Queen Bee Knits

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

Homecoming

Posted on October 31, 2023 by Queen Bee Knits

I got home yesterday from the longest time I’ve been away from home since … well, I’m not sure. Suffice it to say, that I haven’t been gone for more than a week for years. I was ready to come home but I really enjoyed our/my travels. I haven’t been knitting much but my heart is full.

My dear hubby and I went to New York City for a few days to celebrate our granddaughter’s first birthday. Yes, you read that right, she’s one year old! That may have been the quickest year yet. Just sayin’. We spent the weekend with my son and his fiancee and it was wonderful. I love seeing all of my kiddos and on Monday we got to celebrate our “little monster” with family and friends.

Notice that Sylvie is wearing the Tybe cardigan that I knitted for her in Berroco Vivo (cotton) and it’s a perfect fit right now. I made the 9 month size … she’s a little peanut. But she loves chewing on the vintage buttons that I bought when I was at Knit City Montreal and they remain the perfect buttons! She’s a walker now and it was so much fun to watch her explore.

He’s Hungry … Caterpillar in Berroco Comfort and Comfort Print

I brought her a few hand made gifts for her birthday. I finished knitting the Very Hungry Caterpillar that I started ages ago. The yarn is perfect for the project and I did use the yarn the pattern called for, Berroco Comfort and Comfort Print. The pattern could be better … but you get what you pay for – it was free. If I were to make this again, I’d make the body and then after decreasing for the last time, I’d pick up the head from the body and knit the head rather than knitting it separately and then sewing it together. I’d also add some legs because the caterpillar in the books DOES have legs. We checked. But it’s a cute little gift and Sylvie loves books.

I also made Sylvie a couple of pairs of Harem pants. I sewed them without making any glaring mistakes and I was proud to finish them without any drama. They don’t fit her yet but … that’s the story of my life with this little one. Either her mom will send them back to me (I brought her a proper measuring tape) with a better waist measurement OR she’ll grow into them. They’re awfully cute!

Also finished and delivered to New York were three hats and a little newborn cardigan. Some for Sylvie and some for one of my daughter’s friends who are expecting boys. I knitted two of the Garter Ear Flap hats in beautiful alpaca yarn. This hat is SO soft! They both ultimately had pompoms on them but I didn’t photograph the second one when it was finished. Oops! I also knitted a tiny Newborn Vertebrae cardigan. The blue hat and the cardi are for my daughter’s friends. The raspberry hat and the turkey hat are for Sylvie. I designed the turkey hat and will write down the pattern soon. I may make it available on Ravelry. I have a couple of patterns that I should publish. The turkey was one that my daughter pointed out last year and I never got around to knitting it. This year, I did. It’s probably a bit large for Sylvie at this point but it’s pretty cute.

I have finished two pairs of socks for Christmas presents. I don’t think the giftees are reading this but I’m going to err on the safe side and say that you should have a look at my Ravelry page if you really want to see them right this minute. Otherwise, I’ll post pictures after the holidays are over and the gifts are given.

I wound yarn from our trip to Knit City Montreal, these were the “official” yarns sold by the event organizers and I HAD to buy them both. Haha! I thought it would be a great idea to make a pair of mittens that I also saw there and bought a kit with which to embroider said mittens … but I started knitting the cuff and it wasn’t what I had in mind at all. BUT when I was in North Carolina with my college friends to celebrate our collective 65th birthdays, I found a yarn shop right around the corner from where we were shopping and popped in. They carry Berroco yarns and I hoped that they’d have a lace weight mohair in a similar light pink colorway. And they did!

I like this second combination so much better!

And I would be remiss if I didn’t talk about the second half of my travels. My hubby dropped me off at my college friend’s house in Weymouth, MA on the way home from NYC. I spent a day with her before we flew to Raleigh-Durham, NC and drove to Pinehurst to celebrate our 65th birthdays. We were to have been 8 but ended up being 7 because our dear Nell got Covid and was unable to travel. We were all bummed to hear that bit of bad news.

