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Colleen

@selfish.knitter

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Wisconsin Sheep & Wool 2026
The friends, the haul, the yarn and fiber and project bag I brought home, the samples I’m still thinking about, the yarn I didn’t buy (yet). A first for me this year was taking time to sit and knit with friends. I am so glad I loaded up chairs and a wagon, because it was a very busy place on Saturday. Even Friday was much busier than I remember from past years - perhaps due to the lovely weather?

The planned purchases: Weekend Wool from @greenmtnspinnery to make a vest for my husband; white alpaca yarn from @rachalpaca for a gift knit; Moraine Fingering from @northernbeestudio in hopes that I now have enough to make the Thistle cardigan at my actual gauge.

The impulse/influenced purchases: @redesigned_project Project 39 bag* in Sapphire Blue (Fangirl’s booth), a small bargain bag of fiber from @hiddenvalleyfarmwoolenmill , Teenage Dirtbag sock set from @fangirlfibers (it give Scooby Doo Mystery Machine vibes and I love it), a Purl Scout merit badge for frogging, and a unified gradient from @fiberopticyarns for a TBD colorwork yoke project (something like Antique Filigree or Renaissance).
Thank you to @travel_lori for the WISW pin!

*I’ve been looking at various Re:Designed bags and Muud bags over the last several months and hadn’t decided which style I like best. It wasn’t purely an impulse purchase, but the fiber fumes and friends contributed to this decision. 💙 by @selfish.knitter

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a month ago

September WIP update on my 2025 Berroco Mystery Blanket
✅ Finished the last 4 squares
✅ Wove in the ends on all 20 squares
☑️ Blocked 9 of the 20 squares

Later this week, I will block the remaining squares. My goal for this month is to start joining the squares. I have some competing priorities, but I am hoping to keep Sundays reserved for working on this project.

The sheep square was knit flat with long floats. 👎 Not my best work.
The instructions said to catch floats longer than 3 stitches, but I was on the struggle bus and let them go up to 5.

New cast-ons: a shawl using deep stash and ChiaoGoo Quads, a black Ranunculus 🍁, and “the $300 socks” (qiviut and yak yarn) by @selfish.knitter

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a month ago

My main August WIP should probably be my 2025 Berroco MKAL blanket. 4 squares to go! Maybe I should also start blocking these?

All yarn is @berrocoyarn Vintage, purchased from @the.fibre.shop

#VintageMKAL25 #berrocovintage #thefibreshop by @selfish.knitter

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2 months ago

I was in need of a knitting win, and I think I have it!

This is my second Fosette. After separating for sleeves, which happened to be shortly after finishing an accidentally oversized sweater, I realized that I was about to have the same problem. Once again, I was using the same yarn, same needles, and same pattern as I had before, but my gauge was coming out much looser. I ripped the whole thing out and started over on smaller needles. Allegedly, this sweater knits itself, and thank goodness for that. 30 days after frogging and starting over, I had a finished sweater! It was quite snug fresh off the needles, but this is superwash and it blocked out beautifully.

Please appreciate the extra glow from wearing a DK weight sweater in 90+ degree weather.

Pattern: Fosette by @knittymcpurly
Yarn: Dubrovnik DK from @knittymcpurly in Tidewater, June 2023 Color of the Month, and Beryl; with a little help from Twice Sheared Sheep’s Color Story DK, Natural by @selfish.knitter

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3 months ago

July WIP update on my 2025 Berroco Mystery Blanket Knit-Along

I have not quite finished one square per month since April, but I should complete the fair isle square within the next couple days. It is going pretty fast, and I’m pleased with how easily I’m purling the colorwork. My yarn management (twists and tangles) could use a little improvement, but… it’s a 12” square. This could be so much worse. A minor annoyance: the charcoal sections are an odd number of rows. And the oatmeal sections are an even number. I attached a second ball of the oatmeal so I wouldn’t need to cut it or carry it across.

These are the August, July and June squares from last year’s blanket pattern; I’m not quite a year behind at this point. 🐢 by @selfish.knitter

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3 months ago

A Tale of Two Sweaters
My first Ravello is one of my most worn sweaters. I loved the fit and the weight of it so much, I decided to make another one in the same yarn, but in more Springy colors to wear with khakis. The pattern is designed in fingering weight yarn; I used sport weight. I was very happy with the density and drape of the fabric. However… this second go-around was not as successful. My gauge seems to have loosened up over the last couple years. Early on when I was working the raglan stripes, it looked a little sloppy. I assumed it was just the way I was carrying the yarn and trying to minimize the jog at the color change. I ripped all the stripes out and reknit them. Although it looked a little better, I still thought my stitches looked off. At one point, I had both sweaters folded up on my sofa, and from across the room I could tell that my gauge was looser on the new one. I did not yet realize how much.

I did not take photos before blocking, but the fit was not terrible. It seemed to be approximately the same length and width as the first one. The big Uh-Oh was when I wet blocked it. After taking it out of the tub and squeezing out as much water as I could, it was 3 feet wide. It took up the entire width of my blocking mats. I reshaped it as best I could, trying to smush thousands of knit stitches closer together. The photo with the previous version laid across the top is after my smoosh efforts and a few days of drying.

Ultimately, I think this one will be headed for the frog pond and reknit on smaller needles. This is a trend I do not wish to continue!

