Queen Bee Knits

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

Musselburgh and WIPs

Posted on September 2, 2025 by Queen Bee Knits

We got up early this morning and spent a good two hours watching the lake. Highlighted by the baby loon and his/her parent feeding right in front of the house. The lake was totally smooth for a time. And it was so quiet. A breath of fresh air after a busy summer and a busy Labor Day weekend.

I spent a chunk of it making a sample for the store. I chose a Yarn Snob Worsted weight wool in the Times Square colorway. Mostly because we have no samples of Yarn Snob knitted up. And, being worsted weight, it was going to knit up more quickly.

This hat pattern is wonderful!!! I’ve made one before but I had to remind myself how to do the pinhole or Emily Ocker’s magic cast on and I knew that i particularly liked Jen Arnall-Culliford’s method which is simple and doesn’t require a crochet hook. Just a pair of DPNs. (Ultimately you need a set of 4 or 5.) I really liked the Yarn Snob yarn and this hat will be a modern sample for the shop in an unexpected yarn. I made the toddler size because that is what the yardage allowed for. I loved that the colorway was named after a NYC landmark that happens to be in the heart of the theater district and my kiddos are all employed in the arts in New York City. So a nod to Times Square added a smile to my face. When the winter sets in, I’ll reclaim the hat for my granddaughter.

I spent the past couple of days working on my Vanilla Sweater by Corrine at The Wooly Thistle. I may have said this before but the color is what I fell in love with and I “had” to buy the kit. as happens with almost every simple pattern I attempt, I am struggling to read my knitting – it’s either the light in my atelier or my aging eyes or both combined with the heathery yarn but I can’t see the increases well enough so I’ve been thinking back and reknitting now and again. But I’m getting there and am almost to the end of the increases. I am up to over 300 stitches around so the rounds take a minute. I’m knitting on gauge so I will be excited to see how it fits.

I’ve also been working away on one of the critters in Louise Crowther’s book Animal Friends. I bought the yarn a few months back for three of these animals and I’m beginning with Noah the horse. It will be a gift for my daughter who loves horses. It’s fun to knit but a little bit hard on my hands because it’s knit at a tight gauge in teeny needles. So the stuffing doesn’t show through the stitches, of course! I’m making good progress. Two legs to go and the outfit and I can sew it all together.

I had nearly completed the garter stitch section of my All About the Ruffle shawl. Over 350 stitches on the needle. and I just didn’t love it. So, today I frogged it and it’ll be something else, probably a tee shirt. So boo and yay. Boo that I frogged all that work but yay that it’ll be something that I will love.

I was gifted and also grew some giant zucchini and I’ve been trying to use it up before we leave for vacation. I’ve got some chocolate zucchini muffins in the freezer with a loaf of zucchini n bread. Today I made banana zucchini muffins. Hubby seems to think they’re all for him. Ahead of vacation? Yeah, right. He’s been informed.

If I can’t get it all baked before we leave, it’ll go into the freezer all shredded and portioned into 2 cup bags. I have a lot of frozen bananas, too. I’ve not been baking enough apparently.

We are enjoying the last days or weeks with hummingbirds before they head south. I haven’t seen any male hummers recently and they had off ahead of the female and juvenile birds. So the rest will be heading off soon. We will keep the feeders full for those passing by for a few weeks.

The garden is still giving us food. I picked the first Delicata squash. There are more coming. Tomatoes are coming along too. Peas are still growing and we hope we get fruit before the first frost. I picked most of the lettuces because they were about the bolt. Our garlic is dried and cleaned and ready to store away and use. We need to grow more again next year.

I’ll be taking my Murmuration socks on vacation with my Vanilla sweater and some “purple sparkly” Encore worsted for mittens for my granddaughter and a blue bulky pullover (pattern by Knitting Pure and Simple) in superwash wool. I’ve got two grands to knit for now. Best get going on the tiny knits!

Gone knitting.

Saturday – Peace on the porch and a little knitting.

Posted on August 30, 2025 by Queen Bee Knits

I have had a lovely, peaceful morning with my coffee and yarn on the porch. I got up without an alarm, took the dog out, fed the dog and took my coffee out to the porch. It was pretty gray and we even had a little sprinkle of rain. Since then, I went up to my atelier for my yarn and I’ve been sitting here drinking my coffee and knitting and listening to the sounds of the lake. The sounds of home. Hummingbirds chasing each other away from the feeder, ducks quacking by, the train passing heading south, and the splash of an osprey right in front of our boathouse (coming up with empty talons.) And now the sun is coming out and the bees are buzzing in the cat mint.

I’m working on my Vanilla Sweater by Corrine at the Wooly Thistle in Rauma Garn Finull. I fell in love with the color of this yarn and had to buy it. No regrets here. This is a wooly Norwegian wool and I can already feel it softening up as I work it. I’m struggling to see my stitches though with the heathery wool and I’ve had to go back several times when I increased where I should not have. My attention span seems to be challenged right now. Lots going on, hubby away, boss away, the world on fire and I may even need a better light by my knitting chair.

