Queen Bee Knits

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

How Today’s Going

Posted on November 15, 2023 by Queen Bee Knits

Today is my last day at home before returning to work after having some cruddy virus-type thing. I’m still coughing and stuffy but I do think I’m on the upswing and am feeling much better. My sweetie not so much. Today’s been one of those days where your plan just keeps falling apart.

I always spend a few minutes at my desk in the morning to have a look at what I need to get done that day, if I have any meetings, etc. Today I got myself ready to start the day and headed downstairs to fold the laundry. When I went into the bathroom I noticed that the toilet seat needed attention so I cleaned it up. The sink also needed attention so I cleaned it and the counter. Finally, it was time to fold the laundry and put it away. Done and dusted. I thought I’d make granola next and walked by my purse in the front hall which reminded me that I had wanted to changing purses so I went into our closet and found that my two vintage Coach purses at the bottom of the bin were moldy so I grabbed the shoe polish and the purses and went out into the kitchen to clean and polish them. My purses look brand new after more than 40 years and I switched my stuff from my “fall” purse into the oldest and smallest Coach purse that I have. I bought it on sale at Lord & Taylor in Manhattan when I lived and worked there. It was my first ever Coach purse. After putting the other purses back in the closet, I got out the makings for granola.

And while the oats, etc. were toasting, I remembered to catch up on my Wovember posts on Instagram.I know that committing myself to these monthly postings is going to be tough but I try it again and again. I was really behind … like 5 or six days behind. I’d thought about the posts and had taken some photos but needed to take a photo of the afghan that my grandmother’s friend Ruth gave to me as a shower or wedding gift the first time I was married. Ruth is my knitting hero. She could knit while drinking coffee, smoking a cigarette and watching TV. The afghan remains one of my favorites despite the acrylic yarn. I noticed it needs some repair – it has a few pulls – and I’ve added that to my mending list. I wrote my post while the liquid part of the granola was melting and then put the granola together and back into the oven.

I had emptied a bottle of fizzy water and hadn’t refilled it so I did that, put away the dry dishes on the drainboard, cleaned up the kitchen and washed the top of the island (I had to scrub a bit of shoe polish off.) Meanwhile, I’d forgotten to eat breakfast so I grabbed the last of the baked oatmeal out of the freezer and popped it into the microwave. See how it’s gone? I’ve made headway into the day but geez, there’s a lot of side trips! Ha! Ha!

Look how happy my houseplants are! I am thrilled to see the show they’re putting on this year. My Thanksgiving Cactus is in full bloom. It’s absolutely covered with flowers. The second one, is blooming too but nowhere near as fully as the red one. Our orchids are STILL blooming. They’ve been incredible and in nearly constant bloom for months. Yes, you read that right, MONTHS! My father would be so proud of me and I know that Helen is smiling.

I really am knitting. I’m endeavoring to design a Christmas sweater for Sylvie. She’s a year old but she’s a peanut so I’m not sure what size to knit but I’ve just begun and am hoping it’ll fit! I’ll write the pattern down when it’s done … maybe … but I think it’ll be cute and different. I’ve got the body done and am knitting the sleeves. Since they’re little, they won’t take a lot of time. The Yoke will be worked pretty simply with raglan decreases and then embellished once the sweater is knitted. I’m not going to share any more photos (the one below was posted to Instagram) until it’s finished but there are hints on my Ravelry project page.

I’ve set aside my pink mittens with some of the embroidery done and some yet to do. I’ll get them finished when I am done with Sylvie’s sweater. They may travel with me for Thanksgiving. We shall see. I’m continuing to work on my Nancy’s Vest slowly but surely and mostly in the evenings when I am too tired for colorwork and design work. I’ve got five of the seven button holes knitted so I’m making progress. I hope it’s going to be long enough … it looks like it could be really short. If that’s the case, I’ll rip it out and start again. I am trying to take my own advice and trust the pattern.

My gray socks are still on the needles. I found a dropped stitch way back and pulled it up as far as I dared. I’ll secure the one stitch when it’s finishing time. I’ve already added a stitch so that my count is correct. They’re for me so it doesn’t really matter if they’re perfect. Well. they’re perfectly imperfect.

My studio and home are a mess and I can’t leave for Thanksgiving before it’s cleaned up a little bit. Guess we’ll be vacuuming and dusting this weekend. Holiday travel is not my cup of tea and I’m trying to get myself into the mindset that what happens happens. We are so fortunate to be able to travel and to be invited for a Thanksgiving visit. Our generator is in good working order should we lose power and we have Tom coming to raise our guest cottage sometime during the long weekend so he’ll check on the water issue (we’re waiting on parts so it can be fixed.) Monk will be happy to see his friends at the kennel. We have everything that’s within our control done. The rest is up to the universe.

Gone knitting.

