Queen Bee Knits

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

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.

Oh, Knitting … I love you.

Posted on November 13, 2024 by Queen Bee Knits

Wednesday, November 13, 2025 (photo by Ned Warner)

Well, I’m finally climbing up and out of the sinus crud that I brought back from New York. I took myself to the express care on Monday and got an antibiotic and it seems to be working its magic and I’ve been able to sleep the past couple of nights. Does one ever really “catch up” on sleep when one has missed it? Anyway …

I’ve been knitting my little fingers to the bone and it’s kept me upright and sane while not feeling well. I started the Snowflake sweater for my granddaughter’s Christmas sweater and found that the lace yoke, even though it’s relatively simple, should NOT be done while multi-tasking. Yesterday I found a mistake in the lace, right in front, that I couldn’t ignore so I frogged it back to the collar and started over. Needless to say, this time without the TV or computer in front of me. I’m so much happier with this second round of stitching.

I’m making the 1-2 year size because our Sylvie is a peanut and I do want this to fit her this year. I’m knitting it in Berroco Vintage DK which is washable and dryable should it make it into the dryer. I always prefer to hang hand-knits to dry because I think the heat of drying weakens the acrylic fabric despite a bit of wool. The lace yoke is simple enough and will be finished off with a placket and some buttons at the shoulder. The body of the sweater is simple stockinette stitch in the red colorway. I chose a deeper-than-Christmas-red color that I really like. Christmas red, to me, is just a bit to brash and orangey. This pattern is sized from infant to adult so maybe I’ll make us all one some day. Ha! Or maybe not. Ha! Ha!

I’ve also been working on my daily requirements, six rounds, of the Arne and Carlos Christmas 2024 MKAL. I’ve completed through day 11 (and today is day 12) and I’m really enjoying this project. I am enjoying it enough that I am considering doing the 2023 version as well. I just have to buy a bit more yarn. Imagine that?!

Arne & Carlos Christmas 2024 MKAL – day 11

I’ve wound up the yarn for the hat commission that I’ve agreed to knit for a high school friend’s younger sister. She loved the Have You Seen My Octopus hat that I made for Sylvie and asked if an adult version was possible. I have committed to getting it done by the end of the weekend and mailed off to her. I will get my 6 rounds of the stocking done and then cast on for the hat today. I am hoping to make it to work tomorrow and to teach on Friday where I can get some of it done, too. It’s a really fun pattern and the hat is adorable!

My Christmas Cactus, which I thought were Easter Cactus and now think may be Thanksgiving Cactus are blooming like crazy! I have got to get all my houseplants watered again but I haven’t had the energy up until now. I hope that I can get them watered today … I just have to pace myself. I’ve been home for a couple of weeks and work last week exhausted me so I’m trying to get back up to my normal speed but realize that I’m not yet “normal”. Today I ventured out for a doctor’s appointment, emptied the dishwasher and have run a load of towels in the washer. I’m trying some Borax to see if it’ll help the mustiness of our towels. I thought I’d take a few minutes to sit and write and gather some more energy for now. It’s still early.

Gone knitting.

Wait, What? Two Posts in One Week?

Posted on January 22, 2023 by Queen Bee Knits

Yup, it’s true. Two posts in a week’s time … astounding. But I was so excited yesterday when I needed to join the front and back of my Emsworth vest!

This vest is constructed brilliantly, as all of Isabell’s patterns are. You begin with the back and knit each of the shoulders and then work to put them together and begin the lace pattern in the middle of the two sides. Once complete (basically) to the under arm, you put the back on stitch holders and make the front in a similar manner. Once the front is to the under arm, you cast on a bunch of stitches for the sides and you pray that your lace pattern is in the same place on the front and the back.

MINE WAS!!! Yippee!!!

BUT, I swore that I had marked down what row I had ended with on the back of my vest. Nowhere on my pattern (I have the Knit Companion app and I can write on the digital file right on my iPad) could I find the notation. And then, after searching and searching my pattern, I remembered that I started this project with a paper pattern that I had thrown away when I changed over to the Knit Companion pattern … and I neglected to transfer that important bit of information. Luckily, though, I know how to read my stitches. So I compared my stitches to my pattern and found that I had ended on row 14 and … my vest front was, too!

