Queen Bee Knits

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It’s Beginning to Feel Like Winter and a KAL

Posted on November 14, 2026 by Queen Bee Knits

This morninng the sun came out ever so briefly. I hope it comes out again soon … all day! We began a Fall Sock KAL at work today by having a cast on party. We provided chips and water and lots of suggestions for sock yarns and tools for knitting socks and a 20% discount for anything participants bought today. It was a lot of fun. In addition to getting to sit and visit for a bit with some of my colleagues from the store, we had two lovely participants. It’s a start and we were happy considering the amount of marketing that we did (not much!) Next KAL we’ll give ourselves a little more time!

I cast on a pair of socks for my hubby’s Christmas stocking, I’ll endeavor to have the pair finished this year. Maybe, as one of the knitters this morning suggested, I’ll put the socks way down in the bottom and put a ball of yarn in the top as a joke. He’s gotten yarn for several years because he’s so patient and I do all the other holiday knitting first. Not this year.

I’ve finished a few projects and I’ve cast on a few, too! In keeping with the sock theme, I couldn’t resist casting on the 2026 Arne & Carlos stocking mystery KAL. I tried to resist but I couldn’t so last night I wound up the navy blue to start the toe and got through days 1 and 2 and part of day 3. Today I’ll keep going … I hope I can catch up by early this coming week. We shall see! I’m also OK with knitting behind. I do love their KALs and the stockings make beautiful decorations at our house! I’m using non-traditional colors and they’re very muted in Juniper Moon Farms Patagonia Organic Merino to match the others that I’ve made and to match the Advent set that I made. I seldom talk about the ornaments that I’ve made but they’re all in the same yarn and same colorways.

I also cast on some Silly Goose mittens for my favorite four-year-old. I call Sylvie a silly goose all the time and when I saw these mittens (or mittens like them – I’m designing these and knitting a favorite vintage mitten pattern) and knew that whether she needs them or not, I had to make them for her. I’ve got the first one done and the second one almost half-way there. I’ll sew on some black button “eyes” and send them off with her Christmas hat and her doll’s sweater.

I have also begun her Christmas sweater. I am knitting Tanis Lavallee’s Gartrell cardigan in pink and purple stripes. When I get there, I’ll add the white “fur” to the collar and cuffs to match her hat. I am knitting the 4-6 year size so that she can wear it for a couple of years, I hope. I’m hoping that I get it done before Thanksgiving and can send it off to NY with her uncle but with all the other cast ons this remains unclear. I can mail it after Thanksgiving if needed. It’s all good.

I have finished “Baby’s” cardigan. Baby is Sylvie’s doll that she seldom leaves behind. I made Sylvie a sweater that matches but it’s getting a bit short in the sleeves. She’ll remember it, though and I hope she loves this one for Baby and that it fits. Baby’s measurements are quite wonky. AND I forgot to add button holes to the cardigan so I’ve sewn on buttons with snaps beheath them. I hope she can separate the snaps. They’re really stiff. I can fix it somehow if not. It might be easier to knit Baby another sweater.

Today I decided to try the cranberry juice that I made a few weeks ago and it’s delicious! I followed a recipe that I saw online. Into a quart-sized mason jar you add 1 cup of fresh cranberries that have been rinsed. 1/3 cup of sugar and then fill it to the top leaving about an inch of headspace, cap and hot water process for 15 minutes. It turns a really pretty color and I really like that I can adjust the sugar (and I know exactly what’s in it!) I’m having it with seltzer water this afternoon. Yum!

My hubby put up our porch icicle lights to brighten up the shortened days and they make me so happy!

Gone knitting!

Wednesday WIPs and another FO

Posted on November 11, 2026 by Queen Bee Knits

Just a quick update for today so I can keep up my momentum. I seem to have turned a corner and am feeling better and have a little more energy today. I managed to get our bedroom and bathroom cleaned up and even cleaned the toilet and sinks, wiped down all the kitchen counters and have turned on the robovac. While the robovac isn’t quite as good as me vacuuming, it’s a lot less energy for me and that’s a good thing. I feel good about what I got accomplished yesterday (all the laundry) and today. Yay! I even got to have a lovely visit with my friend Glenda and her pup, Kate. Kate started off very skittish and didn’t want to come into the house but she warmed up and ended up having a nap on the couch. My hubby would love to have her here when he’s home … he’s missing having a dog in the house.

