Queen Bee Knits

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

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.)

Salty Air Tee in On The Round Nimble Sock

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.

Memorial Day Weekend

Posted on May 23, 2026 by Queen Bee Knits

This photo is from yesterday … sorry, I’m too lazy to go back downstairs and then come back upstairs and the view today looks essentially the same. The swim float for the campground next door is in the water and that means summer is on the horizon. We’ve had a couple of hot summery days and now we’re getting more springlike weather again. Welcome to New England where they say if you don’t like the weather, wait a few minutes. It always changes.

With the weather changes, though, the lilacs are blooming and the daffodils are fading. The grass is almost ready to be mowed. We do try to adhere to “No Mow May” in order for the early bugs and birds to have some natural food sources but the grass is getting tall and the side yard is covered, at least half of it, with dandelions. My father would have been out there deadheading them so they don’t spread. I think they’re pretty.

The little cardigan, In Threes, is finished. I bought buttons on Thursday and sewed them on after work. I just need a tag and to trim the yarn ends (I never trim the woven in ends until the sweater/garment is blocked just in case.) I’ll get those things done today and box them up to be sent to Atlanta. Baby Elise was born two weeks early and is a bitty little beauty. She won’t be wearing this sweater for a little while. (And it’s a bit warm for a sweater in Atlanta.) I am really pleased with this pattern and with the yarn I chose. It’s so soft and the colorway is lovely. It’ll be a total surprise to the mom and dad. Tee. Hee.

I made a lot of progress yesterday at work and last night. I got the yoke of my Salty Air Tee finished. I have four rounds to go in stockinette stitch before I separate the sleeves from the body. After that, I have inches and inches of stockinette stitch which will be perfect for plane knitting on the way to Arizona later this week for my brother’s 70th celebration. I am so excited to be with my family!

I also worked on my second sock for my hubby in the new Arne & Carlos sock yarn, Socks and More. I really like the new base, as I have said before and I’m getting more used to knitting socks with a nine-inch circular needle. I am working hard to find the blessings in these needles. I do believe that my tension while doing colorwork on the Escher socks, the second sock, was better than with my DPNs, the first sock. I have since washed the socks and I haven’t yet checked to see how they look now. I did find a couple of sweaters that I have to sew tags into – the back of the sweaters are marked with a stitch marker. Ha ha! That’ll happen today.

My goal is to do some knitting on the porch. I hope the breeze is manageable. At least today the sun is out and it’s pleasant temps. The rest of the weekend sounds less so.

Gone knitting.

Pollen on the Water

Posted on May 20, 2026 by Queen Bee Knits

My hubby was up quite a bit earlier than I was this morning. He saw the sunrise. I did not. BUT by the time I got up, the lake was covered in pollen. You can’t see it here but, believe me when I say, it is covered and my allergies (that my doctor says I don’t have) are going crazy! I may have to close up the windows in my atelier today and turn on the air conditioning to manage my breathing.

Yesterday I was busy! cleaned our bedroom windows and screens, changed the bed and put on fresh sheets, washed sheets and towels, cleaned the bathroom and even made some chocolate zucchini bread to use up some of last summer’s zucchini that I had forgotten about. I’m not sure what else took up the day but when I went upstairs for my meeting it was nearly two o’clock. When my hubby got home from work he wanted to install the air conditioner in my atelier (it was hot, to be fair) so we got that done, too. I didn’t feel badly climbing into bed early last night at all.

I have all but finished the little sweater, a gift for a dear friend’s daughter (the daughter was my daughter’s best friend in high school) who has adopted a baby girl. The baby was born last week and she’s now home with her family. She’s a beauty and I hope one day that I get to meet her. It’s fun to watch the children raising their families … and gives us “old folks” a chance to love our children’s children as we might have liked to love our own children … but we have all grown some in the between years and this older generation has learned more patience, and I am in a much better relationship and in a better financial place so that I can enjoy the kids and the grandkids in a different way. This is not to blame or cast aspersions. We all do the best that we can under the circumstances. I was a good mother to my kids and I will likely be an even better grandmother. I’m proud of myself for what I’ve done, the children I’ve raised, for finishing my college degree later in life, and for starting over at 50 and finding a new, wonderful life.

