Queen Bee Knits

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

Swatching … for the Levitate Wrap

Posted on February 16, 2026 by Queen Bee Knits

My mother had a Clivia plant when she was alive. When I saw one at the garden center, I had to buy it. I’ve kept it in my atelier, apart from my other plants, because it was covered in that white sticky buggy germy stuff and I didn’t want it to spread. I’ve bathed it a couple of times after spraying it down with water mixed with a little bit of castille soap and that seems to have helped. All of this love and care has finally paid off with a beautiful orange bloom! I’m thrilled.

I’m starting a new project soon and I thought I’d take you on a ride with me through the process. My daughter wants a wrap sweater and she’s chosen the Levitate Wrap by My Favorite Things (Louise). It’s a boxy cardigan with wrap styling. The Ravelry description calls for a DK + lace (worsted) weight yarns held double. Libet wants a charcoal grey or deep burgundy. I sent her an initial choice and she picked the Patagonia Organic Merino yarn with which I’ll hold a lace weight silk/mohair. I started the process, while waiting for more mohair lace to come into the shop, by doing a gauge swatch.

Did you know that most designers add an additional 10% to their yarn requirements for swatching? Thank you Bristol Ivy for that informational nugget. (I think it was Bristol … it may have been Lori Versaci or Stephanie Pearl-McPhee. But I digress … this time, because I don’t have my daughter to measure, I want it to be the exact measurement so it fits her. I didn’t want to take any risks. (More on that later in this post.)

I made my swatch in stockinette stitch as called for in the pattern. I cast on enough stitches that the swatch should be more than four inches so that I can measure the stitches in the middle away from any rolling edges. I didn’t knit a full six inches to measure the rows … I got tired last night after a bit more than four inches and bound off.

I measured the swatch: 16 stitches per inch and 23 rows. Close but no cigar. BUT we’re not finished yet. I have to wet block the swatch to get the bestest closest measurement of what the fabric will be like at the very end after the garment is blocked.

To measure the stitches per inch blocked I stuck a straight pin in at 1″ and at 5″ and counted the rows of knitting between the pins. Exactly 15. And because I was lazy about knitting the rows, I counted the full number I knitted between cast on and bind off and it’s just over the 22 rows. So, I’m calling it perfect – 15 sts and 22 rows is 4″. I’m on gauge.

The next question is, do I like the fabric? When I hold it up to the light, it’s quite open but when it’s flat on a surface, it’s very gray. The drape is nice, I like it. The fabric is soft (thanks to the merino) and the silk/mohair will give it some strength and “fill in” the open spots for warmth. I am very satisfied with the fabric. Now it’s time to wait for the mohair to come in and make sure the lots match color. I can exchange 2 of the 3 balls that I own for six new ones so that there’s no color change in the sweater. I can hardly wait to begin!

Meanwhile, I cast on a new project for the interim.

I’ve wanted to knit the Thistle on the Moor Vest by Carolyn Holbrook. I saw this vest on the Wooly Thistle podcast and I really loved it. It also gives me a chance to knit with another new to me yarn – Lanas Light by Berroco is 100% wool blend of South American wools made in Peru. I’ve been wanting to find a project for this yarn. Wish granted.

I didn’t swatch for this vest for a couple of reasons. First because it’s for me and I can try it on as I go. Second because it starts at the back and then goes to the shoulders and it’s not a lot of time to get this done. I know it’s going to bloom because it’s 100% wool. So, when I measured the stitches once I had a decent amount of fabric, I got 21 stitches over four inches (they wanted 20 for pattern gauge). I’m ok going with 21 sts as I’m pretty sure the yarn will bloom and be 20 inches when blocked. I’m knitting the 4th size with two inches of ease but I can also add a few stitches to the body once I connect the underarms if I’m worried (and I can try it on as I go.)

Theoretically, I would swatch this vest differently than my daughter’s cardigan. Why? Because this vest is knitted in the round where as the cardi will be knit back and forth. To swatch for this, I’d cast on around 30 stitches and knit them then slide the stitches back to the other side, carry a long piece of yarn behind the knitted fabric and knit across again. The strand of yarn at the back has to be long enough so that the swatch will lie flat … so it can be measured. One of these days I’ll swatch in the round and post about it, too. I’ll be continuing to knit this one as is for now. I’m working down to the point where it’ll be joined in the round and then I’ll maybe steam block it to see how it behaves. Yes, I’ll write about it … better than continuing with no blocking if I’m concerned at all.

Gone knitting!

Oops! I did it again.

Posted on February 14, 2026 by Queen Bee Knits

Happy Valentine’s Day! Happy Galentine’s Day! Happy Palentine’s Day! Whatever way you choose to celebrate it, I hope you’re having a wonderful Saturday. My hubby and I have gotten to the place where we don’t do gifts on Valentine’s Day but we will exchange cards and we will find something to do together. This morning we had our coffee together (and a leftover donut from my class Valentine’s celebration) and then we went for a drive. I brought my knitting, of course!

