Queen Bee Knits

Knitting, Living, Loving, Baking, Teaching,Tips, Tools and Idle Chatter

WIP Wednesday

Posted on October 28, 2026 by Queen Bee Knits

I’ve got a few FOs and fewer WIPs today. Yay, me!

I’ve planned a stay-at-home and get caught up around the house day today … and I have a load of laundry in, the bedroom is cleaned up, bed made. I put away the dishes in the kitchen and may have had a piece of apple cake that I made yesterday (NY Times Cooking recipe, Apple Cake by Yossy Arefi to which I added nuts for my nut-loving hubby.) It’s now time to clean up the guest room and guest bath because my “Roomie” is coming for a visit this weekend. We have been friends for 50 years since we met on our first day of college in 1976. For all of those years, she’s had my back and we pick up just where we left off the last time we were together. How lucky am I?

Since it’s WIP Wednesday, I thought I’d show you my WIPs first. I have my Reverie socks and our granddaughter’s elf hat on the needles.

I’m so close to finishing the hat. Not so much the socks – I haven’t touched them since I last spoke about them. I will, though, because these are my favorite socks at the moment. I’m hoping I can finish the hat today/tonight and buy a pompom tomorrow at work. Sylvie really wants some blue in her hat so I may go with a blue pompom but I really want a white one. We have rabbit fur little pompoms and I think that’ll be perfect. I also have to buy some yarn to make a hat for my grandson because the yarn I hoped to use for his hat is horrible and it’s going back to the store. The ball that I tried to knit with will be gifted to the free table at work tomorrow. Yuck.

My FOs are the four hats for my customer. They’re all knitted and blocked – the last one isn’t quite dry but it will be by tomorrow and I’ll take them to the store for her to pick up. I also finished my daughter’s Levitate Wrap and I just have to trim the ends that I wove in (I don’t trim until after I block) and sew in a label and then I’m shipping it off … maybe on Friday and likely to her work address so it won’t get lost. It’s a huge investment of time and money and it will be well-insured, too. I’ve lost faith in the US Postal Service and will probably send this package by UPS although they’re not great at delivering in NYC either!

I found a little bit of potential hope today when I was misting my house plants and orchids. My “Christmas” cactus are blooming and my orchids have at least one flower coming and maybe two (although the second one could be a new root, time will tell.) It is always sweet when my plants surprise me.

Gone knitting (well, actually, I’m heading back downstairs to move the laundry into the dryer … work first!)

Monday, Monday …

Posted on October 12, 2026 by Queen Bee Knits

It was a bit cloudy and very dramatic when I went outside to take the photo this morning. It’s now, three hours later, sunny and gorgeous outside. Fall has taken hold and the temperatures require a sweater which makes this knitter extremely happy.

I’ve been working on our family Christmas card this morning. Hubby’s computer is old and we have trouble with it … it refused to do our taxes this year and it’s getting grumpy about media transferrals … but it worked out after a few tries and I’m going to hit the order button later this morning after hubby sees it.

I’ve been having a lot of fun with my gnome KAL and I’ve been keeping up with the clues. I won’t show photos of my WIP (except for the first one that gives absolutely nothing away) in accordance with KAL rules. Suffice it to say that piece 1 is sitting at the bottom of my gnome gnitting – yes, intentional spelling – bag and piece two just keeps growing. Sarah is brilliant the way she creates these patterns and this one is another unique construction. I appreciate that I have gazillions of bits of leftover sock yarn that I can use up when I knit gnomes even though the “collection” doesn’t seem to diminish much.

I have cast on two new projects, finished one and cast on another. I have a customer who calls annually to order hats. The same hat every time in the same colors for the most part. This year she wants two navy and two black. I’ve completed one navy and started a black one. They don’t take long to knit but I’d love to get them off my to-do list. I love checking off a list!

