Queen Bee Knits

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

Appointments and Meetings Galore

Posted on October 15, 2024 by Queen Bee Knits

It was an up and out early morning today. I snapped this shot at around 5:45am just as the sun was starting to think about coming up and there was a very faint glow at the horizon. We are so very fortunate to live in this beautiful place. It’s been really quiet lately. I’ve not heard any loons for a bit but it’s unlikely they’ve all left the lake already. We have lots of ducks and geese flying by outside so they’re definitely on the move.

I started the morning with a 7:30 am visit to an eye lid surgeon. I’ve had this “red bump” on my right eye lid since I was a kid. The story I’ve told was that I got it from scratching my chicken pox. Turns out that’s not true. It’s a angioma or something similar, a benign blood vessel thing. Regardless, mine’s become bigger over time (not unusual) and it’s going to be removed in early December. I take horrible selfies but here’s a photo of it for you (eeek, that’s a lot of me!)

After my appointment I came home and made blueberry muffins for my sweetie. I’ve not been doing any baking for the last few months because I’ve been feeling somewhat overwhelmed by life and all of my obligations and he’s missed his sweets. I’ve missed feeling grounded and in retrospect, my lack of baking is some of what is making me feel overwhelmed. It’s a vicious cycle! Regardless, I’m going to try to take it back and bake once a week at least. While the muffins were baking I finished our laundry and cut some of the beautiful hydrangeas from one of the bushes in our yard. I am hoping that they will dry and be a pretty decoration through the winter.

I’ve been working on two knitting projects this week so far. My Musselburgh hat for my future daughter-in-love in Herriot Fine in red and green. I’m almost to the decreases which means that it’ll be finished soon. Lots and lots of little stitches around and around on US3 needles with fingering weight alpaca yarn. The yarn is SO soft, though, it’s really a pleasure to work with.

I’ve had to attend several zoom/google meets meetings online over the past week or so and I’ve been trying to catch up with a few of the podcasts and YouTube channels that I follow. My Jelly Roll Blanket is perfect for knitting while otherwise engaged and I’ve made some good progress on the blanket. I’ve finished one tiny ball of yarn scraps and one larger ball of yarn scraps and have moved on to a third. This blanket is all bits of yarn that I’ve used in other projects, mostly socks, held with a strand of cream colored sock yarn. I think I’ve said before that I bought a bag of sock yarn thinking that I would dye some yarn. Ha! That didn’t happen. This is a good use for that bag of yarn AND it helps to unify all the scrappiness of the blanket. I am about half-way through the fourth strip. This will be a long-term project.

I’ve cleaned up my studio a bit and I’ve gotten a lot of paperwork done. I bought a new bullet journal in a pretty light teal blue for 2025. I am a paper calendar girl … I can’t work with a calendar on my phone beyond notifications that it’s a birthday or anniversary for someone in my life – and even then I seldom send a card. My kids all use the calendars on their phones, some that they share with their partners/siblings or whomever. While it sounds practical and efficient, this old girl has learned over the decades (and especially when I went back to finish my college degree) that I do best when I write things down. Something about the process is what helps my brain remember what I have on the schedule. I’ve collected stickers and markers and washi tape over the years and have fun being creative with the book each year. It becomes a diary of my life and records places we go, family events, work, volunteering, etc. AND it happens to match the colors that I chose for the Have You Seen My Octopus hat that I’m going to make for our granddaughter.

One more meeting to zoom into at 6:30 this evening … but I can go knit for a bit now.

Gone knitting.

A Little Dab’ll Do Ya

Posted on January 30, 2024 by Queen Bee Knits

I’ve had a busy and productive couple of days at home and I’m feeling really good about it and today is a beautiful, clear, bluebird day which always helps my attitude and outlook. Plus I got a chance to facetime with my littlest love, my granddaughter, this morning before her nap … and that always makes me so happy.

I’ve been baking this week. Not sure where this came from because my baking mojo has been pretty much gone but it’s back. At least for now. My sweet hubby has been bumming because our very most favorite bread baker has closed his business and hasn’t re-opened. We loved Adrian and Universal Bread Bakers in Waterville, ME. Adrian’s bread is/was the best bread anywhere around. No question. He made baguettes, batards and boules in the French way, with crusty crust and chewy dense insides and the prices were incredibly reasonable considering the work that goes into them. But, sadly, the business was vacated because the building is going to be knocked down to make way for a large affordable housing building and Adrian hasn’t reopened (at least not yet.) All social media says that Universal Bread is permanently closed. If that’s the case then Waterville has really lost a beloved business and my sweet hubby has lost his favorite bread.

