Queen Bee Knits

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

Thankful for Family Visits

Posted on December 1, 2016 by Queen Bee Knits

This Thanksgiving was spent with a full heart and a full house! We travelled to my brother and sister-in-law’s home in Marblehead, Massachusetts where we were joined by nephews and dogs and two of my three kids, one fiancé, and my grand-dog Willow. What a wonderful time! While the picture above isn’t the most flattering of this Queen Bee, it’s a good summary of how I feel when I’m with my kids and my extended family.

This is Ruby. She is a nine-month old Leonberger and she is HUGE! She is also about as sweet as can be. Ruby didn’t quite know what to think about my little dogs – she kept wanting to use her “hands” on them … and one swipe would have sent the little dogs flying!

Marblehead, MA is a scenic and historic little town. This is from the top of the hill overlooking the cemetery and the harbor. We took the dogs for a walk before we went out on the boat for a tour of the harbor – and it was cold!

Marblehead is full of sights – this is a bunch of big sailboats in dry dock … the harbor was empty of boats with the exception of the working boats – those that are still working even in the colder winter months.

From Marblehead we kept heading south to Washington, DC where we were able to see two more of our kids and a boyfriend as well as friends from our beloved summer camp and a friend of mine from high school. Forty years passes without a thought and it is so much fun to reconnect. We shared some wonderful food and an adult beverage or two and filled our hearts with time with our children. We are so proud that we have five children who are living their dreams.

While there, this happened…

We had a great walk by the Mall and visited the Museum of Art (East). They’re already building the stage for the inauguration of our next president in front of the Capitol building and the new wing of the art museum was beautiful. I am still shocked that all the museums are free. We attended the production of Carousel on Tuesday night before heading toward home on Wednesday. It was fantastic! If you’re in the area, get a ticket. We loved seeing it and I still pinch myself that my kid is making a living doing what she wanted to do since she was three.

So, all of this has nothing to do with knitting until this point, right? Right! But here’s the clincher – I finished and gifted a sweater for my eldest daughter, the actor. It’s a birthday gift (she was born in August) … and it fits! Perfectly!

This was a wonderful sweater to knit and I loved the pattern that she chose (I let her into my Ravelry queue). The sweater is I Heart Aran by Tanis Fiber Arts. Here is a link to my project page about this beauty! I hope she wears it and knows that every stitch was knit with lots of love.

Check me out on Facebook, Ravelry (Lindar) and Instagram @QueenBeeKnits!

Gone knitting.

I Heart Aran – Nearing the Finish Line

Posted on October 2, 2016 by Queen Bee Knits

I Heart Aran by Tanis Fiber Arts – blocking!

I started knitting the I Heart Aran sweater by Tanis Fiber Arts in early September. It’s a 32nd birthday gift for my eldest daughter. I’m not sure how she got to be so old when I remain young and nearly the same age as she! Kate chose the sweater pattern from Ravelry and this was the one she loved the most. This morning I finished the knitting and it’s blocked. Woo! Hoo!

I was gifted the yarn by my sister-in-law, Annie, who found it and some purple at an estate or garage sale several years ago. For ten dollars! She’s a very thoughtful person and I’m delighted to be able to make a sweater with five of the ten skeins of ivory/aran color that she gave me which leaves several skeins for me to make something for Annie! It’s Shetland by Jaeger (80% wool, 20% alpaca 100 g/166m). The hand on this yarn is wonderfully soft thanks to the alpaca. It was great to knit with – not splitty and no little bits of wool all over my dark jeans. Because it’s an Aran weight yarn and the sweater was rather small, it knit up in no time at all. It helped, too, because the sleeves and back are all a very simple, almost boring, stockinette. If I were going to knit this sweater again, I’d consider adding a cable up the sleeves or on the back or both. The stitch definition is amazing and there is enough wool so that the sweater shouldn’t stretch out (or grow!)

Superior Stitch Definition

I used my good old Hiya Hiya Interchangeable needles with the US6 and US8 tips. I used the US6 tips only for the sleeve ribbing and chose to use the US8 (not the US6 as written in the pattern) because I don’t love sweaters with very tight ribbing at the waist. Hiya Hiya Interchangeables are decent needles. The join is mostly smooth. The tips could be pointier. They were ok for this project because the yarn is heavy enough and the cables weren’t too tight. I chose to knit flat on my circular needles. You could also have knitted this on straight needles.

A good set of schematics make blocking so much simpler!