It was a thrilling moment for sure. Who knew that you could get so excited sitting all by yourself in a room! Hahaha.

Gone knitting.

GRRRR!

Posted on July 17, 2020 by Queen Bee Knits

When you are knitting lace and there are obvious demarcations between sections, it’s so simple to take a few minutes to put in a safety line … it’s so simple! So, why in the world did I go zipping on by? Laziness is my only excuse.

The Shape of a Bay by Bristol Ivy in Cashmere People Yarns Fingering Weight

So, I’ve been knitting along on my The Shape of A Bay shawl by Bristol Ivy and I’ve been right on the stitch count all along. Until section 7. I learned this 12 rows in when the pattern wasn’t working. I counted my stitches and, if I am counting stitches correctly, I should remain at 523 stitches througout. I had 403. That’s a difference of 120 stitches. Yikes!!! No way to fudge through 120 too few stitches (and I have no idea why that happened.) I had no choice other than to frog back the 12 rows to where section 7 begins and start over and knit more carefully!

A safety line will help. When I get to the 523 spot again, I’ll put in a safety line. A safety line is a long piece of, in my case mint flavored dental floss, thread or yarn that is the same weight of the yarn you’re knitting with or finer. Thread the long piece onto a sewing needle with a blunt tip so as to not pierce the yarn and bring it through the bottom of the stitches on the needle. On the first row after installing the safety line, be careful not to knit the safety line into your pattern. Let the safety line hang out until you are finished or reach another milestone or stitch count that is correct. You can put on in every couple of rows if you want. Or not. The purpose of the safety line is so that, God forbid, you make a mistake and have to frog back (again?!) you can just rip back to the safety line, put your stitches back on your needle and start again. It’s much simpler, especially when knitting a 2-sided lace pattern like mine, than finding all of your stitches, making sure you’ve not dropped any, etc.

As of this afternoon, I’m back to 523 stitches on my needles and I’ll restart section 7.

Humulus by Isabell Kraemer in Ella Rae Classic Wool, sleeve #1

But for the rest of the day, I’m going to work on my Humulus sweater’s sleeve and see if I can get it finished and ready to block. It’s pouring rain and thundering and lighting … I have a very frightened BBD here by my side … so anything that gets wet will likely stay wet for awhile!

Gone knitting!

The Longest Day … in memory of my mother

Posted on June 23, 2020 by Queen Bee Knits

Just before sunrise on the longest day of the year

The Longest Day (summer solstice and the Alzheimer’s Association fundraising day) was June 20th this year. I participated for the first time as a member of Ann Budd’s team. Ann has been doing this for years (and I’m sorry I didn’t know about it sooner!) One of my co-workers was participating and I thought it was a wonderful way to remember my mother who died from Alzheimer’s in 2008 at the age of 76.

The day started with a wonderful sunrise and coffee on the porch. It quickly got too hot to sit on the front porch in the sun so I moved to location number two, the screened porch.

Location #2 on the longest day where I finished my June socks

My goal for the day, in addition to remembering my mom, was to finish projects or at least work to that end. I finished my June socks first. I had knitted them to the toe so it wasn’t a stretch! This yarn is another One the Round Signature Sock, fingering weight wool and nylon. I love knitting with it and I love wearing it. As you can see, I don’t worry about “matchy-matchy” and there’s a funny spot at the ankle of one and a little less funny spot at the ankle of the other. (Can you see me hunching my shoulders? I really don’t mind; they’re socks.)

Classic Socks for the Family by Yankee Knitter in On the Round Signature Sock

My next project was either my Humulus sweater or my The Shape of a Bay shawl. I chose the shawl because it’s been languishing in time out for nearly two years. I bought this kit at my fiber camp not last summer but the summer before. It’s two skeins of Cashmere People Fingering yarn and the pattern. The yarn is super yummy. I just finished a shawl test knit for Lori Versaci (VersaciKnits) for her pattern Campfire. ( blogged about it here.) This yarn is very special and the colors are so beautiful. Oddly enough, one of the colors in my Campfire shawl is the same color, albeit in a different weight, as my Shape of a Bay shawl. Go figure.

