Our Messalonskee “TV” station has been providing so much entertainment in the last few days. We heard these two chirping at each other before we found them – it took a minute or two to figure out they were sitting in the tree at the corner of our shared driveway. And there they sat until my DH (dear hubby) had to chase down our naughty, wandering dog. We’ve seen a “critter” swimming by a couple of times and once it dove with a slap of its tail (a beaver). I’ve heard the owls in the evenings again which tells me they’re coming back out of the deep woods. And until this morning we had a couple of female hummingbirds. There’s been a lot of activity on and around the water with cormorants, gulls, loons, ducks and even a dead pike.
I’ve been at work inside finishing projects and just got back from a Target run to buy wrapping paper and tissue paper so that I can package them up and send them off on Monday. I’ll have one to deliver locally in late November but the rest will be fully checked off my list. Yay!
I’ve spoken about the baby hats and matching thumbless mittens. I’ve shown you the French Macaroon and cabled toddler mittens for my great-nephew’s birthday. And today I blocked my Fiddlehead Mittens and I’m tickled pink with them. They turned out beautifully if I do say so. I knit them with a partial skein of Patagonia organic merino by Juniper Moon Farm and a skein of handspun by Clarion Call Fiber Arts that my daughter gifted to me several years ago. I finally found the perfect project for it. The lining is knitted using a hank of yarn that I must have bought at Mardens years ago it’s Classic Elite Yarns, Escape. The Classic Elite company has closed. Despite the fact that these aren’t “my” colors, I love them.
And once blocked, the stitches have evened out and they are simply stunning. I have knitted a lot of colorwork but I love these the most of any. The lining yarn is so soft (I hated knitting with it!) and the little bit of yak in it will make these mittens so warm and cozy.
I have packed up the little Oorik vest, with another little toddler-sized sweater that I made for a workshop that I taught and a pair of the toddler cabled mittens for my darling granddaughter. I have five more packages to wrap and get ready to ship off on Monday. I’m very pleased with myself. This leaves me the Christmas stocking to knit for my college roommate’s grandson and a pair of socks for my brother-in-love. I have caked up my son’s hat yarn and will likely cake up his fiancees hat yarn, too. I believe these will be my last projects for Christmas 2024 leaving me open to start a couple of sweaters that I am itching to knit.
I have several to choose from and that I already have the yarn in my stash: Big Love in Berroco Pima 100, Lane’s Island in Berroco Remix Light, Ouzo in Patagonia (or Wool and Honey), Poet in Julie Aslin fingering from Knit City Montreal, Cardoon in a yarn (forget it’s name) that I bought on clearance at work, Diggory Venn in Lore and there may be a few others in my stash but this is a good start. Ha! Ha!
Aaaaand, on that note, I’m going to sign off and get cracking on the stocking. Think I can get it done in a couple of days? Yeah, maybe not.
The world is getting uglier and I am feeling more tense and anxious. I dislike conflict and I really despise lies and there is a lot of conflict and a lot of lies flying around in America in advance of the November election.
If I ruled the world, PACs wouldn’t be allowed to advertise. They’re the most hateful and dishonest advertisers. Candidates would only be allowed to advertise about themselves; what they believe, what they stand for, what they will do if elected. If I ruled the world, Facebook posts that call people names would be immediately deleted, even if it was calling someone a republican or a democrat, a liberal or a conservative or any of the mangled iterations of those words we’ve come to accept as normal.
To deal with my anxiety, I’ve been following some sage advice:
Knit on with confidence and hope, through all crises.
Elizabeth Zimmerman
Gus in Green
This is my newest grand-dog, Gus. My son adopted Gus and asked me to knit him a sweater because … well, just because I can. I found a sweater specifically for Pugs on Ravelry, Pug Dog Sweater. This seemed a really good place to begin. I measured Gus and knit the XXXS, Sammie Size in a lovely shade of green. Yarn is Berroco Vintage, a worsted weight acrylic and wool blend that is machine washable and dryable. The pattern is a simple and quick knit, especially when you’re knitting a teeny tiny sweater for a little puppy. (Have a gander at the Pug photos in sweaters on the pattern page and you’ll notice that our Gus isn’t a typically shaped Pug.) The green sweater fit around him perfectly IF he isn’t wearing his harness but it’s a couple of inches too short.
