Queen Bee Knits

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

A Hare Pair (Rabbit Hat by Jane Terrza)

Posted on March 21, 2015 by Queen Bee Knits

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

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

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

First Hat

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

Reverse stockinette inside the ears

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

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

Hat 2

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Gone knitting!

Blue Beanie Beret (Knitted Beret)

Posted on December 6, 2014 by Queen Bee Knits

I needed to do some selfish knitting between the Christmas gifts that I’ve been making this year. Mostly because I needed some mittens for our trip to the North this winter.

Lovely by Suann Wentworth

I dug some Noro Taiyo Aran yarn out of my stash. It was calling to me to be knitted up. But as my friend Beverly says, I gave the mouse a cookie and you know what happens when you feed the mouse? I needed a hat.

I remembered seeing one in this book (on my shelf. One of these days I will attempt to knit a tea cozy or two from the book … which is why I bought the book in the first place.)

The hat in the book is called Blue Beanie Beret. Mine is anything but blue … more pink, purple, teal, purple, green, and did I mention purple? While purple is not necessarily my favorite color, I love the colors that are in Noro yarns and this one is no exception. I do think I would like to make another hat in a plain or tweed yarn because it’ll be very different.

This was a simple knit on circular needles starting at the top of the hat and knitting to the brim. Because the yarn is bulky (heavy worsted, actually) it knits up very quickly and I had the hat completed in a couple of days. Easy peasy!

Top of the hat … lovely!

Construction starts at the top of the hat with eight stitches … Increasing to make the beret top and then decreasing to where it is knit plain and ending with a stretchy bind off. Loani Prior has designed a great hat that I am eager to wear!

The finishing touch was/is a little rose. It is the designer’s intent for you to knit it in a contrasting yarn. Mine is in the same yarn because I was lazy. (I’m honest.) I have a bit more of the yarn and it’s the teal part of the colorway which I think might be a nice (nicer?) contrast on the rather pink brim of the hat. I’m going to sew mine onto a pin so that I can wear the hat with or without the rose.

A rose is a rose …

I think my Lovely mittens and my (Anything but) Blue Beanie Beret are wonderful. Can’t wait to wear them at Christmas time when I’m up in New England!

Gone knitting!

Hat for Haley … a Chemo Princess

Posted on October 18, 2014 by Queen Bee Knits

Princess Hat

I had a message from a friend in Ohio requesting a chemo hat to be made for a friend’s three year old daughter who has cancer. As I’ve said before, maybe not here in the blog, the words cancer and child should never be seen in the same sentence.

When a special friend asks and because my three children are healthy, I agreed to put aside my personal knitting and make a gift for a little girl who faces some yucky days. I needed to know her name and her favorite color. I had some fun purple (Haley’s favorite color) yarn in my stash and I went over to Ravelry to look for patterns.

I was originally thinking about a striped hat that I’ve made before. It’s a great hat. I’ve made a couple of them to donate for fund-raisers or whatever. Although, this old girl forgot, it seems, to take any photographs of them. Oops!

Anyway, I was looking around and found a lot of cute hats … and then I found THE hat.

I knew it was perfect (and I had just put aside some sparkly gold specialty yarn that I have had for ages to see if someone in my knitting group wanted to use it.) So, I pulled out the gold yarn and my stashed purple Cascade 220 and I got started.

The hat is called “Princess Crown” and can be found, free, on Ravelry. It’s one of many adorable patterns in Allison Stewart-Guinee’s Fairytale Knits book. And it was just perfect. I knew it in my heart immediately. What little girl doesn’t love to wear a crown?

Purple is Haley’s favorite color … and this is more like the actual color of her Princess Hat

The hat knitted up very easily and has just a touch of lacey-ness in the body of the hat which carries down the hat making it look as if it’s a real crown. The golden crown part is knit up separately on circular needles and then stitched together with the hat. Once together, the band is knit and it even has a pretty picot edge stitched right in.