Location #3, inside with a view of my sweet hubby in one of his favorite spots

The Shape of A Bay is by Bristol Ivy. It is a half-pi shape shawl with double sided lace. I have learned that some lace is different than others. Some lace, typically more simple, is knitted with the lace-y stitches on one side only, usually the right side, and knits/purls on the wrong side. This pattern has those lace-y stitches on both sides, right and wrong side. When I am knitting a project that requires lace concentration, I like to do them earlier in the day, post coffee and pre-tired end-of-day eyes and/or cocktails. I love knitting this pattern and working with this yarn. It’s a treat. Two years ago I had worked into the pebbles section. (Lucky for me I had marked my pattern so I knew where I had stopped and I was able to start up without any trouble.) On the Longest Day, I got through the end of the pebbles section and finished most of the first repeat of the ripples section.

In the photo above, I’m through the pebbles section and starting the ripples. I had a lot of interruptions from the Littles who are getting old and have to be let out frequently … and who don’t always make it outside quite fast enough. I might have gotten further but I am grateful to be home with them when they’re really in need of their humans.

Location #4 … my atelier with my Littles at my feet

My end-of-day view was in my atelier, Littles at my feet, working on something mindless until the sun set. I took a break for dinner and a cocktail with my wonderful hubby and then we retreated to the air conditioning and a little bit of “stupid TV”. I have been working on using up some of the odds and ends of my fingering weight/sock yarns in a crochet blanket project called the Battenberg Blanket. Mine is not likely to look as “orderly” as the pattern is intended but I will have the pleasure of remembering all of the socks, shawls and other projects that I made. I am planning to use a solid color to put them all together but I’d like to make a big (queen-size perhaps) blanket so I’ll be making squares deep into my 90s. Ha! Ha!

My friends and family helped me to surpass my fundraising goal and together we will donate over $1,700.00 to fight the good fight against Alzheimer’s Disease. I don’t ever want another family member to experience the ravages of this disease that stole my mother from me and their beloved GranJan from my children and nephews. Thank you to Ann Budd and Glenda for making it so easy to participate. It was a privilege to knit on the Longest Day and I look forward to knitting again next year.

Gone knitting.

WIPS Wrestling – Ravellenics 2016

Posted on August 16, 2016 by Queen Bee Knits

Ravelry has a wonderful knitting challenge during the Olympics and I’ve chosen to be on the “WIPS Wrestling” team and challenge myself to finish several projects during the Olympic Games. I’m proud to say that I have challenged myself to finish, and have finished four projects so far.

Rustling Leaves Beret

I had a commission to make a lace hat for a customer. Her hat was begun just before the Olympics started. I knit Rustling Leaves Beret by Alana Dakos. It’s a fun knit and pret quick to knit up as well. My customer bought Cascade Yarns Heritage Sock yarn in a navy color. Now, all knitters worth their salt know that dark colors (particularly black but any dark color) are difficult to see your stitches. The biggest challenge for me with this hat was counting, or more specifically, dividing stitches. You begin the hat casting in stitches and I used DPNs. Needless to say, I divided wrong the first time and came up with 30 stitches short. It was going to be a very small hat! The hat is delivered and my customer has requested another hat just like it but in a little brighter blue! I blocked the hat, as directed, on a dinner plate and it was just gorgeous!

Drachenfels – times two

I also finished my Drachenfels Shawl. I really enjoyed knitting this shawl. I had chosen yarn based on a sample that I saw knitted up at the Maine Fiber Frolic in June. Green is not usually a color I knit with but I loved the three colors together. Drachenfels is by Melanie Berg and is a slightly “off kilter” triangular shawl knit in garter stitch with an Icord bind off. I knit mine with a dark gray, a medium blue and a deep apple green. I loved knitting it and I love e finished result. The sport-weight yarn makes it a quick knit and the shawl is a good size! Two other women in my Froday class are/have knitted this shawl and it’s really fun to see the results in different colors.

