Queen Bee Knits

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

Whew! A Whirlwind Week

Posted on October 26, 2025 by Queen Bee Knits

Today’s picture is actually yesterday’s picture but I loved it so much! We have this incredible view out of our bedroom window, aren’t we lucky? We don’t take it for granted. That’s a guarantee. This week has been a whirlwind week and I’m so grateful for a Sunday with little on our calendar other than catching up around the house. My calendar has been a crazy mess while we were in New York and I haven’t straightened my atelier for a couple of weeks and there’s a couple of weeks of laundry to do and I will get it done. Probably not all today. And that’s fine.

We both came home from New York with some cruddy sinus thing and I haven’t had a minute to stop and rest until today. We had a great Chamber event at Maine Arts Academy on Wednesday evening and I am totally thrilled with everything the staff did for that event. It was perfect from start to finish. The food, the staff who volunteered, the entertainment, all of it! I came home Wednesday night and fell right into bed. Thursday I worked in the yarn shop, Friday I taught knitting and on Saturday I was back in the shop for a big celebration of Malabrigo yarn’s 20th anniversary. We were so busy and I’m so grateful that Carol, one of my co-worker friends, had the idea to have two of us on with the owner, Joyce. We were certainly busy enough for the three of us. Last night I came home and couldn’t wait to go to be but I can’t make myself sleep at 6:30pm. Ha! Ha!

This morning we woke up and had a cup of coffee, inside now, and then I decided to take myself to the walk-in doc-in-a-box to see if I can get some medicine for this sinus thing that I’ve had for ten days. Happily, that was a success and I am looking forward to feeling much better any day now.

Meanwhile, I have done some knitting and made a little progress (and cast on a new project, too.) The first thing I did was finish the Billie pants for my grandson. I made these in a really nice shade of green that my bonus daughter picked out. The pants are adorable BUT I didn’t think well and need one more ball to make the sweater to match. I’ll order one ball today and can still get the wee sweater knitted in good time.

Billie pants in Cascade 220 Superwash Merino

I love the yarn and hope it’ll hold up to washing and drying. AND he’s growing so fast, they’ll likely be too small before they’re worn out. The yarn is next-to-skin soft and I love the color, too. I just have to block them and trim the ends that are all woven in.

String of Jewels Mitts in Malabrigo Rios

I found these mittens online and thought they were so pretty. The cuff is unique and I had this cake of Malabrigo Rios that was wound at the store and then the person didn’t want it. We typically don’t sell yarn once it’s caked so the boss handed it to me. So, I cast on thinking that these will be great for the winter and they’re fingerless mitts that are convertible (they’ll have a mitten tip attached) so they’re great for my morning drive to work in the earlier part of the winter. I’ve gotten the majority of the two mitts finished in a day or two and am enjoying the simplicity of this project.

I’ve got to attack my daughter’s colorwork mitts again this weekend and next week and try to get them finished so she can wear them. They’re a challenging pattern that is best worked on in the morning with a fresh, rested mind. I’ll try them tomorrow after a bit of time on my meds and see how far I can get. I am making progress.

And now I look ahead to Christmas knitting of which I am not doing a ton. I have a sweater to make for Sylvie and I think I am going to knit the Jamberry Cardigan for her but in Christmas colors (red being the main color with green and white accents in the yoke.) AND then I will likely make the same sweater in the pattern colors because she loves purple so much and she loves the book, too. I’ve already bought the yarn for both sweaters in Berroco Vintage DK.

I have traditionally knitted a pair of socks for my hubby’s stocking and I will try to get a pair done without him knowing I’m making them. I’ve still got a few balls of worsted weight sock wool that I’ve worked with for years and I think I know which pattern I want to knit to make it fun – not the plain vanilla socks I often knit for him. More on these later.

I’ve not made a pair of October socks and I’m not beating myself up about it. I have had a lot going on. This week I can play a little catch up but I’ll make my hubby’s Christmas socks my November pair and then I have some special Christmas sock yarn and I’ll make another pair in December, perhaps. I also promised bigger socks to our granddaughter because she loves my handknit socks. Especially the purple ones.

WIP list: Noah the Horse, my daughter’s fingerless mitts, the pink mittens with embroidery, my Poet sweater which as been sitting very idle and I’m sure there are others. I need to pull all of my yarn out of my shelves and clean up a few spider webs that I can see. I’ve never had spider webs in my studio before. Go figure. Think I can say they’re Halloween decorations?