PS. Two more thoughts. First. I went to the doctor because I wasn’t feeling well on Thursday last week. When we bring our dog to the veterinarian, they call to see how he’s doing after the visit. I’ve heard not one word from my doctor. Second. The weather is really feeling wintery now. We (the royal we) covered the garlic with straw and it’s time to cover the Rhododendrons that we’ve been nursing for years. They’re getting a bit bigger but the weight of the snow (and the workers) may hurt them. Guess it’s time to put the life jackets and oars away, too. The dock’s only been gone a month or so. An extra thought. Be kind. Everyone’s fighting battles these days. Politics is ugly, war is ugly, and it’s difficult to wrap my head around the things people say to each other. What we can all do every day is to be kind. It takes so little effort.

Pink Mittens

Posted on November 7, 2023 by Queen Bee Knits

When I worked as a clinic assistant an elementary school in Florida being sick was, at least the first year, de rigueur. Not to say that I have ever been fashionable but those little ones carry a lot of germs and I got them all! So today, rather than collecting signatures to get lake funding on the local Belgrade ballot, I’m home in my studio drinking plenty of fluids and resting.

On Saturday we planted our garlic and tulips and daffodils. There was a spot in our perennial garden where we lost a hydrangea bush this year after doing everything we could think to do. When we (the royal we; my dear husband) dug the hole to put in the new bush to replace it, we found a rock. Not just a little rock, a rock big enough that we stopped digging and put the new bush in another location. It’s all good, we wanted to build out our buffer to protect the lake anyway. The semi-dug hole sat just as we’d left it for a month or so until Saturday. It’ll be really pretty in the spring!

On Sunday I read the rest of my book. I was up super early because of the time change and brought my book out of the bedroom when I sneaked away. This is a highly unusual activity for me at any time other than bedtime so I knew something was coming on … I read into the early afternoon and then I started knitting. (The book is The Yankee Widow by Linda Lael Miller. I liked it!)

I’ve got two, make that three, projects actively on my needles. I’m working on a pair of vanilla socks using the Yankee Knitter sock pattern #29 in a light gray. I’ve had some Socks Yeah! by Coop Knits yarn all wound into cakes when I frogged another pair of socks that I didn’t like working on ages ago. When I went to NC, this was my back-up project to the pink mittens because you always have to have a back-up project. Just. In. Case. And I am grateful that I did because I got the pair of socks I was working on finished and didn’t like the yarn I had planned for the mittens which left me starting the gray socks – at least until I found a LYS in Pinehurst!

While the color is best in the first several photos, this is where I am this morning with my perfect pink mittens. They’re growing! The pattern is a bit fiddly because the cables are right on the “edge” of the thumb gusset increases but with a little bit of old fashioned charting, I’ve figured it out.

The knitter is asked to follow a 4-round cable pattern and at the same time asked to increase every third round. Ugh! A knitter’s nightmare. I had to be consciously aware of the two directions and my brain doesn’t calculate this stuff without tools. Fortunately, we have tools. I decided this time, to write a chart for myself noting the 4-round cable pattern and the every third round increase. It worked like a charm. Sometimes a paper and pencil are just what you need.

Nancy’s Vest a couple of days ago in Manos’ Milo

I’ve worked a bit on my Nancy’s Vest, too. I’ve reached the point where I need to start some shaping and have made the first buttonhole. I think it’s too small, however, and will likely frog back two rows and start again. I’m not sure if it’s me or the method that the designer uses that makes the button hole so small. I probably should have tried it in a swatch first … but it’s only a couple of rows. I love the yarn, though, and the drape is lovely. This will be a great vest … one that I thought would be so simple and straight forward but is turning out to teach me a few lessons (yet again!)

I’ve decided to have a shelf cleaning sale on facebook and instagram to see if I can sell some of the creations that I have made and seldom worn (some I’ve never worn). Any that don’t sell will be donated to the soup kitchen or homeless shelter or our local school or PD to give out as they see fit. I can’t keep knitting if I don’t “thin the herd” so to speak. That’ll be coming soon. I hope. I’ve photographed all of the pieces but now I have to measure them and get them written up. It’s more work than I care to do today.

Gone knitting.

Beginnings #wovember

Posted on November 1, 2023 by Queen Bee Knits

Today is the first of November! Yikes! That makes us 5/6ths of the way through the year 2023. It was a clear cold morning here on the lake and the sky was beautiful. Looking out our bedroom window is always a treat.

I’m going to participate (or at least try) in Wovember which begins today. The month belongs to recognizing wool as a premium textile that comes directly from sheep (and does not harm the sheep to have it removed.) I love wool and choose to knit with a natural wool when possible or practical.

