Queen Bee Knits

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

Around the House

Posted on May 5, 2024 by Queen Bee Knits

Today isn’t the most beautiful that we’ve had this week but I am not going to work today and I am so glad to have a day to recharge my batteries. I hope that a day at home will also help me with my knitting mojo. I have several projects that I really “want” to finish but I can’t bring myself to actually do it … so, instead, I cast on a new project and have something else that remains unfinished. AND as the UFOs collect on my ottoman or “projects-in-waiting” cabinet, I get more overwhelmed. It’s kind of like when the house is a mess or my desk is disorganized. I really need a day or two or three to catch up with my messes and this week may allow me to do some of that!

Anyway, I really wanted to show you around the house because the spring bulbs have sprung and they bring me so much joy! You can see the Forsythia bush out by our boathouse is in full bloom this year and our garlic is shooting up through the hay, too. We (and when I say “we”, I mean the royal we) have filled our third raised garden bed with soil and just have to add a bit of peat moss and some compost and it’ll be ready to plant with veggies. We can’t really plant until after Labor Day weekend but we may try some cold-loving lettuce seeds.

We have had a couple of gloriously beautiful sunrises this week that I also want to show you. (They’re on my Instagram page but if you’re not on Instagram … well, you get the idea!)

The lilac bushes are leafing out and soon enough we’ll see the buds beginning to form. Lilacs are one of my favorites for sure. Another favorite is my Bleeding Heart. I have two but the first one is the most special. We had a HUGE one at the old house but when the house fell, it fell on and killed my first Bleeding Heart. So, when we started planting again, one of the first plants to go in, in almost the exact same place, was this Bleeding Heart. You can almost watch it grow at this time of year.

Every year we’ve been adding bulbs around the yard. Not a ton of them, just a few. Last year we added a bag of daffodils and a bag of tulips. I’ve never lived anywhere where I’ve successfully grown tulips … deer love them and some soil doesn’t love them. Regardless, they seem to be happy to grow here. We took out a dead Hydrangea last fall and planted these bulbs and they’re making me very happy!

Oh, what a beautiful morning! My husband took this photo while I was sleeping but you can see that the color of the sky was absolutely stunning. What we seem to have missed that morning was the rainbow in the opposite direction. Mother Nature was really showing off this week.

Here’s another morning and another photo by my hubby. He’s the “real” photographer in the family but I take more photos and am, perhaps, less artistic more the chronicler. Is that a word? Now, all we need is a little bit of warmer air so we can sit on the porch!

Gone knitting.

Fiddlehead Season

Posted on May 1, 2024 by Queen Bee Knits

It’s only Wednesday but this is proving to be one of my busiest weeks in a long time. My boss is away from the store and I’m working three days this week and teaching one. Today, my “day off”, I started the day by painting the board office at Maine Arts Academy. At least it’s fun to be at the school, see the staff and students and one of the other board members painted with me so the work was shared and went quickly.

When I got home I decided to check on my Trillium plants that have always been out in our woods. I’d seen a couple of posts about never picking them … anyway, they’re back and they’re blooming. One or two flowers a year. This year, it’s a two bloom-er. Isn’t she lovely?

This afternoon I’ve been working on finishing my Fiddlehead Mittens and it seems appropriate because it’s Fiddlehead season. Here in Maine, Fiddleheads are a beloved spring vegetable and people have their secret places to forage Fiddleheads. I have yet to find a recipe that I really love but my hubby doesn’t like Fiddleheads at all.

I used my favorite DK weight, Patagonia Organic Merino yarn for the main color of the mittens and a hand-spun variegated yarn that my daughter gifted to me several years ago. If memory serves, she found it at the farmer’s market in Ithaca, NY. It is perfect for these mittens. And I have found a perfect earthy green DK for the lining …. Classic Elite Escape. A DK weight blend of merino, yak and silk that is super soft and will be a good warm lining for these mittens. All I have to do now is knit to relatively simple mittens for the lining and then I’ll block them and they’ll be done. I hope I can work on them on Friday when I teach. I’m on a mission now.

I’ve also been working on the little cotton candy pink dress for my granddaughter and another pair of Hermione’s Everyday socks. I pulled the Oorik vest out of it’s project bag the other afternoon after work and decided I didn’t have the bandwidth to pick up the second armhole stitches and returned it to its bag. Ha! Ha! But these mittens are going to be a FO really soon!