Gone knitting!

All Things Blueberry and Family

Posted on July 28, 2025 by Queen Bee Knits

It’s been a bit … we have had a house full of family and it was absolutely wonderful! My brother and his wife, their son and his family came first for a couple of days. My brother ended up getting sick and hanging mostly in bed and they stayed an extra day. I was sad not to spend much time with him but I enjoyed the rest of the gang tremendously! A couple of days later (after all the sheets and towels were laundered and put back on the beds, my daughter and her family arrived and that meant my granddaughter was here. She’s a complete two-and-a-half-year-old bundle of joy. Soon after my son and my other daughter arrived so all three of my kids were here and that is my favorite group of people to hang with.

We went to pick blueberries twice. Each time we picked 5 quarts and so we made all things blueberry – because I like to bake and the kids like to grill when they’re up here. We had blueberry buckle, blueberry muffins, vanilla cake with blueberry frosting, blueberry pancakes, and blueberry hand pies. Tonight my hubby and I will eat the blueberry pie I made, too. We made ice cream twice, too – first strawberry (with some added blueberries because we had to have enough fruit) and then vanilla with heath bar crumbles. The vanilla was extraordinary.

My daughter, the second child in my three, turned 38 the day before my birthday and she requested the vanilla cake with blueberry frosting. Granddaughter, Sylvie, decorated it with blueberries. We tried almost all of the local lobster rolls over the course of the week-ish. And we enjoyed some fried food, too. The boys grilled turkey burgers, a pork loin, sausages, salmon, and we ate a big lobster dinner and had a Mexican night with bean and bean with pork burritos. Needless to say, I’ve gained five pounds eating all the things and it was delicious. My appologies, but when I have my kids and granddaughter around, my photos stop … the phone is put down (and often lost).

I did very little knitting while they were here. We were up by 6am and in bed most nights before 10pm and fully active the whole time! Swimming, boating, adventures with Yaya (I have a car seat now), and lots of time on the porch. The first morning we were out in the boat before 7am for the Maine Audubon Loon Count. We didn’t see any loons in our section of the lake but we’ve seen lots of them on the lake, including chicks!

I finished the Three Cable Baby Blanket just in time for Sylvie’s first night sleeping here. She has the same blanket in pink at home in New York City. She liked having the blanket, I think. It’s lovely soft yarn and a cozy snuggly blanket. I have been working on the “July” socks in my self-imposed sock club. I’m working my way through the Sock Project book and started with sock #1 in some left-over yarn from another sock project. I’ve turned the heel on sock #2 and I hope to get them finished before the end of the month. Crossing my fingers.

I took Sylvie on an adventure – to drop off her aunt at the rental car place and then took her to work to meet the women I teach on Friday morning and to pick out some yarn for “mermaid headbands”. I’d made her a mermaid tail when she was a baby with a headband to match (and a shell bikini top). It had become too tight for her toddler-sized noggin. She picked her favorite color – purple – and I whipped up a couple headbands in an afternoon. I can’t resist when she asks me for something.

And now they’re all returned to the city and their lives and jobs and “school” and we are home in the extra-quiet catching up on our missed stuff. I’ve done three loads of laundry and folded two more, picked up my Big Love Cardigan this morning and started the first sleeve. Yay! I have researched a cardigan pattern and swatched for a customer and sent her an email. And I’ve been putting the flashlights back where they belong and trying to find all the kitchen things … and so grateful that we had help with cooking and cleaning up!

AND the kids, especially my son-in-love helped us paint our guest house. We haven’t really used it since our wedding 9 years ago. It needed some work then and we have started to check it off this year. My hubby has been redoing the bathroom – new shower stall, new flooring, new screens on the porch. It has been leveled and the roof replaced. It still needs a new water heater, the porch floor replaced, and some kind of kitchenette before I will be heading in to clean it up and get it ready for another winter. BUT next spring/summer we are hoping to rent it out. It will sleep one or two people and has a lovely view of our lake. We lived there for seven months when we were building the house and it’s a cozy spot. I picture it as a place for someone wanting a quiet place for writing or painting or. … whatever else you can imagine.