I have finished The Hooded Scarf by Shaina Bilow in Malabrigo Mecha. I used four skeins of Mecha for this project as stated by the pattern and there was very little leftover. I love it when I don’t have a lot of yarn left over at the end of a project! This scarf was very simple to knit. A pair of “bias” strips are knitted first and while the pattern called for 28 stitches, I cast on 38 and I’m glad I did. I like the width of 38 stitches. For some reason, I read the cast on as being a provisional one which it isn’t supposed to be so I needed to take the provisional stitches and bind them off – I literally did just that and used the cast on tail for the bind off. It worked just fine. Once I got the two strips done I put them both on the needle and knit the hood in stockinette stitch with a garter edge. It’s really pretty and it’s really heavy! This should keep Gigi plenty warm this winter! The red of the Cerise colorway is gorgeous and I loved working with this yarn for the most part.

While I was at it yesterday, I finally got around to fixing the mustache on my most recent gnome, the Sweater Weather Gnome. I’m not sure where I read the directions wrong but I did and once I saw what others had knitted I knew I’d want to fix my mustache error. He’s now all better and back up on his shelf. I also put the gnomes in the order that I knitted them. I do thing they’re pretty wonderful!

The last FO is the hat and mittens for our grandson, Mac. I made them in Berroco Vintage in the Rye colorway and I used the Knitting Pure and Simple pattern #253 Basic Hat and Mitten Set for Children. I made the 2-4 year size and the hat looks like it’ll fit him this winter. I’m crossing my fingers. We’ll be seeing him in a week or so and will be able to try it on him. I’ve made icord ties for the hat and an icord string for the mittens so they can stay in his jacket. It’s bound to get cold in Denver soon. I love this yarn for little ones because it’s easy care for the parents!

I’ve got my gray socks, my socks that are currently in time out that I haven’t been talking about and I’ve got to begin the Christmas sweaters next. This afternoon I’ll be sewing in the big snap and the label for my daughter’s Levitate Wrap so it will be ready to be wrapped and sent off to New York City. As I think about this sweater, I am reminded about the really professional ways that the designer used for the finishing – double knitting on the borders and ties, a folded cuff on the sleeve – that make it look really professionally made. I just hope it fits my daughter the way she wanted it to. I can make some adjustments for sure if she needs it.

We are starting a Fall Sock KAL on Saturday at work and I plan to help lead this endeavor, there are several of us who will be leading (we hope customers show up!) The boss has kindly offered at 20% discount for supplies for the KAL and she’s going to have a prize raffle for those who finish before Christmas. We still have to pick an end date. I”ll be casting on some Christmas gift socks for my hubby. Maybe this will help me finish a pair to put in his stocking. Maybe.

We’ve got our first Nor’easter forecast for tomorrow. There’s a nip in the air today and I’m feeling hopeful! I’ll be wearing my snowflake good luck earrings tomorrow!

Gone knitting.

Saturday is for Adventures?

Posted on November 7, 2026 by Queen Bee Knits

I know we need the rain but I need some sunshine. This is the time of year that I begin my struggle with SAD (seasonal affective disorder.) I quite literally feel like staying in bed all day long and force myself to get up and go but struggle with energy enough to go for long. So, I’ve pulled out my sun light and have it on in my atelier and I just have to sit in front of it! It does seem to help. We woke up to rain and gray this morning and little has changed all day. We decided to go on a little adventure today – hubby wanted to do breakfast at Dysarts on the way to the coast and so we did. It was a delicious breakfast and we did head over to Belfast for a bit. I visited Fiddleheads fabric shop and Heavenly Yarns and picked up a few little things – some little gifts for my daughter’s stocking and snaps for me to finish her sweater. I think I’ll send it home with my son after Thanksgiving.)

Anywhooo … you’re here for the knitting, right? I had a horrible knitting day on Thursday and so I’ve got a two stories to tell to make YOU feel better about your knitting! There are two. First, I am working on a beautiful hooded scarf for my nephew’s girlfriend. The pattern is The Hooded Scarf by Shaina Bilow and I’m knitting it in a luscious Malabrigo Mecha “Ceresa” colorway. I had finished the first half of the scarf part and cast on and started the second half but I felt like the width of the second part was “off” and when I compared the two, I was right. I had cast on the pattern number of stitches for the second half but I had cast on the pattern number of stitches plus ten for the first half. Ugh! I really like the wider scarf, fortunately since that was done, so I frogged and re-started the second half and I’ll figure out how it all goes together when I get there. I’m just about at the half-way mark on the second side after working on this for about 4 hours yesterday.

