Queen Bee Knits

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

Snow Washing

Posted on January 27, 2026 by Queen Bee Knits

It was a glorious sunny morning this morning. We are very fortunate, wish we had planned it this way, to have a full passive solar benefit in our living room in the winter. The sun streams in and, bonus, reflects off the snow, making our living room toasty warm. Sometimes it’s so warm that we take off our sweaters or extra shirts (hubby may even take off all his shirts.) Today was one of those days.

When it’s sunny like this my attitude is brighter, too. I woke up late (have been ever since my flu bout) and was making my protein drink when my son called to confirm the name of our granddaughter’s school. They had her overnight and were taking her to school this morning. That’s a whole other long story that I won’t go into here. I always love hearing from my son even when it’s just a two minute call. Hubby did all the snow blowing as I had a cup of coffee, showered and got dressed for my morning dental appointment. I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t the whole new crown that I was expecting. I had a broken “overlay” and she fixed it with a filling. There was enough tooth that she thinks it’ll stick. If not we’ll go back to the original plan. I’m happy – 30 minutes and I was out of the office and my tooth is working well so far.

Since the snow is “perfect” I decided to attempt to snow wash my hubby’s three pullovers that really needed some attention. Mine are really in good shape. I hope we have another snow like this in a couple of months! I may take some out tomorrow just for fun. ANYway, the hubby’s sweaters were put out on the snow and covered with a bit of the light fluff. I left them out for about an hour and then went to check on them. One was looking good. It’s also his least soiled. The other two I scrubbed a couple of spots with some new snow and left them out for another hour. They’re drying now after a good shake and then I’ll de-pill them and take a photo or two so we can all compare. It sure was an easy process … I hope it works.

Here’s the before … the blue one has been worn as a work sweater, I think. It’s the worst.

Here’s the during …

The first shot is all three sweaters under snow. The subsequent photos are of the two dirtiest.

The sweaters are slightly damp after being out for nearly two hours. I gave them all a really good shake and then hung them up inside to dry. Once dry I will get my tools out to de-pill them all.

Meanwhile, I worked on two projects yesterday. I started a little crochet project. The pattern I found on instagram and it was such a cute idea. I’ve pulled two shades of similar cotton yarns and have begun the body of the creature … in blue. I have a peachy color for its mouth. I’ll have to buy safety eyes or sew on tiny buttons. The pattern is Softloop Sausage Mouth Car Key Case by Softloop. I hope I can make it come out as cute as the photo in the pattern. I’ll show it to you as soon as it’s finished. Here’s where I am today …

And I got the six inches of 1×1 rib for my Norwegian resistance hat done. I started with the decreases at the top and quickly realized that there were two around the hat not four and had to frog back a bit and re-start but that was handled pretty quickly. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I make my best mistakes when I think I know what I’m doing and don’t read the instructions. LOL. You’d think I’d learn, right? (See me shaking my head?) Anyway, I should be able to get the first one finished today. AND I really do intend to finish my hubby’s Christmas socks. This is the perfect weather for him to wear them under the big snow boots.

And here are two of the three sweaters, all done. They look pretty good, I think. I’m quite happy with the results. The yarn is soft, feels clean (it didn’t before) and they look good! I could probably spend more time pulling pills off but I want to knit! Geesh, it’s almost 4pm and I’ve not knitted a stitch today.

Gone knitting.

Because I can … I will

Posted on January 13, 2026 by Queen Bee Knits

So, last night my yarn quantity for the Harlow Sweater V Neck was bothering me. I was knitting along the back of the garment as I should and I love the super soft hand of the Katia Cotton-Merino yarn. BUT I kept thinking that I didn’t have enough yarn because I was already into my second 50g ball and I hadn’t even finished the back yet. Never mind, the garment is supposed to be oversized and it has sleeves! So, I put down my knitting and went back to the original pattern description and took a look at the yarn requirements.

I must have been really sick when I decided that this yarn would work! LOL. It won’t work … well, it would work if I had half again as much yarn. The original pattern calls for 450 grams for the XL size (fifth size). And the description on the Ravelry pattern page says:

“Approximately 300, (325), 350, (400), 450, (500), 500, (550), 550 grams of BC Garn “Semilla Pura”, 100 grams = 350 meters / 382 yards, featured in color 03”

In this instance, duh, the yarn is 382 yards to 100 grams. MY yarn is 115 yards to 50 grams or 230 yards to 100 grams. Oops! Too little yarn by 1792-1035= 937 yards. That’s a big difference! So, do I try to order more yarn to use up some stashed yarn or just frog it and find a different yarn to make this sweater in? I chose to frog it and return it to the stash. Today, if I have the energy, I will go through some of my stashed yarn and see if there is something in it that I’d like to use instead. I need a worsted weight or a sport held double with a lace to make a worsted. I like the idea of holding the two yarns together but there’s something that I like about just knitting with one strand of a worsted weight.