Now that the woods are cleaned up, the little hill is raked and the cottage is painted, we can plant some flowering bushes and trees around the front and get the walkway dug. I love the new color that blends right into the woods. The red/orange was never my favorite.

I’ll be back to “normal” in a couple of days after I catch up on some sleep and buy some groceries. But in the meantime, this mama’s heart is so full of gratitude and love. My kids are still my life and I love them beyond measure. I love spending time with them and so enjoy their company. Life is so good.

Gone knitting.

Tomorrow’s THE Day!

Posted on July 18, 2025 by Queen Bee Knits

They were “supposed” to arrive today but they got delayed by a day because my daughter had an in person audition (they rarely happen these days) and they’re coming tomorrow. I can hardly contain my excitement. Two weeks with my daughter and her family and my son’s coming on Monday. Yay! I am one excited mama! So, of course, I’ve been going a little bit crazy with preparations and cleaning up but I think I’m almost ready to have them arrive. Who am I kidding, I’m totally ready and have been for ages.

I decided to try to cast on and knit the little blanket for my granddaughter’s bed. It’s a pattern from the LYS where I work called the “Three Cable Baby Blanket” and it’s made with Hayfield’s Baby Blossom Chunky yarn and US 10 1/2 needles so it’s a quick knit and I’ve been pushing it. I have made it to the 14th cable twist and that means that I have three more plus the edging to go. I should make it by the deadline of bedtime tomorrow night. I love this yarn – machine wash and dry – and it’s soft and snuggly. Sylvie has one in pink at home that was a gift and she loves it. I thought a few things that were like those she has at home would make our house feel more like home, too. Tomorrow night will be the test.

Today I took a few minutes between folding loads of laundry from the wonderful visit with my brother and sister-in-love, my nephew and his family, to do a tubular bind off on my Big Love Cardigan. I don’t remember doing a tubular bind off before but it’s really slick! I love the way it looks, it’s stretchy but not stretched out and It’s a really nice bind off … this one was a lot of sewing but it’s now off the needles. On to sleeve island when I finish the blanket.

I tried it on after the bind off and I hope it’s going to relax a bit when it’s blocked. It’s a little bit “tight” so I can’t wrap it around myself but it’s a cotton sweater and I think it’s going to be a good addition to my sweater library – and in the summer, on a cool night, I think I will grab it a lot. The Berroco Pima 100 yarn is so soft … and it seems to love being knitted up in a textured stitch pattern and I’m hoping it won’t grow too much. AND today I was wearing a dress in the same color.

We’ve had a salad with lettuce from the garden this week. My lettuces and kale are growing like crazy and we have a few baby tomatoes on the vines. Yay! The squash plants are getting big (I wonder if I can move them once the garlic is pulled?) The garlic leaves are still pretty green but we’re going to try to pull some when the kids get here. I love growing our own food and am learning a lot about how to get the best yield. This year seems to be a good one so far. Cross your fingers! We harvested about six blueberries from our little bush … our first ever! The birds or critters have always gotten them before.

Gone knitting …

Sunday (with a very little sun)

Posted on May 18, 2025 by Queen Bee Knits

We had thunderstorms and heavy rain overnight and more rain this morning but by late morning it had cleared up enough for us to take our coffee outside on the porch. Through the day we have had more rain showers (hubby got drenched on the way back from getting his paper) but it’s not been a bad day.

I went up to my atelier to get some knitting to bring down to the porch and got sidetracked … as I often do. I gathered my knitting – a hat that I’m working on for a customer – and headed to the porch. I finished the hat and didn’t have a needle to thread the yarn through the last few stitches at the end. Up the stairs I trotted again for a needle and the next ball of yarn to make an identical hat, well it’s a different color but the same pattern, and thought … I have to sew the binding on Sylvie’s quilt. So, I sat down to sew the binding on. I had to go downstairs for breakfast but I got it all sewn on and then brought the quilt, my quilt clips AND the rest of the knitting stuff I needed.

I got the quilt binding clipped all around and cast on the second hat for my customer. I was feeling so good about it … and it was only noon!

