Queen Bee Knits

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

It’s Been a Long Week

Posted on August 25, 2025 by Queen Bee Knits

It may be Monday but I’m calling it Sunday. My day of rest. Last week I was in the store four out of six days, twice my normal schedule and I could feel it on Saturday afternoon. I’d also been awake since 4:30am when my hubby left to head out to Denver for the arrival of grandchild #2. I’ve been feeling “off” ever since. Partly because it’s lonely here without him and because I’m just weary, I think. Today it’s gray and threatening rain and I sure do hope we get some. Our gardens are so dry and I’m trying to water with great conservation because we have a well and you know what happens to wells in droughts, right? So we flush less frequently (TMI?) and do fewer loads of laundry and water only when really necessary.

I finished my second pair of shortie socks for my August SISC (self-imposed sock club). I thought they’d fit me but they don’t so they’ll be gifted to someone with slightly smaller feet. These have an afterthought heel and having made them, I am reminded why I like a heel flap heel when I’m knitting socks. I’ve cast on a new pair that will be top down and with a heel flap. Photos will be coming soon.

I’ve been working on knitting one of the animals in the Knitted Animal Friends book by Louise Crowther. I’ve had the book and the yarn for quite some time and never seem to have found (made?) the time to knit one. This week I decided to change that and cast on for Noah the horse. These patterns are knit on US 2, 2.75mm needles (suffice it to say, if you’re not a knitter, that these are basically toothpicks) and at a tight gauge. My hands certainly feel it but I am making progress. I’ve got the head, mane, tail and ears finished and am working my way down the body. Nothing is tricky in this pattern other than the tight gauge on tiny needles. I’m going back and forth between DPNs, a 40″ circular and straight needles depending on what needs to be worked. The body parts are knitted flat and seamed so nothing looks like it will when it’s stuffed and assembled. I have to remember to buy some safety eyes.

I had to laugh at the line of eleven pieces of i-cord for the mane. They remind me of tampons and once seen, I can’t unsee it. LOL. The yarn is Sheepjes Stonewashed and I am enjoying the yarn for the most part. Some of the increases are difficult to make without splitting the yarn but I think that’s more about the gauge of the stitches rather than the yarn. I have the Catona for the clothes, too, as the pattern requested. I thought I’d like to make the animals in the original yarn this time and see how it works up. So far so good.

Today I’d love to finish the body and get a start on the legs and arms but I also want to pick up the commission piece that I’ve been working on – I haven’t touched it since early last week when I was working on the back. There’s not much to do to get the back finished and the second side shouldn’t take long either. Then a couple of sleeves and finishing and I can send it off to my client in Louisiana. I’ve promised it in the early winter but I hope to deliver it earlier than that.

This morning I was up early and had my coffee before 8am and I decided to bake. Made some granola for our house and a blueberry cake for a neighbor who’s having some health challenges. I’ll run the cake down later today – when it’s cooled. I saw several emergency vehicles at their house on Friday morning on the way to work and heard from another neighbor about what’s happening. I’m guessing a bit of sweet will be helpful in the short term. I have shredded a huge zucchini and if I get some more baking energy, I’ll make zucchini bread or chocolate zucchini bread. Or both. I still have another huge zucchini in the fridge.

I’ve been checking out the vegetable garden and have picked our first tomatoes. I only grew two kinds of tomatoes this year – yellow tomatoes and cherry tomatoes. We haven’t had a lot of either but I now have two yellow ones and will have a tomato sandwich for lunches this week. We have been gifted some cucumbers, green pepper, beets and one huge zucchini from a work friend and I’ll get the beets roasted (one of my favorites with tomatoes and some feta or goat cheese YUM!). I’m not eating a lot of meat this week because I am cooking and don’t love it any more so roasted veggies, cauliflower crust pizza and maybe some grains will be served. Cooking for one isn’t a lot of fun and I’m not one who loves cooking anyway. What’s a girl to do? I can’t just eat ice cream … that’s what I might have done back in the day.

Hubby pulled our garlic before he left and it’s time to cut off the roots, clean it up a bit and start using it. We will plant more garlic in the fall since we seem to have the knack of it now. My biggest yellow tomato is palm-sized and we have another Delicata squash coming along. That makes three. The bees are happy in our squash blossoms and without them, we’d have no squash. One more zucchini is on the vine and the peas are over a foot tall now and starting to climb. I love the veggie garden!

I’m loving watching our loon family fishing just in front of the house today. The baby is getting its adult feathers and is acting more like an adult but the parents are both working hard to continue feeding it, too. They were close enough to hear their little “peeps” to each other. And I’ve heard from two friends on other Maine lakes that they’ve had no surviving chicks this year. (Eagles.) We are very lucky to have four chicks on our lake and I haven’t heard that any have been taken. There is a real emotional investment in these special creatures on the lake. Between boats, eagles and snapping turtles the dangers are real.

We’ve also seen a lot of Hummingbirds lately. They’ve been draining the feeders and that means they’re starting to fatten up and gather the energy to start their trip back south. It’s always sad when the hummers leave. They add a lot of entertainment on the porch, often flying into the porch and seeming to just stop mid-air to look at us as we watch them. We have at least three females now, and a couple of males … I can only identify the females (one looks older, one has a long neck and the third is smaller).