On Sunday I started the dough for the bread. I used the NY Times Baking recipe, No Knead Bread. While it takes quite a bit of time to get to the part where you can bake the bread, the process is simple and quite contemplative. I mixed up the ingredients and covered the bowl with plastic wrap (and a clean cotton towel because the plastic wrap doesn’t stick) and put it in our kitchen on top of the toaster oven where the dog can’t get it. I also made a batch of my famous blueberry muffins. In my family we call the recipe Uncle Jeff’s Muffins because when my kids were little, my brother made them blueberry muffins. They are the best blueberry muffins I’ve ever had and the recipe is such a special one. I bake them and freeze them and then my hubby can have his muffin a day and they’re not in my line of vision. On Monday I floured my kitchen counter and got the bread dough out, folded it onto itself a few times, formed it into a ball and let it sit for a couple of hours. Ran to the post office to mail a pair of mittens and then home to bake the bread.

You bake this recipe in a dutch oven which is likely why the crust is so wonderful. BUT mine got a little bit burnt on the very bottom. Our oven runs hot and even though the temperature was at 450 degrees, it burned the bottom of the bread. Next time, I’ll add a sheet of parchment paper to the pan with the dough. The bread is delicious! Hubby is happy and so am I. He deserves to have good bread that he likes and I’m happy to make it for him.

Yesterday, I also mixed up a batch of the NY Times Baking’s Bran and Chia Muffins. I have a bag of bran that has been languishing in my baking cupboard and it was time to use it up … and I almost did. The recipe is simple enough but used all the bowls. Ha! Ha!

Today has been absolutely gorgeous! And this morning I did a bit of house cleaning while I waited for the bran muffins to bake. The recipe made 18 muffins and they’re also in the freezer for my hubby – I left two out for breakfast tomorrow and I ate one for my breakfast today. I like them well enough. They may need a little bit of butter and jam to really make them taste perfect. We’ll see what the muffin man has to say about them tomorrow.

I also got some sewing done today. I opened the Pandora’s box that is my fabric cupboard in my atelier a week or two ago and found (again) all of the various projects that I had started, purchased, and planned. There are a lot. I decided that I really have to take some time every week to make some of them and finish others. I have two bags/pouches, some small zipper pouches, a wall hanging-size paper-pieced quilt and more. I found a huge piece of flannel yardage that I was going to make a scarf with, a couple of pieces of linen toweling, and a couple of old linen shirts in need of repair. Today I started to make a dent in the stack. I cut and sewed the linen toweling into four linen dish towels, I mended the two linen blouses, and I got an Advent calendar cut, pinned, sandwiched and all ready to sew. I still need to cut and pin onto the back, a hanging sleeve before it’s quilted and bound.

I’ve got several lengths of fabric in the washer right now with the linen towels, blouses and a dirty project bag. Once washed and dried, I’ll press them all and they’ll be a baby quilt and a tunic for me. I really want to practice what I learned at camp last summer and adventure out into the realm of sewing my own clothes. I just need to take the time and challenge myself.

I’ve been working on my knitting, too, of course. I’ve reached the decreases of the second half of the hat. The colors are somewhat boring but they were in my stash. I may have enough to make a second hat, too. The yarn, Herriot Fine by Juniper Moon Farm, is SOOOO soft. I absolutely love knitting with it and I think the fabric that it’s making is going to be soft and warm, too. AND it won’t make my forehead itch.

I’ve gotten the first sleeve on my Norwegian pullover to the point where it’s time to do the colorwork. I’ve decided that I am going to knit the second sleeve now to the same point and then do both colorwork sections and the final cuff ribbing. I’ve got to start another hank of the yarn anyway because I won’t be able to finish both sleeves without it. I figure that’s my chance to get both sleeves to the same point and, by rights, have them both be the same. I hope. I did try it on and the sleeve decreases are fine at decreasing every fifth round and I have sixty-four stitches on my needles which should work with my 8-stitch repeat chart. I’ll be so happy to have this finished.