Today I cast on a new project because I’ve got a few that are smaller projects and I need a big one to be accomplished this month. (I’ll be reaching out to a friend to ask her thoughts on how to finish the sleeve on my Favorite genser, too. I’d love to have that off my list and I’m so close!) I’m knitting Nancy’s Vest by Carol Sunday (a paid pattern on Ravelry.) I’ve been wanting a more traditional button-down vest and I think this one will be a perfect one.

This is the second cast on (and the proper one!) I followed Carol’s tutorial for a Tubular Cast On which tells me to cast on half the number of stitches that I need with a backward loop cast on (way easier than a long-tail cast on when you’re casting on 351 stitches) using a contrasting color of yarn. Since I need an odd number, I will round UP to 176 (pink yarn). I want a stretchy cast on because it’s the bottom of my vest and so I started by knitting the right side and continuing in stockinette stitch for two rows. On the fourth row, wrong side, I purl 1 and then bring the yarn forward to knit into the back of the purl bump in the first row knitted with my working yarn (gray). I’ve taken some photos and I hope they help …

Photo 1 – the first stitch on the left hand needle will be purled … the normal way … and then bring the yarn to the back. The stitches on the right needle have already been worked and I can see the purl bumps from the first knitted row in grey between the pink “lines”.

Photo 2 – We are going to knit into the back of the stitch that is the first round of gray stitches. We will pick it up on the left needle going through the stitch from top to bottom. The gray stitch we are after is found “between” the pink lines, so to speak.

Photo 3 – Picking up the gray stitch from the top to bottom on the left-hand needle and knit it through the back loop. Bring the yarn to the front.

Photo 4 – I’ve knit through the back loop of the picked up stitch. You can see the stitches we’re after (between the pink yarn “rows” really well here. They’re not difficult to pick up but it is a little fiddly.

Photo 5 – Once you work across the row as described above, you remove the pink yarn. I used my blunt tipped sewing needle to grab the pink stitches from the left side to the right side one by one. Another fiddly step but it’s not difficult. Slow and steady wins the race. Note: this is the wrong side of the work.

Now I just have to knit a couple of inches of 1×1 ribbing before I get to the body of the vest.

I’ll post more photos of the finished ribbing when I have a little bit to photograph. The bottom of the ribbing, though, looks like it just started out of nowhere. Lovely!

I’m knitting this vest in Manos del Uruguay’s Milo (65% merino wool, 35% linen). It comes in a 100g hank with 380 yards making it a sport weight. I’m using a US4 needle for the ribbing. Check out my progress on my Ravelry project page. I’m Lindar on Ravelry.

Gone knitting.

Mid-October WIPs and FOs

Posted on October 15, 2023 by Queen Bee Knits

I slept a little bit late this morning and missed the sunrise. It was a rough night. I left my snoring hubby and went up to sleep in the guest room around midnight but woke up all by myself at 3am and couldn’t get back to sleep. But today waits and we had things to do around the house that we’ve been putting off. We vacuumed the house, I assembled our new rolling hamper and we helped our friend get her garage door working. We also hit Helen’s garden in front of our bedroom window. It was full of (what I think is called) strangle vine and it’s getting to the bushes and perennials in the bed. We’re going to have to keep a close eye on that bed in the spring! We can’t use any herbicides because we’re so close to the lake. Best we can do is a strong vinegar mix.

I’ve been busy with meetings and work and events but I’ve also been working in my studio and have a bunch of projects on the needles and a few that are finished. With the craziness in the world with the wars between Israel and Hamas and Ukraine and Russia and all of the heartache that they bring coupled with the chaos in the American government, I’ve been struggling to keep my own sense of peace within me. I don’t like what the Israeli government has done to the Palestinian people but I despise that Hamas has kidnapped women and children and the bombing, murder and mayhem is horrible. I can only imagine how all the mothers and children, in particular, must feel as their homes are destroyed and their loved ones are killed.

I’ve discovered that when I’m feeling out of control and world events are so disturbing that I tend to cast on new projects. I’ve cast on six new projects; all of them are smaller projects than the sweater that I’ve been trying to finish. I have finished two hats and a newborn sweater.

The hats are the same pattern knitted in Cascade’s Baby Alpaca worsted yarn. This was on clearance at my LYS and I couldn’t resist buying a couple skeins for hats for babies. The yarn is so soft! The hat on the left is completed here, the hat on the right has also been washed and blocked and has a pompom, too. The pattern is Garter Ear Flap hat by Purl Soho. They have a bunch of wonderful and free patterns on their website. There used to be a store in New York City but it’s been closed and remains so. Bummer. It was a fun place to visit. We went there once.

The baby sweater pattern is called Newborn Vertebrae and it’s a free pattern on Ravelry. This one is for one of my daughter’s friends who is having a baby boy soon. I love knitting this little sweater for wee ones. It’s really only a back and arm covering because newborns are most often being held against the body. This one is made of an Online Linie fingering weight yarn in a self-striping colorway. I bought one 50g ball and hoped it would be enough … it almost was. Thank goodness I’m a bit of a hoarder (of yarn) and I had a tiny bit of leftover yarn from a pair of socks that was a perfect match and I was able to get the ribbing around the front completed. (I really only needed enough for a row or two.)