And last night we welcomed a new grandchild. I have just seen him on a facetime chat and he’s absolutely perfect. I am having wicked FOMO watching my hubby hold him but we’ll be heading out so I can meet him in person soon. We are so grateful for a healthy mother and baby. A grandson!

Gone Knitting.

Sunday Funday!

Posted on August 10, 2025 by Queen Bee Knits

It was a beautiful morning today and it’s going to be another hot one. In fact, the whole week looks like it’ll be hot and the lake association is warning boaters that the lake is very low (all the dams up stream are closed) and without rain, we are going to be having quite a drought. We are watering our vegetable garden (with a soaking hose) but it’s concerning when you’re on a well. We will be very careful with our water until we get a good drenching rain. If you follow @QueenBeeKnits on social media, you’ll also see my hummingbird video. The little imps are very fun to watch over our morning coffee (or all day long.)

I’ve made my way up to my atelier to write a post and to find my knitting … today I’m going to have a day where I do only what I want to do. No “shoulds” allowed. I have a very busy two weeks ahead and I need to take the time to let my body and mind rest up ahead of the craziness and from all the wonderful time we’ve had with our guests over the last several weeks, too.

I’ve been knitting! Last weekend I started my commission cardigan for a client in Louisiana. Yesterday when my dear hubby and I were at the third annual Silent Film Festival (our first time attending) I got to the third button hole. I believe I’m about half way up the body of the cardigan. This yarn is Virginia Fingering from Urban Girl Yarns and it’s lovely to work with and I love the colorway. The pattern is a simple, classic cardigan by OGE Knitwear designs called Sorrento Cardigan. So far, the pattern and yarn are playing nicely together. I don’t anticipate any problems going forward.

I’ve also resurrected my All About the Ruffles Shawl from the bottom of my knitting bag. I haven’t worked on this for several weeks and it needed some attention. I’ve made it to 100 stitches on each side of the middle/spine stitch and have several more repeats to go before I get to the required stitch count and the fun part – the ruffle. It’s pleasant knitting for later in the day and when I’m watching TV with the hubby. I do love the yarn, Emma’s Practically Perfect in the Harbor colorway. It’s a lovely deep blue-green and I think this shawl will be really fun to wear in the fall. I will get it done!

Yesterday I also worked on my August SISC (Self-Imposed Sock Club) socks for a bit, too. I’m working my way down toward the toe of the first sock and I have to knit seven inches for it to be the right length before I begin the toe decreases. This pattern asks for an afterthought heel (see the marker) which will be added after the toe is finished (and maybe after the second sock is knitted as well.) I love the color of this yarn and I was recalling that Franklin Habit had knitted a pair of socks in just this yarn and added a little cross-stitched bee to the ankle with some fabric that goes away after adding water. I may be thinking about adding a bee to at least one of my socks if I can find the fabric to stitch over.

I finished knitting my Big Love Cardigan in Berroco Pima 100 cotton yarn and gave it a soak in my usual sink and blocked it on my cutting mat like I’ve done for every other garment that I’ve knitted in several years. BUT this time, there was a color problem and my sweater ended up with all sorts of weird spots of discoloration. I was concerned that it was going to be ruined. BUT I bought it into work on Friday and sewed in all the ends and decided that I’d wash it in my washing machine as the yarn band tells you to do and I’m so happy to report that the sweater is perfect. I blocked it the second time, flat on my cutting mat with a towel underneath. Phew! I am going to fix a few ends that have popped through the fabric, add my label and it’s ready to wear if we ever have a cool night again. (I know we will soon enough.)

I have also pulled out the caftan for Dolores from the bottom of my knitting bag. I’ve finished the main part of the garment and really should focus on finishing the other parts and putting it together. It’s such a gaudy garment and Dolores is going to rock it, totally. I will knit the head wrap, too, because she needs it to finish the look. I still have a couple more outfits to complete and think that she needs a clothing rack to display her outfits. (My husband is going to kick me right out of the house if he sees this. LOL)

Around the house things are growing and happy for the sunshine and heat. The hydrangeas all around the yard are thriving. Yesterday I watched some little birds by the shore of the lake for quite some time. It’s what we do in the morning. When our kids were here, my granddaughter and I planted some pea seeds in our garden and they’re growing! I’m tickled to see the plants popping up through the dirt and they’re starting to be tall enough to train to grow up the chicken wire we’ve installed. When we have peas we’ll send some to her in New York City (although she told me in her little 2-and-a-half-year-old voice that she planted pea seeds in her home in New York City with her grandma and they’re growing, too. I love her imagination and seeing her little brain working and growing, too.)

I moved my African Violets from the living room dry sink where I have traditionally kept them because they weren’t looking so good. They were droopy and sad looking. Now they’re gorgeous! Tons of flowers and the leaves look healthy and happy. We all need a change of venue now and again so we can continue to thrive, don’t we? The rest of the house plants are also doing well. I have a giant pathos plant that is gloriously healthy and keeps growing across the living room floor. If you need some baby pathos plants, let me know. LOL

And last but not least, I got some new earrings in the mail yesterday. I ordered them from Jennifer at Bur Oak Studios and I am even happier with them now knowing that she’s a one-woman woman-owned business and she’s in New England (Vermont)! I don’t often put my face out there in the world but I had to take a selfie to show you my new earrings. I love them and they’re so light I don’t even know they’re there! Thanks, Jennifer. Jennifer is coming to the SPA in Freeport, Maine this winter (February) and I am looking forward to going down to Freeport and meeting her and I’ll just have to buy more earrings!