Taco salad is for dinner tonight so I’m heading down to the kitchen to cook up the meat and chop the veggies for the salad. It’s a family favorite and a good, healthy, simple meal. Since I technically worked a shorter day than my hubby, I’m giving him the night off. I’m so grateful that he likes to cook because I really don’t … I have my three or four standards and that’s all I want to do. But I’ll bake! He’s got a dozen blueberry muffins in the freezer to have with his coffee in the morning.

Gone knitting.

Wow! What a Week!

Posted on April 28, 2024 by Queen Bee Knits

We’ve been home from our whirlwind, sad, wonderful, family-filled trip to New York City for almost a week and it’s been a super busy (almost) week. I was glad to be there for my daughter when they had to say goodbye to my first grand-dog and it’s always wonderful to squeeze all of my kids and their significant others in person. AND bonus we get to spend quality time with our granddaughter.

I love seeing my other kids, now aunts and uncles, with Sylvie. They all adore her and are so supportive of each other which is exactly what I hope would happen when they grew up. Sibling relationships are difficult and require acceptance and flexibility and we all go through our own “stuff” … it’s wonderful to have siblings to share life with. On Mabel’s last morning on Earth, we took Sylvie to the playground for a couple of hours so that her parents could focus on Mabel and not worry about the baby. We walked up to the playground and played and then stopped at a local restaurant (ostensibly for lunch but Sylvie wanted no food) and home for a nap. It was a beautiful NY day and it was wonderful to be outside. Monk is always tired out after his visits to NY but he loves being included and staying with his nephews, Gus and Picasso, and all the sniffs he gets there.

When we arrived back home I was delighted to see the developments in our garden. We are growing TULIPS! We also have daffodils and some hyacinths coming up … well the mini-daffs are in bloom and the big daffs are coming soon. I’m super excited about the tulips, though. I’ve always had to NOT plant them because critters eat them. So far, we’ve been lucky … and I hope I’m not speaking out of turn because this is the exact moment that critters will eat them to the ground. I’m crossing my fingers.

Yesterday, we took a ride to Popham Beach State Park. We ran a few errands on the way there, took a long walk on the beach, gathered a few shells and then came home. It was a gorgeous day to be outside and I am so glad we went. It’s lovely to be by the ocean and I loved spending the time alone with my hubby. We tried to take a selfie but we both looked grumpy so I deleted it – we were not grumpy and I’d rather remember the day than see an inaccurate depiction. Ha! Ha!

I have been knitting! I really have! On the way to New York, I cast on a little cotton sundress for Sylvie in bubblegum pink cotton. Sunbeam Kids Dress in Jody Long My Little Sunshine organic cotton yarn. I like the yarn and the color will be great on her this summer. I’m babysitting at the end of May and will make sure the length is a tiny bit longer than perfect then and we should have a lot of fun watching her run on the beach in September.

I’ve got my second Emotional Support Chicken ready to seam and stuff. I love the colors of this one and I hope that my friend and former camper will love her, too. If all goes well today, I will finishe her … and since it’s raining, it looks like I’ll be spending the day in my atelier!

I’m also working on a pair of socks. This yarn has been in my stash for at least a decade. My daughter bought two balls of it for me back when she was still living in Chicago. I made one pair of socks from the first ball before I was on Ravelry and chose this yarn for my next pair because it’s pink and I seem to be in a pink phase. I’m knitting the Hermione’s Everyday Sock pattern by the Crazy Sock Lady on US 1.5 DPNs. The pattern is easy to remember and makes good car knitting. I’m ready to start the heel of the first sock today.

I’ve been working a very little, tiny, incy wincy bit on my Jelly Roll Blanket. I have a basket full of scraps of sock yarn next to my desk chair so that I can knit on it during zoom meetings. I missed a couple while we were in NYC but I’ve got more coming. This blanket will be a long-term project for sure but it’s grown a little bit.

And last but not least, yesterday on our way home from Popham Beach, we stopped at Mother of Purl in Freeport where I had ordered a Lumos Lumos, aka boob, light. I have thought about buying one of these lights for a while and LYS Day was yesterday and they had a special promotion for the lights. When we went to pick it up, I had to buy a bit of yarn, too, to make a sweater for Sylvie for the fall/winter. The pattern is Binx and it’s knit in a DK weight yarn. The store sample was in Patagonia which is currently one of my favorite yarns. I don’t seem to be allergic to this yarn and it get so soft when worked/washed/worn. I have at least one more sweater worth in my stash … maybe two. Ha! Ha! I will make myself finish at least two projects before I can cast on a new one.