Next, on Thursday evening after work I cast on to begin the second of my Reverie Socks in some stashed yarn. I’m really trying to use up some of my (extensive) sock yarn collection. I went ahead with the cast on after checking the number of stitches and began the ribbing. I’d reached the point where I had a couple more rounds to go and looked at it and thought I’d done something different to the first sock. Yup. I was right. The first sock was a 2×1 rib and I had started the second sock with a 2×2 rib. So, that was frogged and restarted, too. Ha! Ha! I am so grateful for the ability to laugh at myself. Knitting has really taught me humility! I completed the ribbing and the first repeat of the lace pattern on our drive today. Progress. Not perfection. That’s my goal.

I have also been working on a little winter hat for our grandson, Mac. He’s getting a little ear flap hat, the pattern is Knitting Pure and Simple #253. I’m using Berroco Vintage in a light oatmeal colorway and I’ll be adding little ears on the top of the hat. I finished the hat on the ride to the coast and now I just have the ears to knit. I am going to wing it with my own “pattern” here and I hope the hat is big enough because this little guy has a big head! I can hardly wait to see him in it! He’s the most adorable little guy.

I’m also working on a little cardigan for our granddaughter’s doll, Baby. I made a cardigan to Sylvie last year in this lavender yarn by King Cole (Denim?) and she loves lt because she can put it on and take it off by herself. I am hoping to make the same sweater for Baby. This past summer she spent a lot of time undressing my knitted doll, Dolores by Franklin Habit. I think she’s gotten big enough, Sylvie not Dolores, to be able to put the sweater ON her doll as well as take it off. We’ll see.

I have a new gnome project going, too. I’m knitting the Gnumpkin half of Gnumpkin and Gnettle with bits and bobs leftovers from socks and other projects. I love these little stuffies! We also made a shelf for my growing gnome collection that sits above my atelier window … just big enough for the gnomes made with fingering weight yarn. I am hoping to make more (I own a ton of patterns) to complete the collection and fill the shelf which is about half full so far.

That’s five WIPs if anybody’s counting and the shefl is a FO. Ha! Ha!

We have ordered our Christmas cards and they’ve been delivered. Last week I addressed through “o” and I’ll get to some more this week. I need to stamp the return address and stuff them and then buy some stamps. I love the time of year when you get cards in the mail and I love to send some love out, too. I also have my new Bullet Journal for 2027 out and I am moving all the really important stuff over slowly but surely. I like a paper calendar/planner and this one gives me a little room to be creative though I’m not nearly as creative as some people are … but I’m also not late for meetings and such.

I have. new procurement, too. I can’t remember how I won but I won a $50 gift card to LolaBean Yarn Company just before Rhinebeck happened and I used it to buy two hanks of a sport-weight LBYC yarn! They arrived yesterday and they’re super yummy! I don’t know what they’ll become yet but they’ll likely be something to wear around my neck because it’s 100% merino wool. So soft! AND I love supporting a woman-owned, black-owned business! If you don’t know about LBYC, check them out on social media or their website.

It’s now seriously zero-dark-thirty (at 5:15pm … gone knitting!

Yeah, I Know it’s Tuesday

Posted on November 3, 2026 by Queen Bee Knits

I know it’s Tuesday and this is going to be (mostly) about my WIPs and maybe I should save it for WIP Wednesday but I simply feel like writing now and I don’t want to wait until tomorrow … or maybe I’ll have more to say tomorrow. Who knows! Happy Election Day! I voted a week or so ago and my hubby voted on the last day of early voting here in Maine. I have no idea if our local poling place will be super busy with lines out the door but we chose to vote early. I hope you’ve voted today, too. It’s so important to let your voice be heard! I saw a meme that said something to the order of if you’re on an airplane and 5 passengers don’t vote, three vote to crash the plane and two vote to land safely, you’re still going to crash. I feel very strongly that if you don’t vote, you’re still voting … just for the one you probably don’t like! My father was a huge proponent of voting and he raised us all to prioritize voting. I can’t miss one! Especially one as important as this!

I’ve signed up to knit every day in November for the American Cancer Society so I’ve been knitting every day. Today it was such a gray day that I couldn’t get myself motivated to do much so I decided to head up to my atelier and work there.