I’ve known these women since the fall of 1976 when we first met as freshmen at Wells College. We’ve been friends since – 47 years ago. We often skip months or years but when we get together it’s as if no time has passed. What an honor it is to have such wonderful women in my life and it’s a true blessing to have such long-time friends. We spent a long weekend at Betsy’s house in Pinehurst and it was a perfect weekend. Shopping, eating, taking walks, reading, knitting and laughing … there was lots of laughing! Betsy pulled out all the stops and wins the hostess with the mostest award. She even booked us all a sound bath session with her friends and neighbor.

Wells College ’80 Celebrating 65th Birthdays

There’s a lot of wisdom and experience in this group and we are all so fortunate to be enjoying life at our age. Many haven’t had that chance. We have all grown and changed but as soon as we are together again, it’s like no time has passed … the years melt away.

Gone knitting.

Taking Every Opportunity When it Knocks

Posted on September 27, 2023 by Queen Bee Knits

This morning before the sun came up after a perfect sleeping night interrupted by my snoring partner. I’m grateful that we have a guest room or I’d have been relegated to sleeping on the couch! Fall is a welcome change for me and I’m loving the cooler weather and have pulled out my flannel shirts so they can de-wrinkle without ironing. Ha Ha. I’m putting away my linens and tees because it’s sweater weather!

On Sunday I drove over to Rockland for a workshop with Katherine Ferrier at her Lincoln Street Center Studio at the suggestion of my friend Lori. The workshop was entitled Embracing the Mystery: Quilt Making and Cyanotype Prints. Cyanotypes are a photographic printing process that uses exposure to light to create its distinctive deep dark blue color.

Our task was to design the prints, some just because and some with a prompt, perhaps telling a story and being willing to embrace whatever happened. It was a cloudy but bright day and that alone could make our results different than on a bright sunny day. We enjoyed the print making and getting to know each other so much. This was a remarkable group of creative maker women. I was inspired by their talents and I’ve already purchased some cyanotype fabric. If it arrives quickly, I plan to take it to a friend’s lavender farm this weekend to make some lavender prints!

In the afternoon, we designed out quilts with our prints and some lovely scrap fabrics available from Katherine’s studio. I had originally thought I’d like to use just the cyanotype prints but with a little bit of guidance from Katherine and the beautiful orangey linen scraps, the final plan for my quilt top was made. And I love it!

It’s a long ride home so I took my photos of the quilt top and my fabric, batting, and backing fabric home with me with the promise that I would finish it and with three new friends. For the last couple of days I put the quilt together. I finished sewing together my quilt top on Monday. I made a few rookie mistakes because I’m new to patchwork sewing where not all of the pieces are square or the same size. Nor are they a planned pattern. I guess this is my first original patchwork design.

I am so happy with it. I added a little embroidery detail on the top left corner piece; an outlined blossom and a cluster of french knots in colors similar to the pops of linen. Orange/peach/salmon seem to be a new theme for me.

The center piece, the largest piece we printed was a prompt to make a wish. My wish was about my home, my husband and my family. Inside the circle is a joined pair of blossoms representing my husband and me and outside are pairs of blossoms that represent our five children and their significant others. I will be stitching a little pink blossom to represent our granddaughter. The grasses crossing it all represent flexibility, softness, growth and strength and above it all the “h” is the wish for health, happiness and home. Home to me is not only a place that you live, it’s a sense of belonging, peace, comfort and safety. This piece has a lot of meaning in it for me. I really do love it.

I then pieced the backing fabric. I wanted to incorporate the last print that I made, my self portrait, in the quilt somehow so that I didn’t bring home another piece of fabric without a plan. I also used my little square that Katherine gifted to each of us as my quilt label on the back. I pondered whether I wanted to stitch in the ditch for the quilting or tie the quilt, decided on the former and then decided to put a proper binding on it. I cut 2.5 inch strips for the binding, sewed them together and stitched them onto the quilt. I also stitched in the ditch around the outside of the quilt to attach the second part of the binding.