This is me! 67 and as happy as I’ve ever been.

Gone knitting.

I’d love to give credit to the artist for this image …. but I don’t know who it is. Any thoughts?

A Perfect Wednesday

Posted on August 6, 2025 by Queen Bee Knits

It started out well! and kept getting better! We both slept until nearly 7am and then spent a glorious hour-ish having coffee on the porch. Our first visitor was an osprey fishing and then “our” little loon family came by. The parents left the chick in front of our house for a bit (see below). They must think we’re trustworthy chick-sitters. “Our” hummers have been really busy, too. Activity was constant the whole time I was on the porch. We must have five hummingbirds (or more) but you start to recognize them after watching them so intently over the months.

I decided that this was the one day I had nothing scheduled and I was going to take full advantage of the beautiful weather and sit on the porch until I felt I had to get up and do something else. I had started our laundry and the changing of the beds after our guests departed (another weekend visitor over night and a pair of visitors passing through who didn’t stay. We love summer for the visitors) and then headed up to the atelier to get my hands on some yarn. I decided to start the new cardigan that I have on my list, it’s a commission for a lovely client in Louisiana, and I’d have had to wind one more hank of yarn to finish my sleeve.

The photo above is one hour in. I’m knitting on US3 needles with a fingering weight yarn from Urban Girl Yarns. My client sent the yarn to me. She’d purchased it on a trip to Virginia and had to buy the yarn because the colorway is named just the same as her granddaughter – Eliana Zoe. She found my website and reached out to me to have me knit the sweater as she’s not a knitter. I was happy to oblige. The pattern I’ll be knitting for her is the Sorento Cardigan in a size 4-5 Years. For a while my hubby joined me but he left to take a load of stuff to the dump thus the “still life” with all his stuff at his chair.

AND the final photo is the beautiful view that I’ve had all day and specifically what I looked like a little after 3pm when I chose to go inside to get a few tasks accomplished. I am feeling so grateful that I live here and that I can work at home. I’m so thankful that Ned’s dad bought this place back in the 40’s. What a wonderful peaceful place to live.

So, tonight I’ll wind the last hank of cotton yarn (Berroco Pima 100) for my Big Love cardigan. I have only a couple of rows and a bind off left to finish the second sleeve and then I have to finish the collar – I assume that I’ll graft the two sides together. I’ve woven most of the ends in as I went but I’ll weave in the rest. I feel like it’s going to be a bit small for me so I will be blocking it pretty aggressively. Not sure why but it is what it is. I’ll likely wear it open and over a short sleeve or sleeveless shirt but I was thinking it’d be a bit oversized. Oh well. If I don’t like the fit, I’m sure I can find someone who will. The yarn wasn’t too much of an investment so it’s an affordable project.

Tomorrow I start my day with a hair cut at 8:15am and then to work. I’m teaching Friday but we have the weekend with just us – and a movie fundraiser to attend. Maybe it’ll be a date night or a date evening as the silent film festival runs from noon to four and these days we like to be home before dark. We must be getting smart. LOL

We’ve had a new yarn shop open not far from us. The “girls” at work and I have pencilled in a visit to Wild Fibers (it’s in a renovated mill across the road from a fabulous bakery and cafe) after lunch at Scapes Cafe on Sunday the 17th. It’s always fun to get together with these women. They’re the main reason I stay at the yarn shop … and the customers, of course. We are all on the same page and work so well together – and take care of each other, too. A real team. Meanwhile, the Maine Yarn Cruise is happening through the middle of October and I haven’t gone to visit one of the shops. Maybe the hubs and I will go on a Sunday drive this weekend. He’s been off from work for almost a month, I think, and he’s got to be getting itchy to return, right? (Not really.) We both are very content to stay home and do the things we love to do. He takes photos, reads, fiddles around in his workshop and around the house. I knit and bake and write … what more can we ask for? It’s a good life we’ve built here on the shores of Messalonskee Lake.

The loon chick just off our porch this morning

I’m going to sign off here and get the newsletter for the store written today and get it out of my way and off my list. The rest of the week is going to be somewhat busy. This afternoon’s for checking things off and then I’m. back to knitting to finish my sleeve! Making such good progress!!!

Gone knitting.

Cleaned up & Ready to Stay-cation

Posted on July 14, 2025 by Queen Bee Knits

We have “finished” our cleaning up and are ready for our company to arrive … well, I have one more window to wash and a cake to bake. As soon as my 9am meeting is over, it’s into the kitchen for me and while the cake bakes, I’ll wash the window and water the plants!

Yesterday we ran out to run a couple of errands. We’ve gotten a new mattress for our room on Saturday. The delivery guys helped us move our old bed to the guest room and the old guest room bed to the guest cottage. I have found new bedding for our bed and have washed all the new guest room bedding. AND I made up the three beds up on the third floor because we’re about to have a house full & that’s always the most fun! The quilt I made for our old bed is in the dryer and then the guest room bed will be ready, too. My brother and sister-in-love and their son and his family are coming up for a night. The cake is to celebrate all of their birthdays that were in May. We may have bought some mini-whoopie pies, too, because it’s Maine and I’ll bet the kids have never had one.