My WIPs list is a bit longer than it was but I was reminded that I had a few things to get on the needles that can’t really wait forever. My Norwegian sweater is in time out for a bit. I’ve almost finished the first sleeve and when I got to the place where I should begin the colorwork, I have too many stitches and I’m not sure how to handle it without going back and adjusting my decreases. I know that the traditional Norwegian knitters wouldn’t do that but I can’t seem to figure it out their way.

I’ve cast on a pair of purple socks, plain vanilla, with my Yankee Knitter pattern. I’ve knit so many socks that I’ve worn out more than one paper copy of the pattern. I now own an electronic version and hope that will last for the times when I can’t remember what I need to do next. I have mostly memorized the pattern. The yarn is Cascade Heritage and it was found in a basket when I was searching for blue yarn for the Newborn Vertebrae. I cast on immediately because it’s such a pretty color!

I’m also knitting a white garter stitch hat for my granddaughter. It’s a turkey hat, a replication of one that my daughter sent me a picture of last year. The baby will be a YEAR old on Thursday and I thought I’d knit her a turkey hat for this year. I couldn’t find a pattern to follow so I started out with a cast on of 96 stitches but it looked huge. So I frogged it back and cast on 80 stitches and it looks much more likely to fit our little peanut. I’m trying to get this one finished before we leave for NYC for her birthday party. You can bet we will be FaceTiming on Thursday. My intent with this hat is to embroider eyes and a beak on it and knit a few colorful feathers at the top. Cross your fingers (and toes, please!) Photos of the finished hat will be forthcoming.

The second pair of socks is a skein that I also bought at my LYS when it was on clearance. I’d knitted a pair in a similar colorway for my hubby and loved the yarn so much that I just bought the other hank. It’s been waiting for just this person’s feet. Haha! I am using the Yankee Knitter sock pattern here, too. Did I tell you it’s my favorite sock pattern? All of the details are on my Ravelry project page.

I spent the day on Wednesday last week sewing. I’m making two little pairs of harem pants for Sylvie. I decided to size up so that she can wear them for a little bit, I hope. I bought the pattern and the lawn fabric at Fiddlehead in Belfast, ME earlier in the summer. I bought some double gauze at my LYS which conveniently is also a fabric store. I got the elastic for the waistband there, too. The pants have French seams and I have stitched them both without (knock wood) making any mistakes. I have to insert the elastic in one pair and finish the waistband stitching on the second, insert the elastic and then hem both pairs. They’re so cute! I hope I’ll get those done tomorrow. It’s too late for today. I need to sew when I am fresh since it’s not second nature … thought I am darned proud that I knew how to follow the instructions, trace the pattern piece, etc. I may turn into a sewist yet.

Tomorrow is the anniversary of my mother’s death. I’ve written before about our somewhat difficult relationship and I’ve been working on forgiving and moving on. This year I am feeling some sorrow about her not being here to see her beautiful grandchildren and her great granddaughter although I do believe she’s watching over us. I feel more comfort this year than I have in the past and I’m proud of that progress. I’ll light a candle for her in the morning and let it burn throughout the day in her memory. I know she did her best.

Today I thought again about a poem by Wendell Berry, The Peace of the Wild Things. It’s a favorite of mine and perfect for these times of despair when the world seems so heartless and hopelesss.

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

Gone knitting.

Taking Every Opportunity When it Knocks

Posted on September 27, 2023 by Queen Bee Knits

This morning before the sun came up after a perfect sleeping night interrupted by my snoring partner. I’m grateful that we have a guest room or I’d have been relegated to sleeping on the couch! Fall is a welcome change for me and I’m loving the cooler weather and have pulled out my flannel shirts so they can de-wrinkle without ironing. Ha Ha. I’m putting away my linens and tees because it’s sweater weather!

On Sunday I drove over to Rockland for a workshop with Katherine Ferrier at her Lincoln Street Center Studio at the suggestion of my friend Lori. The workshop was entitled Embracing the Mystery: Quilt Making and Cyanotype Prints. Cyanotypes are a photographic printing process that uses exposure to light to create its distinctive deep dark blue color.

Our task was to design the prints, some just because and some with a prompt, perhaps telling a story and being willing to embrace whatever happened. It was a cloudy but bright day and that alone could make our results different than on a bright sunny day. We enjoyed the print making and getting to know each other so much. This was a remarkable group of creative maker women. I was inspired by their talents and I’ve already purchased some cyanotype fabric. If it arrives quickly, I plan to take it to a friend’s lavender farm this weekend to make some lavender prints!