Because the format on the Amazon site is supposed to be laid out as a book, it can be a little bit confusing to follow. Just beware! I did get lost at one point and had to frog and re-knit a couple of rows. If you can follow the format of the pattern, though, the pattern is clearly written and simple to knit. It looks like you’re an expert, too!

Wet blocking so the hat has some shape!

I have wet blocked the hat and used a large handful of plastic grocery bags as a form to have the purple “hat” part block out. I can’t wait for it to dry so I can get it into the mail! I hope Haley is going to love it and that it brings her smiles on the crummy days when she doesn’t feel well. There’s lots of love in that little hat and it’s all heading to Ohio and Haley!

Gone Knitting.

Getting Projects Finished! (And Sewing, too!)

Posted on July 22, 2014 by Queen Bee Knits

Sunrise over Messalonskee

Well, my time in my happy place is coming quickly to an end. Last Wednesday I said, “good-bye for now” and “see you next summer” to my knitting friends. It’s always sad for me to say good-bye to my knitting friends both here and in Florida.

I had my last day sewing with my friends Beverly and Lorry yesterday. We finished a project for Lorry to take to her friend in France and I made another great bag (with a lot of help.) It’s fabulous and I love it. I love it because it’s a team effort and that my friends found three of the five fabrics for me when they were on a road trip to a quilting shop in New Hampshire. Four fabrics with bees and one with flowers and a lot of patience and I have a bag that I will carry in the winter months. Full of the love of my friends here in Maine.

My Wonderful Wallaby is almost done. I’m just knitting the hood which is simple stockinette stitch all the way to the Kitchener stitch at the top. I took a break when I got to the neck to try it on and it fits perfectly. I’m so pleased that I have lost a little weight because now it’s perfect. Just the way I like it. Now my sweet man thinks he’d like to have one, too.

I finished the darling striped baby cardigan and the booties for my niece-to-be. I even bought the buttons. I’ll have to sew them on tonight so I can post a picture here. The booties are Sue’s Bootie’s and the pattern was begged for (by me) at my knitting class. They no longer had it at the shop and I couldn’t find it on the internet. They are adorable and super easy to knit. I loved the combination of colorways that my friends were using and I followed their lead using two different colors of Fixation. Fixation, if you don’t know, is slightly elastic and makes great baby booties and socks and it’s difficult for the baby to kick them off … well, relatively difficult anyway.

I’m ignoring the fingerless mitts that I dragged all the way from Florida to Maine … and will drag all the way back, too.

“Lobster On the Rocks” Hat designed by Donna Frost Ritchie

I’m slowly making progress on a lobster hat for my daughter. It was going to be for her birthday but it will be a late gift … thank heavens I have another couple of months until it gets cold in New York. I’m thinking that perhaps color work is not my thing. But I’ll keep trying.

I have a wonderful stash of yarn to take back to Florida with me and work with over the next ten months until I can be back here again. With any luck, my whole atelier will be coming with me then because we’re moving here permanently. This is where my heart lives.

Gone knitting.

Holiday Knitting

Posted on January 11, 2014 by Queen Bee Knits

Knitting Project #1

I’ve had this yarn in my stash for years. Yes, years! I bought it at the Fiber Frolic from Oasis Bunny Farm … it’s angora yarn. I wanted to make something for my college roommate. And I thought it was so soft and neutral … I’ve just had a challenge finding something that I really love as I get knitting. This is the third or fourth time that I’ve started a project with this yarn and I hope this one will finally be one that I love.

Noro Nadeshiko

The second project, one that wasn’t necessarily planned, is my slouchy beanie. The pattern was one that my knitting girls in Maine had been knitting – with chunky yarn so it was a quick knit – and I had no hat and it was 16 degrees! So I picked out a skein of Noro Nadeshiko (color way 29A) and the pattern Relaxed Beret by Denice Sharp and off I went.