For a while the guest room mattress and boxspring was in our living room and there were several pictures that needed to be pulled off the wall to bring the beds down and up. That was another whole process because who knew that cobwebs gather on the backs of photographs? I have now taken down all of the photos on all of the stairway walls, cleaned the glass, dusted the frames and wiped down the walls, too. AND the curiosity cabinet full of old stuff from the old house has been cleaned and the dead “Christmas” lights have been thrown away. The stairs have been swept and damp mopped … if we only had time to paint the walls! HA! HA!

The yard is blooming! The Shasta daisies and hydrangeas are full-blooming in white and one of my irises is blooming. The black-eyed Susans are just about ready to pop, too! Our gardens are full of weeds but they look happy this summer. The veggies I planted a couple of weeks ago are growing and we keep watering them in hopes that we weren’t too late. Last summer we had tomatoes when our granddaughter arrived. Not so, this year. Oh well, we’ll watch them grow and care for them. Maybe we can plant some seeds for peas or beans when the garlic is pulled.

As for knitting, you know I haven’t stopped. There’s not a day that I’ve missed. I’ve been really focused on my Big Love now that the Anker’s Summer Shirt is finished. I’m just a tubular bind off away from finishing the body and have two sleeves after that. Near enough to feeling really good about two summer sweaters and planning the next ones to attack! She doesn’t photograph well right now but I’ll share a photo as soon as I get her bound off.

I started a self-imposed sock club at the store copying The Yarn Harlot, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, because I have way too much single skeins of sock yarns. AND a lot of bits and bobs of sock yarns, too. Stephanie tucked away 12 hanks of sock yarn and a pattern for each pair and picks a bag each month to make. I decided that I’m going to knit through the new Summer Lee Sock Project book and use up as much as I can and then I’ll add a few more. I want to try Laura Nelkin’s Larch Peds, I got a free pattern from the Wooly Thistle for a pair of socks (in my sock yarn kit! OMG! See below!) and I have a couple of other socks I’ve marked as “need to knit” in my Ravelry favorites.

I started on the first sock this week after I finished my vanilla mystery socks (they’re for my daughter who likes my socks). I’m using stashed ends of yarn. The green and blue are both Trekking Sport yarn from a former project that I didn’t finish. (Imagine that!) I have plenty of the blue and green to make a pair of shortie socks. I had my US 1.5 DPNs out and started the first sock with them. They’re a bit looser than I would prefer. Guess I need to follow the pattern suggestion of US 1 for a better fit, but it’s all good. I’m zipping down the foot of the first sock.

I jumped off the deep end when I decided to buy two kits from the Wooly Thistle. I’ve been wanting to visit their new store in New Hampshire (turns out it’s right near where my father was born) but when they offered their summer sock yarn kits, I couldn’t stop myself. Since I work in a yarn shop, I buy almost all of my yarn there. When I do buy yarn elsewhere, I buy only yarns that we don’t carry at Yardgoods Yarn. Rambler in the rusty orange, is TWTs own yarn. Biches et Bouches I’ve never knitted with (it’s the two shades of orange) and then there’s the green Exmoor Sock by John Arbon Textiles. Last there’s a blue Schoppel Admiral. Strangely enough, I realized only this week that we do carry this yarn and I had already bought a ball in white for my SISC. So, now I have two colorways of the same yarn and that’s fine, too. With this kit I received a download for a sock pattern and a couple of cute stickers and a notions box all with the adorable otter theme.

I also may have purchased Corrine’s Vanilla Sweater kit which included the download of the pattern and a bunch of the beautiful golden brownish greenish wool yarn by Rauma. I am so excited to get started on this sweater! I think I really HAVE to knit the black linen tank that I have yarn for and can wear this summer before I cast on my Vanilla sweater but I am so excited and I love, love, love the color. The yarn is a fingering weight Norwegian wool and it’s a wooly wool that will bloom when it’s blocked. Yummy. AND the project bag from TWT is absolutely one of my favorite store bags ever, especially the quote on the back, “All knitting is good knitting!” AMEN!

Gone knitting!

Anker’s Summer Shirt – FO

Posted on July 9, 2025 by Queen Bee Knits

I went outside to take a photo of me in my new FO – Anker’s Summer Shirt by Petite Knits – when I had a lovely call from our resident loons and then Mrs. Hummingbird flew by to have a sip at the feeder. Two of my favorites in one photo. (Sorry the loons are too far away to show up.) The loons have a new chick swimming with them and they’ll often leave the chick and go off and fish for food with one parent staying closer by, often returning to feed the chick. I love watching them and look forward to when the chick accompanies the parents up in front of our house.

I’ve officially finished my Anker’s Summer Shirt and am giving it a dress rehearsal at book club today. I am really pleased overall with the fit of this top. It’s not oversized but it has some positive ease and I got the length just right. I also like the length of the sleeves which I lengthened a bit from the pattern directions. I made the XXL size which was to have a finished measurement of 47.25 inches which would give it a couple of inches of ease and it came out pretty close to perfect. I love the yarn, it’s soft but has enough body so that it won’t “grow” as I wear it.

Zooey by Juniper Moon Farm is a cotton and linen blend, DK weight yarn. I have another sweater, a cardigan, made in this yarn and I like it a lot. I think I may like my Anker’s Summer Shirt even more. Mostly, I love the color but I think it’s a good style for me to wear with my white jeans. I used just over 3 balls of the yarn.