My daughter’s Levitate Wrap is done! All I have to do is find a big snap for inside and sew on my Queen Bee Knits label. The snap holds the inside front part to the outside front so it won’t just hang down awkwardly. I hope I can get one tomorrow when I have to run into town for dinner. This was a very fun knit and it’s a beautiful sweater. I hope my daughter loves it and wears is a lot. I did make a change and knitted the first part of the tie onto the bottom border and I shouldn’t have. I was showing the finished sweater to my college roommate who was here for the weekend and I had an AH! HA! moment where I realized that the ties can’t both be at the ends of the bottom border, they need to cross and tie at the side. SO rather than frog the whole thing, I cut the misplaced tie, bound off the stitches left behind and then grafted the tie onto the right spot. I wasn’t sure it was going to work but it did.

I put my DPNs on each side of where I am going to cut the yarn and then carefully cut one strand and unraveled the yarn. The last shot is the two pieces now living apart. LOL. It was a success! I have been using the Italian Sewn Bind-off and it’s gorgeous for this project. Today I took the tie that I cut off and grafted it onto the body of the sweater near the side. I’m so pleased with the success of this surgical procedure! Yay, me!

WIPs … I’m making a hooded scarf (The Hooded Scarf by Shaina Bilow) as a gift for my nephew’s girlfriend who has moved from Georgia to Boston and doesn’t have a lot of cold New England weather clothes. Her favorite color is red. I’m knitting with Mecha by Malabrigo and the yarn is so soft and lovely to knit. I have finished one side of the scarf and have cast on the second side. This is a very simple pattern with larger needles and bulky yarn. It’s moving along pretty quickly.

I’ve cast on the Gnumpkin gnome a couple of nights ago when I was feeling I needed a new project. I love knitting gnomes and this one is such fun so far – the hat is so cleverly constructed. I am using left-over yarn which is good, too.

Today I cast on a new hat project. A winter hat for our grandson who takes off all of his hats (and he may take this one off, too.) This one will have a tie and ear flaps … time will tell. I’ll be making some little mittens for him too for the cold Denver winter days. I’m using Vintage by Berroco because it’ll need to be washed and it’s soft enough to put on those precious little ears. I’m using the Knitting Pure and SImple #253 Basic Hat and Mittens pattern. I’m making the smallest size which is for a 2-4 year old (he’s got a big head!) My plan is to add little ears to the top of it so he’ll resemble the teddy bear that he is.

I finished the first of my gray Reverie Socks last night before I went to bed. I love this pattern and I needed some singly-color socks to wear when I want to be “fancy”! I’ll be casting on the second sock later today or tomorrow so I can get it going and finished before November 14th when the LYS where I work is starting a Fall Sock KAL with a “cast on party” at the store. Several of us from the staff will be there to kick off the KAL and I hope I can get a pair of Christmas socks knitted for my hubby’s stocking. The goal is for everyone to finish before Christmas and we’re going to have prizes to incentivize our knitters.

I voted for her (them!) I hope you voted today!

Gone knitting.

WIP Wednesday

Posted on October 28, 2026 by Queen Bee Knits

I’ve got a few FOs and fewer WIPs today. Yay, me!

I’ve planned a stay-at-home and get caught up around the house day today … and I have a load of laundry in, the bedroom is cleaned up, bed made. I put away the dishes in the kitchen and may have had a piece of apple cake that I made yesterday (NY Times Cooking recipe, Apple Cake by Yossy Arefi to which I added nuts for my nut-loving hubby.) It’s now time to clean up the guest room and guest bath because my “Roomie” is coming for a visit this weekend. We have been friends for 50 years since we met on our first day of college in 1976. For all of those years, she’s had my back and we pick up just where we left off the last time we were together. How lucky am I?

Since it’s WIP Wednesday, I thought I’d show you my WIPs first. I have my Reverie socks and our granddaughter’s elf hat on the needles.

I’m so close to finishing the hat. Not so much the socks – I haven’t touched them since I last spoke about them. I will, though, because these are my favorite socks at the moment. I’m hoping I can finish the hat today/tonight and buy a pompom tomorrow at work. Sylvie really wants some blue in her hat so I may go with a blue pompom but I really want a white one. We have rabbit fur little pompoms and I think that’ll be perfect. I also have to buy some yarn to make a hat for my grandson because the yarn I hoped to use for his hat is horrible and it’s going back to the store. The ball that I tried to knit with will be gifted to the free table at work tomorrow. Yuck.

My FOs are the four hats for my customer. They’re all knitted and blocked – the last one isn’t quite dry but it will be by tomorrow and I’ll take them to the store for her to pick up. I also finished my daughter’s Levitate Wrap and I just have to trim the ends that I wove in (I don’t trim until after I block) and sew in a label and then I’m shipping it off … maybe on Friday and likely to her work address so it won’t get lost. It’s a huge investment of time and money and it will be well-insured, too. I’ve lost faith in the US Postal Service and will probably send this package by UPS although they’re not great at delivering in NYC either!

