Queen Bee Knits

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

Spider!

Posted on September 7, 2016 by Queen Bee Knits

Spider Hat

When you live out in the woods of Maine, you have to wear a bright (neon bright) orange hat around the periphery of your yard and down the road when you get your mail. It is ill-advised to go outside bare-headed. Because hunters.

One of our friends has a large piece of land and often, though their property is posted (No Trespassing signs all around), they have hunters with guns in close proximity to their house. So, to be smart and wear an orange hat during hunting season is just something we do. (We also put a bright orange collar on our dog!)

Last winter I bought some bright orange … hunting orange … yarn. I made a quick hat for my husband because he’s out more than I am and walks the dog a couple times a day. I put the yarn for my hat and one for a visitor in the stash … but it’s getting near time to wear our orange hats again. With all the nice hats I’ve made for him, he wears the bright orange one most often. Go figure!

The pattern is called Spider Hat it’s a free pattern from Kitterly. It has two yarn weights (worsted and DK) and is quite a fun knit. I am knitting with Encore Worsted yarn by Plymouth Yarns in color 479. It’s the only REAL hunting orange yarn we had in our shop (and I had to wait for it to come in last year.) There are two kinds of spiders to make and I’ve tried both in this hat. The “easy” spider body was made first and the “bobble” spider body was made second. In the next hat, I’ll do only the “bobble” spiders. They’re so much more wonderful!

It’s going to be fun to wear. Way better than the one we bought for five bucks at Christy’s that popped off my head fifteen times before I got to the mailbox!

Gone knitting.

Sockhead Hat #2 … My Way

Posted on May 14, 2015 by Queen Bee Knits

The love of my life has no hair on his head. It never occurred to me that these men who are folicly challenged need a hat even when it seems warm to me. His little head is cold. Who’d have thunk it!?

I’ve knitted several hats for him and some with greater success than others. His current favorite is a beautiful silver-gray worsted weight cap. It’s perfect … when it’s a little cooler than it is right now. So, he needs a lighter-weigh hat. We’ve looked at many (MANY!) patterns and pictures and we’ve settled on a “shorter” less-slouchy version of the Sockhead Hat by Kelly McClure or a one-color version of the Scraptastic Hat by Jane Tanner, both free patterns on Ravelry.

We also went through the sock yarn in my stash (remember, I’m on a serious yarn diet!) and found a pretty red/blue/purple Cascade 150 Paints Sock Yarn (Bordeau Blend – out of stock in most places – Color #9768 Lot #1454). It’s a lovely soft merino and nylon mix (75%/25%), it’s washable and I’m positive it won’t be itchy. And the yardage is fabulous. I think I may still be able to get a pair of short socks made after the hat is finished or a pair of fingerless mitts.

My Maine friends were surprised to see me knitting a hat with sock yarn but they’re thinking winter hats and I’m knitting a spring hat. Men without hair have special needs!

Gone knitting.

A Hare Pair (Rabbit Hat by Jane Terrza)

Posted on March 21, 2015 by Queen Bee Knits

I have had this ball of white-ish yarn (Oasis Farm Fiber Mill “Bunny Yarn”) in my stash for years. It’s tried to be a scarf a couple of times and, subsequently, frogged. I had set it aside because I didn’t know what it wanted to be. Until I saw the Rabbit Hat by Jane Terrza on Facebook one morning a couple of weeks ago.

I have two adorable nieces in northern California and I just HAD to make the Rabbit Hats for them for Easter!

I used the following yarns from my stash for the hats: Oasis Farm Fiber Mill Classic Bunny in white. I had two skeins that I wound into one huge cake. I used about half of the two skein cake for both hats. (Don’t you love knitting for children and babies?) I needed something pink for the inside of the ears in a similar weight. I had a skein of Lorna’s Laces Sportweight wool in a very pale pink (pale pink colorway, I think) that I won in a contest for a soapbox package. It was perfect!