I wore it to my summer book club today and got lots of compliments. It’s very satisfying but it’s also satisfying to know that I made my own clothes.

Tonight the loons are out singing to a full moon. We had a chance to watch the new little family later today – one adult was fishing out in front of the house and then the second adult and the chick on its back came over. They hung out in front of our boat house for quite some time but eventually gave us a concert right in front of the house. Both adults were fishing, leaving the baby who can’t dive yet, to “fend for itself”. Now I’ll have to “worry” about my new baby until it grows up and leaves the lake in the early winter. Mother Nature is a most incredible artist!

Gone knitting.

Sunday is for Sitting – What do you WANT to do today?

Posted on July 6, 2025 by Queen Bee Knits

My hubby asked me this morning what I want to do today and all I heard from my brain is that I should vacuum, finish folding the laundry, clean the third floor, etc. What I wanted to do was to sit right here on the porch and drink my coffee. So seldom do I allow myself to sit and do “nothing”. So, after I finished my second cup, I headed up to my atelier to get my yarn and check my calendar and here I am writing about what I want to do. This is NOT a should. I love writing about my life.

We have another week to prepare for our family visiting and we’re excited to have them all here. We have bought a new mattress for our bedroom and upgraded to a king-sized mattress. Our bed will head up to our guest room and the guest room bed will head up to the guest cottage. To be fair, we may end up upgrading that bed once we finish the guest cottage. We are going to try to move the guest room bed ourselves this week; piece by piece. We hope we can encourage the delivery drivers on Saturday to move our bed up to the guest room. It’s really heavy!!!

We’ve been working to get stuff done around the house and it’s been a great couple of weeks! Hubby is making great progress in the guest cottage. The shower is built (I hate it but it’s done. It’s just not what I had envisioned but it will serve) and the porch is re-screened. The water is connected but the water heater is blown and needs replacing. Boo. We still have the “kitchen” to install and a deep cleaning to get done. I’ve been busy planting our vegetable garden and flower pots and weeding gardens and walkways. I’ve also been cleaning drawers and refrigerators and laundry rooms as they come … and there is so much more to do.

I haven’t cooked as. much as last week but I did bake a batch of blueberry muffins for hubby’s morning sweet treat. I had thought about baking cinnamon buns but never got around to it. Something keeps happening that sidetracks me, I guess. But it’s all good.

Here are some photos from around the house this week …

My bee planter is full of flowers (and needs watering all the time). I love the dooryard when it’s full of flowers and the addition of our red Adirondack chairs is a perfect lead up to our front door … also red! I’ve been almost monogamously working on my Anker’s Summer Shirt and my mystery yarn socks. I have started a “self-imposed sock club” at work and I have to finish these before I start my July socks. I’m using the Yankee Knitter sock pattern which I know by heart. This yarn needed to be simple vanilla socks so the yarn could get all the attention. It’s so pretty! My Anker is on sleeve island and I hope I can get it finished today – maybe that’s what I WANT to do!

Our flag was flying on the 4th of July and all we did was go to the town’s library book sale which is a fundraiser for our library. My goal was to get some children’s books to add to our library. I was successful and am very happy about my haul. We had a fabulous avian visitor to the other side of our boat house this week, too. A Great Blue Heron! Some people see them as a positive omen often associated with patience, self-reliance and finding inner peace. I’ll take it! I spent a good chunk of the day with one of my knitting student friends sewing … or trying to sew. I’m making a supreme effort to get some of my sewing WIPs finished, too. Now if only I can remember how to do the paper piecing. Ha! Ha!

Blueberry muffins were all that I baked this week. But hubby is happy with that. AND I may have bought a bit of yarn this week, too. I ordered a sweater quantity/kit for Corinne’s Vanilla Sweater and the Hot Summer Days sock yarn collection. Oops! BUT it’s just in time for my SISC at work … even though my initial thought was to use my (substantial) stash for this! Life is too short to knit with cheap yarn. I may have also bought the beautiful green linen yarn I need to knit the vest in the photo above. I’m not a lover of green but that color is spectacular and I can for sure wear it with my white linen blouses or t-shirts. So many things to knit and not enough time. I’ll be set for my retirement (If i ever fully retire.)

So, back to what I want to do today … I’m going to sign off here and take my knitting downstairs to the porch and spend some time knitting before it gets too warm to be outside. And then I may come back upstairs to knit in the air conditioning.

Gone knitting.

Our Denver Nugget

Posted on May 7, 2025 by Queen Bee Knits

We made it home this morning. Whew! What a trip. The final leg of our flights returning from Denver from Baltimore to Portland was delayed 42 minutes and we ended up leaving an hour and a quarter late. So, our almost 11pm turned into after midnight and we ended up booking a room near the airport. I thought I was booking a hotel ON the airport grounds but it ended up being several miles from the airport closer to the Maine Mall. We arrived, checked in and went to park the car and that’s when the sky opened up and we got soaked walking to the side door (where there was no overhang) and the key didn’t get us in. We walked in a literal downpour to the front door and we were drenched. Water was dripping from my hair. And then the room smelled like wet dog when we went in. They’d overbooked king beds and only had an “accessible” room on the first floor. If you know me you know smells are a problem for my allergies so we asked for a different roon and were given the one next door to the stinky one, with an adjoining door and two double beds. Guess what!? It smelled like wet dog, too. By that time I just wanted to lie down. The bed was the worst bed I’ve ever slept in at a hotel. Hard as a rock. I figured I was so tired I could sleep anywhere but I was wrong … my brain was running a triathlon and I couldn’t stop it. I’m paying for it today but I will sleep well tonight in my own bed.