So, back to the drawing board I went and knit him a blue version, also in Vintage, in the next size up, XXS. It’s in the mail as we speak and I am eager to see how this one fits. Pictures will follow.
Blue Pug Sweater, version 2
I’ve also been knitting socks like crazy for the 2020 Sock Challenge that we were having at the shop and that I announced to my FB followers. To my delight, some of my FB followers have gotten in on the fun! I’ve just finished my September socks … there are two pairs because I finished the main pair in record time and decided a pair of baby socks in a ball of yarn that I’v had sitting around forever (since before I knew that you needed three balls of this yarn to make an adult pair of socks, perhaps?)
September Socks
The first pair are in Raggi sock yarn. I love this yarn and I love that it knits up so quickly in an Aran weight. These socks are Urban Rustic Socks by Elizabeth McCarten. This is a new to me (free) pattern that used a seeded rib (which I’d never knitted before) and a new-to-me heel construction. It’s a heel flap and gusset but knitted differently than I’ve ever seen. I love that there is no pattern below the ankle because my feet don’t like patterns on them, apparently. These socks come in two sizes, I made the smaller size. I can’t wait for boot weather now!
The bonus socks this month are a pair of teeny tiny baby socks. I had a ball of Patons Kroy Sock yarn in my stash that I’ve been itching to knit with because I only had the one ball. (I also have a couple of single balls of Regia baby sock yarn to use up.) I used my favorite sock pattern for this one, Yankee Knitter’s Classic Socks #29 by Melinda Goodfellow. If you don’t have this pattern, you need it. NEED it! I did my best without sweating it too much – because I am knitting to be LESS anxious, right? – to match the two socks and they’re pretty close. I love this yarn and they’re really soft for baby. I have more yarn and will knit more little bitty socks as time allows.
Hope Cardigan by Amy Christoffers
My Hope Cardigan is once again on the needles … the first half of the sweater, pictured above, is done and I have gotten most of the way up the second arm. This sweater is knitted from cuff to middle twice and then stitched together (don’t ask me how, I’ve not read that far ahead.) I am not sure what I did for the first sleeve, however, and I’ve reached the end of the written instructions for the second sleeve and it’s about two and a half inches shorter than it needs to be. So … today I’ll be having a closer look in the good daytime light to see what I did on the first sleeve so I can complete the second sleeve and move on. This pattern is only available in Making Magazine #3, Dots. These magazines are a bit pricey but they’re so worth it. I love the variation of crafts that they feature in the books and I have made quite a few projects out of them. I’m knitting my Hope Cardigan in the suggested yarn, Berroco Remix Light. I love the drape and weight of this yarn. I also love the feel of it against my skin.
I made a Khamaseen in 2017 with this yarn and I love wearing it alone and with a shirt under it.
Humulus by Isabell Kraemer
I wore my Humulus sweater for the first time this week and I was so excited about the way it fit! It’s going to be one that I wear a lot this fall and winter. I love the colors that I chose and I love the weight of it. I have loved this sweater since I saw it on the MDK March Mayhem pattern bracket back in 2017 (I think.) I loved the colors that the original sweater was knitted up in (yellow and grey are my colors!) but I wanted something more sedate and I wear a lot of blue so … when we got a shipment of Ella Rae Classic Wool into the shop, on sale no less, I jumped and bought enough for the Humulus. I went back a forth a few times with the contrasting color for the yoke but I’m very happy with the blue that I settled on.
While I’m knocking knits off my list, the list isn’t getting any shorter. My step-daughter has requested an afghan for their new house for Christmas in a denim-y blue. A college friend asked me to knit a family favorite Christmas stocking for her nephew’s new fiancee. And I still have at least six sweaters worth of yarn in my stash. I can tell you that once the Hope cardigan is finished, I’ll be casting on my Dissent Cardigan by Andrea Rangel. I have black as the main color and a cream for the contrasting color. I’ll diverge from the pattern, which is written to knit back and forth, and knit this one with a steek. I much prefer to knit in the round if at all possible. I look forward to wearing it and honoring the Notorious RBG.
Gone knitting!
More details about each of my projects is on my Ravelry Project page. I’m lindar on Ravelry. You can follow me on Instragram @QueenBeeKnits and on FB at Queen Bee Knits by LindaWarner.
Queen Bee Knits 