First Hat

The first hat was the larger of the two and I made it as the pattern was written with a kitchener stitch graft at the top of the hat and reverse stockinette on the inside of the ears (the pink part).

Reverse stockinette inside the ears

The pattern was easy to follow and the hat is adorable. The hat is knit in the round and the ears are knit in two pieces each from stitches placed on stitch holders. Once knitted, the ears are seamed. Easy enough.

What I found “awkward” was that all of the decreases for the ears were all done as K2tog. It seemed to me that the top of the hat could be more easily seamed with a 3 needle bind off rather than kitchener stitch and be nearly as pretty (and take a lot less time to seam). I guess it will be up to you to decide what you want to do but I wanted to share with you what I did with the second little hat for the baby sister!

Hat 2

I knit the hat just as the pattern was written. (I happen to love a little rolled brim on a hat!)

The changes that I made came in the top seam and the ears.

For the top of the hat, I did a 3 needle bind off. Next time I would turn the hat inside out first but I am not unhappy with the little seam on the top of the hat. I took a bit of time to adjust the stitches onto holders … I had to knit the first six stitches to get the yarn into the right place to bind off the top of the hat but otherwise, it was a cinch!

I knit the ears with a K2tog (knit two together) decrease for a right-leaning decrease on the left sides of the ear pieces and a SSK (slip slip knit) decrease for a left-leaning decrease on the right sides of the ear pieces rather than always using a K2tog decrease as written in the pattern. I think this looks a little bit prettier. I also was thinking about treating the ear as one piece circularly and carrying the contrasting yarn across. I decided to seam them instead to save the yarn. (Hey! I am a Yankee at heart!)

Stockinette inside the ears … by mistake but it still looks cute.

Because it was the second hat, I wasn’t paying attention to the pattern directions and totally forgot about the reverse stockinette on the inside of the ears. As a result, they are stockinette stitch. And it’s fine. Bonus! I find the seaming easier this way.

Since I was using natural fibers, I steam blocked both hats and made sure the pink insides of the ears were “hugged” by the creamy white backs of the ears all around. I think they are adorable and can’t wait to see my little nieces wearing them!

A Pair of Hare Hats … blocked and heading to California!

Which one do you like best? The pattern can be found on Ravelry and is a minimal charge … buy the pattern and support the designer!

Gone knitting!

Working is Ruining my Knitting Time!

Posted on September 21, 2014 by Queen Bee Knits

You may or may not know that I am a “clinic assistant” at our local elementary school. I am the “school nurse” paid on a lower pay scale and not a real nurse. I love the job most of the time and I adore working with the little germy kids. It’s very fulfilling … part mom (boo-boo kisser and ice pack provider) and part therapist (talking to kids with headaches and sore tummies really works miracles) and part EMT … I’m trained in first aid, and AED/CPR. So, if any of the adults decide to keel over on us during the school day, it’s me who is on the front lines. I hope I never have to use my training.

Anyway, I digress …

I came home from my summer in Maine at the beginning of August with several projects in tow. I left several in Maine to come home with my better half when he drives home. I’ve finished quite a few and have been putting off a couple, too. (I seem to want to ignore the color work projects – fingerless mitt and lobster had.) Instead, I’ve started several little projects that have been really fun. One of those is these cute little pumpkins.

Pumpkins!

The pattern is a free pattern that I found because my new son-in-law wanted to know if I could make them a trio of pumpkins. Click here to be transported magically to the website with the pattern! What I love about this pattern is that it is very simple (and mindless) and good for watching TV knitting. You can use any weight of yarn and appropriate needles and get several sizes of pumpkins … I used a Wool Ease super bulky yarn for the biggest pumpkin. The smaller ones were knit with worsted weight wool (Patons Classic Wool). I like the i-cord stems, too … and had some fun making them all a little bit different.

I have since made one more large pumpkin for my clinic (the kids will love it!) and have started a trio for my Chicago daughter. I hope she doesn’t read my blog … that’ll ruin the surprise. Totally.

Gone knitting!