I have cast on the first Christmas knit. Someone (Sylvie) requested a pink and purple stripe elf hat this year. I just realized that I should have added “fur” because I have some furreal that’s white … I may frog what I’ve done and reknit the hat. Anyway, she’s getting what she asked for and I will be knitting a sweater to match. Maybe also with fur (on the collar and cuffs?)

I’ve been trying to make good progress on my daughter’s Levitate Wrap sweater and I have made progress. I’m still a little bit worried that it’s not going to be as boxy as I think she wanted it to be. Nevertheless, I’m continuing with knitting one sleeve as the pattern requests and re-working the border around the front of the sweater. The border is lovely, double knit, 11 stitches, applied as you go to the front of the sweater. I’ve reached the middle and expect to have it almost to the bottom of the second side today if I don’t spend too much time writing or baking. The good news is it’s really starting to look like a sweater now. Progress!

I’m going to sign off here and go bake some granola for my kids. Two of the three have requested my granola and if I make it for two …

Gone Knitting.

OMG! Gnettle

Posted on September 30, 2026 by Queen Bee Knits

OMG! I have finished my Gnettle and I love her! She’s so special. Sarah Schira is brilliant. Simply brilliant. I don’t know how she figures out how to do these gnomes every single time but every one is more fun than the last.

Gnettle is the second of the Gnumpkin and Gnettle gnome pair. I don’t know why I decided to start with Gnettle but I did. She was a blast to knit and now I can hardly wait to knit Gnumpkin but he’ll have to wait until I finish my daughter’s swater. That’ll be delivered to NYC in mid-October come hell or high water.

Anyway, Gnettle …

Gnettle’s hair made her one of my favorite gnomes ever! I absolutely love her hair! I won’t give away any secrets but suffice it to say that I stayed up late last night to knit the hair portion of the pattern and it was 100% worth it. I even finished my book after knitting.

We had a great day today. We went out to get an ink cartridge for my printer and ran to the Lakeside Apple Farm for a donut and some apples and got a pumpkin or two, too. Then a quick stop at Christiansen’s Farm Stand for a mum and a couple of tomatoes to end the season. Back home and I got a couple of loads of sheets and towels done after our weekend company and got our bed sheets switched over to flannel … we’re starting to have cool nights! I got one load of our laundry done, too, but I have to get it moved over to the dryer before bed tonight. Tomorrow it’s another apple pie!

Gone knitting … well, sleeping actually.

Sunday Update – an FO and almost another

Posted on September 20, 2026 by Queen Bee Knits

Saturday, September 19, 2026 … Yesterday

I was up early yesterday because I had to be at a meeting in Palermo, Maine by 9:00am which is early to get going on a Saturday unless I have to open the store. Even then, the store opens at 9:30 and is 20 minutes away. Palermo is 45 minutes away. This morning, Sunday, I didn’t even get outside to take a photo because it was quite cool and we stayed inside (I got my afghan out of the basket this morning.) We have already run an errand which entailed new slippers for me and some organizing of my yarn bins because I was looking for new gnome knitting yarn and I need some sport weight for part of the project. I think I found what I need … we’ll see when I start knitting the project on September 3 (or 4 because I’ll be out of town the 2 & 3 without much knitting time.)

Anyway, a knitting update. I have a FO! I finished my teeny tiny sock earrings, Los Lobe Hose, knitted up in fingering weight yarn with 0000 DPNs. The needles are smaller than toothpicks and I’m not sure I really enjoyed the knitting but they’re awfully cute to wear.

Los Lobe Hose in On the Round scrappy leftovers

I’m going to be forced to make another pair of these with Christmas yarn and maybe a Halloween/Fall pair, too. Stinking cute!

