Queen Bee Knits

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

Monday, Monday

Posted on April 14, 2025 by Queen Bee Knits

And here we are at Monday again. It was a short weekend after a very busy week and I’m not sure that one day is enough time for me to recover from busy weeks any longer. I need more down time! Luckily, I have today and then I’m working extra days again this week because the boss is out of town (and will be for almost a month).

On Saturday I taught my first workshop in a couple of years. I think the last one that Glenda and I co-taught was in 2021? The last one was all about Intarsia and this one was all about Stranded Colorwork. I had a large group but it went well and, as usual, there were some who were better prepared skill-wise than others but that is to be expected. It’s good to stretch ourselves and learn new skills – and we have to always remind ourselves that perfection is not the goal. In essence, the workshop has you knit a swatch … there is a charted pattern which was new for some, and there are five colors to use. It was a great class in that they all worked so hard that at 11:55am, I was shocked to see that the class was almost over … and so were they! They were in the zone! I consider that a success. We meet again next week to learn a steek – reinforce the knitted swatch with crochet stitches and then cut the knitting and add button bands (to make a coffee cozy.)

There was one woman in the class who shared the same name (as I recalled) with a woman I went to high school with. She was a grade ahead of me. Turns out they were one and the same. What fun to meet again after all these years. I hope that we can get a group photo next week and I’ll try to take photos of their progress, too.

I thought long and hard about what I would knit next and I’ve cast on a little pair of green socks for my granddaughter. She loves putting on her own socks and she even likes them mismatched. These, I hope will work for her mom who likes to wash and dry … the idea I have may not be conducive to a dryer but we’ll give it a try and see how it goes. I’m not going to share (yet) what my plan is to make these uniquely Sylvie. If it works, I’ll share. For now they’re just little green socks in King Cole Footsie yarn. I use my good old Knittter’s Pride (KnitPro) DPNs in US 1.5 and the Yankee Knitter Sock pattern vanilla sock.

I have also cast on a baby blanket that I hope will be an heirloom for my bonus daughter. I was reminded when I was in NY that I had two more sets of yarn to make the same Little Tern blanket that I made for my first grandchild before Sylvie was even a twinkle. I loved knitting the pattern and I loved the yarn so much that I ordered extra yarn to make two more. (I was taking a series of classes called A Year of Techniques and they came with yarn collections from the UK. Two of the projects called for the same brand of yarn and I chose not to make them but got more yarn for the blankets instead.) Anyway, I cast on a green blanket for the Nugget on Friday and have been happily knitting along … enjoying it just as much as the first one and I’m pretty sure I used the written instructions last time and am using the chart this time!

Little Tern Blanket in Fyberspates Vivacious DK

I have swatched for a Patty tank in Berroco Chai. The swatch gauge is a bit off so I will knit one size up and hope for the best. I think it will be a good summer top and the red color I chose is really pretty – it’ll go so well with my white jeans! I have quite a bit of the Lang Bebe 200 yarn that I made the Newborn Vertebrae with and I think I need to make a pair of infant thumbless mittens and a hat to match for the Nugget and use it up. I have no end to the potential projects that I can cast on and several sewing projects as well. I have to finish the quilt for Sylvie’s bedroom at Yaya and Poppy’s house before they come for a visit this summer (and I have to find or piece the backing). I have a hole in my favorite jeans so I have promised myself that I would patch them up. I found the patch and I think I’ll try sashiko stitching the patch. AND I have a pair of my husband’s boot socks that are wearing thin. I think I’ll repair them before they have holes. I just need to get all of this done!

Fortunately this is not a busy meetings week but I am working Tuesday and Saturday after my second workshop ends in addition to my regular days on Thursday and Friday so my free time is even more precious … and with that, I’m signing off.

Gone knitting.

Finished Objects, WIPs and taking flight

Posted on June 26, 2018 by Queen Bee Knits

Today I had a day off and I wan’t feeling quite right. (If I don’t eat before noon, you know something’s “off”.) Despite feeling a little bit off, I had a wonderful day.

My Radiant Reflections quilt is finished! I actually finished it last night but it was too dark to take photos. I am really pleased with this quilt! I started it as a class a couple of years ago at the Cotton Cupboard in Bangor, Maine. We used templates on this project to cut all the pieces. It was a technique that I liked and it helped my corners match up really well. I think it’s the best quilt that I’ve made yet – maybe it’s because with more practice, you’re bound to improve your techniques. Regardless, I love the colors, I love the pattern, it was a challenge and I was successful in completing it on my own.

I also finished my “halloween” socks. I wish that I remembered where I bought this yarn because I really loved the feel of the yarn as I knit the socks. I also love the stripes! A friend reminded me that they are the colors of the Cincinnati Bengals and I like that idea, too. My son and I used to watch sports on television when he was younger and those were fun times. I’m not sure how he learned so much about sports because neither his father or I knew diddly about sports. Go figure! I’l be wearing these socks for any Bengals games and on Halloween, too!

On the needles, and currently in rotation, are two shawls that I am really pleased with. I’m making progress on my Protest is Patriotic Shawlette by Craftiest Elizabeth Sovern. I know that my red yarn is a Malabrigo Sock in the Ravelry Red colorway. The white is a Cascade Heritage sock yarn and the blue is something that I have no clue what it is. It’s been in my stash and my stash has been moved, organized, packed, and moved again. I’ve lost a few labels. I bought the beads online because the only beads I could find locally were really too small. I am using 3/0 glass beads. I love the way they pop off the blue yarn! I’m hoping to have this done for the 4th of July week!