The little sweater is In Threes. I knit it in Malabrigo Rios in the Melissa colorway. Rios is so soft, it’s perfect for knitting children’s garments for against-the-skin softness. It’s a superwash Merino and as such wants to be knitted with some structure (texture or cables or seams) and it likes to be knitted at a tighter gauge … otherwise it’ll pill before it’s even finished. (Not really but close.) I chose to knit this sweater at a tighter gauge and a larger size. I could have gone down to a US6 but I used a US7. I knit the second size hoping that by fall it’ll be a good fit. Fingers crossed. Since baby Elise’s mother is Melissa, when I chose the color and then looked at the name of the colorway, I had to take a hank or two home. I used just about one hank to knit the sweater … I just have to find some buttons at work on Thursday (that’s tomorrow!)

I have gotten to the toe of my hubby’s first sock and he’s tried it on so I can Kitchener the toe and start the second sock. Yay! I really am liking the new Arne & Carlos Socks and More sock yarn base … it seems softer than the old Regia base. Less coarse. I am knitting this pair in the Yankee Knitter way (which I have memorized) for a palate cleanser and then I am going to start another pair of colorwork socks the yarn for which I bought at La Laine Biscotte in Quebec.

Yankee Knitter Socks for the Family #29 in Arne & Carlos Socks and More

Today I think I’ll finish the sock and start the leg of the second sock but then focus on the Salty Air Tee in On the Round Nimble Sock in the Harbor Colorway. I really want to get this done before we leave for Tucson at the end of the month. I have one hand-knit tee in a linen/cotton blend using Zooey by Juniper Moon Farm and the second one will be a good addition, I think.

I made good progress last week on my second, charcoal gray Easy Folded Poncho by Churchmouse Yarns in Rowan Felted Tweed. I love my orange one so much and when I saw the charcoal … I just had to buy it. I may even make another! The photography of this garment isn’t thrilling as it’s a simple stockinette stitch rectangle but …

Easy Folded Poncho in Rowan Felted Tweed

I have set aside my daughter’s Levitate Wrap until I can have her try it on. I am not 100% on gauge with this garment and there’s mohair involved so I don’t want to have to frog it too much if it doesn’t fit. I’ll get the second shoulder started one of these days and I’ll have her try it on when I head to NYC next month. I’m having withdrawl from seeing my kids and granddaughter!

There may be another Gansey Afghan in my future … orange like my knitting chair perhaps … stay tuned.

Gone knitting.

Sunday At Last!

Posted on May 17, 2026 by Queen Bee Knits

OMG! It’s a gorgeous (and warm) morning here on the lake. The first coffee on the porch morning where I can actually sit comfortably in my pjs. Yay! I may be on the porch all day long. I’ll start with a coffee and maybe end with a cocktail. You can believe there will be yarn!

We’ve been enjoying the spring visitors to our yard, too. We’ve seen the Baltimore Oriole, Red Breasted Grosbeak, Cardinals, and our “regular” birds, too. Our Hummingbirds are back, too. The Dandelions have popped and leaves are all budding out. We have one tulip and a bunch of daffodils and the bleeding heart is just about to fully bloom, too. I love this time of year when life in the yard comes back and it’s always a surprise to see what’s come back to life.

I’ve been working on several different projects this week. I’ve been so busy that it feels like I’ve only made a small dent in my knitting but some weeks allow more knitting than others. I’ve pulled out my Broadgate Tabbard in this gorgeous green linen. This pattern, however, is kicking my butt. I seem to have begun the knitting on the wrong side OR added a stitch that I can’t find. I’m going to take it to the porch today for one last chance at figuring it out. If I can’t, I’m going to frog it and start again. The green is a perfect green and I know I’m going to love the garment so maybe a fresh start will make it “easier” after all.

I’ve been working away, too, on a new pair of socks for my hubby. I’m using the new colorway of the new Arne & Carlos Socks and More yarn that I bought in Quebec City a few weeks ago. I’ve successfully turned the heel and decreased the gusset stitches on the nine-inch circular needles that I’m trying to learn to knit with. (Some days are more successful than others.) The new A&C yarn seems like a softer base than their old Regia yarn base. I like it!