Musselburgh in Yarn Snob “Times Square” colorway

At work we have decided we need some more contemporary samples. I said I’d knit a Musselburgh hat and brought home a hank of fingering weight Yarn Snob yarn with neon pops of color. And then I thought about all the things I have going on and brought it back. I chose, instead, a hank of worsted weight yarn snob. There was enough yardage to make a toddler hat and the. I looked at the name of the colorway and that clinched it. I’m knitting this for a sample and then when it gets colder I’m taking it for Sylvie to wear in the city.

I always have to remember how to cast on with the Emily Ocher’s cast on but I found a Jen Arnal-Culliford turirial and got it done. Yesterday, this hat was a good thing to work on while I was teaching and I made some good progress.

The crown Emma’s some random pooling and now it seems to be striping. It’s all good and it’ll be done soon enough.

I’ve also been working on my shawl, All About The Ruffles. I’m nearly to the full stitch count on the garter stitch section. I wish I had figured out how dull the garter stitch section would be and skipped this project. I sure hope the ruffle section makes it worth while. the “Harbor” colorway in Emma’s Yarn Practically Perfect Sock is lovely and this year is really lovely to work with. I’ve not taken any pictures because a garter stitch triangle is not very exciting but there will be some coming.

I snuck in a Knitting for Olive yarn order before they stopped shipping to the USA. I’ll be knitting one of their designs, too, for the first time. The Wilson sweater has a Henley feel without the buttons and with a collar. I need a black sweater and I think this one is classic and can be worn with our without something underneath. I’m really going to have to invest in a better light to knit with black yarn. (I also have some black linen to knit a sleeveless top with. I love black clothes, I cannot lie.

My SISC continues with Murmuration. Another pattern from the Sock Project book by Summer Lee. I may have already posted this photo but I repost it because there is a mistake here and the photo pointed it out. I’ve since frogged it back and added another (third) eyelet round to the third lace pattern. Good grief. My brain! My focus is definitely struggling with all that’s going on in the world. I am looking forward to our Rhode Island vacation next week and am planning to tune out and turn off social media for a few days to see if that helps my brain to focus. It’s all good in the end but good grief, I’m supposed to be an “expert” and a knitting teacher. I get frustrated with myself when I make such rookie mistakes!

I picked three cherry tomatoes and my first Delicata squash today from the garden. they say that Delicatas are ready to pick when they have stripes and you can’t easily break the skin with pressure from your fingernail. This one is there. I think I’ll have to cook it for supper tonight to see how it tastes. I also have cups (and cups) of shredded zucchini to use and will get it grayed, freeze some of it and bake with some of it. Plan is to make some zucchini bread, some chocolate zucchini bread and maybe a chocolate zucchini cake to take with us to the beach. Yum. We still have e some tomatoes on the vines and a few more delicatas coming along. Lettuces and kale are going to be picked today for salad with my supper.

I guess I’d best get myself moving. I have a bank deposit to make for the store before noon and then I can drop off the banking stuff at the store. The boss is back Monday and I no longer have the responsibility of banking. I had a bowl of granola this morning so I may stop for ice cream on my way home for lunch. More knitting will be worked into my afternoon.

Gone knitting.

A Bee-Utiful Day!

Posted on May 15, 2025 by Queen Bee Knits

Today was a beautiful day! I had the windows open this morning and they’ve stayed open all day … it’s even warm enough to turn off the heat overnight and leave the windows open. I spent a good part of the day cleaning up in my atelier. We found sugar ants, the little tiny ones, in my atelier a couple of days ago and they’ve popped up every evening. Today I figured I needed to give the floors a good vacuum and then wet mop them in case there was something attracting them (i.e. food). So I moved the furniture and knitting bags out of the way and got to work. It turned into a day like the If You Give a Mouse a Cookie story …

Once I had vacuumed the atelier I thought, why not vacuum the guest room and the bathroom. Then I wet mopped the atelier, the bathroom and part of the guest room before I started running out of steam. BUT I didn’t stop there because I had to trim the quilt I’ve been working on for our granddaughter’s bed at Yaya and Poppy’s house. Next up was putting everything back in its place after the floors had dried and taking all the tools for cleaning back downstairs. I did a load of laundry – the towels and rags and my knitting bag that had been dragged hither and yon to California and back and to Denver and back through four airports and on trains, planes, busses, and cars. It’s my most used bag and it was gross!

I sat down to knit after getting dressed and ready for my school board goal-setting retreat and board meeting … I had to frog a few rows of the lace trim on my Little Tern blanket because I made a little mistake but it’s lace and it’s easier to frog it back than to try to fix it. I’ve now fixed it and realized that I made a mistake way down near the end. Since I will surely be the only one to see it, I am not pulling it out again. I will finish the required repeats and finagle the last couple of rows so that the stitch count will be correct and I can finish the edge. It’s such a lovely blanket. I am loving knitting it as much this time as I did the first time I made it. I was absolutely right to order the extra hank of yarn.