I found a little bit of potential hope today when I was misting my house plants and orchids. My “Christmas” cactus are blooming and my orchids have at least one flower coming and maybe two (although the second one could be a new root, time will tell.) It is always sweet when my plants surprise me.

Gone knitting (well, actually, I’m heading back downstairs to move the laundry into the dryer … work first!)

The Beauty of Place

Posted on October 26, 2026 by Queen Bee Knits

I am sitting at my desk this morning, eating my baked oatmeal and a huge pear (before it is overripe) and thinking about how fortunate I am (we are) to live here. I wrote in my last post that I brought home germs from New York City and have been feeling less than well and I’ve been home in my pajamas for the last three days. My hubby has been doing all of the cooking and making soups for dinner because that’s all I really want. I’ve been drinking tea by what feels like the gallon, and after Thursday night I’ve been knitting. Thursday night I felt too yucky to knit. Today would have been the same but I have an in-person meeting in Augusta this afternoon that I can’t miss but you can be sure I’ll be returning straight after to my PJs and my atelier. This morning, I’m up getting my calendar for the week updated and I’ll do the bind off on my daughter’s sweater that I have essentially finished.

I’ve made a lot of sweaters in my days as a knitter and this one has been fun and frustrating. I didn’t take good measurements for my daughter before I started this cardigan and I have learned that this is a must for knitting for others. I am unsure about the sleeve length but the cuffs are finished and, if need be, I can unstitch them and lengthen them or shorten them. I hope they’ll be just right – I frogged back from where I was when she tried the cardigan on in the city and they were going to be too long. I frogged back about an inch and a half and then knit the cuff. I knit the second sleeve exactly as the first one.

Knitting Tip: I use lightbulb stitch markers to mark every single decrease down the sleeve so that I. can make the second sleeve the same. In this case, I had made three 13-round decreases and several 7-round decreases to the beginning of the cuff. They should be the same. I hope her arms are the same, too. Ha! Ha!

The bottom border I chose to change up a bit. The directions suggest that I should have used an Italian Cast On (I’m a pro at this now!) and then knit across the bottom of the sweater while double knitting the bottom border band and attaching it to the sweater bottom stitches. At the end I should continue with the double knitting on the border stitches only to make a tie. Then I should go back and again use an Italian Cast On to knit a second tie and graft it to the start of the bottom border band.

I don’t like grafting in ribbing. AND having knit the border band all the way around the front of the cardigan, I thought to myself … Self, why can’t I start the tie and then continue to add it to the bottom of the cardigan thus eliminating the grafting part? I figured the worst that could happen is that I have the thirteen plus inches of the tie knitted first and I’ll graft it (begrudgingly) at the end. BUT IT WORKED!!! I have a beautiful tie on the first side of the cardigan and I don’t have to go back to graft it afterward. Yay, me! (Note: for those of you who are knitters, I just want to reiterate here that a pattern is a guideline not a law. If a sweater has stripes, you can knit it in one color and, vice versa, if a sweater is one color you can color block it or stripe it. YOU are the boss of your knitting!)

Last night I finished the bottom border and the second tie and all I need to do today is to bind off with the Italian Sewn Bind-Off. I’m knitting with charcoal gray yarn and I’d rather do this work in the daylight!) Once that’s done, I’ll be blocking the sweater and weaving in all the ends. There are a lot of them. I’ll sew in my label and thnk about shipping it to her in the city – the city is famous for losing packages and the mail system is so dysfunctional right now that I worry about mailing anything of value and this sweater is a beauty that has taken lots of my time. Photos of the sweater, when it’s finished will be upcoming!

I took the opportunity to block the three hats that I have finished for my customer yesterday afternoon. AND I have started the last hat of her order. With any luck, I can get the hat finished and blocked tonight or tomorrow and the order can go with me to work on Thursday. It’s nearly done.

The mornings lately have been so stunning that I had to share a few more pictures.

Gone knitting!

Missing My Favorite Day of the Week – Love bug bugs.

Posted on October 23, 2026 by Queen Bee Knits

I’m staying home on my favorite day this week (and I missed last week to travel.) Why it is my favorite day? Because today is the day that I teach knitting to a great bunch of women at the Yardgoods Center Yarn Shop where I work. I have three classes between 10am and 5pm on Fridays but today I’m missing teaching because my little love bug sent me home with a bug. Our granddaughter had a little cold when we were in New York last week and, once again, it seems to have rubbed off on me. I managed to get through working at the store yesterday but no way I was going in today to share my germs. I’m at home, in my pjs, in my atelier, knitting. At least I am feeling well enough to knit!