In the afternoon, we designed out quilts with our prints and some lovely scrap fabrics available from Katherine’s studio. I had originally thought I’d like to use just the cyanotype prints but with a little bit of guidance from Katherine and the beautiful orangey linen scraps, the final plan for my quilt top was made. And I love it!

It’s a long ride home so I took my photos of the quilt top and my fabric, batting, and backing fabric home with me with the promise that I would finish it and with three new friends. For the last couple of days I put the quilt together. I finished sewing together my quilt top on Monday. I made a few rookie mistakes because I’m new to patchwork sewing where not all of the pieces are square or the same size. Nor are they a planned pattern. I guess this is my first original patchwork design.

I am so happy with it. I added a little embroidery detail on the top left corner piece; an outlined blossom and a cluster of french knots in colors similar to the pops of linen. Orange/peach/salmon seem to be a new theme for me.

The center piece, the largest piece we printed was a prompt to make a wish. My wish was about my home, my husband and my family. Inside the circle is a joined pair of blossoms representing my husband and me and outside are pairs of blossoms that represent our five children and their significant others. I will be stitching a little pink blossom to represent our granddaughter. The grasses crossing it all represent flexibility, softness, growth and strength and above it all the “h” is the wish for health, happiness and home. Home to me is not only a place that you live, it’s a sense of belonging, peace, comfort and safety. This piece has a lot of meaning in it for me. I really do love it.

I then pieced the backing fabric. I wanted to incorporate the last print that I made, my self portrait, in the quilt somehow so that I didn’t bring home another piece of fabric without a plan. I also used my little square that Katherine gifted to each of us as my quilt label on the back. I pondered whether I wanted to stitch in the ditch for the quilting or tie the quilt, decided on the former and then decided to put a proper binding on it. I cut 2.5 inch strips for the binding, sewed them together and stitched them onto the quilt. I also stitched in the ditch around the outside of the quilt to attach the second part of the binding.

It’s not perfect. There are a couple of places on the back where I didn’t catch the binding and where the backing wiggled out of the binding but I am pretty sure I’m comfortable leaving it this way because the whole exercise was embracing the mystery, right? I’m consciously embracing the imperfections as part of the process of learning and meeting myself where I am.

Here is the finished quilt on my studio floor. I only need to hang it up somewhere in our house. I’m so grateful to have a house that is a true home with a partner who encourages my creativity even though dinner isn’t always ready. I have found my home here with him.

I’m grateful to my friend Lori who inspired me to take the opportunity and this workshop. I’m also grateful to my new friends who inspired me along the way. I am grateful to Katherine for making the opportunity available for us all together, learn, explore and embrace the mystery!

What a wonderful day it was!

Gone knitting.

September Already?!

Posted on September 2, 2023 by Queen Bee Knits

This photo was the second one I took this morning. But this one was the one that made me smile the widest! At the left you can see a fisherman zooming into the frame and at the top right, a hummingbird, getting ready to land on the feeder that’s just out of sight. Ha! That almost never happens.

It’s a beautiful Saturday here on the lake and I’ve been trying to wrap up a bunch of stuff so that we can vacation next week with all of my kids and their families. Dogs are included, too, of course. We’ll be eight adults, one baby and six dogs. It’s always a full house and it’s always fun. We are both … dare I say all … looking forward to a few days together.

So, this morning I’ve made a list of Maine State Reps who represent all of our students at Maine Arts Academy. We are having a ribbon cutting and open house celebration in September and we should always invite those who represent our students. And then I wrote the newsletter for tomorrow for the store. I included in tomorrow’s newsletter that I’m not writing one the following week … vacation rules. I have only one meeting to Zoom into while we’re away and I intend to be present for the kids, the dogs and the granddaughter!

This morning I steam blocked my two finished mini Nordic jumpers for our Advent calendar. I have one more to go. ONE!!! My intent is to do that after I’m done writing this post. Here are 22 and 23.

Twenty-three is the one that has two different white yarns. One is Patagonia Organic Merino, a wooly wool. The other is a superwash something that was in my left-overs bins (yes, you read that right, I have bins of left-overs. I can’t throw yarn away!) I am ok with it the way it turned out. Do I wish that I had had just a little bit more of the Patagonia? Yes. Did I let it ruin my life? Not even close. It’ll do. I’ve cast on #24 and I can probably get it done today. Certainly, I can get it done this weekend.

Yesterday I decided to return a skein of cotton that I had bought to make a bib for my granddaughter because I found a skein of the same cotton in a different colorway that will be just fine for a bib. So, while I was teaching class yesterday and for a while after, I got the bib done.