We stopped first at Wild Oats market in Brunswick. I had thought it would be like a grocery store. Not at all. Lots of gifts and books and kitchen-y stuff and prepared foods. We looked around twice and then we chose a frozen lasagna, a turkey tetrazzini and a chicken tiki masala. Each of these will feed us at least one dinner. If we make a salad, we can probably make it four meals. And we had to try their desserts, right? he chose a (mini) chocolate peanut butter pie and I chose a key lime pie (also mini.) Their Iciardi Mini Print Vending Machine was right between the cashier and the dining room. You didn’t have to buy anything to access the machine. I started collecting these wonderful little prints from their mini print vending machines last year in August. We’ve found vending machines in four states so far and we’ve only started to visit the machines in Maine. Today we hit two locations and we took the back roads as much as we could. It was a beautiful day for a drive and we had fun.

Our second stop was at the Maine Beer Company in Freeport. We collected a few more mini prints there and we saw a couple of beautiful Golden Retrievers, too. I told hubby we could stop and he could try their beer flight but he wasn’t eager. So … off we went prints in hand. We have just started talking about what we want to do with the prints and we’ll probably frame some of our favorites for the kitchen, and I’d like to display some in my atelier. I’ve given a few away already and have another one to give to someone special this week. We have a couple of duplicates but they make me (us) happy as is their mission. We’ll be going out to collect more one day soon.

I cast on a new project in the car on the way down. I’ll be making the Thistle on the Moor Vest in Berroco Lanas Light, 100% wool. I bought a tweedy-lavendery-rosey-grey-ish color # 78117. I’ll be making the fourth size. I’m doing this while waiting for some lace weight mohair from Berroco in the charcoal colorway for my daughter’s sweater. I have one ball here that I’ll be swatching with. Needless to say, I’ve brought home two sweaters worth of yarn this week. I brought home some clearance yarn for another Ranunculus, too. I hope I have enough but yardage-wise, it’s the same as the first one I made and it’s a worsted. I’ll play with it later, probably.

After I finished my Ranunculus and my Paper socks, I cast on a pair of Rose City Rollers shorties in an unknown, deeply stashed sock yarn. I quite literally have no idea when or where I bought this yarn. It’s not a color that I think I would have fallen in love with. But it’s here so it’s getting knitted up and the Rose City Rollers is a free pattern on Ravelry. If you’re new to knitting shorties or socks in general, except for the needle size (they’re made on a US1) this is a good beginner pattern and the designer explains her process very well. I’ve finished my first sock and started the second one last night. Yay, me!

The fit is good and the pattern is great. I’ll be making more of these for sure. AND they’re quick to knit. I’m letting my Good Trouble yarn rest a bit in time out while I decide what it wants to be. LOL. Next up on my needles are the vest I cast on today, a sweater for my daugther and a sweater for me. I’m considering a shawl cast on but I’m hesitating because I haven’t been wearing shawls this winter. I’ve been wearing more “scarves” that are long and narrow. I have two in particular that I am loving … one is Brambling by Bristol Ivy and the other is Dangling Conversation in Good Karma Farm yarn. Brambling was part of one of my Year of Techniques classes and featured Fiber Spates yarn and an Intarsia technique. It was fun to knit and I loved the yarn. It just so happens that I found some new colors of the same Fiber Spates yarn to make a second one at a Marden’s clearance sale from a yarn shop. I will knit another one and I’m sure I’ll love it just as well.

On another note, I pulled out my Jelly Roll Blanket again this week when I had a zoom meeting to attend and didn’t have to run the meeting. I just had to listen so I reminded myself what I chose to do for this blanket (the project that will likely last forever and a day) and knitted about a foot more on it. I still have a HUGE basket of leftover balls of sock yarn and it grows every time I finish another pair of socks. I may be crazy but I think this blanket will not use up all of my sock yarn leftovers. I may need another idea … maybe Rose City Rollers for my granddaughter and grandson! I don’t think they’ll care if they match and they can choose the pretty colors by themselves!

I baked a batch of my “famous” granola this week, too. Baking also soothes my soul. This recipe was in a magazine back in the 1980s and I’ve been making it and tweaking it ever since. I’ll never share the recipe. I change it up on the regular. And I have finally learned how to make the raisins and cranberries turn to rocks after they’re added. Yay! Hubby and I will enjoy this for breakfast or lunch with some yogurt or milk. We both love it and it’s so good for us!

Gone knitting.

Saturday FOs

Posted on February 7, 2026 by Queen Bee Knits

The lake is covered with ice fishermen today. They’ve been out since six this morning. Not where I want to be but I hope they’re having a blast. I’ve been up in my atelier happily working away on “stuff” I need to get done: a newsletter for the store, blocking my Ranunculus, cleaning up the messes I left when I was hurrying through the week and watching the men’s short program ice skating at the winter Olympics. I used to love ice skating and one day I’ll pull out my skates and something to support me so I don’t fall down until I get my feet under me.