Gone knitting.

WIP Wednesday

Posted on April 17, 2024 by Queen Bee Knits

As Mister Rogers would say, “It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood!” We woke up to lots of sunshine and even got to have coffee on the porch until the breeze picked up – the breeze off the water is still pretty cold.

I thought I would update you on my knits, my WIP Wednesday post, so to speak. As I type, my Braided Cable Handle Tote is in its second very hot wash cycle. The first cycle was pretty close to felted but I could still see stitch definition so I’ve put it back in for round two. I didn’t think I’d want to have a pink purse but the yarn was a gift and the pattern was free so … off I went on Eclipse Day 2024 with a new project to cast on. It’s a simple enough pattern to knit and the cables add some interest to the stockinette stitch in the round. If I had the ability to be regimented and to keep track of my hours knitting, I’d know how long it took me to knit. BUT I don’t have that gene so I’m going to guess it took about 8-10 hours to knit? That would mean if I was going to even think about selling these and paying myself a “fair” wage (Maine minimum wage is close to $15/hour) I’d have to charge, for my time, $120-150 for this bag. Because this was gifted to me, the cost of materials is 0 but normally, two balls of 100% wool yarn would be somewhere in the area of $20-25. So, when I add the cost of materials to my time the bag now becomes $140-175. AND if I wanted to line it with fabric, that cost goes up again. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I’d be willing to pay that for a felted bag … I’d love to hear what you think. But my feeling is that I won’t be knitting a bunch of these for a craft show any time soon.

I’ve also been working toward completion of my Oorik Tank Top. Last night I completed the first of the two arm hole ribbing. It was a tight circle to knit with my 5″ needle tips but I did it and began to weave in all the ends on the inside of the vest. I am totally patting myself on the back for the knitting on this vest. It looks pretty stinking great! Today I haven’t decided which project will get my attention first but this Oorik tank is one possibility. It’s so close!

I worked a bit on my raspberry-colored socks, too, yesterday. I’ve gotten to the end of the second sock and have a few more rounds before I can graft the toe and say that these are done. I really love the color of the socks and I really hope the person that I made them for loves them and wears them. Often when you gift someone something they don’t wear them OR they don’t care for them. I’m giving up that bit of “control” and hope that they’ll be cared for and worn … that’s the best I can do. Next on the needles for socks will be some self-patterning yarn that I’ve been hauling around with me forever. I think I may make one of the Crazy Sock Lady’s patterns. The yarn is a cotton blend and pink and white … I’m noticing a pattern here. Haha.

I have begun the first thumb on my Fiddlehead Mittens but they’ve not been touched for a while. This should only take me a few hours to finish and then the mittens need a knitted lining … I haven’t knitted a lot of mitten linings but the ones that I have knit are not perfect and I hope that my “practice” on the last couple of linings will make this lining the best one yet. I still haven’t decided what yarn I will use to line the Fiddlehead Mittens but I will use yarn from my stash. And I am reminded that the Maine Yarn Cruise will happen again this year with some big changes, apparently. There will be an online component (I think the passport will be virtual or print-your-own) and I know my LYS, Yardgoods Center, will be participating. It runs from July 1 through Indigenous Peoples Day in October. There’s a website!

I pulled out the bottom ribbing and a couple of inches of my Sunset Highway sweater at least a couple of weeks ago and it’s been sitting on my ottoman for all that time on a stitch holder. I have to try it on to see if I’ve frogged it back enough (and I haven’t tried it on yet) and then re-knit the ribbing. I’ve also got to work the kinks out of the leftover yarn so that I can reuse it which means spraying it with water and stretching it on my swift or washing it and letting it dry on my swift. Update: I just tried it on and I think it needs to be frogged back another couple of inches so that it will be about this length when I reknit the ribbing. Or a little bit shorter. I have to check out the pattern since I finished this sweater so long ago to see how many inches of ribbing it asks for (and see if I agree.) Once the body is finished, I may have to do something with the sleeves, too. I’m not sure I like the heaviness of the dark red at the “cuff”. Hey, a pattern is only a guideline, right?