I’m making good progress, too, with my daughter’s Levitate Wrap. I have reached the bottom of the body of the sweater and next will be picking up sleeve stitches and knitting sleeves. I love the fabric of this sweater and it’s knitting up relatively quickly on US 10 needles. My daughter chose the medium size because she wants it boxy and I’m eager to see how the rest of the knitting goes. Right now the measurement from the middle of the back to the bottom is eighteen inches which seems very cropped to me. I will need to review the pattern before I finish off the bottom of the body. It’s always interesting knitting a sweater for someone whose full body measurements you don’t have … and ask me why when I had my daughter at the beach I didn’t measure the length of her arms, for example or ask her how long she wants the sweater to be? Yeah, well I don’t have an answer but now I’m thinking I missed an opportunity for sure.

I’m also working on my Make Mine a Double sweater. I have reached the bottom of the body and knitted the ribbing and now I’ll go back and knit the sleeves. I had begun the sleeves (I think I may have mentioned this on my last post) but realized too late that I was knitting with a US 9 rather than the required US 10. Good grief! So, I’ve frogged most of the two sleeves and will likely frog back a little bit more and reknit with the correct size needle. I thought I had the US 10 in my project bag. I was wrong. Thank goodness knitting is forgiving.

I am super close to another FO. My vanilla socks (photo below was taken a couple of days ago) in the self-striping yarn are getting really close to the toe. I have really enjoyed knitting these socks and I do love Must Stash yarn’s self-striping sock yarns. The base yarn is lovely to work with and the stripes, well, they’re fabulous!

I love that the yarn comes in two parts and each is the same so your socks match pertectly. Most of the time I don’t really mind if patterns don’t match up. I just don’t want a lot of extra yarn left over … but these days I’m knitting shorter legs (from the cuff to the heel flap) and I am finding I do have leftovers. I think I may be knitting some scrappy socks again soon.

We have been working at putting our gardens to bed for the winter. Yesterday when I was at my meeting the hubby chopped the living daylights out of one of our Hydrangeas. I hope it comes back. In his defense, we’d let it get HUGE and it was blocking our kitchen window which we like to see out of and it was rubbing against the house. The garden at the side of the house was put in ten years ago and some of the bushes have been really happy here and have grown too big for their spots. We have some work to do and neither one of us really loves to garden nor are we particularly knowledgeable. We’ll figure it out in good time. We also have a porch floor that needs restaining and a few window screens that need washing along with our big front windows that are always dirty … thanks to my mother for making me very attuned to dirty windows. LOL

I have holiday knitting on the mind lately. I spoke yesterday with the granddaughter who knows what she wants and asked her about a Santa hat (or an elf hat) and she doesn’t want red and white … she wants pink and purple stripes! In my reorganizing I found some purple Cascade 220 Superwash and I’ll get some pink in the same yarn when I go to work on Thursday and make that for her. I’ve always knitted a Christmas sweater for her as well … maybe this year’s will be a pink and purple striped elf sweater? I’ve found a couple of cute sweaters but she much prefers cardigans because she can put them on herself.

I made three dozen muffins this week (for my meeting yesterday and for my hubby, too). I found a new pumpkin muffin recipe to try and made my old stand-by blueberry and banana nut, too. I took a dozen and a half with me and left the same in the freezer. They were all good.

Tonight we’re heading to the Opera House to see Graham Nash in concert. We have a lot of shows in our little town and it’s time we start paying attention … it’s fun to get out now and again!

Gone knitting!

Home Again … a Wonderful Vacation

Posted on September 16, 2026 by Queen Bee Knits

We’re baaack! We had the most wonderful week in Weekapaug, RI. We were joined by all three of my kids and their families. Seven adults, five dogs and one granddaughter were in residence for all or part of the week and we had a wonderful time. I’ve written about why we vacation there before but I’ll briefly say that my mother rented a house there for the month of July when my kids were little and before she had Alzheimer’s Disease. After she passed away I asked my kids what they’d like to do with the little bit of money that I have to draw from her IRA each year and the answer was Weekapaug. We found a wonderful house to rent after labor day and it’s turned into a weekly vacation that we all love! We spend time at the beach, cook our meals (or most of them), spend time at Watch Hill at the Annex eating peach iced cream (my mom’s favorite flavor) and this year our granddaughter was big enough to ride the Flying Horses for the first time.