One of the things I liked about this pattern is that it had a perfect schematic so that when I was blocking (and knitting) I knew exactly what the measurements were to be. This makes my life as a pattern-follower so much easier than when I have to go back into the pattern to decide what the measurements are – and Tanis even added the measurement that is supposed to be across the neck (3″) to eliminate any guesswork. Thank you! The directions were clear and concise.

There was only one place where I was unsure of the directions and I think it was the knitter not the instructions after a quick discussion with knitwear designer Lori Versaci of VersaciKnits.

If it says, “Dec every 8 rows”, you should make the first decrease after 8 rows. If the designers means for you to make the first dec on the next row then start every 8 rows, the directions should say, “Dec on next and then every 8 rows” or something like that!

– Lori Versaci, VersaciKnits

Fortunately, I had figured it out because the decrease instructions all happened on the RS (right side) rows which meant that it was going to have to happen on rows 1 and 9 not on row 8. Being thoughtful, taking a pause to think about my knitting answered the question for me. A life lesson put to use in my knitting yet again.

I block everything on my guest room bed. Today I have two projects blocking – a hat for a customer and the sweater. I can’t wait until it’s dry and can be assembled and I can knit the collar. Then we can choose a button on Tuesday when I’m at the yarn shop and send it off to Kate who is in rehearsal for Carousel which will open later this month at the Arena Stage in Washington, DC. I know it’s sweater weather in Maine (at least in the morning and afternoon) but I’m not sure about the Washington area.

I’ll show you the finished garment in a day or two!

Gone knitting.

“Terror Towel” Quilted Throw

Posted on August 25, 2016 by Queen Bee Knits

Delivery … and first thoughts

Several months ago a high school classmate asked me if I would be willing to make a quilted throw for him. He and his wife had collected “terror towels” from various sports events that he and his wife had attended.

I am a new but eager maker of quilts but this didn’t sound impossible to me but for months I’ve been “worrying” about this quilt. The terry cloth fabric is a different entity than the traditional cotton fabric. I wasn’t sure what would happen to the towels when I cut them to size.

So I picked peoples’ brains. I was advised that I should use a stabilizer on the backs of the towels. I was also advised that I should not use cotton fabric as a frame between the towels. The thought was that the two weight of fabrics would cause uneven wear. This made sense. Stabilizer, not so much.

As you can see from the picture above, that’s one funky shaped quilt. I had to somehow figure out how to make it square or rectangular … which meant making all the towels the same size.

Deciding on the design and directionality

What I ended up doing was using little paper “towels” to lay out my plan. If I could make the towels to a size of 14.5 x 16.5 inches I could piece them together and make a throw. After many hours of thinking and measuring, I had a plan. A few of the towels were not going to work in the size that I had chosen – three were too small (way too small) and one was printed in such a way as to make cutting it to any size difficult. But the rest of the towels, 16 in all, were going to work!

Day 1: I “ripped” out the stitching around the edges of the towels to make them a little bit larger and then I cut the towels to size. Even cutting the towels is a challenge. They really aren’t square nor are they printed with the designs exactly in the middle. But I used my 12″ square template to center the design and then worked around it to cut the two lengths thus making a 14.5 x 16.5 inch rectangle of each towel.

Day 2: I zigzagged the four sides of the towels to keep them from fraying. Terry cloth is a messy, messy (did I say MESSY?) fabric. Yuck! My studio is a horrible mess and I’m not even done yet!

Day 3: This is the moment … all the towels are laid out on the floor and I decided on the design placement. There are four towels with a different directionality. I chose to have them all facing the same (but different from the other 12 towels) direction. Here is the design that I liked best … the four towels with different directionality are not diagonally down the middle but one in each row and “randomly” placed.

My final design … I’m ready to make strips!

So, today I started sewing together the rectangles. I decided that because terry cloth is so bulky that I had to sew the pieces together and then “tack” down the extra fabric on the wrong size by sewing them down. I sewed a 3/8 seam and then positioned my needle to the left and ran another line down each side of the seam tacking the bulk to the pieces. So far, I am really pleased with the strips. Tomorrow I will sew the strips together and then it will be time to find a backing. I am thinking that I would like to use two layers of cotton flannel. One white in the middle and a sports-themed print as the backing fabric. I will sandwich them all together but I haven’t decided whether I will simply stitch in the ditch or if I will stitch diagonally across the rectangles, too. I want them to be stable so that the towels wear well.

I’ll let you know how it progresses! I am thrilled to be working on this rather than “worrying” about it. Gone … sewing? (Actually my book club is coming and I’d best go get ready to greet them!)