I have woven in all the ends on Sylvie’s purple cardigan and it’s blocked and drying. I have some mixed buttons that she chose for the sweater and once it’s dry I will sew them on and the sweater will be ready to head to New York City in the fall. It looks huge!

I haven’t picked up my Wicked socks lately and I haven’t worked on any other projects. I’ve been pretty monogamous with the blanket and the cardigan. I am going to cast on the tams for my customer next in order to get them done for her. She’s paid me for them and I don’t want to forget them … and they’re relatively quick to knit. I may take one to work on Friday when I teach and I’ll bet I can bang it out.

I need to sew the binding on the quilt next, too. This weekend I hope we can get the shelves attached to the wall and I can paint her “room” and then I get to go shopping for her mattress and sheets. I have bought some stick on wallpaper “birds on a wire” and I plan to knit a light-up heart, too. It’ll be tiny but it’ll be hers. I still need a wall-mounted bookshelf and a wide gate so she doesn’t wander and fall down the stairs at night. This will be her first experience out of a crib. I hope it doesn’t backfire. There will be more pictures coming as I make progress.

And tomorrow it’s back to work again. The store has been busy enough and I do love the customers who come in and challenge me to help them with knitting questions and with choosing yarn for their projects. They keep me working! It’s a “normal” week so I am in tomorrow and teach Friday and then I’m off again until the next week. I actually have some “free” days on the calendar … but don’t tell anybody. I will be going to Costco for provisions and some new bath towels.

Gone knitting.

PS. The before …

WIP Wednesday

Posted on February 5, 2025 by Queen Bee Knits

It’s a beautiful blue bird day here on the lake today. I have had a slow morning, a late wake-up after a middle of the night interruption by the smoke detector battery at 3:30am. I’ve been on meds for my sinus infection for 24 hours and hope to feel like a new woman by tomorrow. (No worries, right?)

I’ve been working away bit by bit on my Jelly Roll Blanket and yesterday came across a very pleasing combination of colors. I tried to take a photograph of them but it’s not coming out very true so you’ll have to just trust me. When I can knit outdoors again, maybe I can get a really good photo. Ha! I still have a basket and more of bits and bobs of fingering weight yarn scraps so I am planning to keep going. Maybe I’m half-way there? I knew this was going to be a long-term project.

I’ve picked up and am just finished grafting the seam on the headband I’m making for one of my daughter’s friends who is like another one of my kids. He’s an avid runner, even in the winter in New York City. For Christmas, I made Sheldon a pair of fingerless mitts for running in his signature shade of blue. I had an extra skein of the yarn and offered to make him a headband or hat. I decided on Petite Knits’ Weekend Headband which is a 1×1 rib, cast on with live stitches so that they can be grafted at the end. I made a mistake at the point of the cast on without realizing it until I was ready to graft in 1×1 rib and realized I had live stitches from the cast on that were all knit stitches. Hmm. What’s a knitter to do? I certainly wasn’t going to frog and begin again. So, my answer was to knit a round of stitches and graft them in regular Kitchener stitch. While the graft doesn’t look bad, it would look MUCH better in rib but since it’ll be on the inside of the headband, I think it’s passable. The headband is soaking now and will be blocked and sent off. I made the smaller size because he doesn’t have a big head. I hope it’ll work. I still have more yarn, just in case.

Meanwhile, my daughter has also asked for a new headband so once I’ve finished another project on the needles, I’ll have to find a pattern for hers. AND finish her sister’s fingerless mitts. Since I’ve been under the weather, I haven’t had the headspace to work on them.

My Winter’s Finery shawl has taken some backwards steps. I thought I had finished the lace through the last chart row and something didn’t line up. I frogged a few rows to see if I could fix it and just kept needing to go back again. So, finally, I decided just to go back to the start of the lace and start over and this time I won’t knit the lace while watching the final few episodes of Outlander. (If you haven’t watched Outlander, you’re really missing something quite wonderful. Part time-travel, part love story, part historical fiction, I have really enjoyed it.)

I started my “Bang Out a Sweater” sweater on January 31 and then it stalled. Seems I have all of my US 6 needles out in projects somewhere. I’m not sure how that could be but it seems to be true. SO … it’s sitting and waiting for me to finish my Winter’s Finery shawl or get the store for work tomorrow and buy an extra needle (or two). I can’t believe I have no US 6 needles that will work for this sweater. I will work on the shawl today … and if I can get close to 11 rows of lace knitted, I’ll finish the shawl first. If I don’t, I’ll buy new needles. Don’t tell my husband. Ha!