BUT despite the difficult return flight, we had the most wonderful time in Denver visiting my dear hubby’s youngest who is delivering us grand-baby #2, our Denver Little Nugget, in late August. She looks wonderful and healthy and so happy and her husband is amazing, too. We loved being together and look forward to going back soon. We took a day trip up to the Rocky Mountain National Park (we have a lifetime senior pass) and saw lots of elk out there. We took a bag lunch from a great little shop in Lyons, CO and had a picnic lunch and walked around Sprague Lake after lunch. We went to visit Littleton, CO on Sunday, had a snack break at a restaurant there and wandered around and then on Monday we drove out to Fort Collins, CO to have lunch with my nephew who is finishing up his vet school clinicals our there. We went to a nursery to buy a lilac bush in remembrance of Grandma Penny who passed away Friday and we found a second-hand baby store where the books were 10 for $10. The Nugget’s library has begun.

We all love being together and we are going to try to make quarterly visits out there. It must be time for a Southwest mileage credit card! Ha! Ha!

I didn’t get a lot of knitting done when we were there but I did make a little progress on Sylvie’s purple cardigan. One sleeve is done and the second sleeve is on the needles. I cast on a little hat to match the Nugget’s Newborn Vertebrae cardigan and got a few of the 5″ of ribbing and stockinette done. More coming. I also knitted one sock in On the Round Signature Sock yarn in the Wicked colorway and got the second sock started. I have a long list of knitting to accomplish before the baby arrives. The hat, the blanket needs to be finished and a (fairy llight) heart needs to be knitted. I have two hats for a customer done (she’s already paid me in full for them.) And I have several other projects to finish … the pink embroidered mittens is one.

Hermione’s Everyday Socks in On the Round Signature Sock “Wicked” colorway

Since I have only taken a photo of the sock, that’s all you’re getting today. Sorry, I’m totally wiped out and I’m going to go park my body in my dad’s old easy chair and watch some stupid TV. We went to Ken’s Food Truck in Winslow for some fried seafood. Hubby had the fried clams and I had the fried scallops. Dinner is taken care of so now we wait until it’s reasonable to go to bed. LOL

We came home to budding leaves, bleeding heart in bloom and new daffodils and tulips. The yard and house were a welcome sight. The dock is in so I went out for a look. Home feels good today.

Gone knitting (maybe.)

A Lesson and Gratitude

Posted on April 21, 2025 by Queen Bee Knits

Our day began today with a cup (or two) of coffee on the porch. In the sun. With a blanket wrapped around my shoulders. But, boy! Did it feel good to be outside in the sunshine, fresh air, and peaceful surroundings. It’s been a long time since we’ve been able to sit on the porch and we were really grateful to spend some sweet time outside. But when the wind came up out of the north it was too chilly.

So, we came inside and got our morning started. I had some work errands to run, a trip to the post office and the bank and the store … and my dear hubby decided to come along for the ride (and to see our new Reny’s.) We even went to the Early Bird for breakfast/lunch and he grabbed a couple of limes at Buddy’s IGA.

Home again, I went indoors to get the (forced) tulip bulbs that had been purchased at Costco a couple of months ago with the idea that we’ll put them in the ground now that it’s warm enough. The bulbs were mushy but we put them in anyway … maybe a couple will come back and maybe not but ashes to ashes. Hubby went out into the yard and I went into the kitchen to clean up and after a few minutes heard hubby huffing and puffing by the front door. When I asked if he was ok, he said, “No. Fire” and I looked outside to see a fire that had escaped the fire pit and was burning the lawn and the little hill up toward the guest cottage. I ran to get a bucket to help augment the hose and we decided we needed to call for help. 911. We kept dumping water and hubby was hosing down the woods and by the grace of God or some higher power, we managed to get the fire out before the fire department found us.

The vehicle you want to see and DON’T want to see in your dooryard

The fire department checked it all out, poured a little bit more water in the woods around the guest cottage and deemed the fire out. Needless to say, we have learned a valuable lesson and have been educated, too. The new fire code says that a fire circle any larger than three feet by three feet needs to have a burn permit every time. Ours is bigger than that. We also cannot burn anything other than fire wood (lumber, old chairs, etc. that hubby has been burning for decades are now not allowed.) AND we have learned to get the hose out to the fire pit BEFORE he starts a fire. The outside water hadn’t been turned on yet and that delayed his water response that allowed the fire to “get away” from him in a very short matter of minutes. We were both very frightened and, needless to say, that won’t ever happen again. (And we need to make a donation to the fire department, too.)

We were so grateful that we were able to manage the fire enough to get control before the fire fighters got here and realize that it could have been so much worse. It nearly was. We are grateful for the extra long hose that we bought, grateful for water in our well and the water in the lake that I used as a bucket brigade (we will be building a more stable “step” or two down to the lake so that we can access water by foot before the dock is installed) and very grateful for the Belgrade Fire Department from both Belgrade Lakes and North Belgrade who came to our aid.

It was a calm day today but too dry and the leaves from the fall aren’t raked up and served as fodder for a very quick little fire. I guess we will be cleaning up all the junk wood that hubby would like to burn but can’t now and taking it to the dump. Time to rake up the leaves, too.