It’s not perfect. There are a couple of places on the back where I didn’t catch the binding and where the backing wiggled out of the binding but I am pretty sure I’m comfortable leaving it this way because the whole exercise was embracing the mystery, right? I’m consciously embracing the imperfections as part of the process of learning and meeting myself where I am.

Here is the finished quilt on my studio floor. I only need to hang it up somewhere in our house. I’m so grateful to have a house that is a true home with a partner who encourages my creativity even though dinner isn’t always ready. I have found my home here with him.

I’m grateful to my friend Lori who inspired me to take the opportunity and this workshop. I’m also grateful to my new friends who inspired me along the way. I am grateful to Katherine for making the opportunity available for us all together, learn, explore and embrace the mystery!

What a wonderful day it was!

Gone knitting.

Patrick’s Pumpkin

Posted on September 20, 2023 by Queen Bee Knits

It’s been a beautiful day at the lake and I am grateful for a day to “do nothing”. We had coffee on the porch this morning and those mornings will end soon enough and we’ll be inside again for our coffee. But today we got to be outside and it was so quiet and quite warm as the sun rose higher in the sky.

I spent the day “catching up” after having taken a couple of days to visit with my family in Marblehead. I drove down yesterday, spent the day with my brothers and sisters-in-love, niece and her husband, great-nephew and nephew. We had an incredible dinner of chicken parmesan cooked by my Marblehead sister-in-love, Annie. I’ve never had a bad meal in that house! It was delicious. The next morning we visited again and then I headed home in the early afternoon. We all hope to get together for a longer time when the Louisiana family is here in December. Maybe they’ll even get up to Maine!

I brought my Nordic pullover with me and didn’t knit a stitch. I am plugging away at the body of the sweater and all that garter stitch when I don’t have family to visit with and my great-nephew to play with. He’s a happy boy and cute as a button. I am determined to getting it finished before the really cold weather settles in.

I’ve been working on a pair of pumpkin hats for my daughter’s friends’ two sons. I made lots of these hats several years back and thought that they might be a fun surprise. I’m making two large hats and hope that they’ll fit the boys. I have made a few minor modifications which may change the sizing just a wee bit. Instead of holding the yarn double for the band of the hat, I am knitting with a single strand and on the increase round, I increased with a M1 increase to have the correct number of stitches for the pumpkin part.

The first hat, the one that is pictured here, is a bit “tight” around so I hope this one will fit the baby. But children’s heads don’t grow too quickly so the second one that I’m making I’m changing up just a bit. I’m still making the large hat but this time, I knitted the last round of green with a double strand and increased per the instructions. The band of the hat is a bit more stretchy so I hope this one will fit the big brother. I’ve gotten an inch or so into the pumpkin part of the second hat so I hope that I can get it finished by the end of next week. I have an extraordinarily busy next few days and I’m unlikely to get a lot of knitting done.

The pattern for the pumpkin hats is called Patrick’s Pumpkin and it’s a Fiber Trends pattern that I have had for decades. Yes, decades. I made them for my children when they were young. I always used Brown Sheep’s Cotton Fleece yarn in the past but I didn’t have any on hand and decided to make these hats with Plymouth Encore yarn. The colors are pretty perfect and I had the yarn on hand because … we knitters, when we get an idea, we want to knit it right now!

I found some daisy buttons for the yoked baby cardigan that I made with donated Plymouth Encore and it’s really cute! I have also washed and blocked the sweater and the hat. They’re ready for new homes. I have several items that I think I will be putting up for sale in the near future so that I can make some room in my studio for some new yarn. Ha! Ha! Like I need new yarn. I hope someone will want to have some mittens, hats and scarves that are knitted by me to give or to keep. What doesn’t sell will be donated to a good cause.

I’ll write more later about selling hand knits. For now I’ll sign off. Gone knitting.