Ranunculus in deeply stashed Shibui Heichi

I have my Ranunculus off the needles and it’s blocked and drying. I found one spot where I forgot to weave in the ends but I can get that done when it’s dry. I’m hoping that it’s long enough for this “old gal”. The pattern is rather cropped and I knitted it longer than it called for by about an inch but I hope it’s long enough for me. I have a little bit of the yarn left, probably enough to knit less than an inch of fabric. Once it’s dry and I can do a real try-on, I’ll decide what I want to do. The fabric is 100% silk but it’s a linen-y feeling silk, rustic and tweedy. It’s a little bit greener than is showing up in the photograph above but it’s a pale color and I think it’ll be great to wear with white jeans this spring/summer or over a sundress. AND there’s an entire bag of stashed yarn out of my yarn cabinet.

Another FO, too! My 3-year-old granddaughter needed a new scarf. Her baby-sized Sophie Scarf is too small to keep her neck warm. When asked what color she wanted, the answer wasn’t an easy one: pink, purple and blue. So, to my stash I went … and I found a bag of leftover bits of Malabrigo Rios in various colors. BUT all of the colors she wanted were there and some of them were very similar or the same as the colors that are in her Octopus hat. I’ve blocked it, wrapped it up and sent it off to New York City yesterday on the way to work. It should arrive on Monday. I based this scarf on the Sophie Scarf, too. I just increased until it was about half as long as I wanted it to be (about 3 feet) and then started decreasing. I also increased and decreased on the sixth row. I wanted the middle to be a little bit thicker than it would have been had I followed the pattern. It was fun, quick and the yarn will feel good against her neck and keep her warm.

I’m still working along on the Good Trouble Le Bandana and my Paper socks. My daughter has asked me to make her a sweater and I’m exploring yarns for her. I’m also making a second red Melt the Ice hat in a mystery yarn given to me at my LYS. It had a Rios label but I’m pretty sure it’s a washted (it’s heavier and a little more rustic than Rios). I’m knitting this second had on a US8 needle and I hope the size will be better for my head.

There are miles of 1×1 ribbing in this pattern and I am likely to make it a little bit longer than is in the pattern because I know I have a big head. I’ve also been working on a pair of socks but it’s fallen to the bottom of my WIPs pile. I may pick them up today and get the heel flap, heel turn and gusset done. I’ve chosen to do a little bit different heel on these and I have to pay attention to the 4-row repeat so it comes out looking nice. LOL.

I’ve got several ideas for next projects to cast on. I’m waiting for my daughter to let me know what she wants her sweater to be. I’m also waiting for yarn to come back into stock for a sweater for my college roommate. So, two sweaters for others coming up this year. I like the idea of knitting for others but only when they really want it! These two are very knit worthy and it’ll be a pleasure to knit for them.

Gone knitting.

Rabbit Rabbit

Posted on February 1, 2026 by Queen Bee Knits

HOLY COW! It’s February today! We’ve been wrapped in winter here in Central Maine. It’s been the coldest part of the winter thus far with temps dipping into the negative numbers and even the ice fishermen haven’t been coming out but they’re out today! I was at work the last three days and I’m enjoying a day at home catching up with all the stuff I’ve been ignoring – watering the plants, cleaning the air cleaners (is that really a thing?) … you get the drift. It feels good to have “all” the work behind me so I can escape to my studio to clean up a little bit and get some work done at my desk and on my knitting queue!

My orchids are blooming and I want to share them with you. They’re so pretty! I have one more that is working up to blooming but it’s not quite there. Two are in full bloom. I have to remember to mist them daily and they’ll keep their blooms for a lot longer.

I’ve been working on two of my WIPs this week. I’ve made a lot of progress on my Ranunculus sweater that’s knit on large-ish needles and knits up quickly in the worsted weight yarn I chose. I enjoyed working the yoke which is meant to resemble strands of beads/necklaces and then the rest of the body is stockinette stitch. Around and around I go. I believe that I’ll put the body on hold when I reach the required length and I will knit the sleeves before finishing the body. I want the sleeves to be 3/4 length, I think since this will be a summer-y sweater so I want to knit the sleeves to the right length, try the sweater on and then finish the body. I have decided that I don’t love me in cropped sweaters. I’d rather have it a little longer than the designer planned. I think I’ll have enough yarn to make it a couple of inches longer. We shall see.

I frogged back and started my Le Bandana scarf again on larger needles and I’m liking the fabric this time much more. It’s less stiff and I think, especially when blocked, it will drape nicely. The yarn is a collaboration between Lola Bean Yarn Company and Cece’s Wool in remembrance of the civil rights movement. The colorway is called “Good Trouble”. I have also started another pair of socks since I finished my hubby’s Christmas socks. This will be a vanilla sock so the “Paper” colorway can stand out. Doesn’t it look like the ruled paper we bought for school? I’m finished with the leg and am working my way across the heel flap on the first sock. Maybe I’ll spend a little time with this today.