I also knitted an apple for the fall decorations for the store window. We’re decorating the window (and adding the stems to the apples) on Monday morning. I’m going to try to finish another one or two before then. Cross your fingers. And then as I was cleaning out cupboards and bins, I found two skeins of Plymouth Encore yarn that was gifted to me and I remembered a little sweater that I had the pattern for and (duh!) I cast on a little last minute sweater for my granddaughter. AND found myself knitting the wrong size after an hour or so … 18 months won’t fit her for ages so I frogged it and re-started the 12 month size which may or may not fit her right now. We’ll find out on vacation.

This morning I made my “granola” recipe that I’ve been making for decades and forgot to add the honey which makes the granola more like muesli … it’s not chunks at all, it’s more like loose cereal. I’m sure it’ll taste fine and it’s got less sugar. I also made a batch of blueberry muffins. I may make another dozen tomorrow because the family goes through these like crazy and they will stay fresh in the freezer if they don’t eat them right away.

Dear hubby has been to the dump, mowed the lawn and is napping. This is a perfect chance for me to do a little bit of stitching. Have I talked about the special quilt I’m making? More to follow.

Gone stitching (not sure if with knitting or sewing needles).

A Very Good Day

Posted on September 1, 2023 by Queen Bee Knits

The picture was really taken on Tuesday but it looked just like this today, too. It’s been a couple of gloomy gray days with some sprinkles of rain. It’s all good. We needed it. The gardens are happy for the water and I’m happy for a couple of days to stay indoors and get some house stuff caught up.

Today has been a lovely day. No meetings until 5pm so I had the day to get stuff done that I choose. I had a shower and washed my hair, caught up on watching a couple of my podcasts, and I finished up a few knitting projects.

I started and finished two pairs of super bulky mittens for sale. These are from some Malabrigo Rasta yarn that I found in my stash. I won’t knit much with super bulky yarns because I prefer lighter weight yarn but these will be warm weather gear for someone and they’re really pretty. I love the colorways that Malabrigo dyes and the yarns, being 100% Merino wool, are so soft. I’ll be posting the mittens on my Facebook and Instagram pages soon. For this moment, they’re on my cutting table drying having been washed and blocked.

I’ve also finished #22 completely and gotten #23 up to the collar ribbing. I have not blocked 22 but I’ll get to that this weekend. Once the collar on #23 is complete (it may happen tonight), I’ll begin #24 – the last, final, finishing, endmost, ending … you get my drift. This has been a long time coming and I am delighted to be wrapping up this years long project. I also look forward to hanging them up this year and will do so after Thanksgiving.

I also wanted to show you the new branch that is coming off one of my orchid plants. These plants are loving living in Maine. They live in the corner of our living room with indirect sun but bright light and they’re flourishing. As you can see at the bottom right corner of the photo above, one of my other plants (the one that we carefully moved from N’s mother’s apartment after she died and then moved from Florida to Maine) is already in bloom and has been blooming for months. We had one HUGE stem that became so heavy that it snapped off. This is a second branch that’s blooming now. And I just cut off the passed bloom from the one that is going to bloom again. I’m floored. I used to think I had a black thumb because I always killed plants. Seems they like me better – or perhaps I’m learning.

Gone knitting.

Favorite Pullover for Women

Posted on August 22, 2023 by Queen Bee Knits

This is a photo of the pattern that I am currently working on. Another WIP that has been lallygagging in my studio on the shelf while I did all sorts of other little things. I’m “forcing” myself to finish the sweaters (especially the sweaters but there are others) that I have started and never finished … and maybe to have a look at yarn that I’ve bought for sweaters that I’ve not yet started … but I digress.

Favorite Pullover for Women is only in the book Norwegian Knitting Designs 90 Years Later which I purchased a year or so ago on Amazon. It’s a big book full of beautiful patterns. I was taking a traditional Norwegian “genser” class online and this was one of the patterns suggested for beginners like me. (Not a beginner knitter but a beginner who has never knitted a traditional Norwegian genser.) I loved this sweater at first sight.

I bought the yarn from Knitography Farm (who was also teaching the class.) And it’s a lovely sport weight 100% rustic wool straight from the farm in Norway. I bought the traditional colors for the yoke which are all shades of gray – light, medium and dark – and the purple for the body and the pops of color in the yoke and sleeves. The yarn is called “Ask Norsk Ullgarn” (100 grams/ 315 meters).

Saturday night I was knitting away and was really close to finishing the colorwork/stranded section of the yoke. I literally got to within the last three stitches of the second-to-last round and I was short ONE STITCH! One!!! So, back I went to look at the last round because all the other rounds had worked in the pattern, and voila! one dropped stitch was popping its little medium gray head out of the sweater with its tongue sticking out at me. Ugh. That meant that I needed to rip back almost the entire last round … because, of course, the stitch had to be within the first 30 or so stitches of the round not the last 30. But because frogging is part of every knitters life and it keeps us knitting “experts” humble, I frogged all the way back and re-knit the last round and the stitches were perfect.