Hurricane Lee Day

Posted on September 17, 2023 by Queen Bee Knits

Today’s the day we’ve all been waiting for. Hurricane Lee has been heading toward New England and thankfully, it’s been downgraded to a tropical storm but is still hitting the northern coasts of New England with some pretty powerful wind! We are getting wind here but so far, minimal rain and our power is hanging in. (We are very fortunate to have a generator so that’s not really a concern.)

We arrived home on Tuesday afternoon from a week-long vacation in Rhode Island with my three (adult) children and their significant others and their dogs and our granddaughter. What a wonderful week we had together. I am so grateful that they all want to spend a week with us and that they carve time out of their busy lives to be together. We enjoyed wake-ups with Sylvie in the morning since we’re the earliest risers and we had beach time, photo shoots, a wonderful lobster feast al fresco and a wonderful visit to the Mystic Aquarium. It was a family-full week and we left with full hearts.

I didn’t get a whole lot of knitting time because being together was the priority but I managed to get some time in the car on the way down to finish up a little Plymouth Encore sweater. The yarn was gifted to me by one of my students who doesn’t have any “tiny” ones to knit for. I knitted up a yoked sweater, a Plymouth pattern, 2649 Baby & Toddler Top Down Cardigan. I just need to attach the buttons and give it a good wash. With the leftovers I made a hat designed by Susan B. Anderson from her Itty BItty Hats book. It’s the Inca Hat. It’s a quick knit and I love having ear flaps for little ones.

While we were there, I did get some nap time knitting in on my Norwegian Genser. I added a lifeline so that if it didn’t actually fit me that I could frog back to a place where I could make some adjustments. I use dental floss for lifelines because it’s slippery and it’s fine/thin enough to not make my stitches change their size. I’ve tried other yarns, etc. but dental floss does the trick for me. I don’t buy the mint flavored for obvious reasons but I have to admit to heading to my knitting bag when I get something stuck in my teeth. Haha. You can barely see the lifeline at the place where I split for the sleeves. I tried it on shortly after this and I think the size is going to be just right and even better if I lose my vacation pounds. Again, haha.

I love the purple! I think the design is stunning and I am excited to be able to wear it. The yarn is ASK yarn from Norway and it’s a rustic sport weight wool so the sweater won’t be too warm. I hope. Now I just have inches and inches of stockinette stitch. I will be trying it on again soon – maybe today – just to check the fit once more. Fingers crossed.

I’ve cast on a pumpkin hat and will make two of these to send to my daughter’s friend who has two boys. I never sent anything when the second son was born so I’ve been thinking about it for nearly a year. The pattern is Patrick’s Pumpkin and I’m knitting them in Encore worsted by Plymouth. I’ve made several in Brown Sheep’s Cotton Fleece but I thought that Encore would be an easy care choice for these hats. Life with two young boys isn’t “easy”. I also made a bit of a change in the pattern. Where the band calls for knitting with two strands held double, I’ve chosen, this time, to knit with one strand and when I got to the increase round, I increased with a M1. It seems to be ok and the band isn’t as “inflexible” as I remember it being. I’ll plan to finish the first hat, a large size, today and start a medium size when I finish the first – hope they’ll both fit for fall’s cooler weather.

I pulled out some fingering weight scraps of yarn to bring to the beach but I never touched it. The plan was to knit up a few gnomes. I bought Sarah Schira’s Grimblewoods Collection several months ago and want to make a little gnome family for our house at Christmas time – and maybe it’ll be out all year, too. Anyway, I never touched it. I didn’t get much knitting in while on vacation but I will get one cast on today or tomorrow. I fell in love with the collection because of Gnedward (my hubby’s name is Edward.)