And now we’re home with smiles on our faces and more memories made.

I’ve been working on getting everything washed and put away so that I can go back to work tomorrow. I’ve run three loads of laundry (one more to wash the octopus costume) and made three dozen muffins (pumpkin, banana nut and wild Maine blueberry) to take to a meeting on Saturday morning. I’ll take half with me and leave half at home for us.

My knitting has suffered while we were away. I think I may have knitted more on the drive home yesterday than for the whole week we were in Rhode Island. But I read a lot of books, played all sorts of imaginative games (that the granddaughter made up) and listened to songs and stories galore. One lovely addition this year was an overnight visit by my brother and his wife. We all loved having them join us even briefly!

I’ve taking my Make Mine a Double sweater off the needles so I could work on my daughter’s Levitate Wrap cardigan while I had her to try on as I went. I added three rows of stockinette stitch to add to the length before I connected the fronts and back and that seems to have made all the difference in the way it fit. I am now working my way down the body of the sweater and increasing for the overlapped fronts. I’m using Juniper Moon Farm Patagonia organic merino held double with Berroco Aerial silk mohair lace. The fabric is really nice to work with but I find I do “miss” the lace every once in a while (and have to go back to make sure it’s not just hanging out in front of the fabric. Regardless, it’s knitting up pretty quickly and I think I will probably have to make it a little bit longer which means added rows. I don’t remember if I made the row gauge. That might be a good idea to look at right now so I can decide how to best add length if needed.

A while ago I bought a hank of self-striping sock yarn because a good self-striping sock yarn is difficult to find. I bought it from Must Stash yarn because they’ve got a remarkable base and their colorways are fantastic! I’ve made it to the foot of the first sock. It’s a fun knit for sure. I’m knitting a mixed pattern with details pulled from Yankee Knitter and Summer Lee and it’ll be fun to see how they fit. I really like knititng socks on US1 needles (I’m using DPNs this time.)

I haven’t taken any new photos of anything knitting but I will and I’ll post again on Sunday!

Gone knitting.

Monday. Feels like Sunday

Posted on August 31, 2026 by Queen Bee Knits

Aaaaaand just like that it’s September tomorrow. Yikes! Today I had intended to do the laundry and change our bed and I did that but I also pulled apart our closet … my side of it anyway … and pulled out a bunch of things that I haven’t used in ages. It’s time to consign it or donate it or throw it away. I now have a big bag for Goodwill and a big bag for the consignment shop (if they’ll take it!) And the bins are put away in their places, and I vacuumed all of my shoe shelves and straightened it all up. I’m ready for fall and the change-over from summer to fall/winter clothing when the temperatures turn.

We have also had a fruit fly infestation in our house. The kitchen has been buzzing with the annoying little buggers. Today I did a good cleanup in the kitchen, too, and baked the over-ripe bananas into muffins. It was 3:00o’clock by the time I had some food in my belly and a cup of herbal tea. I got sucked into a cleaning frenzy. LOL

I’ve been knitting away on my three WIPs: Make Mine a Double, Jaunty and Reverie socks. I’ve gotten the heel turned on the second Reverie sock and I’m really excited to wear them. They’re super cute!

I’ve reached the half-way point on my Jaunty and am now working decreases instead of decreases. I’m loving this project. The fabric is so squishy and the yarn is magnificent. I may have to buy another hank of the bluer coloway when I’m at the store on Thursday because I’m liking the blue more than the purple but I’m giving myself the time to get the knitting done and see how it looks when I’m closer to the next yarn change or addition. I am enjoying this so much that I’m thinking of making another one in fingering weight yarn … it may be a bit premature but who knows.