I have a sweater’s worth of so many yarns in my atelier. A rust-colored organic merino, a navy blue worsted wool, sport weight grey (with a red for some contrast/pattern), and an orange felted tweed and complimentary orange lace weight silk mohair. What do you think of an orange cardigan? I’m not getting a lot of knitting done this week because I don’t feel well, but I may have to cast on another something … the two hats for my client, the headband for my daughter. Something that doesn’t take too much headspace.

Gone knitting.

A Case of the Tuesdays

Posted on January 21, 2025 by Queen Bee Knits

Today began as other days have begun … with a colorful sunrise across the lake. This morning’s sunrise was a “chilly” zero degrees (they say we made it to -2 overnight.) When I opened my atelier blinds this morning there was condensation on the inside of the windows which means it was really cold outside. Even by our Maine standards.

Yesterday there was another sunrise.

Yesterday was Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in the US and a president was inaugurated in Washington, DC. I chose to focus on MLK Day because he was a positive, truthful man who cared about all people being equal. He was also a minister, a faithful servant, a God-fearing family man whose son and family continue his legacy. They want MLK day to be a day of service and are, in fact, “doubling down” on asking people to serve others. I believe in service to others. I believe in education and the arts and I believe in caring for our planet – leave the campground better than you found it. I will spend the next four years giving back – volunteering and teaching, setting an example.

Yesterday I chose to turn off the TV and stay off social media. I’m still thinking about the “Metav-erse” and whether or not I am going to leave it. I’m thinking I won’t … regardless of their ownership and philosophy … or lack thereof. Instead, I took care of some female health stuff and had a bone density scan in the morning, came home and cleaned up the house, did some laundry, cleaned a bathroom and straightened up my studio. I also watched a couple of podcasts that bring me joy and worked on my Jelly Roll Blanket. I’m making progress toward finishing the fifth strip!

I’ve decided to change my approach to this blanket as I’m not making a significant enough dent in my leftover sock yarn bin. SO from here on, I’ll be using two strands of bits and bobs (some of which I have nearly a whole skein) held double. It’ll change the look a little bit but I’m going to try to treat it as a fade … light colors first and darker colors later. This blanket will likely adorn our granddaughter’s new bedroom nook in my sewing studio … which I’m also creating in my mind. We will be making a trip to IKEA in Massachusetts to buy a “junior bed” and mattress and maybe some other goodies for her spot … she’s going to be too big for a pack and play crib this summer!

I worked for a bit on my New Year’s cast on project, Winter’s Finery by Rosemary Hill (Romi Designs). I had to frog back a few rows because I saw a mistake in the center spine that I almost certainly made on Friday when I was teaching and talking and knitting. Yes, I still make mistakes. Lots of them. Anyway, I frogged back and then knitting on … and I’ve now passed the point where I had been when I started frogging. Knitting takes patience and persistence, that’s for sure. This yarn is making me so happy and I’d like to do nothing but work on this project but …

I also worked on my Christmas socks and got the heel turned and the gusset is almost done … I think I have two more rounds of decreases before I can just knit knit knit to the toe. I love the way this WYS sock yarn is working up and it feels good in my hands, too. I did find a dropped stitch waaaaay down from where I was working. I’ve hiked it up a ways but will put it on a holder (here a pink lightbulb stitch marker) and will pull it back to the inside of the sock and weave it in at the end. It would make a ridge in the sock, I think, if I were to pull it all the way up. Those little stitches on US1.5 needles with fingering weight yarn make it difficult to pick up stitches. It’s ok, though, these are for me. I added a stitch on the instep needle to compensate for the dropped stitch so we’re all good.

I did not work on my fingerless mitts for my daughter yesterday. I will today. I have gotten into the charts and they’re starting to look like something. This pattern has five charts to follow. Two of them (the first and last) are just one stitch each. Not sure why they couldn’t be tacked onto their neighboring charts, but whatever … I’m getting it done and I think they’re going to be really subtle and really pretty. I have been wearing my Lumos “boob” lights to brighten up the black yarn and that really helps my “old” eyes. I wouldn’t knit with black yarn for just anybody, that’s for sure!

I did sew yesterday. I found a tutorial for a quilted journal cover for a composition notebook thingy and I know I have had some pre-cut strips that I won ages ago … so I pulled them out and had a look and decided to try to make one for my bullet journal that I use as a calendar/planner/record-of-all-things. And that’s what I spent my afternoon doing. I revved up the old Bernina and got sewing. Since my calendar isn’t the same size as the cover the tutorial made, I had to wing it and that was a learning experience but it’s all good, I did it and it fits my book. It does make my book fatter which I may decide I don’t like. But for now, I’ll try it. I added ties to keep it closed (I would have made these be a piece of elastic if I could have found some. I couldn’t … so, ties it is. My book this year is blue (I choose a particular color each year … last year was orange, the year before was pink …) and I chose blue fabric even if I don’t LOVE this fabric, it does the trick for now. I may be going to the office store to buy a composition notebook to see how that works in comparison to my hard-cover book. BUT today I’m going to rearrange furniture, clean out a few bins and knit.