I also cast on another tee for me (third photo above). I’m knitting the Salty Air Tee in On the Round Nimble Sock yarn in the Harbor colorway. I love, love, love the yarn color and the feel of the yarn, too. I have gotten to the start of the lace yoke knitting which will be fun and a bit of a challenge (counting is difficult these days) and lots of fun to watch it develop into a pattern. Once the yoke is done, it’s just stockinette stitch around and around! (The color in the photo above is not accurate, it’s a light denim-y blue.)

There’s no photo because it’s literally a huge stockinette swatch but … My “brainless” knitting is another Simple Folded Poncho by Churchmouse. I bought the charcoal Felted Tweed in Quebec City, too. Again, it’s going to be finished and then set aside for the summer … if today is any indication of how warm the summer will be, we’re in for a really dreadfully hot time. It seems we need to get the air conditioners out and into the windows!

I have one more little cast on to make and that’s a baby sweater for my daughter’s best friend from high school who is adopting a little girl who was born this week. I found the perfect yarn for an In Threes cardigan for baby Elise. I hope to have enough yarn to make a hat and mittens, too. They live in Atlanta so that will be perfect for the fall and winter in the south. I love good news!

And I want to make Knitting for Olive’s Swing Skirt for my granddaughter, too. I have the perfect purple sparkly yarn for it. Sized for fall when she goes back to school. The kiddo is growing like a weed and I haven’t been able to hug her (or her parents) in person for way too long. We have a trip to Tucson planned at the end of the month and then I am heading to NYC to see my kids. My son’s had a birthday, broken his leg playing soccer, there is a new grand-dog, and … it’s just been too long for this mama/yaya.

So, with that, I am going to gather my projects and head to the porch. I’ll update my calendar for the week after the sun goes down. The birds and flowers await!

Gone knitting.

Monday Madness

Posted on May 11, 2026 by Queen Bee Knits

It’s a beautiful sunny Monday morning and I wanted to show you my baby Rhubarb plant that my friend and coworker gave me last fall-ish. It originally came from their camp which is next door to our house and now a piece of it has returned “home”. I can’t wait until it grows up and we can make yummy pies with it. A celebration of generosity and friendship.

I have two FOs to share today! Yippee! I have completely finished and wrapped up to send the Vanilla Sweater to my college roommate. I’ll stop at the post office on my way to town today. I hope she loves it and loves the fit!

I sewed in my label yesterday and cut off all the leftover bits of long yarn (there weren’t that many because I spit-spliced the majority of joins. I’ve wrapped it in white tissue paper with a yellow QBK ribbon and it’s ready to go. I added a couple of rows of seed stitch to the bottom hem to see if it will stop rolling (mine rolls) and I lengthened the sleeves a bit, too. I can hardly wait to see it on her! This is a wonderful pattern by Corinne Tomlinson of the Wooly Thistle fame and I knit it with the Rauma Finull, a 100% Norwegian wool, fingering weight yarn. The sweater itself is a fairly straight forward top-down raglan pullover with a split hem.

I also finished the knitting on my Hansel Hap (Half) by Gudrun Johnston in Jamiesons and Jamieson & Smith Shetland yarns. I have a small stash of this yarn from a former series of classes that I took where I also bought the yarn packages and then didn’t knit all of the projects. I’ve used up some of that yarn here and have plans for some Shetland-style caps to use up some more of it. Anyway, I loved knitting this shawl. My colors make me happy and I particularly liked knitting with the natural Shetland yarns. The finished hap is quite large but it was a fun knit and it will be a fun shawl to wear when it’s chilly at night this spring and maybe summer. For sure next fall and winter! The shawl is blocking now on our guest room bed where it’ll be for a few more days until the fiber relaxes after it’s good soak. I love how the yarn blocked out – even stitches and soooooo stretchy! I’ve used my blocking wires to pull the points of the border out and to hold the top of the shawl straight.

I’ve been working on my daughter’s Levitate Wrap and once I’ve finished the shoulders, I’m going to put it on hold until I see her to make sure it’s going to fit. The Patagonia yarn held double with the Aerial makes a lovely soft fabric that I think will drape really well. The sweater doesn’t really look like anything yet so I’ll post more later on that.

