Queen Bee Knits

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

Enough is Enough!

Posted on November 11, 2024 by Queen Bee Knits

This morning was the morning that I’d committed to go see the doctor if I wasn’t feeling better and getting a good night’s sleep. The last couple of days I’ve feel pretty good all day and the night before last I slept pretty well but last night I was up coughing and blowing every three hours … not fun. So, off I went to the express care in Waterville.

I had to wait for the train to pass before leaving and then when I got there the parking lot was packed with cars. To my utter amazement, they were amazing and I was out of there in an hour-ish. I’ve got a prescription for an antibiotic which I hope will knock this thing out of me for once and for all.

After a couple of days of doing a lot of sitting and just not feeling particularly energetic, I have been doing quite a bit of knitting. I’ve made some good progress on a few of my WIPs.

My Jelly Roll blanket is coming along. I’ve finished the fourth strip and started the fifth. I’ve chosen to use up all of this one ball of left-over sock yarn this time which makes a long strip of the same color. (This color also ended the last strip.) But it’s a bit different than what I’ve been doing and should add a bit of fun to the finished project. This blanket may take a lifetime to complete but it’ll be scrappy and warm when it’s done. I still have a big basket full of scraps from socks I’ve made so I’m committed to keep going with it. I’ve made a few little tweaks to the pattern on the recommendation of the Crazy Sock Lady and they’re noted on my Ravelry project page.

Last night I reached the seventeen inches required for the sleeves of my Lane’s Island pullover. I bound them off and today, maybe, I’ll start seaming the shoulders and get it all put together so I can finish it. Lori Versaci makes seaming so effortless by adding an edge stitch and it’s so simple to seam the sides and sleeves between the two knit stitches. I’ve got to sew up the sides of the pockets, too, after which there will just be the collar to knit and I can wear it next week!

Earlier this week I got the MKAL bug and decided that I’d do the knit along with Arne & Carlos. They’re knitting another stranded Christmas stocking in three colors and I just couldn’t stand to miss out on this one (again) this year. We don’t NEED any more stockings but I can use them for guests or for simple decorations. I chose the yarn, Patagonia Organic Merino, in the same three colors that I used for my Advent Mini-Jumpers that I finally finished last year. That way, they’ll all match. I cast on Saturday and got through the sixth clue. Yesterday I finished the tenth one and that meant that I was caught up and from now on I can just knit the six rounds a day to knit along. I am really enjoying the pattern and I love the yarn. Once blocked, this will be a great addition to our Christmas decorations. (Maybe I’ll even put some up this year.)

Several days ago (perhaps a week ago now) I cast on the collar and started the yoke of my granddaughter’s Christmas sweater. I’m knitting it in Berroco Vintage DK because my daughter really wants to be able to wash and dry sweaters. I got this sweater idea from a customer who brought in three of them for her grandchildren. I loved it – classic, and really beautiful. So, I cast on Snowflake by Tin Can Knits. This sweater is one pattern in a collection and I bought the entire collection because there were several patterns in it that I really liked. I have already knit the little fingerless mitts, Marshmallow, for Sylvie and they’re as cute as I thought they’d be. They were also a super quick knitted project … finished in the car on the way to babysit!

I still have the colorwork cowl that I started and didn’t get much past the start of the ribbing. I think I recall that I had to pull out the colorwork because I didn’t like the way the floats were looking behind the pink fabric. These colors may not work for this project but it’s all good – there will be another project if this one doesn’t work.

I think that does it for my knitting projects right now on my needles. These are the ones that are keeping me company as I get over this crud that I brought home from New York. I went to work on Thursday but cancelled my classes on Friday (you know I wasn’t feeling well if I cancelled my favorite day!) and called out sick on Saturday. So, I’ve been home since Thursday night until my big outing this morning. I’m in for the duration now … and hope to be feeling much better by Thursday so I can get to work and class on Friday.

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).

Twenty-One!

Posted on August 26, 2023 by Queen Bee Knits

Today I’ve begun number 22 which means that all of my Arne & Carlos Mini Nordic Jumpers Advent Calendar through number 21 are finished!!! Yay, me!

I’m so excited to be coming near the completion of this project. It was WAAAAAY bigger than I had imagined considering that these are little teeny sweater ornaments. Regardless, each one takes about a day to knit, seam and block. So, I’ve spent the better part of a month by the time that these are all finished – and it’s going to be so worth it! I can’t wait to hang them up at the end of November and fill them with little treats for our Advent calendar this year.

We have some of the original windows from the original house here in Maine that we saved before the house was demolished. The windows are the wavy hand-made windows and we’ve hung two of them at the bottom of our staircase. I’m going to hang a red and white butcher’s string on the two windows and hang the jumpers from the string. I’ll post a photo, of course!

Gone knitting.

19!!! Happy Solstice

Posted on June 21, 2023 by Queen Bee Knits

Finally! The sun came out today and it actually feels like summer may happen this year. We went to a buffer planting workshop yesterday hosted by Friends of Messalonskee and it was gray and cool until we were almost done. It’s lovely to see the sun! And I’ll be happy to pack away my sweaters for a couple of months.