I’m working on my daughter’s sweater, Levitate Wrap by My Favorite Things. I’m getting so close! My daughter tried it on when we were in the city and we think it’s going to be a really good fit. I had to frog the one sleeve back about an inch and a half to that I could add the dcuff and have it just hit her wrist. Today I’m working on the second sleeve and matching the decreases. I have been using “lightbulb” stitch markers to mark my decreases for quite a while now. I put a removable stitch marker on each decrease so I can keep track (easily) of the decreases and, thus, match them on the second sleeve so they match. Once this sleeve is finished, I will only have to seam the cuffs of both sleeves and knit the border on the bottom of the sweater and make the “ties”. I’m getting close! I am excited about finishing this project and blocking it and then gifting it before it gets really chilly in New York. Interestingly, there’s a LYS in Belfast, Maine that is doing a KAL for this pattern and I’m eager to see their finished projects, too.

Sweater Weather Gnome KAL by Sarah Schira

I did finish a project this week. Wednesday evening I finished my Sweater Weather Gnome KAL and he’s so cute! I’m not sure I love him as much as I love my Gnettle (pumpkin) gnome, but I do love him. The construction of this little guy was, once again, brilliant. The first mystery pieces were a real mystery. I’ll be knitting Gnumpkin as soon as I finish the Levitate Wrap. These gnomes do make me super happy and Gnettle needs a friend! I also want to knit one for my son-in-law who LOVES Halloween. I always forget how excited he gets about it and it’s fun to do something for him now and again. He has several knitted pumpkins that I’ve made and brings them out every October.

My hubby has planted our garlic that arrived yesterday. I made sure to buy some early this year after every last garlic bulb in the entire state of Maine was sold out last year. This year I ordered two hard-neck types from FedCo. I also ordered some narcissus and an amarylis bulb, too. I’ll be forcing them inside for the holidays when I’m feeling a bit better. Garlic is such a fulfilling crop to grow because it does all the work pretty much on its own over the winter and spring. We love gardening but we’re not very good at it … yet!

Gone knitting.

How Did we Get Here?

Posted on October 20, 2026 by Queen Bee Knits

Yesterday our granddaughter officially turned four! I am not at all sure how we got here! We arrived home yesterday afternoon from being in the city for a couple of days … a couple of days of driving and a couple of days with the kids and granddaughter. I think we are both tired but very glad to have made the effort to be there for the birthday party and to celebrate our first grandchild yet again. The kids did a wonderful job planning the party. This year the theme was purple dragons (only our girl could come up with that one) and it happened at the Irish bar/restaurant just up the street from their apartment. There’s a party room upstairs and it was perfect for the family party and comfortable for the little kids running around. I think Sylvie was pleased with her party and playing with her friends was her favorite part (though I didn’t ask.) We tried to call her yesterday after school but she wasn’t in the mood to chat or even let us sing Happy Birthday … better luck next time, I guess.

While we were away, I frogged the Christmas Elf Hat because I found some fun fur yarn in my stash that I want to incorporate into the hat. I am designing this one and crossing my fingers along the way that it works. I started with the white “fur” yarn for about an inch and then changed needles and went to the worsted weight yarn and nearly doubled the stitch count. Now to knit 4-row stripes to the end of the hat. Meanwhile, I’m decreasing every 4 rounds and then every other round. I don’t want it as long as a “stocking cap” hat but am hoping it won’t stand straight up either. Time will tell. I did take a minute to try it on to make sure it wasn’t too big or too small and it will fit this year and perhaps next year, too. That’s fine with me!

I’m using one hank of Sirdar Alpine and one each of pink and purple in Cascade 220 Superwash. I believe there will be a pompom. Anyone who buys “good” yarn knows the costs are rising across the board. I have around $30 invested in yarn for this hat. I’ll have some left over with which I hope to make a matching sweater. I have another four skeins of the Cascade yarn in two colors set aside in my atelier. Maybe the sweater will get a fur collar? Anyway, my point being that when you see a handknit garment, think about the time and skills that go into making it. Knitters pay themselves too little, in my humble opinion. As $6-7 per hours for my time, this hat should easily be valued at $90-100. I’ll step off my soapbox.