Gone knitting!

(I can’t seem to find the source/artist who designed this wonderful image but I wanted to show you what I think of when I write this at the end of every post. AND since I live on a lake, “gone fishing” is the normal retort for most lakeside residents. Not this one, though. I like the giggle I get when I think of gone fishing and gone knitting being one and the same … or not.)

WIP Wednesday

Posted on January 15, 2025 by Queen Bee Knits

My amaryllis is in full bloom this morning as it has been for a few days. I’ve been ignoring it despite its beauty and it probably needs water. I’ll get there, I promise. BUT it’s a glorious sunny day today and I don’t have a meeting until 2 so I thought I’d take a few minutes to write about WIPs (Works In Process, Muffin). I have several and a couple of FOs, too.

I’ve finished a couple of projects and one has been sent off already. I finished the pink sparkly blanket for my granddaughter’s baby, Baby. She requested the color and the “spahkly” and what kind of a grandmother would I be if I didn’t knit what she really wants?! Ha! Ha! The blanket should arrive on Friday and I hope I get to see her open it. Thank the heavens for FaceTime!

I have also finished knitting two tams for a long-time customer, Judy. I think I’ve knitted twenty of these tams for Judy over the years. The pattern is no longer available on Ravelry (not sure why, but I had to reach out to the designer for a copy as I’d cleaned out my paper patterns in favor of electronic copies on Ravelry. Thankfully, she was kind enough to email me a copy.) Anywho … the hat is the Quick Lacy Slouch hat knit, this time, in Berroco Vintage Chunky. One black and one a dark navy blue. They’re drying as I write after wet blocking.

The little red square is a sample for the store for our Valentine’s knit kit. We will have a crochet kit, too, but I am not a confident crocheter so one of our other “girls” has made the sample. I’ll put them together this week at work. Tomorrow.

Last, but not least, my daughter sent me a stocking that was made for her ex-husband and I’ve removed his name from the stocking and some evening soon I’ll be adding her dog’s name to the stocking so she can still use it. This was a kit by Accessories Unlimited.

Not really knitting but I also finished a puzzle this week. I was sent this for Christmas and while I don’t get the gaming part of the puzzle, it was a challenge to make and has an extra bonus – when you finish the puzzle you switch the three sections around and there’s an extra section to build. It was fun and I got a sticker that says …

OK, it’s WIP time.

I’ve got a Hoodola on the needles. Using stashed yarn by Berroco, a discontinued yarn, Inca Gold. It’s a DK weight combination of merino and silk so it’s really wear-it-next-to-the-skin soft. I didn’t swatch for it so I hope I have enough to cover my huge noggin. I do have a skein or two of a dark green if I need it for the cowl or the cinch. It’s a very clever design with an applied icord edge and a seamless cast on that starts at the top of the crown of the head, if that makes sense. I missed one of the decreases on one side so I’ll have to remember to add an extra decrease at the end to make the stitch count right.

I still have a pair of Christmas socks on the needles. I’ve finished one sock and have begun the second … working my way down the leg of the sock. This is my go-to project if I am walking on my walking pad or in a meeting because I really don’t have to look at it for the most part.

My other WIP is my New Year’s cast on which is Winter’s Finery by Rosemary Hill (Designs by Romi). I love her shawls and this is a special skein from when I went to Knit City in Montreal and the dyer is a friend of a friend. The colorway is perfect for this shawl. You’ll see!

Other WIPs that I haven’t really done anything with for a while are as follows:

Honestly, the only ones I really should count are the ones I plan to knit and that’s the first two. The pink mittens I bought the kit for the embroidery at Knit City and I’m not enjoying the embroidery … it’s way too fiddly. BUT I’ve gotten too far to go backwards, I think, so I’ll finish the embroidery on this one and will likely NOT embroider the second mitten. I do want to wear these because the color is lovely. (I don’t really NEED a new pair of mittens, but …) Second is the gift bag that I am knitting as a swatch for a class that I took in Shetland colorwork and color choices, in particular for that style of knitting. I loved the class but I haven’t begun to make progress on the project. I really need to pick it up … but the holidays weren’t a time when I had the head space for stitch counting. Now I think I’m ready.

I’m going to frog (rip it, rip it!) the next two. One is the sweater I wanted to knit in a 3T size for my granddaughter for next winter. I’ve adjusted the needle size and the sweater is coming out too small so I will frog it and work on it later in the year. I have the same yarn in pink, too. AND I’m going to frog what little I’ve done on the Three Season Cardigan that I started ages ago. I love the yarn but it’s a bugger to frog. Regardless, it’s been sitting on the needles for too long and I fear for my tension. Frog I must.