Flu brains are not always functioning. I feel like I should know better than this. BUT I will blame it on being sick and move on. I credit knitting for helping me to see that this is not a failure but another learning opportunity. I think my gut kept telling me that it wasn’t going to work but I wasn’t listening to my gut. When I did my “homework” I accepted the pivot, frogged the project and didn’t judge or shame myself. Self-talk is what tells me that I have grown as a human being. I didn’t call myself names this time. That’s progress.

Gone knitting.

Musselburgh in Pink and Charcoal

Posted on January 4, 2026 by Queen Bee Knits

This is the first time I’ve “written” 2026! Happy New Year! I’ve ushered the New Year in with a cold kindly gifted to me by my hubby. I’ve been feeling pretty zapped energetically and haven’t done much other than knit. (Is that a good thing or a bad thing?)

I’ve been working on three WIPs and specifically wanted to write about my Musselburgh which has been a yarn challenge. I started off with a pink yarn, Hu Made Twist fingering weight in the Sakura Petals colorway that I bought in New York City last winter. I matched it with a strand of Berroco Aerial silk mohair in the Strawberry colorway. It’s a wonderful blend. BUT despite thinking I’d make the entire hat in the pink, I ran a bit short and had to figure out a second color to finish the hat. I went to my stash and chose a charcoal gray alpaca blend and started to knit. About an inch or two in, I thought I should have added a strand of mohair to this as well … but I didn’t have any dark gray or black … at least I didn’t find any for a bit. So I worked on my Gansey Afghan.

AND then I found some black mohair when I was cleaning up a little bit. It was left over from my sparkly City Lights Hat and hidden away under my needles. So, I added the mohair in and started knitting again. I had about two inches of charcoal alone and a line where the black mohair began but I was ok with that. The hat is for me AND the brim of the hat will be folded over hiding the gray. But last night I ran out of black mohair. Now I have some choices to make. I either buy a new ball of black mohair and continue knitting OR I knit a bit with what’s left of the pink and then finish with gray alone (or buy mohair and knit with 2 strands at the end.) I’m bummed because I really wanted to get this hat finished this weekend and should be able to if I had the right yarns in my stash. This is where knitters get in trouble.

My other choice is to frog back and take the black mohair OUT of the hat and reknit in the gray only. I’m thinking this is what I am leaning toward. One of my goals is to move yarn OUT of my stash and not add to it this year. Little bits and bobs are not what I want hanging around in my atelier. The lazy me wants to just keep knitting but the knitter me is not happy with the piecemeal method of making this hat work. And, frankly, it’s not really working. And, more honesty, I am also not happy with the gray at all. I’d rather be working with a brown or rusty brown yarn because that’s what the flecks in the pink yarn are. So, I think my first job today will be to frog the gray – at least back to the beginning of the black mohair – and see what happens.

I put all of my stitches on a barber cord and used my needle to pick up the right leg of every stitch all the way around just a row or two above the “line” where the black mohair meets the gray alpaca and then frog all the stitches back. and Ta! Da! I’m back at the spot that I THINK I want to knit from again … that is if I decide to keep knitting in gray.

And just so you know, I’ve finished the first of my hubby’s Christmas socks and it fits! That’s always a very good thing. Today the plan is to cast on the second sock today. So, for now I’m going. to set the hat aside and work on the sock … or the afghan. I’m trying really really hard NOT to cast on something new until I finish just one thing. I need a first FO for 2026!

Gone knitting.

End of Year Knitting Review

Posted on December 29, 2025 by Queen Bee Knits

With only a few days left of 2025 I thought I could take some time on this miserably wet, cold, damp, icy, dreary Maine day to review my knits for 2025. I got quite a bit done this year and I am really happy with most of the things that I made. And I made some great knits for very knit-worthy people in my life.

I finished Dolores and made two of her outfits for her. She had been hanging around in my WIPs since 2018! She is now finished and I love her. I really need to create a space for her now … perhaps in my IKEA storage piece in my sewing room. She’ll need a whole cube to herself.

I knitted a couple of Love and Light hearts and they’re such fun to give away! My grandchildren both have one in their rooms and there’s one in Sylvie’s “special” room here at Yaya and Poppy’s house. I made a linen Anker’s Summer Shirt that I really love and have worn already several times. It’s a great color – especially with white jeans! I knitted a bunch of hats but my favorite by far was the Alpine Bloom hat I made for myself. It fits my big Rockwell head and I just loved knitting it. I knit a fun Musselburgh for Sylvie that she seems to love (she bragged about it at school) and another adorable hat for Mac.

I finally finished the mitts for my daughter to replace her old ones. She’s really happy with them and her boyfriend is a knitter and he’s also intrigued with them. I bought my first sweater kit from the Wooly Thistle and knitted up a Vanilla Sweater in Rauma Finull Garn and I love, love, love the color! My college roommate has asked me to make one for her. And I made a bunch of little sweaters for Sylvie, Mac, a new client from Louisiana and a few for myself.

