Queen Bee Knits

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

Musselburgh in Pink and Charcoal

Posted on January 4, 2026 by Queen Bee Knits

This is the first time I’ve “written” 2026! Happy New Year! I’ve ushered the New Year in with a cold kindly gifted to me by my hubby. I’ve been feeling pretty zapped energetically and haven’t done much other than knit. (Is that a good thing or a bad thing?)

I’ve been working on three WIPs and specifically wanted to write about my Musselburgh which has been a yarn challenge. I started off with a pink yarn, Hu Made Twist fingering weight in the Sakura Petals colorway that I bought in New York City last winter. I matched it with a strand of Berroco Aerial silk mohair in the Strawberry colorway. It’s a wonderful blend. BUT despite thinking I’d make the entire hat in the pink, I ran a bit short and had to figure out a second color to finish the hat. I went to my stash and chose a charcoal gray alpaca blend and started to knit. About an inch or two in, I thought I should have added a strand of mohair to this as well … but I didn’t have any dark gray or black … at least I didn’t find any for a bit. So I worked on my Gansey Afghan.

AND then I found some black mohair when I was cleaning up a little bit. It was left over from my sparkly City Lights Hat and hidden away under my needles. So, I added the mohair in and started knitting again. I had about two inches of charcoal alone and a line where the black mohair began but I was ok with that. The hat is for me AND the brim of the hat will be folded over hiding the gray. But last night I ran out of black mohair. Now I have some choices to make. I either buy a new ball of black mohair and continue knitting OR I knit a bit with what’s left of the pink and then finish with gray alone (or buy mohair and knit with 2 strands at the end.) I’m bummed because I really wanted to get this hat finished this weekend and should be able to if I had the right yarns in my stash. This is where knitters get in trouble.

My other choice is to frog back and take the black mohair OUT of the hat and reknit in the gray only. I’m thinking this is what I am leaning toward. One of my goals is to move yarn OUT of my stash and not add to it this year. Little bits and bobs are not what I want hanging around in my atelier. The lazy me wants to just keep knitting but the knitter me is not happy with the piecemeal method of making this hat work. And, frankly, it’s not really working. And, more honesty, I am also not happy with the gray at all. I’d rather be working with a brown or rusty brown yarn because that’s what the flecks in the pink yarn are. So, I think my first job today will be to frog the gray – at least back to the beginning of the black mohair – and see what happens.

I put all of my stitches on a barber cord and used my needle to pick up the right leg of every stitch all the way around just a row or two above the “line” where the black mohair meets the gray alpaca and then frog all the stitches back. and Ta! Da! I’m back at the spot that I THINK I want to knit from again … that is if I decide to keep knitting in gray.

And just so you know, I’ve finished the first of my hubby’s Christmas socks and it fits! That’s always a very good thing. Today the plan is to cast on the second sock today. So, for now I’m going. to set the hat aside and work on the sock … or the afghan. I’m trying really really hard NOT to cast on something new until I finish just one thing. I need a first FO for 2026!

Gone knitting.

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.

What a Week!

Posted on April 17, 2022 by Queen Bee Knits

I’ve accomplished precious little knitting this week and I feel like I’m not sure which way is up. This photo was taken from our front porch on Wednesday which was my day off from work but was eaten up with lake association business. Being the president this year is a big job and the busy season is kicking up and we are vacating our office space, too. Lots happening, for sure. And my boss is away for three plus weeks and it’s spring vacation from school so two of my co-workers have also gone out of town, leaving two of us holding the fort … which we can do! It’s just a lot more hours than I’m used to.

I’ve finished the body of my “Patsy’s Traveling Sweater” and am hoping to get one of the sleeves onto some needles today. The sweater is really colorful and fun with multiple colorways of Gina yarn by Plymouth. One of my co-workers wears hers inside out … I’m going to see what mine looks like when I get the sleeves on (and before I knit the collar) to decide whether I’ll wear it on the knit side or the purl side. I may need to reknit the rolled hem on the bottom of the body if I decide to wear it “inside out”. We shall see.

I’ve finished a pair of dishcloths with a Christmas-y theme. I’ve cast on another one to take to my son in New York next week. It’ll be fun to see his face and see if he realizes the reason that I chose this one specific yarn. 🙂

I’ve also finished the first part of the Noro Striped Mittens … I’ve finished the outside of both mittens, the striped part. They’re really pretty and they were fun to knit. I loved the way the designer (who reached out to me on Instagram when she saw my post) worked the thumb so that the color was seamless and matched that part of the mitten. Had I knitted in the typical mitten way, the thumb would have probably been a completely different color. But this way, the thumb looks like it belongs on the mittens. Genious!

I’ve been working on socks for my daughter at her request. I’m nearly done with the second sock and just have to go back to the first one to knit the toe. I didn’t know how long her foot was and didn’t want to make the socks too long or too short. Custom-knit socks should be perfect. I’ve got plans to make a couple more pairs for her once I know she likes them. My sock drawer is full so I have to have other victims to knit for because I love knitting socks. I think I need to make a pair for my sister, too. And maybe her husband. I think they’d like that.

We are going a Spring Sweater KAL at work starting on May 1. The caveat is that you must use a fingering weight yarn for the sweater. We posted the details on our newsletter today and had several suggestions that people can knit. We will do a kick-off on May 1st via Zoom so that our customers near and far can join us.

I bought my yarn this week. I bought some navy blue Berroco Aerial (laceweight mohair) and some Malabrigo Sock in a navy colorway. If I weren’t so lazy, I’d tell you what it is but that would mean that I had to get up from my desk and walk all the way (maybe 6 feet) over my knitting chair and look in my bag and come back over here. Sorry, not happening today. I’m writing this post and then I’m going to go sit in my chair and knit a bit before dinner.

I was in the store two extra days this week and it’s always fun to be there. This week, it was a bit different on Thursday because I decided to get a second Covid booster on Wednesday morning. I was tired and achey by Wednesday night and I went to sleep at 8:30pm and woke up at 7:00am and I still felt like I was tired. My arm was also quite sore – and I heard you should choose your dominant arm … not sure I’d do that again. Thursday I was dragging and it wasn’t busy enough to distract me. Phew! I’m glad I made it. By Friday, I was back to myself, fortunately, and I was good to go Friday and Saturday, too.

I’ve been at my desk sending lake association emails, signing DEP documents to commit to our work this season and now I’ve written my post. I hope that if anybody is reading this that you have a great week. I’ll be reminding myself to slow down and breathe and to squeak time for myself in the moments between. All the details of my current and past projects are on my Ravelry project page. I’m lindar on Ravelry.

Gone knitting.