In the queue are a couple more (mind you, these are all in project bags around my atelier and they’re starting to bug me. So I have to make some tough decisions. All wound up and ready to start is a Cardoon by Isabell Kraemer in two shades of purple. If I would just cast this on and get through the yoke, it’d be a quick knit. Alas, I haven’t. Next is a new idea, Bang out a Sweater month is February so I found this great orange (ginger colorway?) yarn and I want to bang out a Bolin cardigan by Norah Gaughan which I will cast on on January 31. I will finish it in February. I will! Next up is a pair of fingerless mitts to replace my daughter’s favorite pair, Chivalry Mitts which have a “L heart T” on the gusset. The T is gone now and she needs a new pair for her new life wherever that leads. She’s doing really well and I’m so proud of her. These are a priority. The yarn is currently sitting on my desk. Next, I have yarn for a hat or headband for my daughter’s friend, Sheldon. I made him mitts for his early morning runs for Christmas and he’d like a hat. He’s a very knit-worthy person (and he “stole” the socks I knitted as a wedding gift for his husband when they divorced because Sheldon loves his hand-knit socks.) On my windowsill is yarn I pulled out of my stash to make a gnome. I’ve bought the pattern and it won’t take long but it hasn’t been a priority so it still sits on the windowsill. AND not pictured is Doris. She’s hidden away in my cabinet, mostly finished and just not put together. Poor Doris. One day, Sylvie will love to have her to play with and I think Doris will like being played with. She’s naughty like that. Doris, that is.

Gone knitting.

Snow Machines have quilted the ice-scape – out my atelier window this morning

Tuesday Report

Posted on January 8, 2025 by Queen Bee Knits

It is a bit chilly today. When I woke up at 6:30am it was around 10 degrees and will only get up to 22-ish. I’ve been thoroughly enjoying a day to myself today. I spent the morning having coffee and relaxing as usual, cleaned up the kitchen and emptied the dishwasher, got dressed, and after my hubby went to work I started by Christmas puzzle. Turns our my puzzle attention span is very long because it was 3pm before I stopped and went upstairs to do some work.

It’s been a good start to the week. I got some baking done yesterday and my dear hubby made vegetarian chili at my request. I’ve decided that I don’t love meat much any more and I’m exploring vegetarian eating. I’m married to a guy who needs meat at every meal and who does the majority of our cooking … it will be interesting.

I baked some pecan rolls. These are wonderful because they don’t include any yeast so they’re quick and easy to make. No waiting for the dough to rise! The one thing I do is I don’t mix the toasted pecans in with the filling because it’s more difficult to spread. I spread the filling and then sprinkle the nuts on it and roll away! The recipe is Easy No-Yeast Cinnamon Rolls (New York Times Cooking). When it’s just the two of us, we don’t put the frosting on until we warm up a roll or two and then frost them … warming up frosted cinnamon rolls makes the frosting melt away. These are delicious!

I’ve been working on a couple of different projects. Yesterday I spent a good amount of time on my Hoodola by Laura Nelkin. I”ve gotten about a third of the rows knitted and I had to put it aside to eat a few Doritos so I picked up my New Year shawl, Winter’s Finery by Romi Hill. I had to go back before I went ahead because I had made a mistake on the spine somehow and decided that I couldn’t live with the way it looked especially since it’ll be at the top of the shawl. Frogged back a few rows and the reknit it. I even made a little bit of progress.

The lobster hat chart is complete and I’ve moved on to the sea weed chart for the crown. BUT before I started the crown I put the stitches on a strand of yarn and gave it a little bit of a steam block so I could see how they’ll look when finished. I’m happy to report that they’re going to be fantastic! I put the stitches back on my needles and continued knitting.

Today I spent hours working on my Christmas puzzle and then had to pay bills and my new walking pad was delivered so I had to try it out. Next I’ll be ordering a standing desk and I hope I can write these posts while I walk … preferably without getting hurt.

Spectacular Saturday – Coffee on the Porch

Posted on May 25, 2024 by Queen Bee Knits

What a beautiful morning! We spent the morning on the porch with our coffee and there was just enough of a breeze to keep the mosquitoes away. And a bonus visit from my college roommate who’s in the area to attend Colby College’s graduation. I pulled a few weeds and have spent the last couple of hours or so in my atelier writing a newsletter for the store and getting organized for the week ahead. We have no particular plans for the Memorial Day weeekend but we hope to take our first boat ride in two years this afternoon.

The third time’s a charm. My Hermione’s Everyday Socks in the deeply stashed TOFUtsies yarn are done. Done! I have no idea why I had such a challenge with these socks. I’ve made so many pairs of socks for myself and they always fit. These just didn’t. The first sock I finished was too long. I frogged it back and reknit the toe … too short. Frogged it again and added a bit to the foot and knitted the toe and it (finally) is juuuuust right. The second sock was not a problem and as of yesterday afternoon, I have a pair. Good grief.