I still have a few things that are still on my list of things that need to be finished and I’ve had an “order” for another Emotional Support Chicken and for another Ruby the Mega Ray. I had an interesting experience shopping online with Michaels … I ordered safety eyes for the chickens and yarn for three rays … I was sent one set of eyes and got an email that part of my order was being sent (another set of eyes and half of the yarn.) I also got an email that my order was cancelled because the yarn was out of stock … but it’s still listed for sale on the website. So … when I called Michaels to ask if I had more stuff coming, the customer service rep was nice enough with a little snark and I may have to return all the yarn because I have nothing for the underside of the rays … unless I want to start over again and try to order a different belly color. AND then I have to wait again to see if I get any of the yarn I order … to be determined.

I had begun another sweater wayyyyy back when and then it has sat idly by while I did other things. I do want to make this sweater if I can figure out where I left off and can pick it up again and my stitches are consistent after all this time. I may begin again … the sweater is the Tree Seasons Cardigan and I absolutely fell in love with the yarn used in the pattern and I was able to buy ten balls which is exactly what I need to complete the sweater. I hope I can lengthen it a bit but I don’t want to run out of yarn either. I have a long way to go until I figure that out. This is a heavily cabled cardigan and it will be my project that requires me to sit by myself in a quite room project. At least initially while I learn the pattern. I want to get it done so I can wear it in the fall which means that I’m going to have to pull it out soon.

I want to start Susan B. Anderson’s bunny rabbit with a sweater pattern. Yarn is in a project bag in my studio waiting for me to finish just a few of my WIPs so that I don’t feel too guilty starting something new. Ha!

Gone knitting.

Snow Day!

Posted on March 24, 2024 by Queen Bee Knits

It finally happened! We got a good snowstorm yesterday and it closed a lot of businesses and kept a lot of people home. We were happy to be home for the day and took the day to relax and rejuvenate. I spent the best part of the day in my atelier knitting and making some sense of the messiness (again)!

The snow yesterday was blowing a drifting but we were nice and warm in our house. I finished my daughter’s Christmas socks (they’re not FOR Christmas, but she wanted a pair to wear at Christmas time). These are made with the Urth yarn sock kit “Christmas”. I’m sad to sat that I didn’t love knitting with this yarn. It was split-y and a little bit sticky on my needles. The socks LOOK wonderfu, though. I love the colorway and the kit was wonderful because it made is so easy to have a perfectly matched pair. She’ll be very happy with these, I think.

I spent a good while working on my Fiddlehead Mittens and have gotten quite a way up the second mitten. I am still wondering what to use to line these mittens because the pattern calls for a lining and I want it to be soft but wear really well, too. There are almost 4,000 of these mittens made and some of the other colorways are so pretty … betcha can’t knit just one comes to mind. I may have to knit more of these just for fun. *AFTER I finish some more WIPs and work down some more stash!

I was watching the new season of Call the Midwife and the gorgeous orange Norwegian (?) sweater came on the TV. It’s a beauty for sure. I loved the colors and it reminded me of some of Jenn Steingass’ designs. I’ve never knitted one of her garments but I can feel a Jenn Steingass coming on! I loved her little kid’s rainbow sweater. Perhaps Sylvie will want one in the future.

The last photo above was my photo of the day this morning. It’s Maine Maple Sunday today and the water is thickening again. Poor lake must be confused – and the poor ducks and Mergansers and other water birds must be completely confused. I scared a pair of ducks out of our boat house this morning. Our boat’s not in so I am happy that they can find refuge in there just as long as they don’t move in! The boat will be coming soon and this year we may even use it! But until then, I’ll enjoy my snowy day!

Gone knitting.

Knitting Progress and a Bee-Utiful Sunrise

Posted on March 20, 2024 by Queen Bee Knits

While I was sleeping this morning my dear husband took this beautiful photograph of the sunrise. I, obviously, missed it but can still share it with you. A week ago we had ice from shore to shore. We are watching the water birds return to the lake. I’ve been told that the loons are already here, too. I’ve not heard nor seen them but I am watching for them.

Tomorrow I am heading to the store for work, our long winter yarn sale is over and I’m back to working by myself. Today I’ve been busy vacuuming my studio and cleaning up, washing our bedroom sheets and towels, cleaning up the kitchen and I baked bread.

I’ve been busy knitting, too!

I finished my Sunset Highway sweater by Caitlin Hunter back in 2019 but I’ve only worn it a couple of times. When I put it on to help me decide what to do with it, I saw the problem (I think) … it’s too long. So, I’ve spent the last couple of days unknitting the bottom of the sweater and stopping 13 inches from the underarm. I’ve got it on a cord now and I will try it on when I get undressed tonight and then I’ll decide if 13″ is the best length or if it needs to be a little longer or shorter. I will complete the ribbing again and then I hope I will wear it.