Yesterday morning I returned to my Favorite Pullover and finished the yoke and it’s really beautiful. I love it. This afternoon I’ve finished my increase round under the stranded colorwork and now I can just knit for a couple of inches until I hit the point at which I can separate the sleeves from the body of the sweater.

I will be trying it on before that time so that I know if it’s long enough for my body and with any luck, that’ll happen later this week. There are a lot of little stitches to one round now … I’m at a stitch count of just shy of 400 stitches … 396 to be exact. So every round is almost 400 stitches and there are likely four or five rounds to the inch so I have a couple of thousand stitches to stitch between now and then. Our car ride to have our TSA pre-check appointments tomorrow should be helpful in that vein.

In the foreground of the photo is the neck of the sweater (or the top) and the purple is at the bottom but I’m knitting from the top to the bottom, I hope that make sense. But you can see the unblocked splendor of this pattern and how nicely the different grays play together – even in my lousy light.

The inside is actually just as interesting as the outside. And I’ve photographed it from the same view.

So, the easy (and boring, to be honest) part is ahead of me where I just knit and knit and knit around to where I split the arms from the body and then I’ll just knit around until the body is complete. I have another sweater that’s in the queue that has some complicated cables that I may have to work on, too, when I get tired of stockinette stitch. We’ll see. I’m really determined to get some projects finished before the end of the year. This is one of them. My Arne and Carlos Advent Jumpers are another… also a pattern from Norway and Norwegian designs. I’ve only got five or six to complete and that needs to happen before December 1 so we can fill them and use them!

Gone knitting.

Progress All Around

Posted on August 20, 2023 by Queen Bee Knits

This morning I was thinking and I feel like I’m finally feeling more like myself. The last round of Covid that I had in April (after the round I had the week before that got me “stuck” in New York City) must have affected me more than I had thought. I thought it was a mild case but it left me with some pretty severe fatigue. It seems like that fatigue is finally lifting and I am able to DO more than I have been able to do BUT I also realize that I have limitations and I need to listen to my body and quit when I am ahead.

We decided that we had to hit a few of our around-the-house chores this morning before we give in and do something more fun. I’ve been thinking about cleaning some of the more disgustingly dirty screens in our bedroom windows and in the upstairs bath. I’m happy to report that the inside part of this chore is done. The outside chore will be waiting until next spring when N is (hopefully) fully healed and has his full balance back after his hip replacement surgery. It’s been four months now and he’s made (is making) lots of progress but he overdid this week and he was hurting yesterday … enough that he got his cane out again. He’s out sanding and cleaning/refinishing our teak dining set that we have moved onto the front porch. It’s a little bit big for the porch but we are finding we like using it out there and we will probably like it even more in the early fall.

I’ve been knitting and sewing this week. I’m aiming to hand-sew something every day in order to have it become a daily habit. I’m working on a “Love Note Quilt” inspired by Heidi Parkes. I have been taking her class on Creative Bug and I really like the artistic quality of her quilts. They’re in no way traditional pieced quilts but they’re each unique and I find I am liking having the creative license to stitch what I want. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not going to completely quit the traditional quilting yet.

I’ve stitched another needle case. I find these little projects very fulfilling and I have an idea about what I will do with the ones I make. I will continue to show you the ones I make but I’m not going to tell you my plan. Haha. (*evil grin and hand-ringing) The most recent one used this cute vintage-y cowboy fabric and I stitched it with red floss which I think looks really cute. I didn’t applique another piece on it because I really wanted to focus on the cute little cowboys.

I’m working on a stuffed toy for my granddaughter for her birthday. She’ll be one year old in just a few short months and I’d better get moving because life is bound to get busy. My daughter, her mother, loved the Very Hungry Caterpillar book and I’m knitting a caterpillar and a sweater for S. The caterpillar pattern is free on Ravelry and you get what you pay for with this pattern. It’s not very well written and I could think of several ways that I would change it if I was to knit it again. I may actually pull out the ends and Kitchener stitch the head to the body rather than finishing it as the pattern suggests. I’ll update my project page with whatever I decide.

I knitted the little shells top for my granddaughter. This was my daughter’s idea. She asked me to knit a top to go with the mermaid tail that I made for S when she was born. Her mom wants to take some photos at the beach and we can’t have a topless mermaid, now can we!? Yaya to the rescue! I hope that I made the top so it’ll fit but I’ll bring my tools to the beach in case we need to make any adjustments. Photos will be coming soon.

I have also knitted another chemo cap for a gift for a friend who just announced that she has cancer. I wish I could do more but this is what knitters do when they can’t do more. And if she doesn’t lose her hair, she can gift it to someone who will. Passing on the good will and the love and healing wishes in every stitch.