I participated in the “bang out a sweater” with MDK twice this year and made my Cardoon sweater that I love, and my Bolin sweater, too. I also love my orange poncho and I can’t wait to wear my new Stockholm Slipover. One of my favorite knits was the Little Tern baby blanket that I made for our little Denver nugget, our grandson. This was the second time I’ve knit the blanket and I loved it just as much this time!

My records say that I have finished 65 things so far this year. I hope I can finish one more Musselburgh and hubby’s Christmas socks but I won’t fret if I don’t. I am satisfied with my 2025 number. 10 pairs of socks (some little ones), 17 hats and four headbands, 5 adult sweaters and one vest, 7 children’s/baby’s sweaters. And then add in a few baby blankets, mitts and mittens and a few other miscellaneous things. It’s been a good knitting year. I have exceeded my 2024 number by two! I guess I’m pretty consistent year-to-year.

I bought a pair of new Bullet Journals this year (one for this year and one for next year) and I’ve moved over all my important information into the new lavender book. 2025 has been a busy, full year and my gratitude practice has improved. I’ve taken good care of my body, seen my doctor for an annual check-up, made some changes in diet and lost some weight, volunteered in my community, spent quality time with almost all of our kids, and we really appreciate my kids for helping to get our guest cottage painted and hubby got the bathroom renovated. We spent a week at the beach with my kids, almost a week in Denver with hubby’s youngest and a long weekend with his eldest. We hope for more time together with our kids in 2026.

2026 goals: be kind. Listen more. Give myself more time to “do nothing” and I am going to take the first step to becoming a Master Knitter and enroll in the TKGA Master Knitter (part1) program. It could take me a year to finish the requirements and it’s a commitment for sure! I’m saving my pennies this year for a trip to Scotland in 2027 and we are going to attempt to rent our guest cabin here on the lake. How blessed we are to have such a full, creative life.

Gone knitting. (Actually, I’m heading to the kitchen to bake banana bread. We had some really ripe bananas.)

FO!

Posted on November 25, 2025 by Queen Bee Knits

I haven’t left the house today. I started the day making two quiches for Thanksgiving morning (or the morning after) and I also did some work around the house, some laundry, and I made some pumpkin dinner rolls, too. It was a very busy day and it’s now after nine o’clock at night and I’m ready to go to bed but I wanted to let you know that I have finished the baby blanket!

Last night I had a setback … I saw a cable that was too long which meant that I missed the right spot to cross the stitches and since it’s a guest, I had to go back and fix it. I had two choices in doing that … I could rip back the whole thing to where the mistake was or I could drop the cable stitches down and re-knit the cables. Do you want to guess what I did?

I dropped the cable stitches down.

Each of the three cables is six stitches and there were a lot of rows to drop down. In the first photo, you can see I am pointing at the extra long cable. I dropped the six cable stitches down to the row before the stitches needed to be crossed (row 4 of the 8-row cable pattern.) The big mess is in the second picture. The third one is after the cable had been fixed. I had to do this three times because when I make a mistake, I do it really well. LOL

The bottom left photo is where the blanket was and how it looked after the stitches were fixed. AND today I got it finished and washed and it’s now drying. It will be all ready to deliver to my sister-in-law when we see her at Thanksgiving time. No delivery fee. Yay!

I’ve gotten a (very) few rows of my Zinnia-colored Easy Folded Poncho knitted today, too. Tomorrow I can go back to my regularly scheduled knitting … most pressing right now is the Jamberry Cardigan and at least one of the hubby’s socks for Christmas. Bless his heart, he’s used to getting his Christmas socks in various grades of “finished”. Sometimes he’s gotten yarn. LOL

I have to make a cheesecake and an apple pie tomorrow and I have to leave the house because I have an appointment and an errand to run. So, now I will say goodnight.

Gone knitting.

Saturday Before Thanksgiving

Posted on November 22, 2025 by Queen Bee Knits

It’s cloudy today but the sun is still shining on the south side of the house. Enough so that it’s warm enough to venture outside for a late morning photograph. The loons are still on the lake in their winter feathers but soon enough they’ll be gone again to their winter home on the coast.

This weekend is all about getting ready for the Thanksgiving holiday coming up next week. We have plans with our Massachusetts family for the day and we are looking forward to being together after what seems like “forever”. I am tasked with making a couple of desserts chosen by my nephew who will be with us after several years away at veterinary school – cheesecake and an apple pie are the requests. I have also found a recipe for pumpkin dinner rolls that I think I’ll try. I just have to get a grocery order together so I can pick it all up tomorrow or Monday. That’ll be next on my list.

This morning I’ve been catching up and trying to finish some of my crafty projects so that I can wash my favorite hand knit vest to wear around the holiday. I’ve worn it a lot and yesterday I dripped on it at lunchtime. Oops. So, today before I could block it out, I had to finish this unicorn hair clip hanger for my granddaughter. Her mother saw one on Pinterest or somewhere and made the request so Sylvie’s hair clips and headbands can be corralled and she can see them, too. I am pretty pleased with the end result. I hope they will be, too.

