Queen Bee Knits

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

It’s Been a While

Posted on June 17, 2024 by Queen Bee Knits

It’s not a lovely day outside this morning a bit breezy and cool for coffee on the porch BUT the warm weather is coming later this week with temperatures in the 90s. This is way too warm for Maine in June. Our flower gardens are ahead of where they usually are at this time of year. The daisies are getting ready to bloom … yikes!

I’ve been doing some small knitting projects and working to get something accomplished but I’m still not particularly motivated. I’ve cast on a sweater for a new baby girl who has joined our extended family. My ex-husband’s cousin’s daughter had a baby girl recently and I wanted to knit her a little something. She lost her mom years ago and her father more recently and I hope a little gift from me will tell her that I love her. I chose to knit Baby Vertebrae by Kelly van Niekerk because I’ve knitted and loved her newborn version of this pattern several times. I wanted to make something a bit bigger than newborn because it’s warm right now and she probably won’t need a sweater for a bit. I knitted this up in a new cotton yarn, Botanika, by Cascade Yarns. Botanika is a fingering weight 100% organic cotton yarn made in India. I chose the pink colorway because it’s for a baby girl and the first girl after two adorable boys. I have to say that I like the yarn. Working with cotton is always a big change from wool but this is a little bit forgiving and not as hard on my hands as I had expected. (Maybe linen is the most difficult?) Anyway, I’ve gotten the body of the little sweater done and only have a couple of little 3/4 sleeves to add and then I can block it and send it off. I do have to run to Target to get a couple of little things for the big brothers!

I’ve also been working on the first of two French Macaroon pullovers for a couple of bigger kids in my life. I’m going to make a third, too. One for my granddaughter, one for my grand-nephew and one for my daughter’s friend’s baby because he doesn’t have a knitter in the family. The first one is for the baby because it’s the smallest one. I’ve chosen to make these sweaters in Berroco Vintage DK because of its wide variety of colors and I love that it’s machine wash and dry. I’ve finished the front of the first sweater and have started the back. This sweater is knit in two pieces and then seamed together … in an innovative way, I think. I don’t read the pattern all the way through before I knit it but I know it ends with the first color at the top of the white. (What you see is the two rows of teal and the stitch holder.) I’ll report more when it’s completed. Then I’ll start one for Noah and Sylvie. They’re both a little bit bigger! I think Sylvie’s will be in a salmon color and Noah’s in a green. I’ll show you when I actually buy the yarn and get knitting.

I’ve finished the little dress for my granddaughter and I can’t wait to see her in it. The arm openings were finished with applied i-cord edging but they also had to have ties. The designer’s answer to this is brilliant and it was a fun new technique that I’ve never done before. The pattern of the dress itself was simple enough and well-written. I used a bubblegum pink cotton yarn because I needed her to have a bubblegum pink cotton sundress. Ha! Ha! It came out as cute as I had anticipated.

After another couple of busy weeks, we celebrated Father’s Day yesterday with a quiet, relaxing morning at home, coffee on the porch and the Sunday NY Times. I had made blueberry muffins and we just took it easy. We decided to go out for lunch to a new “food truck” nearby that was closed so we went to a family favorite, the Red Barn, for some fried seafood (we shared a basket) and then went to Fieldstone Gardens in Vassalboro to wander in their gardens. We bought a few herbs and a Lily of the Valley plant for the perennial garden. I hope it will spread like wildfire! It was a beautiful day. I got my sweet hubby a little t-shirt gift that’s perfect for this year.

Gone knitting!

Old Port Hat KAL

Posted on May 31, 2023 by Queen Bee Knits

This past weekend, a holiday weekend here in the US, I decided rather last minute to join the KAL with Andrea Mowry and knit the Old Port Hat. Since it was too late to shop, I had to shop my stash for the yarns to make this hat. It calls for a sport/DK weight (Cashmere People Cashgora Sport and Harrisville Nightshades DK were used for the pattern).