I am Good (Enough)!

Posted on June 25, 2016 by Queen Bee Knits

Yes, that’s me at the piano in my preppy sweater!

A million years ago I stood at a piano in rehearsal for a high school theater production. I was singing “Midnight at the Oasis” (among other things) and it was quite the challenge for me to be sexy and sing at the same time. No, really, it was. My teacher, Frank Best, worked with me a lot. How to walk, how to hold the mic, how to get off the side of the grand piano gracefully …

A couple of weekends ago I attended my 40th high school reunion. I’m not sure how 40 years have passed that quickly, how it’s been 30 years since I stepped foot on the campus. How it’s been 40 years since I’ve seen classmates who meant so much to me. It’s funny how life gets in the way of friendships. And it’s wonderful to pick up where we left off. My theater besties and I returned to the theater all these years later and remembered our shows together and others who didn’t come to reunion this time. It was magical.

Brian back at the old grand piano (that I slid of gracefully.)

Reunited. I wish Sharon had been in this picture, too!

One classmate shared the picture above and others from the school newspaper on Facebook prior to the reunion. What a good memory this brings forward along with some emotional baggage that I’m ready to discard. A couple of friends commented on how they remembered that show and my song. My number one fan commented that my singing “was one of the true wonders I have witnessed in my life. No lie.” This made me smile. (And blush a little bit.)

It’s difficult for me to accept compliments although I’ve gotten much more adept as I get older. I have come to realize that I really am smart and talented. Back then I certainly could sing. (If I tried, I might still be able to sing today!) “Midnight at the Oasis” was a big hit with the audience. I felt very proud of the performance and yet my father could only say that I’d done “pretty good, Monk”. Falling short of a resounding compliment and making me feel like I’d fallen short of making him proud. So, today I’m dumping that old weight that said I wasn’t quite up to snuff. I did a really good job. If people are still remembering my performance 40 years later, I did a really good job. I can be proud of my performance and know that it was truly a special moment in time. My father’s reaction was more about him coming up short than me.

I did an excellent (memorable) job. I am good! I am smart. I am enough!

Gone Knitting.

Make Do and Mend

Posted on January 4, 2016 by Queen Bee Knits

The Christmas Stocking

The love of my life loves his Christmas stocking. We aren’t sure WHO made it for him but he thinks it may have been his mother who was a knitter. Last year, or maybe the year before that if truth be told, I noticed that the wool was beginning to wear in a couple of places. When I filled it, a hole was born. Actually, two holes were born.

Hole #1

Hole #2

What’s a girl to do!?

I offered to make another stocking and he didn’t want a new one. I actually think that this would have been the easiest choice. But he loves his stocking. So, I took it to my local yarn shop here in Maine and found yarns that would match as closely as possible the original colors (50+ years later.)

As Close as Possible (all these years later!)

I’ve not done a lot of mending but I was determined to finish mending it before Santa had to fill it this year on Christmas Eve. It took me the better part of an afternoon sitting in my chair and quite a few starts and stops but I managed to repair the holes and am really pleased with the results!

For the bigger hole, I picked up stitches below the hole and knitted a rectangular patch which I then grafted to the top and seamed into the sides. The green is a bit different but in the next 50 years, it’ll blend better!

No More Hole #1

Hole #2 was a little bit easier but also more difficult … the hole was smaller but the problem was more difficult. But I wove my doubled DK yarn in and out and around and I think it looks fairly well. Not perfect but not bad for a first mending effort!

No More Hole #2

The stocking had a ribbon tied in a knot that had been poked between the ribbing at the top of the cuff. I made a new hanger for the stocking, too … that was Ned’s favorite part. Go figure! But I’m glad he was happy to have his stocking on Christmas morning and not be afraid to handle it. Especially when it was full of stuff … wish I had taken a picture of the stuffed stocking!

New Hanging Braid

I braided the three colors and still poked it through the ribbing but my hanger is at the seam at the back of the stocking. This is a much stronger place to have stress placed on the fabric. I hope it will last us fifty years or more!

Gone knitting!

Queen Bee Knits Maine Knitting Retreats?

Posted on October 21, 2015 by Queen Bee Knits

View of the lake from the guest cabin

I’m a little bit afraid to put it out there but being fearful just holds me back. So, with that said, I am putting it out there that I am thinking about hosting some weekend knitting excursions/retreats at our home in Central Maine.

I am privileged to live in a beautiful place. In my opinion, it’s the most beautiful place. Our house is five feet from a clean, clear lake and all the wonder that comes with it – loons, fishing, swimming, water skiing, boats, canoes, bald eagles, ducks, and more.