And I am working my way down the body of the Make Mine a Double pullover. I am really close to the last color in the ombre change which is a peachy cream color. I have also caked up the second hank of the yarn and am trying to figure out what I want to do with the sleeves. I am tempted to stop where I am and start the second ball of yarn with the darker colors … or reverse the cake and wind off the creamy color to the blue and end with the blue and brown and make both sleeves more in the beige and cream … I have to sit with it a bit before I decide for sure. More will be revealed!

I’ll have to take another photo of the sock, I don’t seem to have one but here are the other two. My finger is pointing at the “bump” where I stopped increasing and started decreasing on my Jaunty. And the lighter bottom of my Make Mine a Double. The second cake starts with the dark chocolate brown again … if you’re reading this, what would you do?

Gone knitting!

WIP Wednesday

Posted on July 29, 2026 by Queen Bee Knits

I’ve already run an errand and checked the vegetable garden (we had a little rain this morning and I hope we get more). One more zucchini today and a couple of summer squash will be ready tomorrow. Our tomatoes are doing something funky this year … they look wonderful and they’re black on the bottom. We’ll see if they come around. I’ve asked my hubby to water them more deeply every other day. Time will tell.

I had a wonderful day yesterday all alone at home. Coffee on the porch for a good chunk of the morning and then I cleaned up, did a bit of laundry and decided I wanted to bake. I mixed up a batch of my “Ted Lasso” Shortbread cookies (I got the recipe online, there are a lot of them out there but this one is done in the cuisinart … blend all the ingredients, squish into an 8×8 pan with parchment paper and bake. So simple and so yummy. While the first batch was cooking I decided to cook up some banana bread (muffins) because I had some bananas needing attention … and discovered that we had no eggs! A quick run into town and I solved that issue and blended up the muffins with Maine blueberries and pecans added for fun. AND then I decided I needed another batch of shortbread. Ha! Ha! It was a good baking day. One batch of shortbread went to my dear friend, Barbara, who brought us some delicious chicken soup when I was feeling pretty lousy. One good turn deserves another, right? I always think of my maternal grandmother when I am baking which adds to the joy for me. Baking makes me feel centered and calm … and so does my knitting.

Our garden is producing some wonderful food! I brought in lettuces the day before and some more cukes and a summer squash. Hubby doesn’t care for the squash so it’s all mine! I love it steamed with a bit of salt and butter. Yummy! I’ll be cooking up a zucchini (not shown) side-dish tonight for dinner. I saute sliced onions, put halved (the long way) zucchini on top of them and add some spaghetti/marinara sauce, cover and heat until the zucchini is tender. Then put sliced mozzarella on top and cover again until the cheese is melted. Yummy!

And I’ve been knitting, too. Yesterday I finished the knitting for my Easy Folded Poncho and blocked it on our guest room bed which I have to get made up again. More guests coming this weekend! I only have to sew in the ends after I stitch one simple seam.

I also finished the front of my Broadgate Tabard and blocked both pieces. I knitted the 4-stitch icord ties last night and now I am ready to seam the shoulders and knit the neckline. The pattern calls for a big folded turtleneck and I’m not going to do that at all. I don’t like big, tight turtlenecks. I’ll knit about an inch of ribbing and bind off so that I can wear it in the store with a blouse. I’m excited to get this one finished too … and if I really focus, I should be able to accomplish both finishes today or Friday. I’m looking forward to wearing the poncho when the weather cools in addition to my orange one. I’ve really loved wearing that and the fall will be the perfect time!

Meanwhile, I’ve cast on my Sabai Top in Cascade Yarns Hampton (70% cotton, 30% linen) in black. I am knitting the ribbed neckline for this one (the pattern offers two necklines) and it should be a simple, quick knit. I think it’ll be a great summer top with my white pants or jeans and I think I can dress it up or be casual. The yarn feels lovely as I knit it and I am enjoying the unique construction of the neckline and shoulders. More on this later when I have enough to photograph.

Today’s focus is to get the tabard done first (because I can seam the poncho in class on Friday if I need to.) AND because I’d like to wear the tabard on Friday if I get it finished. So …

Gone knitting!