And I’ve been knitting a lot trying to get Christmas knitting done. I don’t have a lot left to do but I always make my hubby a pair of socks and this year I’ve decided to go with a second pair using a pattern that I’ve used before. I have some balls of Raggi yarn left that I bought when we were losing the distributor in the US at the shop and I loved knitting the first pair (despite a pattern reading mistake). I’ll knit them the right way this time. LOL. I first saw the pattern for the Thompson River Socks in Interweave Knits back in 2016 and it’s available to purchase on their website but I saved my pattern so I started knitting last week. I have to be careful to knit them when he won’t catch me so they’ll be a surprise. I hope I’ll have them both done for him in time.

I’ve finished the knitting part of the Jamberry Cardigan for Sylvie’s Christmas gift and I have begun the duplicate stitch yoke decorations. Why, I wonder, didn’t I just knit the yoke in colorwork? It would have had some long floats but the duplicate stitch floats are equally long and the process isn’t nearly as enjoyable. Regardless, I made the decision to follow the pattern and I’m duplicate stitching. It’s really a cute sweater and I hope she loves it. It does look huge! I made the 4-year size so she can grow into it and she can always roll up the sleeves if it’s too big now. I’m excited for her to see it.

I have finished the Wee Liam pullover sweater and the little Billie pants for our nugget, the grandson out in Colorado. My hubby picked the buttons and I am quite happy with these two little garments. Hopefully he hasn’t grown too much and will be able to wear them. (All the size details and yarn, etc. are on my Ravelry project page.) The buttons are solid wood and I like the way they pop off the sweater. And I love the color. It’s showing as more gray here in the photo, it’s really more of a dark sage green.

I am spending the later evenings when my eyes and brain are tired working on the endless stockinette stitch of the Easy Folded Poncho in orange (Zinnia colorway) Rowan Felted Tweed. I really like the color and it’s going to be fun to wear. I am around the 30-36″ mark, I think. I haven’t got the guts to really measure it because it seems to take forever to get any significant progress made on it. But I am making some progress.

AND I have cast on two more projects. I couldn’t wait to cast on the Alpine Bloom Hat by Caitlin Hunter. I’ve had the Patagonia Organic Merino in charcoal and light gray in my stash for a while waiting to cast this one and I need a hat that I love. I don’t like myself in hats and I’m praying that I do like this one because it makes me so happy knitting it! I’m about half-way through the chart and I made the ribbing extra long so I can fold it over. This is what I WANT to work on but I “make” myself work on the things I need to get done first and knit this as a reward.

My sister-in-love asked me to make a blanket for her brother’s partner whose daughter is about to have the first grandchild. I have also cast this on hoping that I can get it finished before Thanksgiving and hand deliver it to her. I chose Berroco Vintage Chunky in a sage green colorway and am knitting the Three Cable Baby Blanket which is a free pattern we have in the store. I’m not sure where it came from but it’s my go-to pattern for baby gifts and I’ve made several of them. I am loving the green yarn. Green is my brother’s favorite color and this is a lovely soft yarn. I got almost one hank of yarn knitted yesterday afternoon … if I stick to it, I should be able to finish it by the end of the week. Crossing my fingers. I’ll have to resist knitting everything else.

I have pulled out the beautiful green linen yarn that I bought to make the Broadgate Tabbard and I really want to start knitting that. I have a new white blouse that will be perfect under this “vest” and I can’t wait to see the color! Another new green project and I have very little that’s green. It’s never been a favorite color but when I saw it in a photograph on social media, I had to have that exact color. I think I will be able to wear the tabbard (it’s like a vest but not closed up on the sides) in the summer, too. Over a tank or a tee. We’ll see. But the color green that I bought is stunning. It will wait until I have finished my Christmas knitting.

And with that, I will sign off and get to knitting the baby blanket. If I can get it nearly to the half-way marker today, that would be a huge win … first, though, I have got to put a grocery order together. So until the next time … gone knitting!

Before WIP Wednesday, a Couple of FOs

Posted on November 18, 2025 by Queen Bee Knits

It’s a glorious sunshiny day today and the house has been warmed by the sun to a nearly-too-warm 75 degrees at 9am. I can’t think of donning a sweater this morning, at least not downstairs. When we built this house, making it year-round-living-friendly, we had no idea how much passive solar heat we’d be getting but it’s incredible! The entire downstairs is warmed by the sun on days like this. Way past the temperature at which the heat is set.

I cast on a new project yesterday. I got a round and a half knitted before I had to run to work for a few hours and then got the balance of the ribbing done last night. As I was about to change the needles for the body of the hat, I decided that I’d like to knit a folded brim on this hat. I have a ton of yarn, way more than the pattern calls for, and I’d like to see how the fit and style change with a folded brim. SO … I have another couple of inches to knit in 1×1 ribbing before I head on to the chart. I am knitting the Alpine Bloom Hat in Juniper Moon Farms Patagonia Organic Merino. I’ve chosen two shades of grey – Anthracite, my main color, and Light Grey, as contrast color. I love to knit hats and have knit many for myself that end up being given away because I hate myself in hats. We’ll see how this one goes.