We have a little cabin on our property where we’ve been living for the past six months with our three dogs. It’s not fancy but it’s comfortable. When I am done with the cabin renovation, it will sleep three or four comfortably with a shared bath and a little kitchenette. My thought is to have guests rent the guest cabin and we’ll do a lesson or two on our porch. I’ll provide a simple continental breakfast each day and then you’ll be on your own for dinner. I will provide you with a fiber map of great fiber-y places to visit while you’re here and great places to eat. Everything is within reach in about an hour and a half.

I’m thinking that a group of friends would have a ball up here. I know I have a ball with my friends and family here! Cocktail cruise in our boat one night, a road trip one day and some knitting on our porch with a lesson or two from me. It’ll probably be a year or so away … maybe more on the “so” end because we have to build a garage next year and the cabin will likely be following that project. So, unless you want to come and be really camp-y, it’s a way off. But I’m putting it out there.

Sunrise on Messalonskee

I want to share this beautiful place and all the fiber-y goodness that Maine has to share. Prime weekends will be the Maine Fiber Frolic weekend in June or the Common Ground Fair in September. Not that we can’t do it for more than a weekend.

Pricing is yet to be worked out, but I’m thinking and dreaming. If you’re interested, let me know. Have any ideas or suggestions? I’m all ears!

Queen Bee Knits Maine Knitting Retreats. Love it!

New Friends

Posted on July 26, 2015 by Queen Bee Knits

You’ve all probably seen these photographs on Facebook and Pinterest. The other day at the Yardgoods Center Yarn Shop I made three new friends. Three ladies came into the shop and it was clear that they had all the time in the world to shop. One spent a few minutes on the phone at the table in front making plans with family. The other two were checking out the free patterns. After awhile, and having checked on them all a couple of times and having showed them the color-changing “Abracadabra” yarn, they came to the cash register with a few patterns to purchase and a question.

Turns out they’ve been friends since early childhood and were together again for three weeks more. When one lady said they had a question, the other two ladies giggled. (It’s funny to see elderly ladies giggle like girls!) They’d spent hours (HOURS!) over the past couple of days trying to figure out what it meant to cast on stitches without a slip knot in the backward loop method. They were all beaming, eyes bright, smiling widely with the memory. I had a left-over ball of yarn and one needle left behind by a customer and I showed them what to do. They were delighted. “You made our day!”

Such a simple thing made a big impact. They made their purchases and left for lunch. Giggling that they only had a two hour ride. I smiled at them behind their backs. What a treasure their friendship is.

Old friends are the best friends! We are being sharks … at 50-something.

I am so fortunate to have some old friends, too. Not that we are old, we have been friends for a long, long time. We don’t get to see each other very often, but we make an effort to meet once a year. Each time we pick up where we left. We may not party like we used to and we’re often in bed by ten but the reunion is always sweet.

I’m going to be missing the reunion this year and am so sad about it but I am coming to realize that I can’t do it all – and that saves my sanity. Only two of us will be at the beach next weekend. I’ll be there in spirit but not in body. I commit to 2016, though. I need the girl time to recharge and renew. Old friends are the best friends. I love my girls!

Gone knitting.

Rough Life

Posted on June 17, 2015 by Queen Bee Knits

My View From the Porch

I have a rough life.

Today is my “day off” and I am still sitting in my pajamas on the front porch of our little cabin with my Driftwood sweater in my lap listening to a knitting podcast and listening to the work on our new house progress. Two families of Canada Geese just swam … paddled? … by on the lake. The hummingbirds are coming and going from the feeder.

It’s an absolutely glorious day. There’s a breeze blowing and the sun is shining. Everything here is green now and the day lilies that are so plentiful in our yard are budding. Forget-me-nots and Indian Paintbrush and Daisies are all popping up because the yard is so full of construction materials and rocks and cut wood we can’t really mow the grass. The wildflowers are an extra bonus.

I have a long list of things to do today starting with making the bed and getting dressed. I’ve had a cup of coffee and eaten my yogurt with what’s left of my home-made granola (you can add just the right amount of yogurt to the greek yogurt container and no bowls to wash) and I am due for another cup of coffee before I get moving. (IF I get moving.)

Children’s Mukluk Slippers for Laine

I’ve gotten several projects finished and have started at least one new one. Finished are my sweet Knitting Pure and Simple’s Muckluck Slipper Socks for my adorable little former student who I got so attached to. I hope she loves them and remembers me when she wears them. I want to make a pair for me because they looks so warm and toasty.