So, my dear hubby has one or two more parts to play in creating a space for our granddaughter to sleep when they come up this summer. Today’s task was to attach the shelf system to the wall just in case she decides to climb it in the middle of the night or during her nap. He cut away the baseboard trim and we slipped the bookshelf into place and he screwed it to the studs so it won’t be going anywhere. AND then (he helped) I painted the space … at least I got the first coat of paint on the walls. Tomorrow I’ll get a second coat on and then I can buy the mattress and put the bed in place. It’s a tiny little nook behind the bookshelf in my atelier but it’s going to be cozy and I think she’ll love it. I would have loved it as a kid. Heck, I love it now (and you may find me napping there in the future.) Of course, all the storage boxes that fit into the shelf had to be removed so the atelier’s a mess again but I am excited to have this project finished. It is very purple (her color choice).

I have finished her purple cardigan. I got the buttons sewed on last night while we were watching “stupid tv” and I think she’s going to love it. She chose the mismatched buttons and I think they’re perfect. I also sewed the buttons on the Steek This Coffee Cosy that I made when I was teaching my colorwork workshop at the store. Two more finished objects for 2025. You can finally see that the cardigan, which doesn’t photograph well indoors, is purple. Do you see a theme here?

I am so thrilled with the Little Tern blanket that I am knitting for our future Denver grand-baby who I am calling the Nugget. I’ve written about if before but it keeps making me happy so I am going to keep on writing about it. The yarn is gorgeous and so wonderfully squishy and the pattern is engaging and requires just enough thought so that it never gets boring. I’m nearly done with the first end’s lace edging. AND I think it will be a perfect addition to the baby’s room!

I’m also continuing work on a pair of Hermione’s Everyday Socks in On the Round yarn. This is another pattern that I find very engaging and it makes me so happy. It’s a free Ravelry pattern but it’s not a vanilla sock. The 4-row pattern repeat is easy to memorize and it produces a very satisfying texture … and I love the heel! This is the third (?) time I’ve used this pattern and it always makes me happy. The yarn is fabulous, too. This has been stashed for a long time. I bought it specifically to make a pair of baby socks for one of my daughter’s friends who was in Wicked on Broadway and the colorway is aptly named, “Wicked”. I have leftover yarn because baby socks.

So, now that I’ve been so productive, it’s time to sit down and work on knitting the black hat for my customer. I’m trying to get all the things that I “have” to knit done so I can have some fun and knit an animal or two out of the book Knitted Animal Friends by Louise Crowther. I have the yarn for three of her designs. So, the two hats and two Love and Light fairy light hearts need to be finished first – and none of these projects takes a long time to complete so I just need to prioritize them. (I probably have enough knitting projects and yarn in my atelier to knit for a good little while. And that good little while could be the rest of my life.)

Gone knitting.

Mother’s Day

Posted on May 12, 2025 by Queen Bee Knits

Yesterday was a perfect day! We had nothing on our schedule so we had coffee on the porch in the sunshine, I wrote the store newsletter, hubby made blueberry pancakes for breakfast and we went to Lowe’s to get some supplies for building the little “nook” for our granddaughter’s visit this summer. I spoke to all of our kids and got a chance to knit a little, too, before a lobster dinner (what a treat! The price of lobster is crazy right now.) I took this photo of our first humming birds who have arrived back in Maine for the summer. I love these little birds so much … and pray that their navigation skills as they zip around the house are top notch … when we sit outside we can feel their wings pass by our ears. They’re miraculous.

Mother’s Day is typically a sad-ish day for me and is often fraught with conflict in my head and heart because my mother died in 2008 which means I’ve had sixteen mother’s days without having a mother to celebrate with. All of my kiddos were already out of the house by then and having adult children living lives of their own is another strange way to experience Mother’s Day. So, I’ve spent many years being sad and having expectations about what would happen and being disappointed and lonely. SO … I’m coming around to the belief that Mother’s Day is hard when you don’t have a mother and that expectations lead to disappointment so it’s better to consider this another day that I choose to make a good day. And yesterday was a good day.

I am knitting away on several projects and have several more in the wings (that’s lined up on the shelf in my atelier). I’m working on my Hermione’s Everyday Socks in On the Round “Wicked” sock yarn. I am loving these socks. The colorway is spectacular and the pattern is soothing. (It’s also free on Ravelry!) They’re what I go to when I need something small to throw into my purse.

I worked my way down the second sleeve of my granddaughter’s purple cardigan (Knitting Pure & Simple yesterday and got the neck ribbing done. I picked up the stitches on the first front band which is the button hole band and have pinned the spots where I’ll make the holes. That means that I am so close … maybe today?