I have several other WIPs on the needles in various states of completion. I am about twenty inches of stockinette stitch into the Easy Folded Poncho that I’m knitting. This is a perfect project for those times when my brain is exhausted but my hands want to have yarn in them. It’s boring, frankly. But the color is wonderful and I hope I’ll love the poncho. I’m knitting this in Rowan Felted Tweed and I have to say that I do love this yarn. It’s particularly wonderful when paired with a silk mohair but this one is only the Felted Tweed and it’s lovely, too, on it’s own.

I have a Jamberry Cardigan on the needles for my granddaughter. I am now finished with the first sleeve and have started the second. It won’t take a lot of time to finish the sleeve but once I have knitted the button bands, there’s a bit of duplicate stitch before it’s complete. I love the way this sweater is knitting up and may use it as a basis for her 2026 Christmas sweater. But that’s a long way off. Let’s not go there.

While my FOs aren’t shown here at their finished state, you’ll just have to believe me. They’re finished. Off the needles. AND the little purple socks (they’re the second pair for Sylvie in this yarn and are quite a bit bigger than the first pair!) and the Musseburgh hat that I made as a sample for the store is also sent off to her. The hat wasn’t getting any attention at the shop and the yarn is no longer being sold wholesale so, off it goes to keep a little head warm! Yesterday I looked for alternative buttons for the little sweater that we’re sending to our grandson for Christmas. Hubby liked the ones I have at home better. Today I’ll sew them on and this gift will be finished and ready to wrap and send. Yay! I also finished the embroidered snowflakes on our granddaughter’s Christmas sweater and sent that off to New York City yesterday. That’s three FOs, ladies and gentlemen! Yay!

So, the remaining WIPs are the Jamberry cardi, Noah the horse, Easy Folded Poncho and now the Alpine Bloom hat. I’ve also had a request from my S-I-L for a baby blanket for her brother’s partner who is having her first grandchild in early December. I’ll buy yarn for that on Thursday when I’m at work and get it cast on. Now mind you, that’s my “active” WIP list. There are others in my atelier that I’m not going to mention here because it’s a little bit embarrassing. LOL.

I’ve been working to get another request from my eldest for the wee Sylvie – a yarny something to keep her hair clips and headbands on. She sent me a photo of a pinterest unicorn and that’s what I’m attempting to duplicate. I’ve got all the yarn cut and I’ve got a unicorn head template. I just have to cut the cardboard and put it together.

Hubby and I went for a drive to the local apple orchard and the garden center and I had to pick up some Paperwhite Narcissus bulbs and my annual Amaryllis bulb. I’ve gotten them all put into containers with pea gravel and water and now we wait to watch them grow. The Amaryllis is already sprouting leaves after 48 hours. I love watching bulbs grow and they add a nice pop of color to the winter in Maine.

I had a great mail day last weekend! I “had” to buy this one skein of self-striping sock yarn and add it to my stash. Must Stash Yarn does the most incredible self-striping colorways and I had a bit of trouble figuring out which ONE to buy. I ended up with this one and I’m so happy. I’ve also pre-ordered a couple of skeins from Lola Bean Yarn Company … I am looking forward to seeing that and playing with them both after the holidays are over.

Life is good here in the woods of Maine. We sure are feeling grateful for the place we live. With all the upsetting news lately, it’s good to be able to unplug and feel at peace at home.

Gone knitting.

WIP Wednesday

Posted on November 12, 2025 by Queen Bee Knits

Sunrise this morning was pretty spectacular. I woke myself up at 5am coughing … my sinuses continue to take away my sleep. Ugh. BUT what a view to wake up to! We installed insulated curtains in our living room where there is a wall of glass looking at the lake. It feels cold when the sun goes down now and we were hoping to warm it up a bit. We’ve been talking about it for a year or more. Anyway, we finally made it happen with curtain wires from IKEA and linen-look draperies from Amazon and we do feel like it’s warmed up the downstairs. Mission accomplished.

Yesterday the “girls” I work with went to visit a new yarn shop in Maine. New to us, anyway. Seems it’s been open since May. Olde School Fiber and Craft is in Gorham, Maine. It is described as “A curated fiber craft supply shop + community: encouraging a slower lifestyle that embraces time for making.” We all agreed that this was perfectly described. There is a curated collection of yarns that are thoughtfully displayed in a clean, orderly, quite beautiful way. We all ooohed and aaaahed over the knitting needle cabinet that held needles out of sight and neatly organized. There is also a lovely collection of needlework and sewing kits and materials that would delight any maker. I found the perfect little “sewing” kit for my granddaughter that’s similar to the lacing kits I’ve seen elsewhere and I think it’s going to be a perfect Christmas gift to work on with Yaya.