Some unhappy news is that we lost our grand-dog Bessie. She had had a seizure when they were out in California and despite having put her on anti-seizure meds, she’s continued to have seizures. While they were on the Cape visiting the other grandparents after our beach trip, Bessie had five seizures and they couldn’t get them controlled. Bessie was a “foster fail” about eight years ago. I was there the day she was adopted and then returned. My daughter was so protective of Bessie and I knew she was home forever at that time. Somewhere I have a photo of Bessie and Mabel on the couch in their NYC apartment. Mabel looks like she’s praying to be rid of the big dog that Bessie was (they nicknamed her “Bus”). Our family has a 60 pound hole in our hearts and the kids are really suffering her loss. Rest well, sweet Bus. We will all miss you.

Gone knitting.

September Already?!

Posted on September 2, 2023 by Queen Bee Knits

This photo was the second one I took this morning. But this one was the one that made me smile the widest! At the left you can see a fisherman zooming into the frame and at the top right, a hummingbird, getting ready to land on the feeder that’s just out of sight. Ha! That almost never happens.

It’s a beautiful Saturday here on the lake and I’ve been trying to wrap up a bunch of stuff so that we can vacation next week with all of my kids and their families. Dogs are included, too, of course. We’ll be eight adults, one baby and six dogs. It’s always a full house and it’s always fun. We are both … dare I say all … looking forward to a few days together.

So, this morning I’ve made a list of Maine State Reps who represent all of our students at Maine Arts Academy. We are having a ribbon cutting and open house celebration in September and we should always invite those who represent our students. And then I wrote the newsletter for tomorrow for the store. I included in tomorrow’s newsletter that I’m not writing one the following week … vacation rules. I have only one meeting to Zoom into while we’re away and I intend to be present for the kids, the dogs and the granddaughter!

This morning I steam blocked my two finished mini Nordic jumpers for our Advent calendar. I have one more to go. ONE!!! My intent is to do that after I’m done writing this post. Here are 22 and 23.

Twenty-three is the one that has two different white yarns. One is Patagonia Organic Merino, a wooly wool. The other is a superwash something that was in my left-overs bins (yes, you read that right, I have bins of left-overs. I can’t throw yarn away!) I am ok with it the way it turned out. Do I wish that I had had just a little bit more of the Patagonia? Yes. Did I let it ruin my life? Not even close. It’ll do. I’ve cast on #24 and I can probably get it done today. Certainly, I can get it done this weekend.

Yesterday I decided to return a skein of cotton that I had bought to make a bib for my granddaughter because I found a skein of the same cotton in a different colorway that will be just fine for a bib. So, while I was teaching class yesterday and for a while after, I got the bib done.

I also knitted an apple for the fall decorations for the store window. We’re decorating the window (and adding the stems to the apples) on Monday morning. I’m going to try to finish another one or two before then. Cross your fingers. And then as I was cleaning out cupboards and bins, I found two skeins of Plymouth Encore yarn that was gifted to me and I remembered a little sweater that I had the pattern for and (duh!) I cast on a little last minute sweater for my granddaughter. AND found myself knitting the wrong size after an hour or so … 18 months won’t fit her for ages so I frogged it and re-started the 12 month size which may or may not fit her right now. We’ll find out on vacation.

This morning I made my “granola” recipe that I’ve been making for decades and forgot to add the honey which makes the granola more like muesli … it’s not chunks at all, it’s more like loose cereal. I’m sure it’ll taste fine and it’s got less sugar. I also made a batch of blueberry muffins. I may make another dozen tomorrow because the family goes through these like crazy and they will stay fresh in the freezer if they don’t eat them right away.

Dear hubby has been to the dump, mowed the lawn and is napping. This is a perfect chance for me to do a little bit of stitching. Have I talked about the special quilt I’m making? More to follow.

Gone stitching (not sure if with knitting or sewing needles).

A Very Good Day

Posted on September 1, 2023 by Queen Bee Knits

The picture was really taken on Tuesday but it looked just like this today, too. It’s been a couple of gloomy gray days with some sprinkles of rain. It’s all good. We needed it. The gardens are happy for the water and I’m happy for a couple of days to stay indoors and get some house stuff caught up.