Meanwhile, I’m going to start a tee and I think it’s going to be a Salty Air tee in some stashed On the Round yarn in a fingering weight. I’m really trying to use up some stashed yarns! I have a denim-y blue colorway and three hanks of it so I think that’ll work. I like the Salty Air and also the Maven top so it’ll be a toss up. I’m not sure what I’m waiting for. I also want to cast on my Broadgate Tabbard. I bought that green linen yarn that I adored on a UK shop owner’s social media … she’s now sold me two sweater quantities of yarn and I have to stop watching her posts! The Tabbard seems like a good summer knit because it’s not to bulky or heavy and I could perhaps see wearing it over a tee shirt or light summer blouse. It does have a textured pattern on it so I will have to pay attention to it until I get the rhythm down.

A quick post today because I’ve got errands to run before I meet a friend for lunch and we’re going to see the Sheep Detectives movie this afternoon.

Gone knitting!

WIP Wednesday

Posted on April 29, 2026 by Queen Bee Knits

It’s been a busy week and it’s not over yet! I am missing the sun this morning and the “energy” that comes with it but I’m trying to make it a good day. We had our coffee indoors this morning; between the lack of sun, wind and lower temps it was too cool to sit outside. BUT as you’ll see, our dock is in and summer can begin whenever it would like to!

I’ve been working away at finishing a few little projects and working on some bigger ones, too. My Hansel Hap Half has been languishing in its project bag untouched while I get the Vanilla Sweater for my college roomie finished. I’ll start with the Vanilla Sweater.

I’ve completed the first sleeve and have picked up where I left off at the bottom of the body. I have split the hem and am working my way down the back half. I’ll knit a couple of extra rows so it doesn’t flip up like mine does. One day I may even go back and add a couple of rows to mine. Stay tuned.

I’ve been participating in the Mystery KAL Beary Cozy Gnome by Sarah Schira and we have received the final clue. I was a little bit behind and hope to catch up today but my volunteer job with Maine Arts Academy is taking a bit of extra time this week because we have our tenth anniversary celebration on Saturday. Regardless, I’m doing some knitting and this is so close! I won’t post any photos today so I don’t spoil the mystery part. Stay tuned.

I’ve also been working on my Escher Socks by Summer Lee. I love this pattern and the socks are going to be gorgeous! I am now past the heel on the second sock. I worked on this sock and the gnome all day yesterday (well, as I had time).

The socks absolutely will not match and that’s ok with me. I just started working the second sock where the first sock left off. I think they’ll be even more fun this way. Not everything has to be matchy matchy.

I have two finished little purple crowns that will be sent to NYC as soon as they’re dry. AND I have finished the new store sample for Mothers Day. Both were interesting “challenges”. The shop sample is the Pressed Flowers Kerchief made in a yarn that we “found” in the shop, in kits that haven’t sold. We thought if we could come up with a cute pattern they might sell in smaller kits. This is the pattern of our choice and it’s adorable and a fun knit. If I had my druthers, I’d have made it a little bit bigger but the thing about sample knitting is that you have to follow the pattern directions. Period. No playing with it. So, this is the kerchief knitted to the pattern specifications and it’s a small kerchief. 30 inches long and about 9 inches deep. Big enough to wrap around your head or your neck. The yarn is very soft and it was a fun, quick knit. I am guessing that you could knit two of them from the two hanks of yarn. There’s a lot left over. Maybe to be sure, you could reverse the colors – I keep meaning to weigh the kerchief and the left-over yarn but my husband took the kitchen scale back to the kitchen. Horrors. 🙂

The crown are another laughable story where I initially looked at the shop sample and assumed that the crown was knitted from the band out. I started knitting and the directions were “wrong” immediately. What was actually wrong was my assumption. The crown is knitted from the pointy bits down to the band. I should know by now that when I assume things or think I know what I’m doing is when I make my best mistakes. Anyway, I have managed to finish two purple crowns and they’re blocked and drying. And I am humbled once again.

The plants around the house are starting to pop their heads up out of the soil. I love this time of year! My bulbs are bulb-ing and the bleeding heart and day lilies are growing so fast you can almost watch them grow. We’ve (the royal we) been out raking leaves out of the gardens and trimming back the bushes and trees. We’ve also had some fun birds at the feeder – yesterday I was watching the Hairy Woodpecker, Red-Bellied Woodpecker, Goldfinch, Yellow-Rumped Warbler, and a few others who never leave. The Chickadee’s call will forever be a sound of Maine to take with me. The loons are back, and little Mayflies, too.