I still don’t know what the problem really is. I have my foot measurement that I’ve been using for years as 10 inches. So, I knitted to 8 inches for the foot and added the toe. Should have been perfect. What did end up being right was knitting the foot to 7.5 inches … I KNOW my feet didn’t shrink. Could it possibly be the fiber content of the yarn? TOFUtsies is a blend of 25% soysilk, 22.5% cotton and 2.5% chitin (from shrimp and crab shells and 50% wool. Can you see me shrugging my shoulders? I’m stumped. But they’re done.

I repaired my college roommate’s sweater and hat and have sent them back and I finished the little Zip Up a Baby Sweater. The two former items have been mailed off to Michigan and the sweater just needs a little something for the big brothers to go with it to Colorado. I’m getting there. You can read about these projects in my previous post.

Yesterday I worked on my “Longest Day” Emotional Support Chicken – I’ve promised to send one to one of the people who donate to my Longest Day fundraiser in June. I’ve promised to knit from sunup to sundown in honor of my mother who died in 2008 from Alzheimer’s Disease. My mother was a vibrant, active, involved mother, grandmother and friend to many. She loved animals, children and tennis. When she was still quite young, we started to notice that she would make the dressing for her potato salad twice, or she was buying her morning coffee (because she couldn’t remember how to use the coffee maker) and other little things. She was diagnosed in her mid-60s with Alzheimer’s. It was a devastating blow to all of us as we watched our mom withdraw into herself. In October of 2008, mom passed away. She was 76 years old but she’d been gone for ten years. We were all robbed. So, in her honor, I knit for a day and hope that the funds raised will find a cure for Alzheimer’s Disease once and for all so that no other family has to struggle like we all did.

She is going to be a beauty!!! I’m knitting her with two yarns with purple as the main color. All the details are on my Ravelry project page.

I’ve also been laundering sweaters and need to get the hats and mittens going … it’s that time of year to clean up and store the handknits for the summer season. Moths or their larvae love to feed on the dead skin cells that hang out in our wooly items. I have been really lucky that we have not had an infestation … yet. It takes me several days of lovely weather to get the hats and mittens done and several more for our sweaters but it will get done and I’ll start today.

Next week I’m off to my brother and sister-in-love’s house in Marblehead, MA for a few days. I’m on grand-mothering duty while Sylvie’s mother is working in Boston. She’s performing with the Boston Pops on Wednesday and Thursday in a show called from D-Day to VE Day. I’m sure we will all be ready for our normal lives to begin again post babysitting but we will also have the fullest hearts and lots of new memories. I hope we’ll have some beautiful weather like today so we can play outdoors!

Gone knitting.

A Quick Story

Posted on May 16, 2024 by Queen Bee Knits

Last night I decided to try on my first sock. That was not such a good idea because it led me down a rabbit hole. The sock, Hermione’s Everyday Sock by the Crazy Sock Lady (it may be my new favorite sock pattern), was too long. What was I thinking when I knitted the foot/toe? I wear a size 9 1/2 shoe and that means I knit to 7″ and then do the toe decreases. For some reason, I was thinking that I needed to knit to 8″ … and you know what that means, right? The sock is too long by an inch!!!

So, frog I did.

I pulled out the needles and pulled and wound up the (now) extra yarn so that when I reach the correct length, I can re-knit the toe. And then the “hard” part is to find the right stitches for each of the three needles. Luckily, the pattern repeat for the sock is 4 rounds and I could tell where the pattern started so I could easily find the top of the foot stitches and get them on the needle. Which left the other half of the sock to be divided onto the two remaining needles. Now, all I have to do is knit the toe. AGAIN!

One would think that after knitting several dozen pairs of sock that one would not make mistakes any more … and one would be wrong. This is how expectations lead to negative thinking and I started to beat myself up with “what a dope” and “dummy” … but as I realized what I was saying to myself, I stopped and remembered that I simply made a mistake and it’s all good. We all make mistakes, even experts, and I gave myself a pat on the back for catching the mistake before I tried to wear the sock.

I thought it looked long. I tell others all the time to trust their gut. I will remember to listen to my own good advice and trust my gut.

Gone knitting.

WIP Wednesday

Posted on April 17, 2024 by Queen Bee Knits

As Mister Rogers would say, “It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood!” We woke up to lots of sunshine and even got to have coffee on the porch until the breeze picked up – the breeze off the water is still pretty cold.