Bermuda Shawl

I also finished my second iteration of the Bermuda Shawl with my Noro Silk Garden Sock. I have to hunt for the yarn label and update my Ravelry projects. For some reason, I didn’t write it down. Oops! I love the shawl and have worn it as a scarf for the whole trip! It’s light enough that I can wear it in Florida and adds warmth in Maine. This is a wonderful pattern and one that I highly recommend for someone who wants to learn about short rows! It’s quite a wonderful exercise in short rows (which I love!) I’ll add more pictures soon.

(Queen Bee’s Note: I’ve “frogged” the angora scarf. Yet again! Just wasn’t feeling the love for the pattern that I was knitting. I’ll try again … maybe something in a nice herringbone?)

Gone Knitting!

Burning a hole in my … stash?

Posted on February 16, 2013 by Queen Bee Knits

Like other knitters, I have a fairly extensive stash. No, not mustache, a yarn stash – that little bit of collected yarns from here and there that you have to buy because it’s so soft or pretty or pretty soft.

I bought this yarn last summer in Maine. I think what made it so appealing was the price … and maybe the color. Yes, I paid $2.49 a ball for it at Marden’s! It’s Main Street by Reynolds (color 6760, lot 8078, 53% wool, 47% acrylic, 50 grams/approx. 98 yards) – 16 sts and 22 rows = 4 inches in Stockinette stitch on US #8 needles.

Yesterday, I was going through one of my stash bins and found this yarn (I have only two balls) and I was thinking about what I could make with it. It’s wool and acrylic. Soft. And it occurred to me that it would make a great hat. I’m envisioning a rolled brim cap that could be rolled down so that it would be slouchy. And then I was reminded of the Steven West post about pompoms that I saw on Facebook (I love making pompoms) and so I think it needs to have a pom pom at the top. Maybe even a crazy multi-colored pompom. That decision has not yet been made!

I measured my own (oversized) head and cast on 80 stitches that, with a ribbed hat, should accommodate larger and smaller heads. And I decided to make it a (sort of) twisted 1×1 rib (knit 1, purl 1) by knitting into the back of the knitted stitches. I love it when there is that little bit of twist in the knitted stitches. It’s just a little bit different and very pretty.

See? Aren’t those lines of twisted knit stitches so pretty?! I can get so excited about the simplest little things! I think this is going to be one fun hat! Wait until you see the way the colors subtly shift from purple to nearly red! You can already see a couple of very subtle variations on purple. I’ll keep this pattern going for 9 inches or so. More pictures will be forthcoming at the hat “grows”!

Gone knitting!

UFOs and Abracadabra, Y’all!

Posted on August 7, 2012 by Queen Bee Knits

They’re finished!

I sent off the Baby Life Ring socks and the hat that I designed to match with it’s little dreadlocks on top and the Grandmother-to-be loves them. Makes me so happy to please people with yarn-y wonderful-ness! And I have to be perfectly honest, the little hat is pretty stinkin’ cute!

An original Queen Bee Knits design – “Baby Dreads”

While visiting my college roommate here in Atlanta, I’ve finished knitting and embellishing the “This Little Piggy” hat that I designed for another friend’s granddaughter. I’ve knitted up a pair of thumbless mittens to match. The pattern is called Stay Put Baby Mitts by Jillian Neary. It’s on Ravelry … of course! The pattern is really simple to knit up and since it’s knit in a worsted-weight yarn (at least that’s what I used), they knit up quickly. The little single-crochet “string” tie at the wrist keeps the mitts on the baby’s hands. The string attaching them together keeps them from falling off and getting lost. They’re not embroidered yet (they need to have cloven hooves) but they will be finished and sent out as soon as I am back in my southern atelier!

“This Little Piggy” hat – an original Queen Bee Knits design

The hat pattern will be joining my other originals on Ravelry when I get it test knitted. I am really pleased with the adorable piggy ears and it’s little curly tail. I giggle when I look at it because the pig’s face seems so quizzical … like it doesn’t know what to do – go to market or stay home!