I have officially finished my first sock of 2026. Hubby’s Christmas socks. I’m going to try to get a pair a month knitted from stash. This pair is from deep stash. I do have a bit more of it left, however. Hubby loves wearing this heavy wool yarn in the winter. These are the Thompson River Socks and they were from a magazine way back when. They were fun to knit and kept my crazy brain focussed when I needed it the most last month.

I still haven’t finished my little crocheted car key fob character although I have put it into service. I will get to finishing it eventually. LOL. It’s cute but it’s so fiddly. I probably won’t make another one any time soon.

I also finished my first “Melt the Ice” hat in Malabrigo Rios. It looks tiny but it fits pretty well when I don’t roll up the brim. Because my head is so big, it will eventually pop off my head. The next one I will make on a bigger needle, make the ribbing longer and I may add a few more stitches, too.

I’ve had a request for a purple, pink and blue scarf for my granddaughter. This will take priority for sure since her little neck is getting frozen in New York City. The little Sophie Scarf I knitted for her has gotten too small. I’ve got to go do some stash diving for this one. They like to have washable woolens because she’s apt to drag them around her day care or the streets of New York.

Gone knitting.

Snowmageddon

Posted on January 26, 2026 by Queen Bee Knits

I started this post yesterday, Sunday when the big one was coming! LOL. It has now been here for less than 24 hours and we’ve had about a foot of snow. It’s beautiful light and fluffy snow. As I type this morning, the flakes are getting bigger and, according to my weather app, it’s going to stop early this afternoon. Hopefully we (the royal we) can get some clean up done before it begins again this evening. We’re only supposed to get a couple more inches overnight and Tuesday is supposed to be cold but sunny.

We ran a couple of errands Saturday after we sat through a 4 hour town meeting. Things are still done here the old fashioned way, in person at a town meeting. Full-time residents are invited to participate in the democratic process and vote to approve (or not) the town budget. It was a fairly grueling meeting as our taxes have gone way up over a relatively short amount of time and it seems they’re going to go up more. It feels like the majority of town residents don’t want the services to be cut (we have a library, a town history building, a rec center and a volunteer fire department with very old, outdated facilities) and yet, don’t want to pay more taxes. I’d like to see the town cut expenses somewhere but I can’t really criticize because I’m not involved enough to really know how they operate. I may become more involved.

Anyway, we treated ourselves to lunch at the Red Barn (filled our bellies with fried seafood) after the meeting. It was yummy.

Sunday we ran out ahead of the storm so I could get yarn. I have learned about the “Melt Ice” hat that came from Norway in the 1940s as a silent protest against the Nazi’s occupation of their country. There were enough of them then to be banned by the Nazis in a couple of years! Anyway, the pattern for the hat was rewritten for knitters today and is the top selling pattern right now on Ravelry. We’ve had a lot of customers in the store late in the week buying red yarn and I decided this morning that I have to make a couple of red hats. So my husband and I got into the car to make a run into town to procure some red yarn. I chose a DK Patagonia Organic Merino and a light worsted Malabrigo Rios.

We zipped back home with a stop for a green pepper for our chili for dinner. My plan was to start knitting right away but I ended up in the kitchen baking what I am now dubbing “Snowmageddon Cookies” (aka peanut butter blossoms). They’ll be yummy to nibble on while we watch the snow fall for the next 24 hours. We are supposed to get up to 16 inches of snow over the next 24 hours. The biggest storm we’ve had in years. And it’s also going to be cold all week.

I have fully recovered from my bout with the flu and I am so grateful for modern science and vaccines. It wasn’t fun but it wasn’t as bad as it could have been either. I had a lot of time to knit over the three weeks that I wasn’t feeling well.

I have finished my Gansey Afghan. Yay! And I am so happy with the finished blanket. I am seriously thinking of making another one for us to have (me to have) in my studio. Maybe in orange!

I’ve been working on my husband’s Christmas socks and am making good progress there. I really like this pattern, too, but they’re worked on a smaller needle with pretty heavy-weight yarn so they’re hard on my hands and I can only work on them for a limited time. But I’ve only got one more repeat of the cable pattern before I can speed up to the cuff. There’s a little bit of color work and then I’ll be done! I still love the Raggi yarn so much and wish we could still stock it at our LYS! It makes the warmest boot socks!

I haven’t worked on my Ranunculus at all. I decided to cast on my good trouble “Le Bandana” shawl. I cast on with my sport weight yarn on a US 4 and I’m not thrilled about the fabric. It seems stiff and I’m concerned about the drape or lack thereof. I have more yarn than the pattern calls for so I wonder if I go up a needle size if I’d like the fabric better. I think I am leaning toward giving a larger needle a try. This is Lola Bean Yarn Company’s Soy Bean base in the Good Trouble colorway that I pre-ordered. I love the colors and it will match the red hat!