Since the sun came out, I decided to take a walk around the yard and see what’s blooming. My wild roses (they’re invasives but they’re surviving lakeside) are blooming but my white one took quite a beating in the rain. We have scapes and blueberries and the lettuce is going crazy! Salad for lunch today, for sure. The only plant that seems to be thriving in our “bed where nothing lives)” is the blue Iris and they’re absolutely gorgeous right now. I love our yard!

The Day Lilies and the Hydrangeas are getting ready to pop open and we have some daisies coming along, too. I’ve got a couple of beds of Black Eyed Susans coming up but can’t see any blooms yet.

I finished and blocked #19 this morning as I was ironing my linen blouses. I love what happens to colorwork when it’s blocked. 17 and 18 are not blocked (and need some seaming, but here they all are.

I’ve even begun #20 and have finished the body and most of the first sleeve. I’m making progress and just need to cast on the next one when I bind off the current ones. They’re not difficult to knit or time consuming, I just had to make the commitment to get them done! I’m getting there!

Gone Knitting!

The Longest Day – Knitting Marathon or a Good Cause

Posted on June 20, 2023 by Queen Bee Knits

Yesterday was my Longest Day knitting marathon (and fundraiser for the Alzheimer’s Association). The actual “longest day” is on Wednesday but it’s difficult to commit to knitting from sunrise to sunset on a “work day.” So … the Longest Day team that I am on, Anne Budd’s team, decided that Sunday was the day to knit. And knit we did.

I had decided to work on the mini jumpers designed by Arne and Carlos because I’ve been working on completing the collection for what seems like forever. Two years at least. I’ve now completed 1-19 but two of them still need the ends woven in and seams sewn. I’ll get it done, I promise. I really want to get the knitting done so that we can use them as an advent calendar this year.

I did manage to finish the knitting on 19 despite the fact that the second sleeve had to be frogged and reknit because I got distracted and didn’t finish one round (and started the next round a needle ahead.) I think that happened when I took my husband out for lunch for Father’s Day … Father’s Day also fell on Sunday and I HAD to do something fun with him. His kiddos live far away so it’s up to me to make Father’s Day feel like a special occasion. We went to Belgrade Lakes and visited the Farmer’s Market and had lunch at Belgrade Lakes Seafood. I brought my knitting and I made my mistake while we were waiting for our food.

I had every expectation that knitting all day I would make more “progress” but I am pleased to have gotten one mini jumper completed (and today I wove in the ends and seamed the arm to the body.)

I raised over $800 for the Alzheimer’s Association, too. I am committed to doing what I can to combat Alzheimer’s Disease because of my mom. The photograph here is of my mom and four of her grandchildren. She now has six grandchildren and one great grandchild.

This was the first summer that I knew something was wrong. Mom made the mayonnaise mix twice for her famous potato salad. She forgot her purse when we went to the grocery store. She forgot to take off the emergency brake and drove until the something smelled hot in the car. There were more little things that pointed to a problem but we thought it was just normal aging. And life was really, really busy.

This was the beginning of the sad story where we had to find caregivers for mom because she couldn’t take care of herself. She would forget her wallet and realize it after she pumped the gas, she forgot tennis dates and appointments. She couldn’t remember how to feed her cat. She needed help showering and getting dressed. She needed help.

Mom was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease shortly after this photo was taken. She was diagnosed about ten years before she passed away. She died in 2008 at the “ripe old” age of seventy-six. She had been “gone” for several years; unable to communicate or walk. The once robust, athletic, vivacious woman had dwindled away bit by bit over the ten years post-diagnosis. It was truly a blessing when she passed.

I hope that by knitting from sunup to sundown one day a year that I can make a little difference for Alzheimer’s research funding and that a preventive measure will be found so that in my lifetime there will be people who don’t have to watch their loved on disappear as my mother did. I know I’m not alone in this wish and am grateful for the many who supported my efforts this year.

Gone knitting.

Grateful

Posted on December 12, 2021 by Queen Bee Knits

I started this post after Thanksgiving having spent several days with two thirds of my kids, their significant others, my brothers and sisters-in-love and their kids and some of their significant others. Being with family is my drug. I left Massachusetts with my heart full and my soul warmed. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday just before all of the pressure heading into Christmas begins. I’m so grateful that my children and their cousins know each other and that they enjoy spending time together and we enjoyed spending time together, too!

And now we’re well into the Christmas rush. Rushing to get the tree decorated and the presents bought and mostly shipped to their recipients but some to put under the tree and into stockings for Christmas day. I’m working hard to keep the gratitude and warm fuzzies in my heart that I had a Thanksgiving and to be fully honest here, I’m struggling. My dear husband’s daughters and one of their boyfriends are scheduled to be here for Christmas this year. It seems that because of a sick dog, one won’t be able to come. The other daughter’s boyfriend seems to be rethinking the trip because he’s spent a lot of time in Florida with his family. I was really looking forward to seeing them because we haven’t seen each other for a long time. We haven’t seen the dog mom daughter for a year and a half.