The Day Before WIP Wednesday

Posted on July 21, 2026 by Queen Bee Knits

It’s been super breezy all day. No coffee on the porch this morning but I was up early (hubby woke me emptying the dehumidifier at 5:45am) and I decided to get a few things done and see how it feels. And it feels pretty good! I really needed to clean our bathroom which I hadn’t done since before we both got sick in early July. The spiders had taken over and I couldn’t have them in charge anymore. I also got my car registered and have called my mechanic to get it inspected but they’re on vacation this week. Next week will work.

When I got home from my one errand, I decided to make a batch of blueberry muffins which I haven’t made since the kids, version 1, were here. I don’t think I ever got the second group any blueberry muffins. We picked strawberries and my daughter made strawberry muffins instead. I must be feeling better. This is two days in a row that I have baked. Yesterday I made a batch of my granola. So, granola and muffins this week. I must be feeling better!

While I was waiting for the muffins to cool enough to take out of the pan, I took a walk around the yard. The hydrangeas and the “daisies” are all blooming … I know they’re not all daisies but they are the same shape as daisies so I am clumping them together. I also found a couple of zucchinis in the veggie garden, some lettuces and a couple more cucumbers. The tomatoes are getting there … that’s what I really am looking forward to – tomato sandwiches!

I spent the late morning hand sewing. A couple of years ago I took a class online with Heidi Parkes and started to make a “Love Letter Quilt” with her prompts. She suggests 20 6×8 inch rectangles and has 20 prompts to stitch for the quilt. I’ve been working on it with no particular regularity and have decided that I really need to get it finished, assembled and hung. It’s going to be our tenth anniversary in a bit and maybe I can get it done for that? Time will tell.

The most recent pieces that I’ve finished are “a flower” and “an artifact”. The flower was easy. We’ve had an orchid plant that belonged to Ned’s mother prior to her death. When she passed away, we inherited the plant and have cared for it since. We even moved from Florida to Maine with the plant in flower … and it’s been flowering consistently since then. So, the orchid is the plant. The artifact had to be the old house. The property was owned by hubby’s father’s aunt and his dad bought the house from her in the 1940s. They used it as a summer house forever and Ned was here every summer of his life (minus one when he and his mother had a disagreement). The orchid is on a too small piece of fabric (I need to learn to measure!) but I’ll adapt it and will make it work.

This afternoon I’ve been working on the front part of my tabard. I still love love love this color and can’t wait to wear the garment. I have the perfect blouse to wear under it! Today I got one shoulder knitted and am ready to knit the second one tomorrow. My brain is on fire from counting and concentrating and especially after getting up so early, I’m tired. Anyway, I’ll get the front finished tomorrow! Yay! I think I will block it before I seam it to see what the yarn is going to do. I’m excited to be so close!

And now I’m turning to my Sock Sprint 2026 socks. The pattern is fun and easily memorized and I’ve been working the heel flap since last night. It’s a bit different with 3 garter stitch stitches on each side of the slipped stitch heel flap. I’m interested to see how it finishes up. I may be able to get the heel flap done and turn the heel tonight.

I am heading back to work on Thursday for the first time since June 18th! I’ve been out of work for over a month … first for the kids’ visits and then because I got sick. I am so glad I took the time to rest and recover because I do think I am ready to go back now. Last week, not so much. I imagine that I’ll be really happy when it’s Saturday and I can rest again. This has been quite a ride!

Gone knitting!

Whew!

Posted on June 6, 2026 by Queen Bee Knits

Today I’m heading off to Compton, Quebec for A Needle in a Haystack, a fibery event in a field next to a fromagerie. That’s about all I know … except that now I know they have a rainy day plan and I’m grateful for that.