Le Bandana in LolaBean Yarn Company “good trouble” colorway

I’ve also been working on a new pair of socks. The yarn is so deeply stashed that I’m not sure how long ago I ordered it. Dare I say we were still living in Florida? It’s very possible. I bought the yarn from an indie dyer, The Yarn Enabler, after I bought her Number 2 Pencil sock yarn. This one is her Paper colorway … dyed to remind us of the notebook paper we used in school. I’ve got the first leg knitted and need to choose what heel I’m going to knit. I’m basing the sock on the Yankee Knitter pattern. I use a 1.5US dpn and cast on 64 sts. I’m knitting the leg in stockinette stitch to show off the yarn. Aren’t they fun?

I have also cast on my Melt Ice hat in Malabrigo Rios. The pattern is written for fingering, DK/sport and worsted. I chose Rios because it’s a light worsted, maybe even closer to a sport, and it’s soft. I chose the Ravelry Red colorway. I love the color across all of the Malabrigo bases. I expect it will bleed a bit when I block it. I’ll have vinegar at the ready!

There is six inches of 1×1 rib to begin the hat … I’ll be ribbing for a while!

I have pulled a couple of my hubby’s hand knit wool sweaters to snow wash them. They need it. I’ve never tried to snow wash sweaters but “they” say it works and I have before photos to see if I can prove or disprove the theory. I sure hope it works! I’d be really bummed if I spent time out in the cold and the sweaters were still dirty! I’ll let you know if it happens.

I’ve found a cute crochet pattern for a car key fob holder(?) that I thought was really silly. I pulled some cotton out of my bins of left-over yarn and have very slowly begun to give it a try. I will show you my progress as I make some. I’m not a confident crocheter and I am painfully slow. BUT I’m trying and we’ll see if I succeed!

Speaking of learning, I had an opportunity to teach some new knitters ten days or so ago. One of my friends and co-workers was my super helper because what I thought was six students turned out to be six-teen students. That’s a big group to teach to knit in one hour! BUT together we taught them how to cast on and knit. There are a few in the group who had knitting experience and they will teach further. This group was part of Colby College’s Jan Plan class that’s being taught by my friend Katherine Ferrier. The students will learn to mend, to hand sew patchwork, to knit/crochet and yarn bomb and I may have forgotten something. I’ll be heading to Colby after work on Thursday to see what they have accomplished in their short month-long class. It was really fun to work with Katherine and to see the students pick up knitting. I look forward to seeing their yarn bombing! I love helping new knitters learn to knit – and grateful for Bette’s help!

Jan Plan “Radical Stitches” Class – I hope I got the title of the class right!

I’ve written way too much today but I wanted to get caught up. I’ll leave you with this morning’s post from the porch. It’s so pretty in the snow! The rocks along the shoreline are all covered up! I hope this snow and cold kills some ticks!

Gone knitting!

I Just Cleaned up After “Breakfast”!

Posted on January 18, 2026 by Queen Bee Knits

Things are looking up here on the health front! Finally! I had a shower today, made my own “breakfast” and then emptied the dishwasher and cleaned up the kitchen. This is the first such activity in about two weeks! Yay! My body is reminding me that I’ve been sick and I need to maintain a slower than usual pace, but I am happy to oblige because I finally feel like I’m getting better. The flu is not fun this year, folks. I hope you’re vaccinated and washing your hands a lot!!!

The last two weeks have afforded me a lot of knitting time and for the most part I’ve taken full advantage of it. Although, there have been hours of time spent just sitting and watching stupid stuff on TV. Yesterday I spent most of my knitting time working on the Gansey Afghan. I really am enjoying this project and more than I thought I would. I have made it past the forty inch mark and the final size is designed to be forty-eight inches. I think mine may be more because I’m going to try to use up all of the two balls of yarn I bought for the project. As I discovered, I have a ton of bits and bobs of left-over yarn and I haven’t used them for much. (More on this story later in this post.)

The Gansey Afghan is knitted with worsted weight yarn. I chose two balls of this dark sage-y green that was on sale at the LYS where I work. It’s Hayfield Aran with Wool and comes in 919 yard, 400 gram balls. That’s a lot of yarn. Mine was on sale so it’s was less than $60 to make the blanket. And the blanket is going to be a really good size. The pattern is several “stripes” of textured stitches divided by a 2-row reverse stockinette stitch pattern (the pattern is really more than just the two rows of reverse stockinette). It’s fun to watch the repeats turn out and it keeps the knitting interesting. I have mis-read the pattern in a couple of spots but I just kept on keeping on and have balanced the errors so they don’t stick out. I challenge you to try to figure out where the errors are. I think I’d like to make another one for my atelier next fall/winter in orange. I am loving orange these days. It would also look great in our bedroom or in our living room. We’ll see where it ends up or if it gets knitted at all. LOL. I have just finished the third repeat of the pattern and will knit one more which should use up almost all of the yarn. Fingers crossed.

I’ve not touched my husbands Christmas socks this week and I’ve only worked a little bit on my Ranunculcus sweater but I’ve already written about that. I have procured another beautiful yarn, however. I pre-ordered two hanks of Lola Bean Yarn Co’s DK weight yarn on the soy bean base. (100% merino). The colorway is “Good Trouble” and it’s a nod to the civil rights leader, John Lewis. Sales of this yarn benefitted a non-profit organization supporting civil rights but I don’t remember now which one it was. My yarn arrived this week and it’s gorgeous!!!