I thought I would update you on my knits, my WIP Wednesday post, so to speak. As I type, my Braided Cable Handle Tote is in its second very hot wash cycle. The first cycle was pretty close to felted but I could still see stitch definition so I’ve put it back in for round two. I didn’t think I’d want to have a pink purse but the yarn was a gift and the pattern was free so … off I went on Eclipse Day 2024 with a new project to cast on. It’s a simple enough pattern to knit and the cables add some interest to the stockinette stitch in the round. If I had the ability to be regimented and to keep track of my hours knitting, I’d know how long it took me to knit. BUT I don’t have that gene so I’m going to guess it took about 8-10 hours to knit? That would mean if I was going to even think about selling these and paying myself a “fair” wage (Maine minimum wage is close to $15/hour) I’d have to charge, for my time, $120-150 for this bag. Because this was gifted to me, the cost of materials is 0 but normally, two balls of 100% wool yarn would be somewhere in the area of $20-25. So, when I add the cost of materials to my time the bag now becomes $140-175. AND if I wanted to line it with fabric, that cost goes up again. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I’d be willing to pay that for a felted bag … I’d love to hear what you think. But my feeling is that I won’t be knitting a bunch of these for a craft show any time soon.

I’ve also been working toward completion of my Oorik Tank Top. Last night I completed the first of the two arm hole ribbing. It was a tight circle to knit with my 5″ needle tips but I did it and began to weave in all the ends on the inside of the vest. I am totally patting myself on the back for the knitting on this vest. It looks pretty stinking great! Today I haven’t decided which project will get my attention first but this Oorik tank is one possibility. It’s so close!

I worked a bit on my raspberry-colored socks, too, yesterday. I’ve gotten to the end of the second sock and have a few more rounds before I can graft the toe and say that these are done. I really love the color of the socks and I really hope the person that I made them for loves them and wears them. Often when you gift someone something they don’t wear them OR they don’t care for them. I’m giving up that bit of “control” and hope that they’ll be cared for and worn … that’s the best I can do. Next on the needles for socks will be some self-patterning yarn that I’ve been hauling around with me forever. I think I may make one of the Crazy Sock Lady’s patterns. The yarn is a cotton blend and pink and white … I’m noticing a pattern here. Haha.

I have begun the first thumb on my Fiddlehead Mittens but they’ve not been touched for a while. This should only take me a few hours to finish and then the mittens need a knitted lining … I haven’t knitted a lot of mitten linings but the ones that I have knit are not perfect and I hope that my “practice” on the last couple of linings will make this lining the best one yet. I still haven’t decided what yarn I will use to line the Fiddlehead Mittens but I will use yarn from my stash. And I am reminded that the Maine Yarn Cruise will happen again this year with some big changes, apparently. There will be an online component (I think the passport will be virtual or print-your-own) and I know my LYS, Yardgoods Center, will be participating. It runs from July 1 through Indigenous Peoples Day in October. There’s a website!

I pulled out the bottom ribbing and a couple of inches of my Sunset Highway sweater at least a couple of weeks ago and it’s been sitting on my ottoman for all that time on a stitch holder. I have to try it on to see if I’ve frogged it back enough (and I haven’t tried it on yet) and then re-knit the ribbing. I’ve also got to work the kinks out of the leftover yarn so that I can reuse it which means spraying it with water and stretching it on my swift or washing it and letting it dry on my swift. Update: I just tried it on and I think it needs to be frogged back another couple of inches so that it will be about this length when I reknit the ribbing. Or a little bit shorter. I have to check out the pattern since I finished this sweater so long ago to see how many inches of ribbing it asks for (and see if I agree.) Once the body is finished, I may have to do something with the sleeves, too. I’m not sure I like the heaviness of the dark red at the “cuff”. Hey, a pattern is only a guideline, right?

I still have a few things that are still on my list of things that need to be finished and I’ve had an “order” for another Emotional Support Chicken and for another Ruby the Mega Ray. I had an interesting experience shopping online with Michaels … I ordered safety eyes for the chickens and yarn for three rays … I was sent one set of eyes and got an email that part of my order was being sent (another set of eyes and half of the yarn.) I also got an email that my order was cancelled because the yarn was out of stock … but it’s still listed for sale on the website. So … when I called Michaels to ask if I had more stuff coming, the customer service rep was nice enough with a little snark and I may have to return all the yarn because I have nothing for the underside of the rays … unless I want to start over again and try to order a different belly color. AND then I have to wait again to see if I get any of the yarn I order … to be determined.

I had begun another sweater wayyyyy back when and then it has sat idly by while I did other things. I do want to make this sweater if I can figure out where I left off and can pick it up again and my stitches are consistent after all this time. I may begin again … the sweater is the Tree Seasons Cardigan and I absolutely fell in love with the yarn used in the pattern and I was able to buy ten balls which is exactly what I need to complete the sweater. I hope I can lengthen it a bit but I don’t want to run out of yarn either. I have a long way to go until I figure that out. This is a heavily cabled cardigan and it will be my project that requires me to sit by myself in a quite room project. At least initially while I learn the pattern. I want to get it done so I can wear it in the fall which means that I’m going to have to pull it out soon.

I want to start Susan B. Anderson’s bunny rabbit with a sweater pattern. Yarn is in a project bag in my studio waiting for me to finish just a few of my WIPs so that I don’t feel too guilty starting something new. Ha!

Gone knitting.