I’m almost to the part where I bind off the Little Tern blanket for our Denver Nugget and start the lace edging. I can’t tell you how much I’ve enjoyed this blanket project again! I love the squishy yarn – Fyberspates Vivacious DK – and I love the pattern. I am so excited to gift this one (as I was excited to gift the first one. This is a family heirloom knit. Exquisite, if I do say so myself.

I have twelve projects lined up on my shelf. Twelve! And that doesn’t include my WIPS that I’m not really working on right now. LOL.

In this line-up are two tams for a customer, a cotton summer dress for Sylvie, two knitted hearts made with fairy lights, a pair of fingerless mitts for my daughter if the first one fits properly, a bulky sweater for Sylvie, more little chicken friends for Ernie, a blueberry hat for the Nugget and Sylvie, the Fair Isle bag I started in a class, my Patty tank, and another Arne & Carlos Christmas stocking. I also have yarn for a Petite Knits Slipover. AND all the animals I want to make. Good grief, I need to quit my job and quit volunteering and just spend my time knitting. (NOT!)

I also have the baby quilt to finish. I did buy some cotton flannel to back it with and I have the batting. I just have to wash the backing and put it all together. I doubt I’ll have time to take it to Candy for machine quilting on the long arm but I’ll give her a call to see. Otherwise, I’ll be quilting this myself on the machine or by hand … I haven’t decided which yet.

We bought the paneling and paint for Sylvie’s “nook” yesterday. The paneling is up on the IKEA storage unit and needs a bit of tweaking and filling in holes and then I’ll paint the whole space purple (her request) before I get the picture hung, the wallpaper up and build a mattress support so she won’t be sleeping on the floor – although she’d probably like that, too. I have a pillow cover to sew, and I hope I have enough flannel so I can make her a pillowcase. I only need to find a little book shelf for the wall and get it all done.

My next house project is to paint our guest bathroom and guest room. We’ve been in the house 10 years around Thanksgiving and we’ve not even painted all the walls yet. The primer has served us well but it’s time! I’m taking on the project hoping to energize my hubby so he will get the stairway and third floor done, too. We are also renovating our guest cottage space. We’ve torn out the bathroom from 1950 red indoor-outdoor carpet and all and we are rebuilding a bathroom that will be a little bit lighter and brighter with new shower stall and flooring. Once that’s done, we will outfit the living room with a counter (likely a buffet) and storage for the kitchen area to include a refrigerator, microwave, coffee maker, electric kettle and toaster oven so that our renters can fix themselves something to eat. A new coat of paint on the outside of the cottage and it’ll be gorgeous. WE loved living up there while we built the house – until it was November and cold. It’ll be a good additional revenue stream for us and a great spot for creatives to create or for couples or singles to call home as they explore Maine. When we’ve made some progress, I’ll post about this, too.

We are busy and contented and life is good. We are so grateful to call this place home.

Gone knitting.

A Week of Memories

Posted on April 5, 2025 by Queen Bee Knits

The sunrise this morning was unremarkable because of the clouds. Lots of gray today but yesterday when we arrived home after a week in New York City babysitting for our granddaughter, it was a glorious sunny day. I always go through a bit of a depressive episode when we leave the kids in New York. It takes me a couple of days to recalibrate myself to being just me, just us, in Maine, away from the hustle and bustle and constant business of the city. Today is a little bit difficult but the last week was truly wonderful fun.

My eldest daughter, mom to our grand, is in San Diego opening a new play called Regency Girls and her husband had to be in Las Vegas for a work event so we were called to spend a week with our granddaughter. We have learned we walk more and move way more when we’re in New York with a two-year-old. Ha! Ha! And we did. We went to the playground, played in their courtyard, made lots of lego buildings and stacked blocks (and knocked them down). Read books, colored with Dot markers (they are very satisfying) and generally had a blast. We made challah one day and Sylvie was a big helper, mixing, punching down, helping to roll and braid the dough, and brushing on the egg wash

She may be only two but she’s talking a blue streak, sings all the songs, has some crazy one-liners and is fiercely independent. Yesterday she went off to school in black and white plaid pants and a rainbow dress with two differently colored socks but she got dressed mostly by herself … and the curls!!!