Gone knitting.

FO and a new WIP

Posted on April 1, 2026 by Queen Bee Knits

No fooling here today. I’ve been working on my spring cleaning and making slow but sure progress. It may take me a full year to get this house cleaned but I decided one cabinet or two at a time and that makes the bites more manageable. One or two days of all-day cleaning sounds horrible. I’ve gotten three filthy cabinets cleaned and have a few things to get rid of and that’s progress. Today I even found my dough hook that I thought I’d left behind when I moved to Florida in 2007. Woo! Hoo! I can make bread now. (Like that’s stopped me before.)

And I have a new FO. I finished my I’m so Basic Socks. The pattern is free on Ravelry. This is one of Summer Lee’s patterns. I also own both of her books and have had fun reading them. I’ve made a couple of other pairs of her socks, too. This pair used a sock set from Frabjous Fibers that I picked up on sale at the shop. I liked working with it well enough but I wasn’t wowed by the yarn. And the socks came out nicely. I followed the “large” sock size (72 sts) and they fit a little more loosely than I’d like. I actually like a bit of negative ease on my socks (I like them pretty tight on my foot) and these don’t have enough. Next time, I’ll cast on for the medium size … well, I’ve already done that.

Upon finishing the I’m so Basic socks, I cast on the Escher Socks, also by Summer Lee. These are a stranded colorwork pair of socks in her Sock Obsession book. I am knitting the medium size and using stashed yarn. The cream color is deeply stashed merino and nylon blend that I bought a bag of when I thought I might like to hand-dye yarn. The contrasting color is a ball of Crazy Zauberball that I’ve had in stash forever, too. It may be from one of the yarn selection bags that I got when I did the Year of Techniques classes with Jen Arnall-Kulliford back in the day. I took a photo of the outside and the inside. They’re really potato chippy (I can’t put them down! As a result, my left arm/hand is not feeling great and I’m trying to give it some rest, massaging the muscles and remembering to stop and stretch. It’s better today but I am being very careful.

I’m going to cast on my daughter’s sweater, too. Maybe today or this weekend. I am also signed up for two KALs. One is the Wooly Thistle Shawl KAL and the other is the Beary Cozy Gnome Mystery KAL. I’ve got a bag of fingering weight yarn left overs, bits and bobs, that I will share with my co-worker friend, Carol, who’s doing it with me. Care to join, dear readers? It starts April 15th, if memory serves.

I’ve decided that for the shawl KAL I’ll be knitting Gudrun Johnson’s Hansel Hap (half) which I have enough Jamieson/Jamieson & Smith yarn for in my stash (notice a theme?) I am going to have to fudge the main color just a bit. I have three 25 gram balls of a light gray for the MC/center section and I will need more of the MC for the border, too, and I found a different light gray that’s one of the natural colors. For my contrasting colors I’m using two blues, a white and teal/turquoise.

Gone knitting!

“I believe in hope. I believe in ‘Believe’.”

Posted on March 31, 2026 by Queen Bee Knits

I don’t know about you but I love the show Ted Lasso. I am not a sports buff nor a sports fan, if I’m honest, but I loved the show and it must be because it’s the coach who’s a coach against all odds. And Coach Lasso says the damndest things! (The title quote is one of his and a favorite!)

Yesterday was a busy day at our house. I spent several hours at my desk writing most of a newsletter for the yarn shop where I work and making calls and catching up on emails for the board that I sit on. I also made a couple of calls to find out why nobody had returned my calls last week or several months ago. Does it bother you that the service industry, at least in part, seems to have lost its ability to return calls? This is what we used to call “customer service” and I’ve noticed that lots of organizations simply don’t know how to provide it.