I’m also reassessing the sleeves which I feel look heavy compared to the rest of the sweater. I now have a bunch of the body yarn and I may change the burgundy out for the white speckled. Time will tell.

I did a crochet thing! My daughter, as I mentioned before, sent me a photograph of this ray with some little fishies on it’s back … a big hint. Ha! Ha! BUT it looked simple enough and I have been saying that I have to do more crochet to get better at it so I went off to Michael’s to get the jumbo chenille yarn and the size L crochet hook. During a long meeting last week I crocheted the blue back piece and earlier this week the white belly. Yesterday I got some 25mm eyes (they’re HUGE!) and finished it up. It’s very cute. I’m not sure how it’ll hold up to the abuse of an 18 month old but time will tell. My son and his fiancee are coming for a visit this weekend and I’ll send the ray back for Sylvie for Easter.

I’ve been working on my second Fiddlehead mitten and Jelly Roll blanket. AND the Christmas socks for my daughter. All three are coming along. I love the Jelly Roll blanket a lot – it’s so potato chippy – I have trouble putting it down. The socks are down to the foot so they should be finished soon. Maybe by Friday. I am itching to cast on Susan B. Anderson’s Christopher Bunny but I’m “making” myself finish up a couple of projects first.

On Saturday my friend and co-worker, Glenda, is coming over and we are going to reinforce and steek our Oorick vests. We both participated in the Year of Techniques ages ago, before we really knew each other well, before we worked together. But we’ve both finished the little vest (wee slipover?) and we’re ready for next steps. It’ll be fun. Just a bit of ribbing after that and one more project will be completed.

What would we do without yarn? Gone knititng.

In and Out

Posted on March 9, 2024 by Queen Bee Knits

I woke up to a beautiful sunrise this morning and, as usual, it made the start of the day at 5:45am perfectly fine. Although it felt like noon at 8am when I thought I needed to get moving and get some chores and errands run. Ha! Ha!

I spent the morning writing the store newsletter and getting the weekend plans and reminders together and planning my calendar for next week. I went downstairs for breakfast after 11am and we went out to run some errands around noon time.

I was sent a photo of a crocheted ray by my daughter that she saw on Instagram. We don’t carry the yarn at Yardgoods so today, one of my errands was to go to Michael’s to see if they had any there. I bought two balls of Michael’s Sweet Snuggles a jumbo weight chenille yarn. They had a limited choice of colors in the store but light blue and cream will work. I also bought a L crochet hook … wish me luck. I may be an expert knitter but I’m a mediocre crocheter at best.

Ray … I’ll be attempting this someday soon

I’ve been rolling along on my Stashbuster Shawl. I’m nearing the end of the project and have taken a bit of time to count my stitches and estimate how much yarn I will need for casting off. I typically give myself three times the width of the edge to be cast off. I made a knot there and I’ll knit up to that knot or very close to it and then bind off with my fingers and toes crossed and my legs, too, maybe. When I bought this yarn I thought it was in shades of gray. Turns out that it’s navy blule. It’s all good, I wear a lot of blue and this one is slightly larger than the multi-colored Stashbuster that I knitted a while back. I think it’s going to be a good addition to my shawl collection.

Haven’t made a lot of progress on my daughter’s Christmas socks or the Oorik slip over for my granddaughter. I hope it’ll fit her in the fall but I’d still like to check it off the list. I haven’t touched the Fiddlehead mittens or my pink embroidered mittens but I’ll get to them. I’m enjoying all the knitting that I’m doing so it’s all good.

This afternoon we attempted to install a new digital TV antenna on our roof. The original one hasn’t been working for a while. We got a few channels but none of the ones that we really want from more than 60 miles away so we will return this one and get one with a larger range. For a couple of “old” people we can still crawl in and out of the windows and walk on the roof. My husband has a new hip and it seems to be working well. I’m grateful for that!

Gone knitting.

Family Time

Posted on March 5, 2024 by Queen Bee Knits

My nephew got married on Friday in Lafayette, Louisiana to an absolutely adorable, smart, organized, lovely and loving woman. We are all thrilled for the newlyweds and their boys. It was a wonderful event. I took NO photographs. My phone remained in my purse and I was thoroughly present with my family.