Today I’m trying to wrap my head around having Christmas at home with my little family – me and my husband. It seems that it’s entirely possible again this year. Somehow I have to make it ok and I’m not sure how to do that. It’s going to be difficult to make any major changes because I’m now scheduled to work since we were going to be celebrating here with my step-daughters. It’ll be near-impossible to kennel the dog at this point to fly anywhere and a drive to their homes is at least a two day drive each way … leaving two days to visit. We don’t relish the idea of four days in the car for a two-day visit. The NYC kids are having a Christmas dinner to which we’ve been invited but I don’t know what kind of hotel or extra bed situation we’d be looking at and the dog still needs to be kenneled. I guess we will look at our options if we find it’ll be just us for sure.

Meanwhile, I’m knitting. A lot. I’ve been finishing some projects, too. I have so many things that I want to knit and with my schedule, I’ve been lining them up for when I have some time to knit “what I want”. I’ve knitted several gifts for the kids in NYC and they’ve been sent on. We are going to go to the beach in Rhode Island again in September and that’s their big gift. Since they haven’t opened gifts, I’ll not discuss what I’ve made until after Christmas – and I even forgot to photograph a couple of the gifts. Oops!

The Slip Stitch Hat by Tanis Williams is a sweet hat with a slip stitch section around the head. It makes the sport/dk weight hat a bit warmer around the ears. I used a bit of a handspun yarn that I was gifted with a wool/silk blend yarn that I found at Marden’s here in Maine. It was a yarn company close out sale and was a great deal. This hat will be going to Yardgoods Center’s February hat drive for the needy in our community.

The beaded tape measure is a new activity that I’ve been doing with my Friday knitters, one of whom is a phenomenal talent at beading and quilting in addition to being a great knitter. Anyway, we bought a kit online (Etsy) and we had a class at the end of my teaching day a few weeks ago. What fun! I love the way the tape measure looks so much but I admit that I’m a bit hesitant to put it into my knitting bag for fear that it will be damaged or get dirty.

Evergreen Socks by Madeline Gannon are so much fun! I loved knitting these. I used deeply stashed yarn from Buffalo Wool Company. I’ve had this yarn from a bunch of years ago when I signed up for their monthly yarn club. It’s a fingering weight blend of wool and buffalo so these socks are likely to be nice and warm. I think these will be for me. I only have one daughter who has the same size feet as I do and she likes shorty socks.

Husband’s Christmas (last year) sweater. Well, he loves it and it’s a perfect fit. I gave him the yarn for this sweater last year at Christmas. His face when he opened it was a classic. He wondered if I was going to teach him to knit! LOL. Needless to say, here it is almost Christmas again and I have finally gotten it done. I loved loved loved knitting with Cascade 220 worsted yarn. I’ve not knitted with it before (I know, I was surprised, too) and it’s so much softer and more luxurious feeling that the Ella Rae wool that I’ve knitted with several times. The price point isn’t that different anymore so I’d prefer the Cascade; especially when it’s a garment. We’ll see how it wears and how it pills. The pattern is Knitting Plain and Simple #991 and it is simple but the heathered yarn makes is anything but plain.

Oh, Arne and Carlos, how I love you. I started knitting the Christmas balls last year and got about six of them finished. I haven’t tried to knit any this year because these stinking cute mini jumpers came out and that’s all I wanted to knit. I have managed to get five done and will pick up the rest of the 24 and hope to get them finished before next Christmas. I’m using Patagonia organic merino in three colors. I decided to keep the traditional holiday colors for our house. We shall see. But I love them so much!

Last but not least, I have cast on for a new pair of mittens for me. I love my “old” snowflake mittens a lot. These new ones are similar and very different. These are the Northman Mittens by David Schultz and I’ve chosen to knit with the same yarn as the design calls for. It just so happens that we have a great selection of Berroco Ultra Alpaca yarn. I’ve changed my mind already several times but I can’t change it again. I am knitting with a light tealy-blue-green and a light gray shade. The lining will be knit in a pink for a pop of color and you can find all the gory details for this and all of my other projects on my Ravelry project page. (I”m “lindar” on Ravelry.)

I am knitting a sweater for my almost-93 year old student who is having memory challenges and she was unable to be successful with this Plain and Simple pattern. I’ll get the sleeves finished this week and will present it to her as my gift on her 93rd birthday which is on Friday … and a cake! She’s one of my favorites and it’s crushing to see her struggle to knit. She was a wonderful knitter back in the day.

There you have it. I’ve caught you up to date. I’m sorry for the downer at the start of this post but I have promised myself that I would be authentic here and show you how life and knitting weave together to make me who I am. I won’t apologize for who I am and I am an emotional person. I’ve mentioned before my “ocular incontinence”, right? I will make the best of whatever Christmas brings, I’m just struggling with it for now. It’s all good. We love all of our kids and this won’t change that, of course.

Gone knitting.