A Secret Surprise Project

Posted on May 5, 2014 by Queen Bee Knits

I have a friend who has a husband who we all love. He’s the sweetest, most thoughtful, most attentive husband that we’ve ever met. And he is totally in love with his wife.

He is also in the retail “restaurant quality” food business and has recently been promoted to Manager of his own store. The store opens in about ten days and I wanted to make him a present … for his “bow tie Wednesdays”.

Rodney’s Bow Tie Wednesday Tie

The pattern is free on the Web. (Click here to be magically transported!)

What I love about this pattern is that it’s quick … it took me about an hour and a half to knit from beginning to end. Well, it may have taken a bit longer for the i-cord, but I did it while I was watching TV so it hardly counts. I used some scraps of Noro yarn that I had in my stash, knowing that he’d want something a little bit “wild”.

I love that within the instructions there are two videos to help you with a new stitch (the lateral braid) and how to knit an i-cord. I-cord is such a fun thing to knit and can be used for so many applications … good to know!

This pattern is made for a dog but can easily be made for a human, too. I didn’t swatch (I know, don’t judge me!) but I decided if it was “awful” that I’d just pitch it. It was a bit too wide so I stuffed the ends into the middle until the tie was the size I thought was appropriate. I finished it according to the instructions and made my i-cord neck piece long enough to go over my head and so he can make it tighten to fit his neck.

It will also come untied but I hope it’s easy enough to fix … and he knows where I live! 🙂

Don’t tell Rodney if you see him!

Gone knitting.

Queen Bee’s Striped iPad Envelope

Posted on January 18, 2014 by Queen Bee Knits

Somebody loves me! I got an iPad for Christmas! Isn’t she beautiful!?

I love my snazzy new iPad. When I’ve taken it to work in my purse or knitting bag, I have worried about scratching the silver back of the thing. So, as any reasonable person would do, I decided to whip up a little envelope to put it in.

Finished iPad Envelope

Into my Odds and Ends stash I went and found some Paton’s Classic Wool that I had in two shades of grey, and acid green and one cream that’s Plymouth Yarn, Galway Worsted. My iPad measures about 9.5 x 7.5 inches and I have the Apple screen cover … I knew I didn’t want to fight to put the device into the envelope every time so I wanted it to be a little bit bigger than that. (And don’t forget when you’re designing something, that you have to take into consideration the depth of the device.)

Left-overs from previous projects … the starting point!

Looking at my yarn ball band (20 stitches=4 inches) and knowing that I knit pretty close to gauge, I cast on 80 stitches on my US 7 16-inch circular needles.

You can use as many or as few colors as you like. I used four colors. If my scraps were smaller, I’d have used more (and I may make one to give away!) Click on the link to download the pattern!

The Queen Bee’s iPad Envelope

I do have a few suggestions that will make your knitting simpler and may also make you happier with the process and the finishing!

1) You can carry the dark grey yarn up the piece because you’re going to use it every three rows. This saves you a bunch of ends to knit as you go or weave in. You can carry yarn when you have three or fewer rows before you’re going to use the color again. But there will be two ends for every other color change so …

2) Weave in your ends as you go. If, when you add a new yarn, you carry the ends of the yarns for a few stitches, you won’t have a bunch of ends to weave in. I’ve written about this in my blog click here! This makes knitting strips SO much more pleasant when you get to the end of your project. Promise!

3) If you are a “type A” and you like your knitted projects to be “perfect”, you’re not going to be pleased with the way the piece looks unless you work a “jog-less join”. It’s an added task to remember when you’re changing colors, but if you think of knitting in the round as creating a spiral rather than row upon row of knitting, you’re never going to have everything line up perfectly when you’re knitting stripes. I’ve blogged about the “jog-less join” before so check it out before you start. I didn’t worry about it and this is what my edge looks like … could you live with this? If so, don’t worry about the jog-less join. If not, give it a shot!

Without Jog-less joins! Not perfect but I’m OK with that (this time!)

So, there you have it! Another knitting adventure with the Queen Bee.