I have also been working on the hats for my customer. Judy calls me every year at around this time and asks me to make her a hat … or, this year four hats. Two black and two navy blue hats in the same design that I’ve been making for several years. I should count the hats! I have finished three of the four and I will likely have the last one finished by the end of the week. It’s a simple project, bulky yarn on large-ish needles in an open, lacey pattern. The photos are never super exciting but I’ll photograph them all when they’re blocked. Suffice it to say that I am grateful she asks me every year. It’s lovely to have a happy customer.

You can see where I started on the hat on our way down to New York (way above) and where it stands now (above). I have to pull out my DPNs to get the rest of the knitting done. I still have several rounds to knit but with double decreases every other round, it should move along pretty quickly now. I’ve been using a new-to-me technique to make the stripes line up better, aka a jogless join. I’ll endeavor to explain it in photos another time but I’m quite satisfied with it and I think once blocked the joins will be mostly invisible.

Last night I worked on the gusset of my gray Reverie sock. This is still the first of the pair because I’ve been focused on knitting my daughter’s Levitate Wrap and having some fun with the hats and the Sweater Weather Gnome KAL. My little gnome sweater is blocking as we speak and as soon as it’s dry I can knit the hands and then get it finished up. The last clue came out while we were away and I knew I had to block the pieces first – which I did last night before I went to bed. I think it’s going to be a fun one! No pictures yet per the KAL rules. Sorry. But they’ll be posted soon soon.

The last photo is our granddog, Gus, all snuggled up in our bed in New York, in the sun where he loves to be. We have lots of granddogs and with the exception of the newest one, they’re all boys. Gus is a covid dog and we are so lucky to have him. Can you believe that someone returned him to the shelter? My son got so lucky that day!

This week I’m playing catch up at home and trying to be ready to head back to work on Thursday. Laundry is in process and there is food restocking the kitchen pantry and ‘fridge. I ran to Target today to get a couple of things (a soap dish being one) and I was shocked at how empty the store shelves were. Where there were tons of sheets and blankets, etc. there is none or very little. I hope it’s from a seasonal switch and not from the tariffs that we’re being saddled with or shipping delays because of the Straight being closed off to shipping. Whatever it is, I was shocked. (I don’t shop much.)

Our heat is fully on in the house on the lake. Morning temps are consistently in the 30s and 40s. Our trees are probably past their peak but it was a gloriously colorful fall with the oranges and yellows really showing off. There were some breathtakingly brilliant spots that I’ve passed as I’ve been running around. How lucky we are to live here!

Gone knitting!

Monday, Monday …

Posted on October 12, 2026 by Queen Bee Knits

It was a bit cloudy and very dramatic when I went outside to take the photo this morning. It’s now, three hours later, sunny and gorgeous outside. Fall has taken hold and the temperatures require a sweater which makes this knitter extremely happy.

I’ve been working on our family Christmas card this morning. Hubby’s computer is old and we have trouble with it … it refused to do our taxes this year and it’s getting grumpy about media transferrals … but it worked out after a few tries and I’m going to hit the order button later this morning after hubby sees it.

I’ve been having a lot of fun with my gnome KAL and I’ve been keeping up with the clues. I won’t show photos of my WIP (except for the first one that gives absolutely nothing away) in accordance with KAL rules. Suffice it to say that piece 1 is sitting at the bottom of my gnome gnitting – yes, intentional spelling – bag and piece two just keeps growing. Sarah is brilliant the way she creates these patterns and this one is another unique construction. I appreciate that I have gazillions of bits of leftover sock yarn that I can use up when I knit gnomes even though the “collection” doesn’t seem to diminish much.

I have cast on two new projects, finished one and cast on another. I have a customer who calls annually to order hats. The same hat every time in the same colors for the most part. This year she wants two navy and two black. I’ve completed one navy and started a black one. They don’t take long to knit but I’d love to get them off my to-do list. I love checking off a list!

I have cast on the first Christmas knit. Someone (Sylvie) requested a pink and purple stripe elf hat this year. I just realized that I should have added “fur” because I have some furreal that’s white … I may frog what I’ve done and reknit the hat. Anyway, she’s getting what she asked for and I will be knitting a sweater to match. Maybe also with fur (on the collar and cuffs?)

I’ve been trying to make good progress on my daughter’s Levitate Wrap sweater and I have made progress. I’m still a little bit worried that it’s not going to be as boxy as I think she wanted it to be. Nevertheless, I’m continuing with knitting one sleeve as the pattern requests and re-working the border around the front of the sweater. The border is lovely, double knit, 11 stitches, applied as you go to the front of the sweater. I’ve reached the middle and expect to have it almost to the bottom of the second side today if I don’t spend too much time writing or baking. The good news is it’s really starting to look like a sweater now. Progress!