Lola Bean Yarn Co., DK weight Soy Bean base, colorway: Good Trouble

I’ve been texting back and forth with one of my Friday afternoon knitting students who also bought the yarn and I think we’re both going to attempt (and see how we like it) the Le Bandana pattern by Aimee Gille of La Bien Aimee. It’s a simple one-skein triangle shaped shawlette. I have a bit more yarn and will plan to make mine a bit bigger so that I use up all the yarn in the one project. (Do you see a theme here?) If I can’t return a full hank of leftover yarn, I want to use it all up!!!

Here’s the story I promised: This weekend one of my co-worker friends sent our triumvirate group the link to a pattern for the most adorable little stuffed rabbit. She’s wearing a dress, a cardigan and a headband and comes with a kitten. And she’s a free pattern. Did I say that she was adorable? See for yourself!

Well, I didn’t want to go buy more yarn if I have some that I can use so I pulled down my two bins of sport/dk weight yarn to have a look. TWO bins of leftover sport/dk yarns. This is what I pulled out of those two bins that I may want to use for the project. The bins are now back in their shelves but still mostly full … some with a sweater’s worth of yarn!) I may have a problem.

The good news is that I did find a wrapper-less gray yarn (at the front) that I hope will work for the bunny and plenty of other balls of yarn to make the garments, accessories and kitten out of. I also have enough to share with Carol if she needs it. I hope we will cast on this week. And I hope the bunny doesn’t hang out unclothed for years like my Dolores did. (I still have clothes to knit for Dolores.)

So, there you have it. I have so much knitting to do that I will leave you here and head off to my comfy chair and my knitting. The question is … do I wind up my Good Trouble and knit my shawlette or continue with the afghan in hopes of getting something finished? Stay tuned for my choice …

Gone knitting.

WIP Thursday?

Posted on January 15, 2026 by Queen Bee Knits

It’s foggy today! You can just see the ice fishing shack that was left out on the ice yesterday. I doubt there are any fishermen out today. The ice in front of our house, at the shoreline, is scary today and I imagine there are other spots, too. But yesterday there were cars and pickup trucks on the ice. What a difference a day makes.

I may be coming out of this flu thing a little bit. I slept last night about as well as I have for the past two weeks. Only one brief coughing jag at 1:45am that lasted about 15 minutes. I’m counting it as a full night’s sleep. I slept until after 8 this morning. That’s a miracle.

I am going to attempt an hour out of the house today. I had promised to teach a mini-class for new knitters who are taking a Jan Plan class at Colby College with a fiber artist friend as their teacher. I’ll have 16 students, ten of whom don’t knit at all. Thankfully, one of my co-worker friends is coming in to help teach/support because learning to knit in an hour is a lot! This seems like a good opportunity with a limited time frame for me to “do” something after two weeks of inactivity. Thanks to this flu bug.

Meanwhile, I picked up my Jelly Roll blanket yesterday for the first time in ages. It had been enough time that I had to go back to my notes to see how I had done it. But once checked, I knitted along through a sweater class with Carol Feller (a year-long class on sweater construction) and a Maine Charter Schools Commission business meeting. I have decided I love the virtual option for meetings and classes. There’s so much you can learn without ever leaving your chair!

Jelly Roll blanket with Carol Feller teaching class

I also worked on my Ranunculus sweater in the evening. I’m making good progress and enjoying the pattern. It’s a neck down construction which will be nice so I can try it on as I go. The yarn is deep stash that I believe I bought in Mississippi at a shop that we found traveling from Louisiana to Florida over a decade ago. The yarn has been sitting quietly in my stash for years. I think I tried to make it into something once and didn’t like it so I frogged it and put it back in my stash. This Ranunculus seems to be the perfect excuse to pull it back out. The yarn is by Shibui called Heichi and is now discontinued. The color is called lichen and that’s a pretty perfect name for the color. I have never been a “green” person but it’s growing on me.

Ranunculus starts with a choice of cast ons and I want the neck of my sweater to be narrower so I chose the provisional cast on. It’s an interesting process learning or re-learning cast ons. I find it’s a cast on that I always forget because I don’t use it very often. And this one was a challenge even on 16″ needles because the fiber is not at all stretchy. I finagled it though and it’s moving along nicely. The sweater starts with a yoke that is described as a multi-stranded necklace and I think that’s an apt description. There are several rounds of lace or textured stitches and then a few rounds of stockinette. The stockinette gives you a break from counting stitches and makes a new blank slate for the next “strand”.

There is no swatching for Ranunculus. It’s written for any weight yarn from lace to worsted (mine is a worsted) and knitted on US 10 needles. I’m intrigued to see how the fit works. It’s meant to be a very boxy, full shape which is supposed to make the swatch unnecessary. We shall see. I don’t want to have 10+ inches of ease so I’m knitting the 4th size that should knit up to be 52.75″ around the bust which is over 8 inches of ease. Enough for me. Stay tuned.