Meanwhile this week has been super busy at home and at work. The store has been receiving new boxes of yarn and we are trying to find places for it to live. Carol and I spent the day Thursday reworking the sock yarns to add in a dozen new colors of Cascade Heritage and Heritage 6. When we were done, it was gorgeous and organized in weight-order (fingering … sport … worsted). My classes yesterday, with the exception of the morning class, were smaller than “normal” but it was a pretty day and the weather reports for the weekend aren’t promising. I’d have been planting my vegetable garden if I’d had my druthers.

I’m making such good progress on my tabard! I have reached the twenty-one inches for the front piece and now have to work the shoulders. I am not going to knit a big turtleneck, I will instead knit an inch or so of ribbing and call it done. SO … I think I’m going to start the back and get it to the neck shaping, if there is any, and then finish the front. I still love the green and I’d have said I wasn’t a green girl. I can’t wait to wear this “vest” and I hope I love it as much as I think I will. (I’m also eager to block it out to see how the size changes. I may put the front on holders and wet block it to see what happens. Stay tuned.

Broadgate Tabard in gorgeous green linen

And I have a FO! I have finished my Salty Air Tee by Samantha Guerin. I adore the color and the yarn that I used from Rachel at On the Round in Thomaston, Maine. The Nimble Sock yarn is so round and squishy and the colorway, Harbor, is the perfect grayish-blue. The size I chose is the perfect size and I am thrilled with the final product. I wore it yesterday and it was very comfortable, not to warm, draped well and fit was just what I had anticipated. The pattern was well-written and a relatively quick knit considering it’s a fingering weight yarn on US4 needles. I will wear this shirt a lot!

Salty Air Tee in On the Round Nimble Sock

So, that leaves a few projects on the needles and I’m planning to take a few with me to Canada today. I have my Easy Folded Poncho (miles of stockinette stitch), and I cast on a skirt for my granddaughter yesterday that is also a bunch of stockinette … but with increases every six rounds. She’s going to love it – it’s a deep purple with stelina sparkles and it will twirl! Pattern is Olive’s Swing Skirt and I’m using Plymouth’s Electra Light, a stashed yarn, that was on the clearance rack at the store.

I’ve also started a new pair of socks, shortie socks, from the Summer Lee Sock Project book. I’m playing with carrying the contrasting color on these socks so I don’t have a bunch of ends to weave in and so far, so good. This pattern uses an afterthought heel … I’ll report my thoughts when they’re done and I can wear them. I still like my heel flap and gusset best of all but I’ll keep an open mind.

My daughter’s Levitate Wrap sweater/cardigan is still in time out awaiting a try-on. I had hoped that I would be able to squeeze in a trip to New York City before our summer family guests arrive on the 19th but I’m not sure it’s going to work out for me. Boo. I will see some of the kids starting in mid-June and in early July and I hope that I can get into New York to see the other kids, too. It feels like it’s been a really long time since I’ve seen them. Not sure what that means for this “old” person who is “semi-retired” but I have been so busy and my calendar is way too full. Even for sitting on the porch and enjoying the hummingbirds!

I have been enjoying the yard and watching the flowers grow. The lilacs are gorgeous! I brought some indoors and they only last a few days before wilting. I don’t know how to make them stay beautiful … they make the whole downstairs smell wonderful! Our first iris are blooming and the day lilies are coming right along. They typically bloom around July 4th.

And I baked! I made my hubby’s birthday requested scones. I make the Levain Bakery recipe and they are delicious every time. We love, love, love them and because they have oatmeal in them, they’re heathy, right? I also made him a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. I’ve frozen half of the cake, cut in pieces, and the leftover frosting. He’s a happy man. This was making up for his birthday cake out of a box. Horrors! (Not really, it was delicious!)

I’ve “wasted” a lot of time writing this and I have to focus on packing my knitting and being ready to go … gone knitting!

Back to Work!