I hope you enjoy this first free pattern! It’s widely known in the knitting community that free patterns are to be used for your own personal knitting and not for your commercial benefit … please don’t sell items made from this pattern. Contact me if you would like permission to use the pattern for anything other than personal use. Thanks.

Gone knitting!

End of the Year. End of the Job.

Posted on May 27, 2013 by Queen Bee Knits

It’s been a whirlwind 50 days as an ESE FCAT Tutor. When I applied, who knew what a wonderful experience it would be!? I’ve joined a wonderful family at Woodlands Elementary School and I’m so thrilled to have been able to work with the students, teachers and staff there. Even for only 50 days.

I have been thinking about whether and what to do about end of year gifts for “my kids” and I decided this weekend to make a few more of Rebecca Danger’s “Bunny Nuggets”. One for each of the kids (and one for my two teachers, too.) A little something to remember me by.

Body Parts

It all starts with knitting the body parts. Quick to knit and I used up a bunch of stash yarn in the process as well. The pattern, free on Ravelry, I’ve given you on my blog before. But they’re so cute, I’m providing the link for you again!

Add faces

When the body parts are all knitted up, you can assemble them. Assembly is easy. Add a little face and sew on the ears. You also have to make a little pompom for the tail.

I don’t have a pompom maker, if you have one, use it. I use a scrap of cardboard around which I wrap the yarn (about 45 wraps per pompom) and then using my darning needle strung with yarn, I tie a tight knot around one end of the yarn. If you wrap the first half of the knot around twice instead of once, it holds more tightly and won’t loosen when you go to make the second part of the knot. Tight knots are imperative when you’re making pompoms.) Trimming the pompom is messy but I love a well-shaped pompom. I made some of mine cream-colored and some multi-colored. Just for fun! The third grade boys all got the same three-color pompom tail … because I wanted them to remember that they are in this world together. Friends should always remain friends.

Pompom Tails on the Nugget Butts

Once the ears, faces and tails have been attached, you can stuff your nuggets. I have used scraps of yarn or quilt batting or cotton balls or fiber fill … whatever I have around the house. Now it’s time to sew up the bottom seam and they’re all done.

Eight little Bunny Nuggets will be packed up and handed off to my eight new family members. Who knew that in 50 days, I’d feel so close to these kids and their teachers. I think being an ESE FCAT tutor was one of the best jobs I could have had. I hope I’ll be able to find something that feeds my heart and soul in the fall!

Bunny Nuggets … ready for the end of the year!

Gone knitting!

Drops Design Tunic 111-21

Posted on May 8, 2013 by Queen Bee Knits

Bet you didn’t know that 21 was my lucky number!

I’ve done some frogging lately … my brother’s birthday socks for the second time because despite the fact that they were on gauge, they were never, repeat, NEVER, going to fit over his big heels! … and also my Boxy Cardigan made from my wonderful Sea Colors Maine yarn because my Yankee ingenuity bit me in the behind. I will rip back a row from now on so that I don’t have to make a join in the middle of the piece. (Or I’ll make a different join. What was I thinking?)

One project that I have not had to frog is my DROPS design tunic. I bought the yarn, Berroco’s Pure Pima (color 2243/due lot 169, 115 yards, 100% Pima Cotton) online ages ago because it was such a good deal and cotton is a great fiber for Florida living. It was also a really pretty light blue that I loved.

One side is done and ready to be seamed to the second side which is on the needles and I’ve made it to the ribbing at the top. The tunic is mostly stockinette stitch and on rather small needles (US 6 and US 1) and then it’s 1×1 ribbing at the top on the smaller needles.

What changing from the 6 to the 1 needles does is make the Empire waistline gather beautifully. The top should be a somewhat close fit and the bottom will be loose and drapey. I can’t wait to have it done because this is the time that I can wear it!