I’m going to sign off here and go bake some granola for my kids. Two of the three have requested my granola and if I make it for two …

Gone Knitting.

WIP Wednesday and one FO

Posted on October 7, 2026 by Queen Bee Knits

It was a bee-utiful morning albeit a bit chilly for sitting on the porch … 38 degrees! We have pulled out the plants in the veggie gardens, cut back our wild rose (It’s grown way too big for it’s spot), and we are pretty well ready for whatever the weather brings. We’ll keep the cushions outside for a bit longer just in case there is a good sunny morning but daylight is shorter on both sides of the day and my SAD is starting to kick in. Time to get out my sun lamp!

I have an FO that I promised in a prior post to show you and to talk about my mods. I have finished and am wearing my Make Mine a Double by Milli from Tribe Yarns. The pattern was included with the kit I ordered and this was my backup colorway. I really wanted the bright pink that she was wearing when I first saw the sweater but it’s been sold out and I was too eager to make it to wait. Typical knittier. I ordered two hanks of the ArtYarns Double Mohair Ombre yarn and the pattern came with. The yarn is exquisite on it’s own. Softer than I had imagined and the color is magnificent fading from a deep chocolate brown to blues to beigy-taupes to peachy cream.

Make Mine a Double … at least this shows the color changes!

I had planned to make the medium-large but after getting most of the yoke finished and connecting the body/separating the sleeves, I was afraid it would be too tight so I frogged back to where the sleeves were separated and added another increase round so I was at the XL size. (After finishing the entire sweater I still have ample yarn left over.) The result is a boxy fit but I think it’s good and the sleeves are a little long but I’ll be wearing this as a “dress” sweater to work, etc. so I’m happy with it (and I can always frog back a bit and shorten them if I change my mind. Frogging mohair isn’t always a fun thought.

I cast on a new project. I signed up to do the Sweater Weather Gnome KAL with Sarah Schira. The first two pieces are mystery pieces and I got them done to the last bit without problems … but jeez! Picking up the 48 stitches around the edge was quite a process. I pulled my stitches out more than once in part and in full but I finally got them all done and I’m ready for clue #3. I won’t show any photos because it’s a mystery KAL and I don’t want to ruin the surprise for anybody who might be knitting along, too.

I’ve been working on my daughter’s Levitate Wrap and it’s coming along. I did frog the entire front edge when I got to the end of it because I missed one sentence of the pattern originally. That was that it should be a provisional cast on of the 11 sts. Oops. I couldn’t figure out any way to unknit the cast on edge of double knitting to make it work and decided that time-wise, it’s easier to just frog it and reknit it. So, I’ve done that and I’m working my way back around the front right edge/neck/left edge … and then I’ll be on to sleeve island before I do the bottom edge. I can see the forest through the trees at this point. I’ve worried that it’s too cropped but I measured 18″ from my neck and I think it’s going to be find once the bottom edge is added. (Cross your fingers.) Interestingly, one of our sort-of-local yarn shops here in Maine is making this sweater as a knit along. They’re all using much heavier yarns which is interesting. I’m not sure how they’re getting gauge but it’ll be interesting to watch their progress, too.

My socks are also coming along. This is the second pair of Reverie Socks by Summer Lee that I am knitting and this time in stashed gray sock yarn. It’s still an enjoyable lace pattern with a little bit of columns of twisted stitches and it’s easy to memorize for the most part. I recommend this pattern! I am also a shorter leg convert. At least for these shoulder seasons where it’s not super cold or hot and some skin can be exposed to the elements. I’m knitting the 72 sts. size and the fit is perfection. I’ve got the first heel turned and I’m ready to pick up the gusset stitches next.

I’ve got four hats to knit as a commission for a repeat customer. I picked up the yarn at the shop earlier this week and applied it to the credit that I have after returning unused yarn from previous projects that I wasn’t going to use. If nothing else, this was a good reason to go through my yarn stash and clean it up and clean it out. I found quite a bit of yarn that didn’t have any friends left over! I’m requiring myself to get the Levitate Wrap close to or done before we head to NYC for our granddaughter’s 4th birthday party. It’ll be a very (too?) quick trip and I’m already struggling with having not enough time to eat up my little love bug. I may have to take a bus home and let my dear hubby drive home alone so he can go to work … TBD.

Gone knitting.