My first call was to my doctor’s office. I had left a message last week Tuesday to get a prescription changed so I don’t have to refill it every 30 days. AND I wanted to know what the office protocol is when test results come back into the office – do they call patients with results or should patients be on their online records portal? When I called, the person answering the phone looked and said that I’d left a message about tests results. Well, sort of and no. I told her that I wanted to know what their protocol was and that I’d had three tests over the course of the last six months or so (don’t worry, I’m fine, they’re just normal stuff – allergy test, mammogram and follow-up blood) and was not called. She said a letter was sent out and read it to me. I suspect the letter was sent out AFTER I called last week but time will tell. After speaking to the office manager, too, I feel like nothing will change and the “healthcare home” that I am looking for is not there. My assigned practitioner doesn’t seem able or willing to make those calls and I will have to follow myself on the portal. Others love the portals but I like a good old fashioned phone call. It’s a way to build a relationship with the person who is watching over my health and as I age it becomes more and more important.

Next I called an insurance broker who I had reached out to before year-end and we were slow getting her photos of our property but my hubby sent photos in December. Since then, crickets. So, yesterday I reached out to her, too. Wouldn’t you think she’d want some new business? Doesn’t that mean some additional money for her? Good grief! Why do I have to do the work?

(update: I have spoken to the insurance broker and it seems that our town records are incorrect online. I’ve spoken to someone in the Assessor’s office who has changed the record to indicate that the house was rebuilt in 2015 rather than renovated and emailed me a copy of the record for the insurance company. BUT there is still about a half-dozen mistakes on the card: siding materials, insulation, it says we have a fireplace (we don’t) and it says it’s a seasonal residence (it’s not). The Assessor is only in his Belgrade office one day a month … what are the chances that this is addressed in a timely manner? Can you see me cracking my skull against my desk?)

AND when I get frustrated and the point of this diatribe is that I baked my frustration away. I had been cleaning out some of my old photos that don’t need to be kept on my phone and came across a screenshot of a recipe for “Ted Lasso Shortbread”. If you watch the show, you’ll know that Ted brings the boss lady shortbread in the morning in a little pink box. My hubby loves shortbread and I have never made it for him but I always buy some for his Christmas stocking. I decided yesterday that it was the day to give it a shot. Simple as pie instructions (maybe simpler than pie, actually) and only five ingredients. I tossed it all into the food processor and when it was mixed up, I pressed it into an 8×8 baking pan with parchment paper beneath. Baked it for a bit and …. OMG! This stuff is so yummy that I like it, too!

I thought I’d share the recipe and tell you what I did a little bit differently. I did not cut them before I baked them – they crumbled apart and it was a mess. I baked them for 35 minutes and then cut them when they were just out of the oven. I then returned them to the oven to finish baking. I used Turbinado sugar sprinkled on top. Next time, I may use my edible flowers with a bit less sugar sprinkled on top. We both taste-tested them and they were good when they were warm but they were even better this morning with my coffee.

Ted Lasso Shortbread by Chouquette Kitchen

I took a quick walk around the yard looking for signs of spring yesterday when the temps were more favorable for such a thing. I did find a few signs. Some of my tulip bulbs have survived another winter and there are daffodils coming up, too. Yay! The wind off the lake is still really cold, though, and we may be getting a bit of snow later this week. Stay strong little flowers-to-be!

I stayed up way too late last night to finish my socks. AND, I got them done. Phew. I like them well enough but I probably won’t choose to knit with this particular yarn again. I don’t love the base (and it’s already pilling a little bit.) But they’re done. I also took a bunch of time to work on the Vanilla Sweater and have gotten the sleeves divided and am heading down the body of the pullover now. And with that progress, I need to cast on another pair of socks and another sweater project: my daughter’s wrap cardigan.

I’ve also signed up for a shawl KAL with the Wooly Thistle yarn shop which is in New Hampshire. (And will be a weekend road trip soon!) I haven’t decided which shawl I’m going to knit but I’m thinking I’d like to knit Gudrun Johnson’s Hansel Hap (Half Hap). I have a sweater’s worth of Jamieson’s jumper weight in a neutral beige-y color and tons of little balls of Jamieson’s or J&S which are interchangeable and that may work. I’m already behind on this project, of course, but I really am trying to make myself finish up some older WIPs before starting new ones. I also think I know which socks I’m going to knit next. I have a student who’s knitted the Escher Socks with a ball of cream solid fingering and a ball of Crazy Zauberball. I happen to have both in my stash! She also knit the Sunny Side UP socks and I have plenty of stashed yarn for those, too. So, with that in mind, away I go!