Peds for Megan

I think I already told you that I finished (and mailed) some ankle socks (peds?) to my sweet mentee for her birthday gift. She loves pink and she loves zebra print and these are a perfect blend of both. I hope they fit – I had to guess since she’s so far away. But the good news from her is that she is living with her new forever family and her adoption should be final in August. This is what I’ve been praying for for her and I am beyond thrilled. She has three sisters and parents who love her and are willing to make the commitment to her forever. I can’t wait to meet the rest of her family and hope they’ll be coming up for a visit next summer! I have another ball of yarn to make another pair of socks providing they fit. Or I’ll make them differently so they do fit! I used as a base, Susan B. Anderson’s How I Make My Socks pattern from her website. I knit only 9 rounds of ribbing and then proceeded to the heel. Next time I might choose to knit 3 or 4 rounds of ribbing to make them even shorter.

New to the needles is my shawl that’s being knitted in Manos’ Serena yarn in two colorways. I picked two similarly toned yarns one with a gray, green colorway called Horizon (9791) and the other with the same green and pinks and corals called Wildflowers (8931). These colors are all soft and pastel-shades. I chose them because they were different than all the other shawls that I have. The pattern is a free pattern that came with the yarn, Shadow Shawl. It’s a very (VERY!) simple two-row striped shawl with yarn overs at the edge and down the center of the triangle. I must admit that I have frogged it once because I realized that I had made some counting mistakes early on and had one spot where there was no “division” for several rows more than was written in the pattern and another spot where I made the same mistake but not for as long. I considered leaving it as a “design element” but decided I was not going to be happy with it. So, I’ve started again and will pay more attention to counting to FOUR!

I am making great progress on my Driftwood sweater and am praying while knitting that I have enough yarn to finish the whole sweater and make long sleeves. I’ve chosen to forgo the stripes as written in the pattern and am making it more color-blocks. I’ve had this beautiful wool from Seacolors Yarn (Washington, Maine) for several years and it’s actually been a sweater and frogged once. I’ve reached the point where the sweater is joined and will keep plugging on the body until I have very little of the orangey-coraly yarn left (I want some for the tops of the sleeves) and then I will change to the dappled greeny-yellowy yarn for the rest of the body and one sleeve. I also have a lovely shade of medium blue that will be another sleeve and the collar and button band. I am eager to see it finished. I hope that it fits!

So, there you have it. I am also working on two quilts and working in my wonderful yarn shop, Yardgoods Center, in Waterville, Maine. I work on Tuesday and Thursday and some Fridays, too. Business has been a bit slow but I absolutely love it. Yardgoods Center is a family-owned business that has been around for almost 66 years! Come visit me and I’ll help you spend your money … or give you some help with a knitting project!

Gone knitting.

All my Yarn is Packed

Posted on April 23, 2015 by Queen Bee Knits

Of course this isn’t all my yarn!

It must be an unwritten rule that knitters (ok, fiber people?) pack their yarn first when going on a trip. I know that’s my process for packing. So, when preparing for a move, the first thing I did was plan what yarn I would take and with what patterns. Makes sense, right?

My yarn is safely packed in the car with my swift and winder and all of my needles. My WIPs are on my desk, just in case there is some time today for knitting. I will make some time.

Movers arrive at 8am.

We’re moving to Maine!

Gone knitting. (OK, I’m getting dressed and drinking some coffee.)

Extra Large Box (of yarn)

Posted on April 18, 2015 by Queen Bee Knits

You may know that we are moving from Florida to Maine later this week.

So, this weekend is focused on finishing our packing. We’ve packed our master bedroom closet except for the clothes that we’ll take with us. I will have one suitcase full of my hand knits, of course!

Next on my packing agenda was my atelier. When the yarn is in its bins, it doesn’t look like a bunch. But what I forget is that the bins lie! I filled one “extra large” moving box full of my worsted and bulky yarns. I have another big plastic bin of fingering weight and several bags and boxes of the rest. It’s going to be like Christmas again when I get to sort the big mess back into their bins!

I dare not think about what I have invested in all the yarn! I’m going to try to stick to my strict yarn diet and knit from my stash for awhile more. I’ve pulled out several sweaters worth of yarn for knitting this summer and some socks and various other patterns and yarn. I just know that my Maine knitting friends are going to have projects that they’re working on that I want to knit … and all my stash will be in storage.

I’m eager to get started with the move to Maine and the building of our house so I can set up my new atelier!

Gone knitting.