My Gansey Afghan has been sitting idle as have my husband’s Christmas socks. While I’ve been feeling under the weather, I have found that I knit for a bit and then just sit and rest so I’m not getting as much done as I might like considering I’m home all day but I have to remember that I am allowed to just rest.

This morning I finally took the time (and had the energy) to water my orchids. They’re amazing to me because despite being quite nearly neglected for the past 2-3 weeks, they’re all doing well and three of them are ready to bloom!

The photo on the left has two plants ready to bloom one in the front and one back by the window. The front one belonged to my husband’s mother before she passed away. When we moved to Maine from Florida, we brought it with us (in flower). It’s been flowering almost constantly since. The one in the back and the one on the right are “new” plants that I bought on sale at our local nursery. They were past blooming when I bought them and this is the first time they’ve bloomed for me. Yay! I two more orchids not shown; one was a gift from my daughter one year for my birthday or mother’s day and it’s leaves are super healthy but it has no blooms happening right now. The other one is one that was given to my daughter by her agent and I am not holding out much hope for it. It is not thriving at all and I am unsure as to why. My neglecting it may have helped it along but I’ve given it a good soak today and we’ll see what happens.

Gone knitting.

Monday, Monday

Posted on January 12, 2026 by Queen Bee Knits

This darned bug! I didn’t sleep well last night and there is finally a new cough medicine at the pharmacy for me this morning. Hubby will be fetching it soon. Meanwhile, I’m trying to get enough energy to vacuum my atelier which is knee-deep in dog hair. Anybody who thinks short haired dogs don’t shed much … our lab sheds like he’s getting paid for it! I may be allergic to him so I wonder if the mountains of dog hair floating around are adding to my coughing problems. I may have to vacuum in a couple of rounds.

I wish I’d bought stock in tissues! I have been going through tissues like crazy … seriously, perhaps a box or two every day! Is that sharing too much?

Yesterday I worked a lot on my Gansey Afghan. I am really enjoying the pattern and it’s a good, low level challenge for my brain right now. It’s not boring because of the different texture patterns but it’s not a huge challenge either. And it’s really pretty. I have been thinking about making another one for me, an orange one perhaps, for my atelier. We shall see. I do have a long list of things to knit already formed.

I have one virtual meeting today and I managed two loads of laundry yesterday. I had run out of clean pajamas! My hubby changed the sheets on our bed so I’m in compliance with my allergy doc’s advice … does anybody wash their bed sheets every week anymore? I’m allergic to dust mites and even with a new mattress, new pillows and no curtains or rugs in our bedroom, that was her recommendation. I think I need to buy another set of sheets!

This is almost the right color green. I’m not sure why it refuses to photograph well but, alas, it does. Anyway, the directions say to knit until it’s 48 inches long. I haven’t measured the length yet but I think that I’ll knit until about 12 rows shy of the end of the fourth repeat of the chart which should use up most of my yarn before the last 11 rows of garter stitch to end the project. AND end having bits and bobs of yarn left over. The last afghan I made, for my bonus daughter and her hubby, used just over two balls leaving me almost an entire 900 yards of yarn “left over”. Ugh! At that rate, I’ll never not have a ton of yarn. LOL

It’s a beautiful sunny day today and the lake out front is empty of ice fishermen but their shacks dot the ice as far as the eye can see. It’s so quiet here. How lucky we are to be able to live here in this special place at this crazy time in our nation’s history. I’m so saddened by the division and hatred at all levels of our government and locally, often between just the average Joe who has to be feeling the financial hurt that we are feeling. Groceries are so much more expensive and healthcare costs are rising as are insurance costs and real estate taxes. My credit card bills have been on the rise exponentially without buying anything “extra”. I feel very fortunate to have a roof over our heads that won’t require any big expenses (likely anyway) because it’s new enough and we are going to try to rent our guest cottage this summer to bring in some money, we hope, to help with the ever-increasing real estate taxes in our town. We are fortunate, indeed, to be able to afford it. For now. Many others our age, in our community can’t and they’re at risk of losing their homes.

Gone knitting.

2026 – A Rough Start

Posted on January 11, 2026 by Queen Bee Knits

I really thought I had a cold or a sinus infection. My hubby had one at Christmas time and I made the assumption that he gave it to me (he has recovered.) Last week I went to the doctor hoping for an antibiotic to kill the infection and speed my recovery. They tested me for Covid, flu and RSV … and you could have knocked me over with a feather when the doctor came back and said I had the flu – B+. Since I had been symptomatic for 6 days, antivirals were out of the question. We just wait. And cough. And blow my poor nose. And cough. Not how I wanted to start the New Year!

So, I’ve been spending a lot of time at home in my atelier. Watching stupid movies and other shows to help pass the time and knitting.