We also ventured to Mother of Purl in Freeport, Maine. Mostly because it was right where we met our coastal buddy at the park and ride and we couldn’t go home without going in, right? The shop has changed ownership since I’ve been in and it was, as it has been, a lovely visit with the most beautiful samples all around the store. I think they may win the beautiful sample contest in the state of Maine. (There is no such contest but maybe there should be?) Anyway, I behaved well and bought only one little ball of pompom yarn in almost neon colors and I’ll be making a hat for Sylvie, once again. It was a sample they had right inside the front (darn!) door

They carry Knitting for Olive yarns and others. Not a lot of yarn but lots of interesting brands that you don’t see everywhere else. I bought a pre-made kit for a pair of fingerless mitts – it was beautifully packaged with the yarn and pattern included. I’m excited to cast them on … but I’m requiring that I finish a couple of little sweaters first. Three to be exact.

The first one is in my last post and hasn’t changed one bit since I wrote about it. It’s been terrorizing me from my desk as I sit in my knitting chair working. I’ll get to it this weekend and finish it up. This one is my granddaughter’s Christmas sweater for 2025 and is a “Frozen” themed pullover. I sure hope she loves it.

The next two are gifts for the grands. Sylvie is getting a Jamberry Cardigan. Her mother reports that she loves the purple cardigan that I made for her over the summer and she thinks she likes it because she can put it on and take it off herself. And she picked the buttons. So, for Christmas, when I saw the Jamberry cardigan at the Cashmere Goat in Camden, Maine, I had to buy the yarn to make it for her – she loves the book! And for our grandson, Mac, a Wee Lima by Taiga Hilliard. I’m using washable yarns for both sweaters. Jamberry is in Berroco Vintage DK in three colors and there is some duplicate stitching to be done on the yoke when the knitting is finished. I found five buttons in what I believe to be the perfect purple yesterday at Olde School. Wee Lima I’m making in Cascade 220 Superwash Merino to “match” the Billie Pants I made in the same yarn. It’s perfect for wearing against the skin of a baby. I have no idea how it will wear considering that it’s Merino (short staple fiber, susceptible to pilling) but we’ll see. He’s a baby, he’ll grow out of it before it’s too “worn” right? The photo above is from last night before I went to bed. I’m making the 3-6 month size so it’s quick to knit – got that much done in an evening. I’m working down the body today and hope to get started on a sleeve tonight.

Rowan Felted Tweed in Zinnia – brighter than my “normal” pallet but wow!

I have another WIP to report on. I had bought, ages ago, some Rowan Felted Tweed in the Zinnia colorway. It’s a pretty bright orange for me but I have a pair of orange boots that I love and thought it’d be fun to have a poncho thing to match them. So, when I saw the orange Felted Tweed I bought it to make a vest or poncho and I’ve been admiring the Churchmouse Yarn Easy Folded Poncho pattern, for ages, too. SO guess who’s knitting the Easy Folded Poncho by Churchmouse Yarn in orange Felted Tweed? You’re right, this girl. I’ve got a little less than 50 inches of stockinette stitch to knit. Yes, you heard me right – 50 inches of stockinette stitch. I found right away that I had trouble remembering to slip the first stitch at the start of every row so I have put a marker in both ends to remind me and that seems to be working well. It’s perfect knitting for watching TV or driving in the car or for working on when I’m teaching class. I hope it won’t take me forever because I have so many sweaters that I want to knit. I’ve cast on the Poet sweater but haven’t gotten very far with it and I think I may have to knit the green vest that I bought the yarn for next. After the Christmas knitting is done.

I “finished” the red onion socks for Sylvie but one sock is slightly longer than the other. I just need to measure them both and figure out which one is closer to her size and adjust the other one. No worries with that. I’d love to get them finished and sent off with the crazy little hat I made as a sample for the store that’s for her … I’ll send both in a bit, maybe next week. Even the “experts” make mistakes. LOL

We are having some beautiful fall/winter weather here. Yesterday and last night we had some fun snow flurries. We woke up to a thin coat of snow on the grass but it was gone by the time I left for Bangor this morning. Soon enough it’ll be a winter wonderland here at home. I spent the day on Sunday in my atelier getting it cleaned up and a little bit of organizing. My yarn shelves have all been cleared off, cleaned, lavender refreshed, yarn re-stacked and some has been photographed for my stash and so I remember why I bought it. Some I’ve already forgotten but suffice it to say that I have several sweaters worth of yarn tucked away. I should be good in case there’s another pandemic – God forbid.

Gone knitting.

Since You Heard from me Last …

Posted on November 5, 2025 by Queen Bee Knits

I’ve been a busy person! Since I’m feeling better, I am finally able to wrap my head around all the things that need to be done before winter actually hits and around our house, in particular, that’s a lot of stuff. We are bringing in the outdoor furniture, blowing leaves, and I’ve bought some insulated curtains for our big windows at the front of the house so that we can keep the heat inside and hopefully cut our heating bill. I’ve got all the parts of this project arriving today, I hope, so we can put it all up this weekend. Well, Sunday, since I’m working on Saturday.