One word of warning. The DROPS patterns are written differently and can be confusing to follow. I normally would say, “Don’t read ahead” but for these patterns (at least the ones that I have made up) I would recommend reading the pattern first and making sure that you have an idea of how the project goes together. I haven’t bought the DROPS yarn to go with their patters (YET!) but I think their prices are very fair and they’ve been around for awhile, too! I’m guessing their products are good, too.

Gone knitting!

Casting On!

Posted on January 24, 2013 by Queen Bee Knits

I’m casting on another new project. I probably shouldn’t be doing it, but I am. So there! 🙂

I saw a wonderful cowl pattern on the internet and just HAD to know what it was. Wouldn’t you know it was a Purl Soho/Purl Bee pattern (I’ve never seen a project that I didn’t like from that site!) called the Fluted Cowl (FREE pattern! Click here.)

It calls for 300 yards of a bulky weight wool. So, into my (beautifully organized) stash I went to see if I had what I needed and, sure enough, there it was. Sitting there looking back at me. Begging me to take it out of the bin and knit with it after all these years. Well, not really, but it sounds good doesn’t it?

Years and years ago I bought Some Jo Sharp Silkroad Ultra in a colorway called “Seafoam”. Five skeins of it. Why five? Because there were only five left and I really liked the color and the hand of the yarn. It was also at least 50% off because the shop was closing.

I’ve made an executive decision to use a US #13 needle because I don’t have the size that the pattern asks for. And since it’s a cowl not a sweater, the gauge isn’t as much a strict rule as a guideline. The cowl will be a bit smaller than the one in the pattern but that’s ok.

First cast on effort (yes, first means that I have had more than one!) was using a long tail cast on. I usually use this method and generally it works if I plan for approximately an inch of yarn per stitch. So, since the pattern asks for 196 stitches, I gave it three generous “wing spans” and then some figuring that my wing span is about 5.5 feet (I counted 60 stitches). Wrong. I got 169 stitches on my needles.

So, on round two, I decided to do a more “sure thing” cast on and used the knitted cast on. If you’ve never done it, it’s really simple.

Start with a slip knot on your left hand needle. Knit into the stitch (just like normal knitting) on the left-hand needle knit-wise.

Insert the right-hand needle knit-wise

Now you can go ahead and wrap the yarn around the back needle and pull it through the “old” stitch. (Good grief, my hands and fingernails look awful! That’s what I get for trying a gel manicure with no intentions to continue to have them done!)

Wrap the yarn around the needle and pull through to create the new stitch

Pull the stitch through the old stitch and you have one new stitch on your right-hand needle.

Here’s your new stitch! You’re almost there!

Now, slip the new stitch from the right- to the left-hand needle and tighten the stitch down. Important note: when you’re slipping the stitch to the left-hand needle, twist your right-hand needle a quarter turn clockwise … make sure your two needle points are facing the same direction and then you’ll be passing the stitch the right way. Don’t just pass the stitch from right to left with the needles pointing opposite ways. I know it’s a bit confusing, but if you try it, you’ll see what I mean!

Now just slip the new stitch back onto the left-hand needle and tighten it up.

Voila! You’ve added one stitch. Now insert your right-hand needle into the new stitch on the left-hand needle knit-wise … and off you go!

You’ve cast on one new stitch. Now just start over again from the first step and repeat for as many stitches as you need for your project.

This way, you’re adding stitches with your working yarn rather than using the tail for your new stitches. This way you won’t get to 169 stitches and have three inches of yarn left for a tail (and nearly 30 stitches short of what is required!)

A new cast on method for you. I now need to go cast on another 190 stitches!

Gone knitting!

I win!

Posted on July 24, 2012 by Queen Bee Knits

The first attempt was a flop. But the second attempt at the Gaia Shoulder Hug was a success! I did it! It’s finished! Yay, me!

Gaia Shoulder Hug (FREE Ravelry download)

And I like it … more or less. I’m not totally loving the Noro Kureyon Sock (which is now discontinued in the United States) colorway that I chose, but I think it will be a pretty piece to wear in the winter with a shirt.

I’m pleased that it’s finished and pleased with it – that’s what matters most.

Gone knitting!