Today has been a lovely day. No meetings until 5pm so I had the day to get stuff done that I choose. I had a shower and washed my hair, caught up on watching a couple of my podcasts, and I finished up a few knitting projects.

I started and finished two pairs of super bulky mittens for sale. These are from some Malabrigo Rasta yarn that I found in my stash. I won’t knit much with super bulky yarns because I prefer lighter weight yarn but these will be warm weather gear for someone and they’re really pretty. I love the colorways that Malabrigo dyes and the yarns, being 100% Merino wool, are so soft. I’ll be posting the mittens on my Facebook and Instagram pages soon. For this moment, they’re on my cutting table drying having been washed and blocked.

I’ve also finished #22 completely and gotten #23 up to the collar ribbing. I have not blocked 22 but I’ll get to that this weekend. Once the collar on #23 is complete (it may happen tonight), I’ll begin #24 – the last, final, finishing, endmost, ending … you get my drift. This has been a long time coming and I am delighted to be wrapping up this years long project. I also look forward to hanging them up this year and will do so after Thanksgiving.

I also wanted to show you the new branch that is coming off one of my orchid plants. These plants are loving living in Maine. They live in the corner of our living room with indirect sun but bright light and they’re flourishing. As you can see at the bottom right corner of the photo above, one of my other plants (the one that we carefully moved from N’s mother’s apartment after she died and then moved from Florida to Maine) is already in bloom and has been blooming for months. We had one HUGE stem that became so heavy that it snapped off. This is a second branch that’s blooming now. And I just cut off the passed bloom from the one that is going to bloom again. I’m floored. I used to think I had a black thumb because I always killed plants. Seems they like me better – or perhaps I’m learning.

Gone knitting.

Happy Medicare Birthday to Me!

Posted on July 27, 2023 by Queen Bee Knits

These three were the best birthday gift I could have asked for.

After a hellish ride from NYC to Maine on Saturday, we had a wonderful four days together filled with memory-making activities and lots of snuggles and smiles. Good food, blueberry picking and lobster dinner, lots of firsts – first open-handed clapping, first lobster, first trip to Maine, first swim in the lake, first lake water bath in the yard … and so many happy memories made.

I’m so grateful to my kids for coming up and to all the family and friends who called, emailed, messaged me on social media, etc. It was a great day to become 65! (Holy shit, how am I 65?) We were talking over the course of the week about age and it occurred to me that I am older than my father was when he died and I am about as old as my mother was when she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease. How lucky am I to be as healthy as I am at “my age”! I sure don’t feel so old and that’s perhaps a testament to good genes and a happy, full life.

Aging is denied to so many, I’m grateful to reach these milestone birthday and hope to reach a bunch more! I have a lot to look forward to … first steps, another wedding or two, maybe more grand babies and more daily photos from the porch.

I have maybe knitted 25 stitches (no, I really mean it, 25 stitches!) since they arrived and I’m not sorry at all. My hands will be happy to knit again now … or after the laundry is done.

Gone knitting.

A Special Gift for a Special Kid

Posted on July 2, 2023 by Queen Bee Knits

Today our first Day Lily popped. We wait and watch for them all spring. Some days it feels like you can actually see them growing because they grow so fast. But they stay green for what seems like forever. One day one pops open and from that point it’s anyone’s guess.

Today I wrote two newsletter for work. One for tomorrow and one for the week that I’ll be at camp for my sewing retreat. Next week I’ll write another two. I’m learning how to plan ahead and write newsletters that will be scheduled for days that I will have something better to do.

I spent the afternoon knitting in my studio and I am so happy to have finished a special gift for a very special person. When I last saw this kiddo she looked like this:

Laine on the right at Woodlands Elementary eight years ago

When we still lived in Florida, I was the clinic assistant at an elementary school in Longwood, It was my neighborhood school so i could walk or ride my bike to school. I supervised the “health” of about 500 kiddos in pre-K through 5th Grade. These two kiddos were some of my favorites. I saw Laine twice a day and sometimes more. Needless to say, over the course of a couple of years, she and her family became very special to me. We all worked together to keep Laine healthy.