#29 Classic Socks by Yankee Knitter Designs

My “cooked lobster” socks are a little more than half-way finished. I finished the first sock and am on to the leg of the second. I love this yarn. I’ve had it for more than 8 years and it’s traveled from Maine to Florida and back to Maine in that time. I know I bought it when we were living here in the summers and winter in Florida. I was going to make only solid-color socks for me but I’m going to make an exception for these.

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).

July 4th

Posted on July 6, 2022 by Queen Bee Knits

We had such a wonderful weekend!

A few weeks ago I would have told you that it was going to be a bummer because we wanted to go to Massachusetts to visit with my brothers and their families but as it turned out, we had to stay home (the bummer) because I forgot that I was signed up to work on Saturday and our kennel was closed on Monday and Tuesday due to lack of staffing. But it turned out to be a great weekend with a visit from my college roommate(s)!!!

I lived with C. sophomore year and we’ve been fast friends for nearly five decades. We had such a good time – we always do. We went to the garden store, Longellow’s, a huge hit with all of our out-of-town visitors, to get flowers for my pots outside. We had an “adventure” finding Maine peas and strawberries and we feasted on ice cream, homemade blueberry muffins, our first (not grown by us) native tomato, salmon, steak and quesadillas. We went on a “cocktail cruise” and did a lot of porch sitting and chatting. I did a bit of garden tending, we snipped back the garlic scapes, picked a few leaves of lettuce, pulled a few weeds, and spent an hour handing our our lake association’s Loon project signs. We watched the Friends of Messalonskee (lake association) annual 4th of July Boat Parade – we had the largest turn out ever! At the end of the parade route there were 40+ boats! We had a bonus visit on Sunday from my freshman roommate and her partner. L and I lived down the hall from C and her roommate, now deceased. We’ve all known each other for a long time and it’s wonderful to be together. L happened to be in Central Maine (across the lake from us) for a night on their way to the north woods. I wish we had remembered to take photos!

It felt so great to slow down and recover from the last few months of “rat race” and I’m trying to figure out how to keep that (more) balanced feeling closer to the everyday. I need to take more time for myself because I need it.

Home sweet home – from the water, with loon sign

I had decked the house out with our buntings and our flag was flying. We looked mighty patriotic, if I do say so myself. (Today the buntings will come down and be put away for another year.)

What I didn’t do for the last few days was knit. I am rather amazed, frankly. I didn’t knit a stitch Saturday through Monday.

Last night I sat down to start a new baby sweater as a sample for the store. I cast it on three times and each time made a mistake in knitting rows. Each time because the directions seem hastily written (and it’s a major yarn company’s pattern.) There are directions for rows “hidden” in other directions and they’re not “obvious” to me. So, each time I frogged the start of the sweater and cast on again. And then I realized there weren’t three rows of garter stitch before the stockinette stitches began and I frogged it again. I finally put it in time out and picked up a different WIP – Billie – also by a major yarn company and I’ve had success with (almost) knitting two pairs of them. Pair number two is down the first leg. These pants are so cute, I’d like to have a pair for myself. Hmmm, that gives me an idea.

Last week I finished the Mermaid Tail that I was knitting. It makes me smile just looking at it. The pattern is Mermaid Cocoon Newborn Photo Prop by Angie Hartley. I knit mine in Plymouth Yarn Encore Starz in the teal colorway with sparkles. It’s perfectly gaudy and I can’t wait to gift it. I’m going to attempt a little matching headband – perhaps with a shell as a button embellishment. I’ll have to try to drill a hole in the shell and who knows how that will work.

My Elton cardigan is languishing. I picked up the arm stitches on Friday and haven’t touched it since. I have to find a short needle to knit the sleeves and hope I can avoid using DPNs because they make sleeves so much clunkier to knit. I have a Ciao Goo Interchangeable Minis set and I’m crossing fingers and toes that the needle size that I need isn’t already being used for another project. (I’ll have to go on a hunt for them in project bags both hidden and in plain sight in my atelier.

I did finish the body of the sweater and did my first tubular bind off and I’m wondering where this fabulous technique for a stretchy, clean and neat bind off has been all my knitting life. It’s perfect!

Today is Wednesday and my husband and I both have the day “off”. I’ve been languishing – with a few emails and a phone call of two – on the front porch in the sun with my coffee. It’s nearly noon and I am choosing to enjoy the day with no pressure to “do” stuff. While I’m tempted to do the sheets and towels and remake the guest room bed, I think I’ll take my sample baby sweater out to the porch and cast on again. Persistence for the win!

Gone knitting!