I was lucky to find a combination of yarns in my stash that I was happy with. I had a leftover partial ball of Classic Alpaca by the Alpaca Yarn Company in the hot pink colorway that I had used for a lining on my Northman Mittens (this reminds me that I still have to fix the lining because it’s a little bit too long). I thought this would make a good hat lining and I should have enough to do that much. I also found a full ball of Rowan Felted Tweed in a light grey-ish color with tweedy bits of blue and black. It was a full 50 gram/191 yard ball. And then I had a leftover ball of Patagonia Organic Merino yarn from my Emsworth Vest (that I adore!) in the charcoal grey colorway. I weighed it and it’s more than 50 grams so I figured that it was at least half a skein (half of 382 yards should also be enough for the second color.

I cast on the largest size because I have a big head. No fooling. My head measures 23 1/2 inches. I love the pink yarn so much – 2023 must be the year of pink for me. Or maybe it’s just having a granddaughter … who knows.

The hat is knit on US 3 & 4 needles. The lining is knit on US 3 needles and it’s slow going because it’s tiny stitches butI got it done and then joined the main color on the decrease round. If I sew the lining just right, I hope there will be a tiny glimpse of the pink at the rim. Then the fun begins with two-color brioche also using the smaller needles so it grips your head. I haven’t knitted anything in Brioche stitch for a while but it’s fun and rhythmic once you get going -and that doesn’t mean that I didn’t make a few mistakes that I had to fix. I did forget a few yarn-overs and I got distracted and brioche purled when I should have brioche knitted but I got it all fixed and kept on moving forward. Two-color brioche has two rounds of knitting for every “row” making one color “ribbing” on one side and the reverse color “ribbing” on the other side. Because of this, the fabric is thicker and so squishy and it’s will be warm despite being a finer yarn used.

The pattern asks you to place markers and change the colors of the ribbing as you go around and that keeps the knitting more interesting and it’s fun to watch the ribs grow. The pink will be folded under and sewn in place inside the hat to make a soft and thick “ear warmer” lining. I really hope this hat looks somewhat decent on me. I don’t like me in hats at all but there are days up here in Maine when you have to wear one. I’ve yet to find one that I love to wear.

Anyway, at some point after about 3 inches of brioche-ing on the US 3 needles, you change to a US 4 and keep on knitting. There is some fun increasing and decreasing to make the lines move a bit and Andrea includes some excellent video support for those places. I didn’t remember or I didn’t know that you always increase or decrease in Brioche by 2 stitches but it totally makes sense. Believe me. It does.

See how cool the increases and decreases make the hat look? I’ve really enjoyed the knitting and practicing Brioche again. I found I could “repair” a few of my mistakes and when I forgot an increase, due to the two rounds per “row” I could frog back with the prior color to just where I forgot the increase and then finish color 1 and knit on in color two to fix the problem. Yay, me!

The yarns aren’t going to get a huge mention but I wanted to be sure to at least tell you that I am loving knitting with them. The alpaca liner is going to be so soft against my face and the Felted Tweed and Patagonia are “picky” yarns because they’re not superwash but they are so soft as I work them and they soften more with every stitch. Felted Tweed is a wool/silk/viscose blend. The silk gives the relatively untwisted yarn some strength. The Patagonia is an organic merino. Merino is a short staple wool and will pill like heck if it’s not twisted. In this yarn it is and it’s wonderful to knit with. My Emsworth vest has been worn a lot and it’s not pilling yet. Woo! Hoo! These yarns are magnificent and I will knit with them over and over again over a superwash, plastic-coated yarn. Hand washing isn’t a chore for me and the wool washes that need not be rinsed out make washing hand-knits a breeze!

As of last night, I’ve crept up the hat and am nearing the end of the body of the hat. I have enough fabric now to try the hat on and it does fit my head well. I didn’t have a mirror to decide if I love it on but that will happen soon enough. So far, so good.

Gone knitting.