Fast forward eight years and I got a graduation announcement from Laine’s mom. She’s grown up over the years and is now a beautiful young woman. We’ve exchanged Christmas cards every year so I’ve seen Laine grow up but I was shocked to see that she was graduating from high school. I put the announcement on the fridge and knew that I wanted to send her something to commemorate her graduation but I wasn’t sure what I wanted to send. So I gave myself a bit of time.

One day I knew what I wanted to send her. I texted her mom and we had a sweet exchange as we used to have eight years before. I had to giggle when I heard that my text came up as the clinic at Woodlands all these years later. To give you a bit of background, it’s important for you to know that I did a lot of sock knitting when I lived in Florida and when the clinic was quiet, I used to knit. I can’t tell you how many kids asked me if I’d knit something for them. My answer was always emphatically, “no!”

To date, I have knitted for two kids: a hat for Caden and a pair of slippers for Laine. But I knew that a good gift for Laine would be a pair of socks. Socks were something the kids always wanted me to knit for them. I was unwilling to start a precedent needless to say.

But for Laine’s graduation … this I could do. She will be attending University of Florida next fall and I knew that the school colors (orange and blue) would be in her socks. And I also knew that I couldn’t see her getting a lot of use out of socks that were too warm so I decided that a pair of low socks would be a good idea. And then I found the pattern on Purl Soho’s website: Pom Pom Socklets. I had bought several colors of Zitron Trekking Sport sock yarn on clearance at the yarn shop and two of the colors were blue and orange. I had a plan.

The first sock was knitted with an orange cuff on a blue sock. Since the socks are so short, I got this baby finished in just a couple of days. Then I had to decide about the second sock. Did I want to make a pair of identical socks or did I want to have fun? I voted (vote of one) for fun and cast on a blue cuff. I would knit the body of the second sock in reverse of the first.

I think these socks are so much fun! I can see them peeking out of sneakers at a football game or another sports game. Ha! Ha! The last bit of this pattern is that they have a pompom at the back like the peds I grew up with. I got out my pompom maker and made an orange and a blue pompom. Trimmed them up, attached them to the socks and …

I’m loving them! They’re fun and youthful and I hope that Laine gets as much joy out of them as I do. She’s a very special young woman and I am absolutely certain that she will make a difference in our world one day soon.

Pattern: Purl Soho Pom Pom Socklet; Free pattern on the Purl Soho webiste (find the link on Ravelry.) Yarn: Zitron Trekking Sport which is actually a fingering weight yarn. I own a bright green, charcoal gray, orange, blue and a raspberry colorway. Great colors. How appropriate that I had an appropriate blue and a close orange colorway! I love these socks! I’ll be knitting more of them for sure. Needles: US 1 1/2 DPns. Size made: US shoe size 7 or 9 1/4 inch long foot. I made the third size (cast on 64 stitches.)

Gone knitting.

Lane’s Island Pullover (part 1)

Posted on June 27, 2023 by Queen Bee Knits

This weekend we went to Marblehead, MA for a couple of days to visit with our family there. It was wonderful … and we even saw the sun! We hadn’t packed well for sun, though, since the weather report said it was supposed to be rainy and in the low-to-mid-60s. But we survived and were revived by our visit with my brothers, sisters-in-love, nephews and niece, great-nephew and friends there, too.

I’m working my way up the front of my Lane’s Island Pullover by Lori Versaci of VersaciKnits. I took some artistic license with this pullover because I loved the style and shape but I don’t love me in stripes. So, I eliminated them. I’m knitting the sweater in the “white” (more natural) colorway of Berroco Remix Light. As a result of my choice to nix the stripes, it’s a rather “boring” knit because once past the ribbing, it’s all stockinette stitch to the armhole decreases. And then more stockinette to the shoulder decreases. Which, frankly, in my harried and hassled state of mind, has been a blessing.