Number 2 Pencil Socks

The wonderful and fun Number 2 Pencil socks are also finished. This was yarn that I waited for for what seemed like forever because the first shipment was lost or stolen in transit. When I finally did get it, it went immediately into my stash to be used as encouragement for me – encouraging me to finish some other projects. It was a very fun project and I can’t wait until it’s cooler and I can actually wear them! The yarn is hand-dyed by Yarn Enabler (she has an Etsy shop). I had seen in on Susan B. anderson’s blog or Facebook page and it was a total impulse buy but totally worth it I bought the pattern from Yarn Enabler, too though truth be told, I only partially followed it I used a heal flap heel rather than a FLK – but I’ll attempt the Fish Lips Kiss heel another time for fun!

4 Needle Snowflake Mittens

Last but not least, is the second pair of Snowflake Mittens. This pattern is a very old pattern gifted to me by my friend and colleague Bette. I made myself a pair and this pair is for my friend. I’ll make a third pair for my sister-in-law in Massachusetts. I typically have a rule to never knit two of the same thing. This pattern is an exception and I fully plan to knit it repeatedly! I used Brown Sheep Company’s Lambs Pride Worsted in White Frost and Navy Sailor. I love the contrast in the colors and I love these mittens. I avoided color work for years but this pattern made me begin to think about conquering my fear of color work. I think I have succeeded. My favorite part of these mittens is the pattern on the inside of the thumb. Isn’t that silly?

The only other thing I’d really like to compete is the Aran Sweater that is sitting in a bag in my studio. It’s been swealtering hot the last few days and I could not sit under it. It was too darned hot! Tomorrow I head to the beach in Virginia with my college girls for a few days. Friends for 40 years, we always have a wonderful time together and Virginia Beach is gorgeous for a little R&R. I may choose to drag it with me and try to seam it in air conditioning. I really haven’t decided.

Next another hat will go on the needles.

Gone knitting!

Foiled … or Frogged Again!

Posted on September 15, 2013 by Queen Bee Knits

One side in process … double strand worsted weight yarn on size 6 US needles!

This summer I started knitting the most wonderful bag. My Friday Knitting teacher had one that I absolutely loved and, of course, I needed one, too! So, I bought the yarn they suggested and started knitting.

The pattern is called the “Just So Bag” by Andrea Babb and calls for Rowan Pure Wool Aran (Superwash). It was suggested to me that we could use Lambs Pride Worsted in its place. I wish I had been thinking about that – because the mohair in the Lambs Pride yarn makes it fuzzy. Duh! (And the worsted is a little bit heavier weight than the aran.)

The first parts to be knitted are knit with double strands of worsted weight wool. On fairly small needles. Hard on your hands! But I got them all done. And they look good!

But the lace ends of the bag (one needs to knit two) … another story all together! Ugh!

The lace end … 2nd or 3rd attempt! See the fuzz?

Today I frogged the lace end (I’ve only started one … and started and started again) for the third or fourth time. Ugh! I really need a bigger chart and I really need less fuzzy yarn. When you’re knitting lace (even if it’s worsted weight yarn) it really needs to be smooth so that the stitches are visible. These are somewhat blurred (and I helped by dropping a stitch that I could not recover.) Because of the mohair blended in, it’s very difficult to read my stitches and makes repairing a dropped stitch, or any other mistake (yes, I do make mistakes!) much more complicated than if it were plain wool. (Which is why the pattern calls for wool, BTW, and not a wool blend.)

So, I will start again but not until I have knitted something cute that I want to knit … something relatively simple. Maybe the cute pair of striped fingerless mitts that I’ve been seeing. Or the felted slippers (I only bought the pattern ages ago!) Or the little sweater for Faye for Christmas. Or the headband for Libet. So many choices that I may have to just go have an adult beverage and a swim and call it a day! Tomorrow is Monday after all and I am back to work! This job has sure cut into my knitting time! 🙂

Gone …. well, maybe I’ll be knitting.