Yesterday I finished my pink Musselburgh. I really think it’s too big. I should probably have made the large rather that the extra-large. But it’s too late now. I like it better when I wear it with the gray side out because I can fold it over more and make the hat sit on my head rather than being slouchy. But if I’m honest, I’m not in love with it. Boo.

I have been working on hubby’s Christmas socks, too. I finished the first one (and he tried it on and it fits perfectly) and I have begun the second one. These socks are a re-knit. It’s a long story and maybe I’ll tell it one day but suffice it to say that I am doing them the right way this time. LOL. The yarn is a heavy worsted/Aran weight sock yarn by Raggi that my LYS has stopped carrying but it’s a wonderful sock yarn for boot socks! I found the pattern, Thompson River Socks, in a magazine ages ago. The socks are knit at a fairly tight gauge so my hands start to get tired after a few repeats of the pattern and I have to move on to knitting something else. BUT the socks are gorgeous and one of my hubby’s favorites. So, they’re coming along albeit slowly.

I’ve also been working on my Gansey Afghan. To be honest, this may be getting most of my attention. It’s not a difficult knit, the blanket in my lap keeps me cozy and warm, and I am really enjoying the yarn and the different textured stitches. I’ve just finished the first ball of yarn and I have one more. I’m knitting this one with Hayfield Aran with Wool which comes in a 900 yard ball leaving very few ends to weave in and it’s going to be washable. The color isn’t coming up well in photographs though. It’s a medium sage-y green and it was on the clearance table at work. I grabbed it up thinking it’d be for my brother and realized he would never use it … he’s always warm. SO, I have re-thought who will get it and I think it’ll go to my daughter who likes earth tones in her house. I don’t think I’ve made her anything other than socks in forever and I think she’ll like it.

I also cast on a new project to keep me happy. I’m knitting the Harlow Sweater V Neck in a yarn that I’ve had in my stash that was planned for a different sweater. I had planned to make a heavily cabled, cropped cardigan but I don’t have the bandwidth right now to pay enough attention to the pattern AND I am fearful that iI don’t have quite enough yarn to make it. I bought all that they had left … and I hope it’s enough for the Harlow. It should be. I am on gauge and am working down the back. It was an interesting cast on from an i-cord and the picking up stitches across the i-cord and knitting down from there. When it’s time to work on the front(s), I’ll, once again, pick up stitches from the i-cord leaving one stitch between and that will make a pretty “line” across the shoulder. I’m still hoping that there’s enough yarn. Not sure why I’m nervous about it but I am. So far, aside from being a different/new to me cast on, it’s an easy knit and the yarn is really pretty and next-to-skin soft. I’m knitting the Harlow with Concept by Katia Cotton-Merino, it’s a cotton tube with merino fluff blown in. I like the heather-y look so far.

I have purchased a couple of different yarns. Both were pre-orders and both were dyed by Lolabean Yarn Company out of Georgia. I’ve loved Adella’s yarns for a long time and this time I couldn’t resist. The first one has arrived. Grinch sock yarn pair! I can hardly wait to cast these bad boys on. The colors are so grinchy and make me so happy. The second pre-order is two skeins of DK weight yarn in the “Good Trouble” colorway. This was a special fundraising colorway and I “had” to buy it. I’m excited to see it when it arrives and it should be here early next week. SO I’m working on getting my blanket done so I can cast on something else that’s new with my new yarn.

I also have a knitting fail to report. (Not sure if I’m considering my Musselburgh as a knitting fail yet, too.) I knitted a Stockholm Slipover recently and was really excited about it. I loved the look of the vest and I loved the yarn I used to knit it. The color is great and it was in my stash so it was a stash reduction, too. I decided to wear it yesterday and it’s too big. I had hoped it’d be a little bit boxy because I’m not a twig but it’s way too boxy and the underarms are the problem. I have read, since finishing the slipover, that others didn’t add stitches to the underarms and I think that’s the problem. There are too many stitches under the arms which make the arm holes too big and the whole garment looks huge … well, it does if I lift my arms or move. Phooey. I think I am going to endeavor to use my sewing machine to take in a couple of inches on each side. If I sew a seam and zig zag it, I should be able to cut off the extra fabric and wear the garment. If I don’t do something it’ll just sit in my closet.

You can see how the arm pit pops out in this horrible photograph. Sorry, best I can do on my own. So, stay tuned for the results later in the month.

So, there you have it. My new year update so far. I haven’t “done” much around our house, I’ve called in sick last week for work and I hope I don’t have to again this week but I have to say it’s not looking good. We also have a trip planned to visit my aunt and uncle in Reno, NV and then head to Denver to see my hubby’s youngest and her family (and our grandson). We are supposed to travel at the end of the week. I’ve got an email into our travel agent to see if we can reschedule the trip … I’m unsure about what the rules are because I am never sick! It never occurred to me that we’d have to change plans. AND of course we have hotels, car rentals, dog kennel, etc. all lined up in multiple places and of course we were/are looking so forward to seeing the family. I guess if we do have to change our plans, we’ll see them but it’ll be later than we had hoped. Time will tell.

Gone knitting.