Hubby and I are getting used to living in the city and have found the grocery store, a mailbox, the local bodega for newspapers and quick purchases, and we even found Target this time (to buy some cards.) We are becoming accustomed to having noise outside the windows 24-7 and sleep through it anyway. We loved being able to drop the trash in the chute in the hallway and compost and recycling are an easy elevator ride to the basement. (B is for basement we were told!) There are three great playgrounds within a few minutes walk and we didn’t even stroll around the park!

I got a bit of knitting done and realized that a linen tank that I want to knit is going to need to be re-sized because my gauge is way (way!) off. I think I can knit it a couple of sizes larger on a much smaller gauge and it will work. I’m crossing my fingers. I have 8 balls of Chai by Berroco in a pretty red colorway that I’d like to make a summer top in. I saw the Patti tank and thought that would be great but I don’t want it see-through. I’m way beyond that age! As is my habit, I started the tank with the suggested needles and then measured my gauge after a couple of inches and it was nowhere near the gauge for the pattern – 4 or five stitches per inch – it was closer to 6 1/2 stitches per inch which would cut the finished measurement by almost 4 inches in total. Not ok. SO …. I frogged it and went back to Bristol Ivy’s way of swatching to see which fabric I like after I knit and block it. I’ve tried the US6 and US7 needles on 35 stitches. I’ve got to knit a bit more on the larger needles and then I’ll bind off and block it to see if the gauge changes. That will determine my preferred fabric and then I can figure out how many stitches I need to cast on to make the tank fit the way I want it to. More on that in a later post.

Meanwhile, I have finished a little sweater for my new great-nephew. I used a Knitting Plain and Simple pattern (#214 Baby Pullover) and a Sirdar Snuggly Aran yarn. The yarn is super soft and easy care for the new mom who also has a two-year-old. It’s adorable and just needs a little wash and block to be ready to send to Massachusetts.

I don’t want to show the finished version just yet … Baby Pullover #214

I also finished the knitting on my Bolin cardigan before we left and, despite the fact that I wanted to wear it, I didn’t have time to sew on the buttons and it wasn’t quite dry before we left for New York. It is now, though. I’m planning the button sewing today so I can wear it this week. I love the fabric, it’s so soft. We’ll see how I feel about a cropped cardigan when I get dressed one day soon. I hope that it’ll be ok with a long tunic and jeans or leggings. Pictures soon.

Socks- On the Round yarn, Yankee Knitter pattern

I finished the On the Round socks while in New York and left them there for Sheldon, one of the “kids” in our extended family in the city. He’s definitely knit worthy! I loved the yarn and hoped they’d be for me but I made them a little bit too long and they’d have fit my hubby but he didn’t love them. Sheldon’s feet are the same size as my hubby so he was the winner!

I cast on a little sweater for our newest grandchild (arrival late August.) We don’t know if they will be a boy or a girl and won’t know so I let Poppy choose the colorway and it’s gray with specks of color. A little Vertebrae cardigan for newborns. This baby will be living in the Denver, CO area and will be born in A/C season and will likely spend lots of time outdoors. We can’t wait to meet him/her!

I have made some progress with this cardigan and have finished one sleeve and am nearing the end of the second sleeve. I’m going to be playing yarn chicken with the edging around the fronts. OR I’ll have to buy another ball for the last little bit which means there will be a matching hat and maybe mittens for the first cold snap. This yarn is so soft and quite wonderful to work with. The pattern is one of my favorites for new babies because they spend so much time against a human body, they only really need a sweater on their little backs. This one is perfect. And the yarn is machine washable. (The green and blue cords are “knitting barber” cords like these. I have several sets for holding stitches. They’re great knitting tools!)

I didn’t have a chance for my daughter to try on the fingerless mitts that I’m making for her. I have a wee bit of concern that they’re going to be too big and I’ll have to start them over again so I’m not knitting any further until she tries them on. The next chance I’ll get will be late this summer or early fall when we’re at the beach. I’m just going to put them in time out until then. Meanwhile, I’ll finish the embroidery on the pink mittens I started forever ago and get those done.

In a week I will be teaching the first of two parts of a workshop on colorwork knitting. I’ve got to get a couple of examples together and knit a few swatches so I can demonstrate at different times in the workshop. I have a big group signed up and I’m excited about the interest. Our knitting project will be a coffee cup cozy knitted in the round and then we’ll cut a steek to finish it off. But it’s a great, worsted weight “swatch” to learn the techniques and to get knitters ready to knit a colorwork project with more confidence.