Some of the highlights were seeing the great-nephews who have really grown up since they were last at our house and a sisters trip to the beauty parlor to have our hair and makeup done for the wedding. Let me repeat that we didn’t take any photos of us in our makeup (and three of us washed it off as soon as we got home, haha!) The rehearsal dinner was a lot of fun and we got to meet lots of the Louisiana people whose names we’ve heard for over a decade. The wedding was one of the prettiest I’ve attended and my great-nephew read his vows to his dad and new mom – there wasn’t a dry eye in the place. All of the siblings and their “spice” had dinner together at my brother and sister’s (adoptive) mom’s favorite restaurant on Saturday night and that was special. I wish I’d known her but I’m so grateful that she provided a loving home for my brother. And I know both Betsy and my mother are celebrating that we found each other.

We headed into the New Orleans on Sunday for the night before our flight out. If you’ve ever gotten stuck on the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge, you’ll know why. We returned our rental car and took an Uber into the French Quarter for a quick walk around. We stopped at the historic Pat O’Brien’s for a Hurricane and then out onto the streets to have a quick visit. We traveled back to the hotel to change for dinner at Commander’s Palace. We had the most enjoyable experience there. The food was incredibly delicious and the service was impeccable. What a way to end a fantastic trip to Louisiana.

Our flights were uneventful, the weather was cool for Louisiana but the sun came out ever so briefly for the wedding ceremony and I am so grateful that we were able to take the time off to make the trip. There’s nothing better than hugging my family. None of us is as young and healthy as we were 15 years ago and I’ll always try to make the time so we can spend time together. How lucky I am to have such wonderful family.

I hardly knitted at all. More on that later. I just wanted to take the time to write about our visit before too much time passes. We leave feeling lots of love with hearts full.

Gone knitting. This time I mean it … my knitting chair awaits.

Free Fishing Weekend

Posted on February 17, 2024 by Queen Bee Knits

Today is the start of Maine’s Free Fishing weekend apparently. Our lake is covered in people ice fishing. There’s one group that was out in front of our boat house last night when I got home from work and they were back at 5:45 this morning. Typically, I’d welcome people to enjoy our lake but this morning I was upset at being awakened by their noisy vehicles and augers so early. The lake is nearly 2 miles wide where we are and 7-ish miles long … dontcha think you could find a special spot that isn’t right smack dab in my front yard? They’ve got traps, at least a dozen, on the ice in front of our house when the next mile plus of shoreline is occupied by summer-only residents.

But I haven’t come here to gripe (much) and I wanted to share with you a couple of knitting projects that I’m enjoying today – and share a yarn shop story, too.

I’m half-way through the Hermione’s Everyday Socks that I’m knitting. I am loving this pattern and can’t believe it’s taken me so long to try something new. It truly has been a while that I’ve been stuck in a rut of knitting my favorite sock pattern, Yankee Knitter’s Classic Sock #29. BUT this one was pointed out to me by my friend/co-worker/knitting conspirator friend, Glenda. She was wearing a pair with her Nancy’s vest a week ago and I thought I’d give it a try. Just so happens I had finished a pair of socks and needed to cast on another. (Needed. See that?!) Anywho … I love the Hermione’s sock and will wind and cast on the second sock today.

Meanwhile, my other friend/co-worker/knitting conspirator, Carol, showed me a pattern on Thursday that she was going to try and I couldn’t resist. The pattern is called Luggage Finders and it’s a free pattern on Ravelry by Skacel. Designed by Kathy Sasser, this is a collection of four little tags that you can add to your suitcase to make it more easy to identify when you’re traveling. I’m traveling later this month and I can’t wait to put my Maine Lobstah yarn name tag on my suitcase.

These two women get me into so much trouble! I really should be finishing older projects from their spots in time out but instead I’m casting on new projects, too. Ha! Ha! The rest will wait a day or two while I play, right? (Kind of like the dust in my house.)

Some of my Friday afternoon class is knitting a Maine Mitten project in class to try something new. They’re using the pattern that we all got from the Maine Yarn Cruise this past year from Jagger Spun, the Original Maine Flag Mittens. I had knitted a pair and gifted them in our Christmas Yankee Swap and that started a family squabble and quite a competition. So, I suggested we try a KAL with the pattern. It’s a fun pattern for a basic mitten and a charted duplicate stitch pattern to add the original Maine flag pine tree and star.