Pattern: Ravello by Isabell Kraemer @lilalu72
Yarn: Laundry Bed, Russian Sage and The Hill on superwash sport from @baby.cat.yarns by @selfish.knitter

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3 months ago

FOto catchup: Solstice Shawl
I won this shawl kit from @yarnmatters during a virtual yarn crawl in Fall 2020. My goal was to finish before the Winter Solstice last year, and I came pretty close. I ran out of the lighter blue-gray color near the end of the striped section and debated ripping it back. Instead, I searched my stash of leftovers and found a gray tweed from @northwoodsfibers that blended well enough for me to finish it. If it bothers me, there are plenty of ways I could style it with that tip hidden. But let’s be real: nobody is going to notice the difference in color while it is folded up in a closet with all the other shawls I never wear. 🤣 If I remember this by then, it looks like a good shape to wear as a shawl-scarf under my winter jacket.

Pattern | Solstice Shawl by Rachel Brockman @rachbrocknits
Yarn | Universal Yarn Deluxe DK Tweed in Cloud Blue, Ebony and Aegean (with special appearance of Cliffside Trail on Northwoods Fibers Maple Tweed DK)

The great irony: I cast on the shawl because I wanted to use whatever was left of the lighter gray to make a gnome beard. Welp. 🤷‍♀️ by @selfish.knitter

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4 months ago

Obviously this pair is for me, right? I was inspired by @palmeryarnco ‘s Simplicity Club to knit more solid colored socks this year. This is just my second finished pair, but since I’ve only cast on 3 pairs of socks this year in total - not bad? The solid theme is also helping me work through more patterns in this book.

Pattern | Bembe by Dawn Henderson @knit.yarn.stuff
Source | 52 Weeks of Socks from @laine_publishing
Yarn | @evergreenfiberworks Cedar Sock in Seaworthy by @selfish.knitter

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4 months ago

FOto catchup: Lento pullover
This sweater is so soft, drapes nicely and was a quick knit. I could have finished it in less than a month, but I set it aside with the body and one sleeve finished for 6 months before picking it up again. After blocking and despite my careful handling, the neckline stretched out quite a lot. I waited until after the holidays to brave Michaels for elastic thread to pull it back in, procrastinated a few more months for good measure, and now that the hot and humid weather has arrived - I have a nice fuzzy sweater to wear!

Swipe to see video clips of the neckline (and weather) before and after.

Pattern | Lento by @jonnahoo
Source | @laine_magazine Issue 11
Yarn | Celadon and Montauk on Fingering Single Ply held with Breakwater on Suri Lace from @baby.cat.yarns

P.S. This was my first successfully completed project with bust darts. Can you see them? by @selfish.knitter

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4 months ago

June WIPs
A Fosette ready for sleeve splitting, and a fussy blanket square.
Not pictured: 3 fall/winter accessory projects in hibernation for the summer.

It feels pretty good to have only 2 WIPs in focus right now. I’ve been itching to cast on a sock, but I think the stockinette body of the Fosette will scratch that. Block 12 of my 2025 Berroco Mystery Blanket has cables AND bobbles, and I’m just not interested in working on it every day. The Fosette had bobbles, but I decided to skip some of them. I recently heard someone describe annoying techniques as a “personal knitting enemy.” At one time I thought I wanted to knit a Magnolia Bloom - hahaha! The bobbles - I can do it, but I don’t want to. Personal knitting enemy. 😈 What are yours? by @selfish.knitter

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4 months ago

FOto catchup: This was an “advent” project for 2025. I love my 2022 Gumdrop Hat so much that I wanted to make another one. It uses less than 10 grams of yarn per stripe, and I was easily able to finish one stripe per day while also working on other projects. A set of 20 gram minis left me plenty of yarn to make the matching mittens. I really love these Googie-inspired colors!

Patterns: Gumdrop Hat and Mittens by @knittymcpurly
Yarn: August 2025 Mini Kit on Merino DK from @baby.cat.yarns

Tips:
Make the mittens first so you can use leftovers for the poms as soon as you finish knitting the hat.
With one color per day, mittens take 8 days and hat takes 9 days.
There is also a simple cowl pattern that uses about 10g per stripe. by @selfish.knitter

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4 months ago

May WIPs and Fixes and FOs

There are a few potential themes for these photos: stripes, dissatisfaction, procrastination. These photos are an accumulation of things that I’ve finished since December but have not shared, things that need some repairs or adjustments, and things that I’m actively knitting. Will sharing this give me the motivation I’ve been lacking to wrap these up? TBD. Life has been weird over here - this is not a priority.

1. I’m actively knitting my second Ravello, and I don’t love the cuff - I might rework that. I recently cast on my second Fosette. I’ve also belatedly cast on another square for the 2025 Berroco Blanket MKAL. No sock WIPs? INCONCEIVABLE. (A shawl is hibernating only because it gives Fall vibes and I want more Spring right now.)

2. I have two finishes that I’m not completely satisfied with and haven’t photographed. I am still fussing with the button band and pockets on my Douglas Cardi. I recently purchased different buttons that might change my feelings about the button band. (We are not on good terms at this time.) I also bought elastic thread to pull in the neckline of my Lento, which I love otherwise. The other item in my Fix pile is my first Ravello, which I could have worn multiple times over the winter had I not procrastinated about fixing a small hole. As it turns out, I enjoy watching videos of other people fixing holes more than I like to fix them myself.

3. This is the number of projects that I’ve finished and blocked and just haven’t photographed. Or did I? A shawl; matching hat and mittens that I wore several times over the winter; a freshly finished pair of socks. Over the last few years, I’ve made more of an effort to share photos of myself actually wearing my finished projects. I don’t really wear shawls, thus I have been procrastinating AGAIN.

If you’ve read all that, THANK YOU and here is your participation medal 🏅 by @selfish.knitter

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5 months ago