 80% superfine kid mohair / 20% silk blend in the Electric Orchid colorway — for a Nebula sweater by Andrea Mowry. It has become one of my favorite knitted garments to wear this year.

Nebula by Andrea Mowry

Nebula pattern is an oversized, relaxed pullover with a modern sweatshirt-like feel. It is knit bottom-up, with a curved hem created using short rows and a crew neck with shoulder detailing. I opted for short sleeves. It works well dressed up with skirts and jewelry or paired with jeans for a more casual outfit.

Willow is the best knitting buddy. Fixing knitting mistakes is always fun when you know what you are doing 🙂

Beanie

I made beanie hat for my son using Hedgehog Fibres Sock yarn in Graphite color.

Rainbow socks

Always be Kind Yarn SupSuper Sparkly Sock is a neon multicolored yarn with Stellina sparkle. It is a self-striping yarn with one stripe for each of the six main bright colors and a mixed watercolor stripe between each one. It is joyful to knit with, and the stripes are so fun to watch develop.

I knitted one sock with US size 1 (2.25 mm) needles and then accidentally knitted half of the second sock with US size 0 (2.0 mm) needles. There was a lot of knitting and ripping back, forgetting where I was with the diamond heel, and then realizing that I do not actually like the diamond heel that much. Long story short, the project ended up being completely ripped out.

I will definitely make socks with this yarn eventually. It was such a joyful and fun yarn to knit with.