I have several items that I’ve knitted and worn once or not at all (these were one of them) and I really need to send them all off to good homes where they’ll be appreciated. I’m going to get some photos and put them out there with a price on Facebook, I guess, and see what happens. I sold one pair of Malabrigo Rasta mittens to a sweet friend in Ohio. That feels good. I just need to take the time. BUT for now, I’m going to get dressed, throw in a load of laundry and mix up some bread dough so I can bake tomorrow. The hubby and I are heading to town to see the new exhibits at Colby’s Art Museum and maybe we’ll stop somewhere for a bite to eat after that.

Gone knitting … well, you know what I mean. Thanks for being here, friends.

What a Week!

Posted on February 11, 2024 by Queen Bee Knits

I’m sitting at my desk having finished my newsletter for the store and adding the subscribers to the list. I don’t love “working” on Sunday. I like to keep it set aside as a day for me but some weeks this just doesn’t happen. This was one of those weeks.

We drove back from New York City on Monday after a fun but disappointing visit. We had gone down to meet a little dog at the Humane Society that we’ve been approved to adopt. She’s a 4 year-old shitzu, bichon and maybe a bit of poodle thrown in mix. I fully expected to bring her home with us but got a call on Sunday night with a health update that triggered me as my Boq died with the same two “issues”. I ended up cancelling my meeting and we came home requesting more time for me to think about whether we want to adopt a young dog with potential health issues that might require a special diet and/or medication. I’m so grateful for the understanding and caring response from the Humane Society. We’re now on hold until we get back from a family wedding in a few weeks and we’ll see if the medical issues have resolved and decide about next steps. This is a great and very thorough place that really wants adoptions to succeed and so do we. I know I’ll fall in love with her if I see her so I’m trying to step back from the emotion and take care of myself first in this instance. After 40+ years of taking care of everybody else first, I’m really trying to listen to myself and leave space for me to practice self-care first. I was proud that I could speak my truth and name my concerns and ask for some more time. I was rewarded with a wonderful conversation and a mutual understanding. Bravo, me!

Monday evening I was dropped off at Maine Arts Academy in Augusta to attend a board meeting. It was a great meeting and I’m so proud of our school and proud to be associated with it, too. We had a student visit to update us on her life today after we granted her an early graduation last year. She’s an incredible young woman who will do great things and it was so thoughtful that she wanted to thank us and update us on her life.

The next couple of days I got all the house and home stuff caught up so that I could work at the end of the week. I baked some bread and some hermits (read about it here) and it’s been fun to share the cookies at work with my wonderful co-worker friends. I am so fortunate to work with some excellent, creative, smart women! I’ve been at the store working and teaching for the last three days and today is (finally) a day for me to catch up … again. Ha! Ha!

Photo by Melissa Blackall Photography – “Of This Place”

Friday night we went to Colby College to see the performance of “Of This Place” in the new Gordon Center. The new theater space is amazing and I really enjoyed the performance. My only criticism is that they’ve not completed the sound system and it was difficult to hear some parts of the spoken words. I loved that it was a multi-generational collaborative performance that included kids from a Waterville elementary school, staff and alumni, students from Colby and Maine Arts Academy, and professional dancers, too. I’m not a dancer and don’t pretend to be but I do like to watch dance and admire people who can dance.

All of this to say that I haven’t gotten a lot of knitting done this week. When I was teaching class on Friday morning I realized that I didn’t have some of the stuff I needed to knit, other projects needed more attention than I could give at that time and place. What’s a knitter to do? I have worked a little bit on the second sleeve of my Norwegian sweater and I’m up to the heel of my Hermione’s Everyday sock. My friend Glenda and I are going to do another self-imposed KAL and we’ve picked Christopher’s Bunny by Susan B. Anderson to be our project. I may choose to cast on today … although, I’d love to finish the sleeves of my sweater. I’m so close that I’m not sure why I’m continuing to put it off. I NEED to do our laundry because I have one pair of underwear left in my bureau. Ha! Ha! I SHOULD vacuum and wet mop the upstairs because my allergies are showing their ugly heads … between the unseasonably warm weather and lack of snow, I’m afraid it’s going to be a really bad year for allergies. Our road is already thinking it’s mud season and I was white-knuckling the drive home last night as my car was sucked into the muddy ruts.

Enough “griping” … I’m off to attack this beauty of a day. Wish me luck.

Gone knitting … I think.