The other shawl is the Brambling Shawl by Bristol Ivy. This was one of the projects, perhaps one of the first projects in the Year of Techniques project. I really liked this “class” and I have enjoyed each project that I have attempted. I also bought the yarn kits for each season. I love the yarn. This yarn is fyberspates cumulus and it’s really soft and sticky … this is a “don’t make a mistake because thinking back is going to be difficult”! The colors aren’t necessarily ones that I would have chosen but I like them and I am happy mohave my boundaries challenged! I have not ever “studied” intarsia and this project has made me feel very confident with this technique.

Perhaps the best thing that happened today was watching a family of barn swallows who were flying all over in front of our house. I noticed the swooping birds and went to look out the window of my atelier. There were two baby birds sitting on the roof … learning to fly! Later, I checked again and the parents were coming up to feed the babies … all FIVE of them! I spent the day watching them in complete fascination! Mother Nature is absolutely amazing and I loved this part of my day. Here is a pic of the babies! Mom and dad were way too speedy on the wing to catch in a photograph!

It was a good day! Gone knitting.

Passage of Time

Posted on June 18, 2018 by Queen Bee Knits

With the impending arrival of Father’s Day tomorrow and Mother’s Day in the past, I have done a lot of reflecting on my own experiences with my parents. How they raised me, their only daughter, in the late 50’s and early 60’s while keeping a deep and very dark (to them) secret.

Shortly after my mother passed away in October of 2008, we found out that she had given up a baby boy for adoption in May/June 1956. Had she given birth to that baby boy, she’d have been ostracized. She’d have been labeled a strumpet, a hussy, a tramp. She would not have been allowed to marry my father if anyone had known. My father, however, would have been left to continue his life as before.

Being the next child born, and a girl, I can only imagine that I was a disappointment and it explains a lot about how she raised me. She was disconnected, aloof, often angry, not encouraging or loving. She was always heavy … keeping a layer of protection around her. Please don’t get me wrong, she fed me, did my laundry, drove me everywhere. I didn’t want for anything. Except her love. None of this was my fault, of course, and I didn’t know that I was getting treatment that was different from my younger brothers or my peers. But it was different and I was scarred by it. (Thank God for therapy!)

I say this today because I realized recently that many of my friends on Facebook seem to miss their parents and were deeply loved by them. Sadly, I don’t have that same feeling. I’d love to have them back to ask them questions about why they did what they did. Why they kept the secret after we were adults. Why they never told me they loved me or were proud of me. (They really didn’t unless it was after a fight and then it would be, “of course we love you” said in anger and frustration.) My brothers had a different experience. Psychologically, I’m certain that it was because I was the first born “after the adoption” and I wasn’t a boy.

I was encouraged to find a husband and marry … that’s why a girl goes to college. I was born to have babies, that was where I would find happiness and fulfillment. I was taught to iron and sew, to play the piano and guitar. I was given ballroom dancing lessons at Mary Jane Spencer’s. My peers were encouraged to pursue a career, told they could do anything that they set their mind to. I didn’t know that until I had children of my own … and had been in therapy for depression and a failing/failed marriage that lead to an ugly divorce.

Today I am happier. At nearly 60 I am feeling comfortable in my own skin. I am grateful for the life I was given and I know that my parents never meant to cause me harm. They did their best. Sadly, it wasn’t good enough to give me wings to fly. I had to find those for myself.

Today, one of the things that makes me happy is yarn. Everything around yarn. I love people who use yarn in their creative endeavors. I love the animals who provide the fibers and the process that leads to the yarn being available to buy. I love feeling it and working it into a garment. I love the shop keepers and the customers. I am grateful for the shared wisdom of women and men who share my craft and the love of yarn. I love that I have found a wonderful man with whom to share my life. He loves me as I am even when I don’t.

Life hands you some bizarre twists and turns and I’ve learned that it’s all about what you do with them that makes you who you are. I am grateful for them all because I like where I am today. I wouldn’t be here without all those experiences. I’m strong and resilient and happy. I’ve started over many times and I’m sure I’ll start over again.

Speaking of starting over … I started something new yesterday.

Born out of frustration with the fit of my nearly-done Malabrigo sweater, and in an effort to use some of my stashed yarn, I cast on the Brambling Shawl.

The Brambling Shawl by Bristol Ivy was one of the projects in A Year of Techniques. It’s a study in Intarsia – the use of two colors in the same row. The yarn used in the pattern (and that I bought) is Fyberspates’ Cumulus. It’s a lovely blend of baby Suri alpaca and Mulberry silk. The project calls for five colors (camel, slate, plum, sea green and silver) and is worked from tip to tip with increases and decreases to make a triangular shawl. I’ve just gotten started and have yet to add the second color, but I love being able to learn a technique with practice.

So, tomorrow I will celebrate my husband who is a great father. Patient, loving and kind. I will also celebrate the fathers in my life, my brothers, uncle, cousins, and my own dad who did his best. He did teach me to love pistachios!

Gone knitting!