The ice on our lake is thinning rapidly. We’ve had a typical mix of Maine spring weather while we were away and with a couple of warm days, the ice wlll be gone from the middle of the lake. We will be watching for “ice out’ (when a boat can navigate from one end of the lake to the other) this week. I’ve not looked at the weather report but we’ve had a report of the first loon sighted at the north end of the lake … they always seem to know when they can come back to the lake. Before we know it the hummingbirds will be back, too.

Gone knitting.

Grandmothering

Posted on January 29, 2025 by Queen Bee Knits

This was my morning view yesterday morning. I was heading from my son’s to my daughter’s apartment before heading home. New York City is so different from home but several parts of my heart live there and l am so grateful to have the flexibility to travel to the city when I am able. I went to help my daughter with childcare so that she could teach a master class in Long Island while her husband was away on business. An extra pair of hands is sometimes helpful. So, I drove down on Sunday morning and came home yesterday … I wasn’t sure I’d make it because of the forecasted snow but I got lucky! No snow until I got to just south of Augusta.

I arrived home to a beautiful post-snowstorm lake. It was sunny and cold and I was so glad to be home. I’ll miss the kids and granddaughter but I brought a bit of New York City home with me – a cold. This morning was pretty rough and I called in the back-up at work so that I didn’t have to work the whole day and can hunker down and relax and get better. I’m drinking tea, staying warm and preparing to go to bed early. It seems like my decongestant and cough medicine has really helped.

While I was away (as usual) I didn’t do a lot of knitting except at nap time. I have been working on a sample for the store – a hair bow. We had a customer in the store last week who was knitting a mohair bow for her mother and we really thought it’d be good to knit a sample for the store. She was younger and we need some youth in the store. I had some left-over mohair in my stash and am using it. The pattern calls for using one or holding two strands of mohair together. It’s a quick knit unless you’re using dark yarn and dark lace weight mohair. LOL.

I have reached the decreases on the second “wing” of the bow. I’m going to switch to light-colored needles and knit on. Hopefully I’ll get it finished and into the store tomorrow or early next week. The pattern is Dahlia Hair Tie Bow. All the details are on my Ravelry page.

This is the delight that kept me on my toes for three days … she is two years old and very independent except when she gets stuck hanging on the bathroom sink and can’t get her feet back onto the toilet. “I need help!” She’s amazing. This grandmother is in love … she knows her numbers and letters, she sings lots of songs and has some very strong opinions. She loves to play in her room and depending on the day, she’s a good eater. Her vocabulary is expanding exponentially and I think her daycare is responsible for that in part. The adults in her life also talk to her all the time and take time to play with her. I love spending time with my family and watching them all supporting each other and loving this little girl. Her face isn’t allowed on the internet so I share these three pictures of our time … coloring, watching movies and insisting on putting her own headband in.

Today I’ve been knitting my Jelly Roll blanket. I’ve finished the fifth and started the sixth strip. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m following the Crazy Sock Lady’s changes to the pattern which makes it simpler to pick up the connecting stitches as you knit the strips together. I started this project thinking of using up all my left-over sock yarn scraps of which I have quite a few. I also had some white fingering weight yarn that I hadn’t used and started holding two strands together … one white strand and one scrappy strand. I’ve decided that after five strips I’m not using up enough of the scraps so I’m altering the “plan” and am using two strands of scraps for a while so they really get used up! It’s super scrappy! I have a feeling that it’ll be super cozy to sit under.

I have one stitch to finish before my Christmas socks are finished. I had dropped a stitch and could only pull it up so far before it would have made it really wonky. I will pull it through to the back/inside of the sock and using a length of yarn, I’ll weave it in and that’ll be good. And I hope to finish the hair bow tonight.

Tomorrow I will be casting on my Bang Out A Sweater project. MDK is hosting the event and the goal is to complete a sweater during the month of February. I love the cardigan they’re knitting but I think I’ll knit a colorwork pullover sweater that I have the yarn for in my stash. It’s been sitting in a cupboard for too long … and then maybe I’ll buy myself the yarn to make the cardigan. Or maybe I’ll make the Stockholm Slipover with the orange yarn. I don’t know … decisions are difficult. Regardless, I’m casting on Cardoon by Isabel Kraemer in Kingston Tweed by Fibra Natura. I have two shades of purple, one light and one dark, the contrast is minimal so it’ll be interesting to see the yoke when I get there.