The part that I find so incredible in this pattern (so far) is the way Lori added the pockets into the front of the pullover. It is a miraculous design, brilliant! I’m not going to share how she does it because you should buy the pattern to learn it yourself, but suffice it to say that I am so in awe of it that it’s kicking my butt into high knitting gear. I can’t wait to finish the front and start the pockets.

The stitch holder, by the way, if you’ve not seen them yet are The Knitting Barber cords. They’re silicone “straws” that your needle tip fits into snugly and you pull the stitches off the needle and onto the cord. A brilliant knitting tool.

I’ve been working exclusively on this sweater so that I can get it finished by the time I go to “sewing camp” in early July. I hope I make my deadline and if not, so be it, it’ll go to camp with me for when I need a brain break from sewing. I really do want to finish those pockets and see how they’re done.

It’s another rainy day here on the lake. I’ve had two lake association meetings already this morning. Catching up from being away. I’m watching a pair of loons preening and stretching their wings from my office window. A spectacular view when one has to be working!

Gone knitting.

The Longest Day – Knitting Marathon or a Good Cause

Posted on June 20, 2023 by Queen Bee Knits

Yesterday was my Longest Day knitting marathon (and fundraiser for the Alzheimer’s Association). The actual “longest day” is on Wednesday but it’s difficult to commit to knitting from sunrise to sunset on a “work day.” So … the Longest Day team that I am on, Anne Budd’s team, decided that Sunday was the day to knit. And knit we did.

I had decided to work on the mini jumpers designed by Arne and Carlos because I’ve been working on completing the collection for what seems like forever. Two years at least. I’ve now completed 1-19 but two of them still need the ends woven in and seams sewn. I’ll get it done, I promise. I really want to get the knitting done so that we can use them as an advent calendar this year.

I did manage to finish the knitting on 19 despite the fact that the second sleeve had to be frogged and reknit because I got distracted and didn’t finish one round (and started the next round a needle ahead.) I think that happened when I took my husband out for lunch for Father’s Day … Father’s Day also fell on Sunday and I HAD to do something fun with him. His kiddos live far away so it’s up to me to make Father’s Day feel like a special occasion. We went to Belgrade Lakes and visited the Farmer’s Market and had lunch at Belgrade Lakes Seafood. I brought my knitting and I made my mistake while we were waiting for our food.

I had every expectation that knitting all day I would make more “progress” but I am pleased to have gotten one mini jumper completed (and today I wove in the ends and seamed the arm to the body.)

I raised over $800 for the Alzheimer’s Association, too. I am committed to doing what I can to combat Alzheimer’s Disease because of my mom. The photograph here is of my mom and four of her grandchildren. She now has six grandchildren and one great grandchild.

This was the first summer that I knew something was wrong. Mom made the mayonnaise mix twice for her famous potato salad. She forgot her purse when we went to the grocery store. She forgot to take off the emergency brake and drove until the something smelled hot in the car. There were more little things that pointed to a problem but we thought it was just normal aging. And life was really, really busy.

This was the beginning of the sad story where we had to find caregivers for mom because she couldn’t take care of herself. She would forget her wallet and realize it after she pumped the gas, she forgot tennis dates and appointments. She couldn’t remember how to feed her cat. She needed help showering and getting dressed. She needed help.

Mom was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease shortly after this photo was taken. She was diagnosed about ten years before she passed away. She died in 2008 at the “ripe old” age of seventy-six. She had been “gone” for several years; unable to communicate or walk. The once robust, athletic, vivacious woman had dwindled away bit by bit over the ten years post-diagnosis. It was truly a blessing when she passed.

I hope that by knitting from sunup to sundown one day a year that I can make a little difference for Alzheimer’s research funding and that a preventive measure will be found so that in my lifetime there will be people who don’t have to watch their loved on disappear as my mother did. I know I’m not alone in this wish and am grateful for the many who supported my efforts this year.

Gone knitting.