Next up, my Boxy Cardigan. Pattern and yarn by Seacolors Yarn. The process Seacolors uses is very unique. It’s hand-dyed with sea water, thus it’s name! The cardigan pattern is very simple and square. What makes it unique is color-blocking and I’ve purchased (after a long, long, long time wandering their booth at the Maine Fiber Frolic) some great colors that I’m very excited to see come together in this sweater! I’m already dreaming of buttons … they also will have to have been made in Maine! I started knitting with the US size 7 needles as the pattern suggests but have frogged that bit knitted up because it didn’t make the gauge. I’m starting again with my US size 8 needles and we’ll see how it goes! I’m knitting the large size.

I’ve also had a request to knit up another top down baby sweater in the fabulous “Grateful Threads” colorway from Coveted Yarn. I am really excited about knitting with this yarn again!

My tunic is still coming along. Knitting a ribbed stitch on US size 1 needles is slow going and very tedious so I have to break up that work with other projects.

Dropps Tunic (Dropps 111-21)

Detail of the “gathering” effect

The construction of the tunic (it’s a Dropps design) is quite simple and the switch from the US size 6 needles in stockinette stitch to the 1×1 ribbing on US size 1 needles creates a bit of a gathered effect which is very pleasing. The back is nearly complete!

I am so grateful for the friends and family who have encouraged me to follow my passion around knitting and I’m certain that the future holds all great things for my business as it grows right along with me!

Gone knitting (in Atlanta), Y’all!

Home?

Posted on August 19, 2011 by Queen Bee Knits

Back in the land of heat and humidity and the yard weeds are taller than the plants that we dug holes for. Go figure! At least the pots in the front yard aren’t dead and my (now) puny “jazz hands” palm tree is still alive and growing after a near death experience.

I’ve had a fun day today and am going to continue having fun when my girlfriend comes for dinner but I thought I’d take a few minutes to show you what I’ve been working on while I wasn’t blogging … it’s not “much” but it’s work, none the less!

I’ve finished the coveted “Turkish Bed Socks” (find the pattern HERE at Churchmouse Yarns and Teas) and it just reinforced to me how much I love knitting with Koigu wool. It’s simply wonderful to knit with … if you try it on my recommendation and don’t love the way the yarn feels and knits, let me know and I will buy the yarn from you. The colorways are endless, too … you’re bound to love at least one (hundred) colors! The construction was interesting and I only got a bit confused once … and when I stopped reading ahead, I was fine. They’re cute and I’ll be they’re super to wear with my clogs in the winter.

I have made two more pairs of fingerless “Gauntlets”. One is in a gray alpaca DK weight yarn from Village Farm Alpacas in Waldoboro, Maine. The yarn is absolutely the softest and it was good to knit with … nearly as good as the Koigu, just not quite.

The second pair is almost finished. These were knit with a wool and silk blend from Plymouth Yarn Company called Mulberry Merino in a dark emerald green colorway (color 686, Lot 531). The yarn is so soft and the fingerless mitten pattern is wonderful. The yarn is spun loosely and it’s not as much fun to knit with because it splits on the needles and then gets stuck which is annoying! These will either go up on my Etsy site or be given away when I reach 100 “likes” on the Queen Bee Knits facebook page.

My vest in coming along. I’ve finished the back and have started working up one side of the front but I have to be honest, I haven’t really done much knitting. The last few days I was playing with my “old” friends from college at Virginia Beach and there was no time for knitting … I was out riding the waves (body surfing) for over an hour on Saturday. I’m sunburned and getting that “I’m going to peel” itch but it was worth it.