I brought some crud back from New York so I’m staying home today and worked only part of the day yesterday. I don’t want to share germs with my Friday knitters but I’m really bummed because Friday is always my favorite day.

Gone knitting.

Most Excellent Family Stay-cation

Posted on July 28, 2024 by Queen Bee Knits

Today we’re back to my hubby and me. We’ve had the most excellent family time at our house for the last (almost) two weeks. My eldest daughter, Kate, and her husband and our granddaughter arrived last Tuesday and my son arrived Tuesday night with his two doggos. We had lots of fun swimming, playing with bubbles, visiting some fun spots and eating SO much great food. We’re early to bed and early to rise around here and the kids, despite their NYC lives, always fall into it, too. Coffee on the porch, blueberry picking, Belgrade Lakes Farmer’s Market … and did I mention swimming? Sylvie is a little fish! She loved the lake and became more and more confident over the time she was here – even confident enough to “fall” in twice on their last day. Of course we were right there to pull her out but we also have to let her fall so she knows the truth about the lake – it is fun and wonderful but it’s also frightening. (She was not a fan of falling in.) We went on some fun boat rides, saw eagles, counted loons, and we tried (and failed) to outrun a rain storm but arrived home safe, sound and in time to see a full rainbow across the lake.

She has started to put together two-word sentences like “Monk, no!” and “Help, please” and she is singing chunks of her favorite songs. For a kiddo with a slight verbal delay, she’s adding new words every day. We had so much fun watching her pretend with her new (to her) kitchen set and we found out that she will eat anything worthy of feeing to ducks – lettuce and frozen peas were a fun snack. Who knew? Otherwise, she always wants pizza, blueberries, milk and “bubbles” (seltzer).

We ate local corn, the last of the local strawberries, tons of blueberries, we found a farm where we bought local pork and beef (the pork was amazing!), lobster, blueberry buckle, blueberry muffins, mixed berry pie from Winterberry farm, an ice cream cake and a divine Da-Da-Made chocolate cake among others.

And … are you wondering if I did any knitting? I had made what I thought was great progress on my River Cowl. Turns out I missed a very important part of the first sentence in the main section directions where it says to knit so many rounds “as follows”. I read it as knit all the rounds and when I got to the 62nd round it was already as long as it needed to be. Ugh~ I frogged it back to where I pick up the 270 stitches around the cabled edge and started over again. So, I’ve actually moved backwards on my knitting over the last weeks. Ha! Ha! Humbled once more by my knitting.

I’ve not touched my Christmas stocking, my sister’s socks or the dish towel but I am sure that after a few good nights of sleep I will be back to my knitting practice with gusto and maybe even a renewed affection. It’s possible.

For now, this Yaya has a full heart and so many new memories; so many reasons to remember and smile. We are looking forward to our next time together in September at the beach!

Gone knitting.

Happy Medicare Birthday to Me!

Posted on July 27, 2023 by Queen Bee Knits

These three were the best birthday gift I could have asked for.

After a hellish ride from NYC to Maine on Saturday, we had a wonderful four days together filled with memory-making activities and lots of snuggles and smiles. Good food, blueberry picking and lobster dinner, lots of firsts – first open-handed clapping, first lobster, first trip to Maine, first swim in the lake, first lake water bath in the yard … and so many happy memories made.

I’m so grateful to my kids for coming up and to all the family and friends who called, emailed, messaged me on social media, etc. It was a great day to become 65! (Holy shit, how am I 65?) We were talking over the course of the week about age and it occurred to me that I am older than my father was when he died and I am about as old as my mother was when she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease. How lucky am I to be as healthy as I am at “my age”! I sure don’t feel so old and that’s perhaps a testament to good genes and a happy, full life.

Aging is denied to so many, I’m grateful to reach these milestone birthday and hope to reach a bunch more! I have a lot to look forward to … first steps, another wedding or two, maybe more grand babies and more daily photos from the porch.

I have maybe knitted 25 stitches (no, I really mean it, 25 stitches!) since they arrived and I’m not sorry at all. My hands will be happy to knit again now … or after the laundry is done.

Gone knitting.