Gone knitting.

WIP Wednesday … another FO with a few mistakes

Posted on March 25, 2026 by Queen Bee Knits

Today’s been a really pretty day and I’ve had only one meeting which means lots of time to knit and to do a bit more planning for the workshop I’m having in April at the (yarn) shop where I work. It’s been almost a year since I’ve done one … life is so wonderfully busy and I count my blessings every day.

Before my meeting I worked on my second sock for a little bit. I’ve put them aside for several days and it’s time to get them off my needles. I’ll be focusing on them and the sweater I’m knitting for my college roommate for the next few days. I’ve neglected the sweater for a couple of days while I finished Noah the Horse (click for the magic link). Anywhooooo …

Two-Color Brioche is a different colorwork stitch. Two colors of yarn are used to make a super squishy thick fabric that almost looks like it’s got horizontal stripes. And it’s reversible (if done right.) Brioche is two rounds combining to make a double fabric. A pattern of slipped stitches with a yarn over “shawl” and then a knitted or purled stitch, knitting the former round’s shawl stitch and it’s slipped partner as one. The main color (white in my sample) is the more prominent colorway. The first brioche round is made by knitting the slipped stitch and it’s shawl and then with the yarn forward, slipping the next stitch and making a yarn over “shawl”. The following round is worked with the the contrast color and slipping the stitch with the yarn over and to the front and then purling the paired slipped/shawl stitches as one. The stitches and their shawls are always counted as one stitch. The pattern that I’m going to recommend to my students is Easy Brioche Hat for Beginners … two colors of worsted weight yarn and the pattern I followed for my sample OR Beginner Brioche Slouch hat with two DK weight yarns.

I finished the hat for my workshop sample … and to help me remember how to knit 2-color brioche. I don’t knit a lot of it and I needed a refresher. I have made a couple of “mistakes” or mis-stitches but over all, I’m happy with it – the pattern and the knitter. I am choosing to present the sample to the class with the reminder that even as the teacher, I still make mistakes and mis-stitches. I have no idea how I missed them, but I did. It’s all good – it just isn’t reversible. And it may be the medium size but it fits on my giant noggin. (You can see the two mistake stitches … likely that I missed a “shawl” (yarn over) somewhere, somehow. Can you see me shrugging my shoulders. It’s all good. And I will re-do it in good time. Luckily there is enough yarn left over for a second hat (I think. I need to weigh it to be sure.)

I’ve used my ChiaoGoo shorties two days in a row to finish both this hat and Noah the Horse. I’ve not used them a lot because I didn’t think I liked the super short needle tips, in particular. However, I have discovered that I like them when a sixteen inch needle is too long. I was happy to have them both times and I’m now thinking that the next pair of socks that I knit will be made on shorties! Why not try something new?

This evening I’ll be pulling out the Vanilla Sweater for my college roommate and getting going on it. I’m using Rauma Finull Garn which is the same yarn that the sweater was designed with and I love knitting with it – it’s reasonably priced, 100% wool, blooms like crazy when it’s blocked, and comes in a bunch of great colors. She chose a really lovely heathered lavender colorway.

The snow is melting in the sunshine. This morning I took my photograph a little bit late and it is starting to feel like coffee on the porch season. I can hardly wait.

Gone knitting.

FO Tuesday … Noah the Horse

Posted on March 24, 2026 by Queen Bee Knits

One more post this week because I can and because I’m so happy with my newest FO (finished object.) I have just this minute finished and photographed Noah the Horse. He is completely done. Done!

This pattern is from the book Knitted Animal Friends by Louise Crowther. Let me tell you how well-written the pattern was; it was easy to follow and fun to knit. I am not one who loves seaming and assembling stuffed toys so it’s on me that I waited so long to get this (relatively) small project finished up. Now I can get it boxed up and mailed out to its new home.

I bought all of the yarn to make three of the animals in this book and Noah the Horse is the first one I attempted. The knitting was not difficult at all and he came together pretty quickly once I made the commitment to get it done. The clothes took just a couple of days and it was one morning to get all the buttons sewn on. And now he’s done and I am tickled!