I’ve sent Advent calendars to my kids, caught up with the laundry, finished and sent off my daughter’s fingerless mitts, and several other “chores”. It feels good to get some stuff checked off the (never ending) list.

I finished the knitting part of Sylvie’s (our granddaughter) Christmas sweater and have begun the embellishment. She loves Frozen this year and I hope she’ll love a sweater that’s loosely based on the idea of Frozen. I had the icy-purpley-blue chunky yarn in my stash and had the plan to use a Knitting Pure and Simple pattern to knit a pullover sweater. That part was done last week. The sweater took no time at all. Now the hard part starts. I had decided to embroider/duplicate stitch snowflakes with white yarn and some silver thread. So far, it’s turning out pretty well. I think I’ll be happy with it but the “stress” of creating different snowflakes is hurting my brain. So, I’m going to stop for now and add some more tomorrow. I think I’ll make some silver snowflakes, too, but here is what it looks like after a morning of work …

I’ve been working on a pair of socks for Sylvie as well. She loves my handknit socks but her parents don’t love having to hang socks to dry so I’ve been using King Cole Footsie yarn which is a fingering weight yarn that’s not wool and can be washed and dried in the dryer. BUT the kid’s feet have grown so fast. The last time I made her socks was at the beach in September and they’re already too small. Her favorite color is purple and here are the bigger socks (in the same yarn as before.) I’m making these a little more than six inches long. Hope they’ll fit for a couple of months. I’m using the Yankee Knitter pattern #29 Classic Socks for the Family.

I found a recipe for a French Apple Cake on the internet, in a meme, and decided to try it yesterday. It’s ok. Not great. Lots of apple and not enough cake IMHO. But the hubby is happy that I baked and I was going to bake today but I have a board meeting at 5pm and I had to get ready for that this morning – shower and get dressed and review all the documents for the meeting. We also have a finance professional development session in advance of the meeting planned for our newer members. Anyway, the cake will be eaten and my hubby has something sweet to have with his coffee. Next week I’ll bake more … I think scones are in order.

AND I’ve been trying to catch up with my houseplants. I have grown three lemon trees from seed. They are all at different stages and sizes. One is in a huge pot and the other two are medium and small but they’re all indoors now. I also have several orchids, one which appears to be struggling, and a few African Violets, and we have other plants too … one is like Audrey II from Little Shop of Horrors. It is taking over our entire house, it loves it here so much and I continue to take cuttings from it and plant them and give them away and it’s growing so fast that I truly can’t keep up. I have three pots worth to plant and there are a couple of “legs” of the plant that are ten feet into the living room! That’s the long story about my new Clivia plant that I bought from a local nursery and brought home a few weeks ago. It was blooming when I brought it home but then we left for two plus weeks and the flower is gone AND the plant is covered in a white sticky powdery looking something. I suspect it’s a bug so I sprayed it with some home made insecticidal soap and washed the leaves and will keep it separated from the other plants until it’s clear of the bugs. Good grief. That took a bit of time this morning. Watering all the orchids, the plants in our bedroom window and the lemon trees. (Our heat is one and it’s very dry in our house. Time to hook up the humidifiers again.)

I cut off the flower spikes from the orchid and repotted it in orchid medium with no other materials in it in a smaller orchid pot. I just have to pay attention to it so it doesn’t dry out too much but it seems to have a couple of good healthy roots. Time will tell. I also decided to try to root a couple of the flower spikes – apparently you can cut the spikes and if they have a thingy where the flower spike will eventually pop out, you can get a baby orchid. My cut pieces look like they may indeed have that happening. I’m crossing my fingers. If it works, my dad will be so excited (he’s in heaven so I won’t see him but he always fought to get orchids to bloom and thrive. I seem to have the orchid prowess that he didn’t have. He’d be proud that I am having success with them and I love the plants so much.) I’ll post more as the baby plants and the mother plant start to feel better and grow again.

The leaves are truly falling off the trees. Oaks, which we have lots of in our yard, are the last to drop leaves but the yard is full of oak leaves. Hubby will be blowing and raking this weekend no doubt. It’s totally dark now at 5pm and that means it’s time to light up the inside and snuggle in for the winter. I don’t mind winter here at all. It’s so pretty and quiet and a good time to watch some television and knit more. We are so grateful to have such a good life.

I’ve also been cleaning up and straightening up my stash (at least the part that you see). I’ve got four shelves of yarn in my studio that I’d love to make doors for so they’d be more protected but I haven’t made that happen yet. SO once a year or so I pull down all my yarn and clean the shelves, refresh the bags of lavender, and put everything back on the shelves. This year I’m adding some of the sweater/garment quantities of yarn to my Ravelry stash list, too. I’ve gotten two of the shelves done and have two to go. Progress! It does feel good to care for the investment that I’ve made and to know that if I am stuck at home for another several months (or years) that I have enough yarn to keep my hands busy.