Posted on May 26, 2026 by Queen Bee Knits

We had a glorious morning this morning with coffee on the porch and a comfortable temperature. This is the time of year we love every second of living here. We had some good rain over the weekend and while I’m sure it dampened many ceremonies around the country on Memorial Day, we were happy to have the days to rest and relax and contemplate the real meaning of the day – hint: it’s not the barbecue or parade. And with fifteen soldiers recenlty killed in Iran, it gave me more reason to be thoughtful and grateful for their sacrifice.

I made a few discoveries and I made some blueberry English Muffins. My hubby told me that some of the seeds that I brought back from NYC (my daughter’s family had organic veggies from their CSA and for some reason I needed to bring them home and try to plant them) were growing! I am thrilled to show you my mystery veggie babies. I have no idea what they will grow up to be and that’s part of the fun. Maybe peppers or squash? Time will tell. Next week we’ll be planting the vegetable gardens and I hope they’ll take off.

And yesterday I decided to make the blueberry English Muffins the recipe for which I printed ages ago. It was a simple process but the recipe was not the best. It said to add 1 cup of milk and a cup and a half of flour and said it would be a shaggy dough. Soupy isn’t shaggy so I added what probably amounted to another cup of flour (and the dough was still sticky.) After needing for five minutes it was a bit better but still a little sticky and I went ahead and cooked them up anyway. And, Ta Da! They are nice and light, the crumb is good and they taste really wonderful with some Bonne Maman Wild Blueberry Jam. (Bonne Maman is delicious and they do good, too.) Mark it as a success! I’ll make them again but we have six or so in the fridge.

Broadgate Tabard in Antigone by De Rerum Natura

In the early afternoon when I was sitting out in our dooryard, I worked on my Broadgate Tabard. I’m starting to get the hang of this pattern’s zigs and zags. It is not a quick knit and requires some concentration and counting but I am going to love it and the color is extraordinary. I saw this pattern on Millie at Tribe Life Yarn in the UK on social media. I looked for a yarn substitution so I didn’t have to ship from the UK but I couldn’t get the green color out of my mind. I put it on the back burner for a time, too. Finally, I bit the bullet and bought the yarn. Millie has recently sold me more yarn and that’s another story … she wears such colorful knits and they’re so unique and some of them I simply “need” to have. (I have two hanks of hand-dyed silk mohair waiting to make me a sweater from Tribe, too. Oops!) I knitted on this until my iPad got too hot (we were sitting in the sun) and I had to take it inside and let it cool down.)

I had a customer call to ask about a sock yarn last week and she said it was the roundest, squishiest sock yarn and she loved it so much but couldn’t find the label. I immediately thought it was On the Round but texted her a photo of several different yarns before she confirmed the OTR. I know this because I’m knitting with OTR Nimble Sock on my Salty Air Tee. I have really enjoyed this knit. The lace yoke was so much fun to knit and for a fingering weight yarn, it seems to be moving right along at a good pace. I might be able to get the body finished tonight but I don’t think I have time to finish the sleeves and block it too before I leave for Arizona tomorrow afternoon. I’m going to try. I think this will be a super fun to wear tee this summer. The body is fully stockinette stitch so it’s good for knitting with friends or late in the day when I’m tired. And I love the colorway, too. I will knit more in this yarn – it helps that the dyer, Rachel, is a delightful human.

Hubby’s A&C socks are coming along as well. I have gotten to the foot so they should be able to be finished on the plane on Thursday. I will probably have to take another sock project with me because we also have a drive from Phoenix to Tucson and back. I don’t expect to do a lot of knitting when we’re in Tucson because we have a lot of celebrating and visiting to do but the travel time is great knitting time. But you probably know that, right?

We went for a little walk with the dog this afternoon and there were several natural treats along the way. Lots of Lilies of the Valley right next to the road and we even found a couple of Jack in the Pulpit plants. I’d like to go back and dig some of them up and transplant them in our yard away from the edge of the street where they’re likely to get squished by cars passing on the camp road. But alas time is not on my side as I have a trip tomorrow … and laundry and packing to do. I pulled a few little flowers to make a little arrangement for the kitchen window sill.

Gone knitting.