You can see the black char from the foreground to the fire pit and it stretches up to the side of the guest cottage. This was more excitement than we ever needed today and we don’t need any more thank you very much.

Gone knitting.

Amputating my Bolin

Posted on April 9, 2025 by Queen Bee Knits

What a beautiful thing to wake up to snow-covered trees this morning. Yesterday was a mixed bag of precipitation but starting at about 5pm, it snowed. I’d say we have about three inches of wet, heavy snow on the ground. AND we have no more ice on the lake! During the night we may have gotten some wind which would have demolished what thin ice was left as it got dark last night. This morning there is no more ice. Warm weather can’t be far off now!

So, over the last few days, I sewed on the buttons and tried on my finished Bolin cardigan. This sweater was the featured design in MDK’s “Bang Out a Sweater” this year. I really liked the look of it and took a special trip to Freeport, Maine to buy the yarn. I was determined, I guess. But this is what the sleeves looked like when I tried it on …

The sleeves were way too long. I would have had to fold the cuff fully over and that’s not what I envisioned for this sweater. So I pondered solutions. First I tried to unravel the yarn. If you have ever worked with mohair, you know it’s fuzzy and sticky and difficult to frog back. I struggled with finding the woven-in end and pulling that back … it wasn’t going to work for four inches of knitted and blocked fabric. So, the only other solution I could think of was to cut off the cuff and another two inches of fabric and then re-knit the cuff. I certainly wasn’t going to wear it as it is and I had invested so much time and money into the garment, I had to try to fix it.

So. I cut it.

I started by measuring where I needed the sleeve to be before I cut it. The pattern said 14 3/4 inches from where I picked up sleeve stitches. I shortened it to 14 inches because I’d rather knit more than have to frog more or cut more. And then I carefully unravelled all the way around and placed my stitches on smaller needles. Once the cuff was amputated, I found the start of the round and adjusted my stitches and then I tried it on to make sure that the cuffs wouldn’t make it too long again. (Duh! Why didn’t I do that the first time?!) Once satisfied that I wouldn’t have to adjust again, I re-knit the cuffs and bound off. Twice. Now the sleeves are a good length and I can wear the sweater – I may wear it today, in fact. It’s rather cropped but I hope with a dress or a tunic it will be wonderful and today it’s cold so the warm sweater will be welcome!

Phew! Crisis averted.

I also finished a little sweater for my great-nephew to send off to Massachusetts. I knitted the Knitting Pure and Simple Baby Pullover #214 with a Sirdar Snuggly Aran yarn and it’s really cute. I blocked it and trimmed the ends and packed it up and mailed it off yesterday. I also finished a little Newborn Vertebrae cardigan for my bonus daughter’s nugget-to-be. Since she won’t be finding out what the baby’s gender is, I (or rather my hubby) chose a very neutral yarn. I had to buy a second ball just to knit the ribbing around the opening so I will probably knit a hat and mittens, too. The baby is due in late August so I think warm hand knits will be appropriate for Colorado weather. Apparently I sent off the pullover without taking a final photo and the cardigan is blocking as I write so this is the unblocked version.

I’ve also been working on the workshop that I’m teaching Saturday morning and I’ve gotten the patterns and hand-outs copied, and knit three pieces from different parts of the pattern for my demonstration purposes. One part is what the students were to knit for “homework” before the class so I can show them how to cast on the steek stitches and join it into the round to prepare for the colorwork. The second is so I can show them how to hold their yarn, one in each hand, for knitting colorwork and how to catch floats. And the third, I still have to finish, will be showing them how to reinforce the steek before cutting and finishing. I have to reinforce one side of the steek and then I’ll demonstrate how to do the other side and how to cut it.

I did block the sample so it will lie flat for me (and my students can do that, too, before the second class if they so choose. Not sure I love my color choices, there’s not quite enough contrast, but it’s just a sample for a class, right? I’ve also been collecting my books and things that I’ve knitted in colorwork so I can show the class all different kinds of colorwork … Intarsia, Stranded, Norwegian, Mosaic, Fair Isle, etc. So, except for finishing the third sample, I am well-prepared for my class on Saturday.

So now I have to decide what I want to knit next. I’ve got a bag of cotton yarn to knit a Big Love cardigan or some red linen-blend yarn to knit a Patti tank. I have swatched for the Patti and figured out how to compensate for my gauge being “off” but I think the Big Love might be another swatch I need to try. I’m having lunch with my knitting friend today and we’re going to knit a bit after that so I have to decide because tiny toddler socks aren’t what I want to be knitting today. I also have my pink mittens to embroider on and finish up. They’re part-way embroidered and I decided that embroidering on my knitting with cotton floss is not my jam. So, I may finish the first mitten and just make the second one plain. OR I may take the embroidery out and just knit the mittens. The pink color is perfect! More on those decisions later. Gotta run and get some more coffee.

Gone knitting.

Gorgeous Sunrise. Gloomy Gray Day

Posted on March 11, 2025 by Queen Bee Knits

I may have missed it but my dear hubby didn’t (although he confessed he took it from his chair) and it was a beautiful sunrise on Messalonskee Lake this morning but the day has turned into gray and dismal. The ice is starting to turn gray which generally means it’s thinning and before you know it, the water will once again be open and boats will return. We’ve seen a lot of Bald Eagles on the lake. It’s breeding time for eagles here in Maine. I keep hoping to see a pair together. The circle of life on our lake is evident in each season and we feel so much closer to the Earth here.