Gone knitting.

FOs and WIPs and Some Travel, too!

Posted on September 30, 2025 by Queen Bee Knits

We got home from Denver Sunday night and we were fried! We had no delays or challenges but it was a 16 hour travel day … and I don’t sleep well when I have to travel early in the morning. I really didn’t sleep well the whole time we were there but it was so worth the trip. We went out so I could meet our new grandson, Mac Thomas who is a month old. He is adorable, perfect in every way and his parents are doing a great job keeping it all together. We are really excited to have another grand baby and will be traveling to Denver more often so that Mac will know us.

I cast on in the Portland, ME airport for a hat that I just happened to find on social media. The Coby Baby Hat is adorable lace and bobbles in a tiny size and I just happened to have a hank of baby alpaca in a worsted weight which was exactly what was called for. I forgot to change to the US 8 needles after the ribbing but it wasn’t a big deal and the hat came out really well. I left it in Denver because it may be the first Yaya-made hat that fits the kiddo.

While in Denver we had an excellent adventure to see if we could find some Inciardi Mini Print machines. There are two in the Denver area. One was a bust and has very limited hours but the second was a total hit and a wonderful place with helpful, friendly staff! We visited Leven and found the machine where I bought six prints. (one was a duplicate but it was one of my favorites and is going to a special friend who told me about the prints.)

Each of the prints is a little work of art by an artist named Ana Inciardi who is from Brooklyn, NY but based in Portland, ME! Her prints are all over the country and my friend Carol has been collecting them in Maine. After finding the machine at Leven, I think we’re on the band wagon! They’re so much fun!!! Leven was also a boon for baked goods we bought some cheese and a baguette for our supper and some drinks and they kindly gave us a couple of cookies and a brownie … the brownie (we got a print of a brownie there) was phenomenal. A fun visit all around … and I spoke with two of their customers who asked about the machine and bought some prints, too. The prints are $1 each (four quarters go into the vending machine) so they’re accessible for everyone. I won’t be buying six from every machine I find! Ha! Ha!

We also went to this food hall in Denver where we found a yarn shop. I enjoyed visiting the shop and found some fun gifts for my co-workers and some Cascade merino (that we don’t carry at my LYS) that we picked out to make a pair of pants and a sweater for baby Mac. The store was well-organized, clean with plenty of space to maneuver around. They had some lovely books and just a little bit of local yarn. A big wooden table at the center front of the store looked like a wonderful place to gather for a little knitting time or a class. I hope they’re very successful. The food hall idea seems brilliant to me. Lots of little restaurants, like food court sized shops in a mall, with all sorts of different international and regional foods. We stopped at the bar for a daytime beverage so the new parents could feel like real people, too. Fun!

I got all of the knitting done for the Sorento Cardigan that I’m making for a client. I knitted both sleeves at once so that they’d be the same and finished them on the plane on the way back home. I’ve pressed the pieces gently and tomorrow I’ll sew them together in the morning when my mind, eyes and body are feeling fresh. I’ll only have the neck to finish and then add buttons and fully block before sending it off to its new home. The color is so cheerful and I hope she’s tickled with the sweater.

The pieces will go together much better since they’re lightly pressed. I can hardly wait to get this to Louisiana and see what my client thinks! It’s exciting when a garment comes out well.

Last project I took along with me is the September socks for my SISC (self-imposed sock club). The SISC hasn’t been a big success at work but it’s kicked my butt into gear … and this is the 3rd pair of socks that I will have made OUT OF MY STASH! I have a ton of sock yarn and often only one skein of any color … I used to buy one skein when I went somewhere, no more. A project quantity or nothing at all. Anyway, the Murmuration Socks are a lace pattern and I’ve reall enjoyed them. The second sock’s heel is turned and the gusset is decreased. I’m going to try to finish the foot tonight … not sure I can get it done but it’ll be done tomorrow for sure. I love this yarn so much for knitting socks (or anything, honestly!)

Murmuration Socks by Summer Lee in CoopKnits Sock Yeah!

We are off again on Sunday for a couple of weeks babysitting for our granddaughter. Her mom is in rehearsal for a play off Broadway that she goes into on October 10 for a month. Heathers is the name of the show, I hear it’s a “darker” Mean Girls and was very popular in the younger generation of the 90s. She’s excited to have some fun work and we’re excited to be able to help and at the end of it we’ll attend her 3rd birthday party! How quickly time flies.

Next on the needles, I have to finish my daughter’s fingerless mitts. I finally remembered to have her try them on at the beach. I have one mitt (mostly) finished and just one more to go. I’ll also be casting on the Poet pullover by Sari Nordlund in Julie Asselin Nurtured Fine that I bought a Knit City Montreal a couple of years ago. I hope this sweater pattern works for me in this yarn. I have to finish Noah the horse by Christmastime. Other than that, I’m not sure I’ll be knitting for Christmas other than the grandkiddos. Duh.

Gone knitting!