Last but not least, I’ve pulled my Favorite Pullover for Women out of time out and have started to make some real progress on the yoke. This sweater may not even fit me. The sizes were a little bit too close to zero ease for my liking but if I add a few stitches to the under arms when I cast on after the yoke, I think I can make it work. It’s a lot of work to be sure, especially if I don’t know it’s going to fit. I have a colorwork sweater that I love the fit of and I’ll be measuring this one against that one when I get the yoke complete and before I go further. The good news is that I am wrapping up another WIP (work in progress, Muffin.) This design is only found in a book called Norwegian Knitting Designs, 90 Years Later. I’m knitting it with Norwegian wool that I bought from Knitography Farm after taking several of her classes online.

chemo about all we’ve been up to on the lake. It’s been a string of several lovely late-summer days. The lake is getting quieter as the summer people head back home to get the school year started. Maine Arts Academy, on whose board I serve, welcomes teachers and staff back tomorrow and the kids come the following week. We start this year in our new building in Augusta and we are all so excited to be independent and free to have activities after school, etc. which we couldn’t do before. We are also developing some wonderful partnership with Augusta Arts and civic groups. I’m so proud of our school!

I’ve got zucchini to grate. I’m making fritters this afternoon.

Gone knitting.

More FOs … not all knits!

Posted on August 11, 2023 by Queen Bee Knits

We started our day today with coffee on the porch but it was too warm for a bathrobe. We must be heading into a few days of summer heat again. It’s all good. We have thoroughly enjoyed the cooler mornings over the past few weeks.

I’ve finished a few more little things and wanted to share them with you. I’ve been taking classes from Creative Bug – they had a special deal going with 60 days free to try it out – and I’ve taken a couple of Cal Patch’s classes and a couple of Heidi Parkes’ classes and they’re all sewing classes. While I was watching Heidi’s class on making a needle case, I was inspired to actually sew it myself right then. I went to my fabric stash and found two favorite fabrics – a lobster print and a hummingbird print – both from the days when I was making fabric masks for the family. I made a lot of masks. I appliquéd the little hummingbird patch onto the lobster fabric and then bought a piece of felt to sandwich-ish in the fabric to make the little needle case. I’ve learned a lot about needles, stitching, hand-work and sewing from these classes and while my FOs aren’t big, they’re mighty. They mark a stepping off point for me and a new potential passion, too.

My second FO is also a sewing project. I have had this little panel since attending the quilt show in Augusta, ME probably 10 years ago. I bought a few similar panels and remember making one as a gift somewhere along the line, but this one has been sitting in my cupboard for almost (or maybe more than) a decade. It was time!

This is a fabric (much edited) version of the little golden book, The Tawny Scrawny Lion. I wasn’t familiar with the book but I love the idea of little books without words. The reader can make up the story to go along with the illustrations (or the reader can Google the book and tell the same story.) Regardless, this little book will be winging its way to New York City to a very special little girl who is so deeply loved by her Yaya! I know that she’ll love this little book and she won’t rip the pages.

Last but certainly not least, a pair of “peds” as we knew them back in the day … but these aren’t the sedate peds of my past. I decided to knit up some fun, bright, color-blocked shorties and this is the first pair for my daughter, Kate. I decided to make them all crazy and different. The only thing missing from these finished socks are the pompoms that will be attached at the back of the heel. Just like my mom did in my childhood days … and I did, too. I’ve got several more pairs to knit. My thought is to make a pair for all of the “girls” at our family beach gathering in September. Think I can do it? Three more pairs before September 5? Time will tell. This is a free Purl Soho pattern that I used to make the U of F socklets for my favorite graduating (graduated) senior that I cared for when I was a school nurse. The kids used to ask me to knit them socks when they came into my clinic and my answer was always, “no!” (and emphatic no to be sure!) But this kiddo was different and I’ve stayed in touch with her family and when she graduated, I knew just what to send her for a gift (and a gift certificate to the U of F campus store.)

My sweetie and I took a brief road trip to the coast yesterday because I needed to get some sewing supplies. I thought my time at Fiddleheads would be brief but I was looking at the fabric store with new eyes – the eyes of a garment sewer. It was exciting and intimidating. There is so much to learn about garment-worthy fabrics. I’ve learned that quilting cottons are not always a good garment fabric because they don’t have the same drape. But I managed to do some damage and bought a bit of a cotton lawn and a pattern to make some harem pants for my Sylvie. And I also bought some hand-sewing needles and wool felt to make more needle cases. They’re fun and quick. I found a basket of bolt end cuts of fabric and they had two pieces of linen that I had to take home with me, too. One is a 3-yard cut of a khaki colored linen that is enough for a dress, I think. The other was only a bit over a yard of fabric but it’ll make half a shirt or a pieced shirt … time will tell. I feel so fancy talking sewing!

Gone knitting.