I’ve just counted a train with 75 cars go past. They’ve increased their speed on the tracks a lot since we moved here full-time ten years ago next month. They used to poke up and down the tracks so slowly you could hear the clickety-clack of the tracks and touch the cars as they went by without being hurt. Now, though, the cars speed by at 45 mph and there’s no clickety-clack. A few years ago they replaced the rails. The new quarter-mile-long rails looked like they were being extruded (think play dough extruders) onto the tracks and they bent under their own weight. This is what allows them their greater speed and reports say that they’re planning to speed up even more in the future. What could possibly go wrong on mostly camp (dirt/gravel) roads with few or no RR crossing signs?

I worked Saturday so I recovered Sunday and yesterday and today I’m catching up with stuff around the house and planning for my big Maine Arts Academy board of trustees meetings this week. The second week of the month is usually full of meetings; the board meeting, a Charter Commission meeting, and a committee meeting or two. Some are in person and some are virtual. Today I’ll attend the Charter Commission monthly business meeting virtually and can knit while I listen. Yesterday I took all the plants and stuff off our bedroom window seat that we never use because it houses plants and cleaned the windows, the plant dishes, the giant Lake Tahoe pine cones and then put it all back. The cobwebs were getting out of hand in our room. N and I took his mother’s old “oriental” rug and the rug pad out of the living room to see if it’s any of the reason why my allergies are so horrible in the morning. Time will tell. Meanwhile, it’s out in the boat house chilling. I got our laundry done yesterday and today I’ll wash the guest room sheets and clean that room. I’m going to finally hang one more picture and then move the rest of the unhung to the little hidey-hole in the stairway up to the third floor. We have a lot of windows and not enough wall space for the framed pictures we have. Maybe we’ll sell them, maybe we’ll alternate. Time will tell.

I knitted until past my bedtime last night and I’ve got one finished sleeve on my Cardoon to show for it and another sleeve half-way done. It feels really good to be making progress on this much-delayed sweater. I may be able to wear it once or twice before it’s too warm. I love knitting Isabell Kraemer’s designs. Her patterns are clear and easy to follow. The charts are in a good place in the pattern and their placement makes knitting her designs a comfortable process. These charts and the colorwork happen to be only two colors which are easier, too. The yoke pattern is a bit more complicated than the designs around the wrists and bottom of the sweater but simple enough for an adventurous beginner to follow.

A couple of hints for those who knit colorwork or want to try it:

Read your knitting! What that means is, look down at your knitting and see the pattern as it develops. You’ll know when a stitch is misplaced or doesn’t look right almost immediately.
Use stitch markers on your needles to remind you about pattern repeats. This trick also helps you when your stitch count is off because the pattern doesn’t “fit” between the markers. It is possible to drop stitches even when you’re paying attention. Ask me how I know.
Knit colorwork with a wooly wool. The yarn blooms when you block it and lots of errors and outsized stitches disappear magically. Floats can be a bit longer, too, because the yarn felts to itself with wearing and creates an impenetrable layer or warm.
Relax! This is another technique that seems daunting until you practice. And you really do need to practice. With repetition, we gain what is called “muscle memory” and your hands and brain keep the movements stored in your data bank. You’ll be able to feel the mistakes.
Keep your stitches spread apart when you’re knitting colorwork so the fabric doesn’t pucker. Floats (the yarn that is carried behind your stitches) can look very loose when the knitting is bunched up and they should be able to stretch comfortably when the knitting is spread out.

I’m teaching a colorwork workshop at the Yardgoods Center in Maine on April 12 and 19. We’ll knit a colorowork “swatch” that we’ll turn into a cup cozy by cutting a steek. Two weeks of fun. Maybe you’ll join me? I’ve been preparing for the workshop and need to knit another sample of two – one for the shop, one for each step in the process so I can demonstrate steps along the way. I’m looking forward to teaching a new technique again.

I finished the second tam for my customer and got it washed and blocked yesterday. It’s nearly dry this morning. I’ll bring it to the shop with me on Thursday so she can pick it up at her leisure. This hat pattern is no longer available on Ravelry but it’s a quick knit with larger needles and bulky weight yarn and she loves it. This is her second order this year for a black and navy tam.

Quick Lacy Slouch Hat in Berroco Ultra Wool Chunky

I’ve still got my Bolin Cardigan on the needles but I’ve not pulled it out this week. I’m focusing on the Cardoon pullover instead. BUT Bolin is ready for sleeves and they’ll knit up quickly in the heavier yarn and larger needles. It won’t take long to finish it up.

Yankee Knitter Socks in On the Round yarn. One finished, another cast on

I’ve cast on the second sock in Over the Rainbow yarn. The first sock is finished as of the night before last. I stayed up way past my bedtime that night and paid for it in the inability to get to sleep. I am officially a creature of comfort and schedule. I still have to cast on the second mitt for my daughter’s fingerless mitts and I hope to get that started this week. The first one is done and I’d like to take them with me to give to her at the end of the month when I have babysitting duty. I haven’t taken any photos of Bolin or the fingerless mitts because they haven’t been out of their bags! Soon, soon!

Gone knitting.