So, now I’m home and I have an order for a baby hat for one of my former au pairs. She’s adopting a little Latino boy from Illinois in October. She’ll be present at the baby’s birth if she has enough time to get from her house to Chicago area in time. How exciting is that? So, I’m off to find some cute patterns for the baby hat and then will hit the shops in person and/or online for yarn. Any suggestions?

Gone knitting … or pattern hunting!

Clicking for Babies …

Posted on July 16, 2011 by Queen Bee Knits

My Purple Hat for Maine Babies

I’m clicking for babies today.

At my Wednesday night knitting group/class, Betty shared this community service project with us and I decided to participate because I can empathize with tired, stressed new parents who have a baby that won’t quit screaming!

I’ve often shared my story about one particular night when I was a new mother and my daughter woke up in the middle of the night (as newborns do!) and I changed her, nursed her, put her back to bed and she would not sleep. She just screamed. I tried everything that I knew to do – changed her again, nursed her again, rocked her … although by that time I was so stressed, I’m sure she sensed it in me. And then she pooped and it dripped out of her diaper, down my nightgown, down my leg, on the rocking chair cushion and onto the carpeted floor. Yup! I lost it … and thank God her father was snoring in the other room and I could yell for him and he came to take over so I could get cleaned up or I may have jettisoned her out the second story window like a football!

I was never told about a period of purple crying as a natural developmental stage of all infants. Here’s some information for new parents (or grandparents) that shares what this is all about …

Click here to watch a video by child crying expert, Dr. Ronald Barr.

So, today I’m knitting a purple hat. In Maine, as I understand it, the hats will be distributed to all parents of newborns in November (?) and will be accompanied by literature about babies’ purple crying (purple is an acronym and stands for something!)

Click on the link at the top of this post, share the site with knitting or crocheting friends and join me in clicking for babies! I’m even giving you my free pattern! There is another pattern (also free) on the clickforbabies.org website!

Gone knitting!

Finished! (I added an I chord "loop")

Purple for Crying Baby Hat

Size 6 and 8 knitting needles

1 stitch marker

purple yarn in a DK or light worsted weight

With smaller needles, cast on 61 stitches

K2, P2 across the first row ending with a K stitch

P1, and then K2, P2 to the end of row

Repeat these two rows for three inches

Change to larger needles and on wrong side, knit across the row

Continue in stockinette stitch (knit one row, purl one row) for three inches more (hat measures six inches from cast on edge… if you’d like to knit stripes, go wild! The only requirement is that the hat must be more than 50% purple.)

Begin decreases:

[K2tog, knit 11 stitches, sl1, K1, psso, place marker] 4 times, K1

next row – purl all stitches

[K2tog, knit to 2 sts before marker, sl1, K1, psso] 4 times, K1

purl 1 row

repeat the last two rows until there are 13 sts left on the needle

break a long piece of yarn, with a needle pull yarn through all stitches remaining and sew the seam – make sure to switch to the other side half way down the ribbed (cuff) section.

Weave in ends.

Yarn Harlot

Posted on February 15, 2011 by Queen Bee Knits

Reading the blog today by the Yarn Harlot, Stephanie Pearl McFee, made me laugh my head off. She blogged about having to make a new hat because the old one made her head look like a penis. What a riot! It made me laugh because I, too, have a penis story …

When my eldest daughter was car-seat age or a little bit older, she was very inquisitive and extraordinarily verbal. On a regular basis, she asked questions repeatedly and made comments from the back of the car that we still tell stories about. (“Where is that darned McDonalds? Oh, dis makes me soooo angry”)

Anyway, on one particular day, she may have been in pre-school or maybe even up to first grade. I may have had a baby boy by then. (Can you tell that my memory for when things happen isn’t so good?) But I had to run into CVS to find something and when she asked what I was looking for I replied, “penis lights. A string of penis lights”. Ha! Go figure … why I came up with that response, other than that I knew she wouldn’t ask about it any further because body parts were simply “gross”, I have no idea. But it still tickles my funny bone.

And, Stephanie, your new hat is lovely!