PS – you can find the FOs that I talk about here on my Ravelry project page. (My Ravelry name is “lindar”.)

Snow (-y) Day!

Posted on January 7, 2022 by Queen Bee Knits

We are finally getting a snowy day! I came home from work last night and listened to the weather reports and decided to err on the cautious side and cancel knitting classes today. Since weather forecasting is not ever a sure thing, I am always hesitant to cancel classes but this time it seemed that they were consistent messages that we were going to get measurable snow. And, YIPPEE! We are!

When we awoke this morning the snow hadn’t begun (picture above) but within an hour or so the snow could be seen coming up the lake and before long, it looked like this … and it’s supposed to continue on through the rest of the day.

So, my brain went on a snow day day off and I forgot my 8am Zoom meeting and my 9am Zoom meeting and I’ve chosen to give myself grace and move on to enjoy the day regardless. I decided that I’d give myself the gift of baking this morning. First up was The Foodie Physician’s Blueberry, Apple and Walnut Baked Oatmeal. I love baked oatmeal. I have always wanted to love oatmeal but the texture makes me gag. When I discovered baked oatmeal, I was skeptically hopeful … but it was good. I’ve been baking it ever since. This is a good recipe and I like it a lot. I used my frozen organic Maine blueberries and some too-old-to-eat apples from the farm in this recipe and local maple syrup. I didn’t have any plain yogurt but I had vanilla so that’s what I put in. I just had a serving for lunch and it was delish! Here’s the recipe:

Blueberry Apple & Walnut Baked Oatmeal (The Foodie Physician)

1 cup walnuts, chopped, divided
2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon plus extra for garnish
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/4 cups milk, any type (I used oat milk)
1/2 cup plain low-fat Greek yogurt
1 large egg
1/3 cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons melted coconut oil or unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (use the pure stuff not the imitation)
1 1/2 cups blueberries, divided
1 1/2 cups peeled, finely chopped apple, divided

Preheat oven to 325 degrees (F)
Spray an 8×8 inch baking dish with cooking spray.
Mix walnuts, oats, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a bowl.
In a second bowl whisk milk, yogurt, egg, maple syrup, coconut oil and vanilla together.
Arrange 1 cup each of apples and blueberries on the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Scatter the oat mixture evenly on top. Pour in the milk mixture and press to submerge all the dry ingredients into the liquid. Scatter the remaining walnuts, apple and blueberries on top and sprinkle with cinnamon.
Bake 40-45 minutesuntil the top is golden and the oats are set. Serve warm or at room temperature. Serve as is or topped with milk, Greek yogurt or maple syrup. (Try it without further sweetening, I think it’s great as is with milk!)

Since I’d baked something for myself, I decided to make something for my wonderful hubby. His choice was blueberry muffins. This recipe, I’m afraid, I can’t share, it’s a family secret and held close to our family’s chest. But I will share the baked muffins if you ever come visit us in Maine. They are a regular pre-breakfast treat when we have company.

We had a visit from our neighborhood Pileated Woodpecker. The female is a regular at our feeder this winter. I sure hope this means that she has a nest close by and that we’ll see her whole family in the spring! Our little red squirrel has also been a regular at our living room window feeder and we have fun laughing at his or her antics. We can get up close and personal with the window between us but it will sit and eat all of the sunflower seed in the feeder if we allow it.

And the frosting on the snowy day cake is that my first Paperwhite Narcissus is blooming!

And now I’m up in my atelier sharing this snowy day with you and in a few minutes, I’ll be heading over to my chair to knit. I have a 3-cable baby blanket on the needles in Berroco’s Vintage Chunky for a client and the queue of orders is already starting … it’s a new year, after all. I’ve also re-started knitting the Arne and Carlos mini-jumpers for my Advent Calendar. I would like to finish them before Advent 2022. And I’m going to cast on a sweater that has been sitting in my Ravelry queue for at least a couple of years. I’m going to add some steek stitches to it so I can knit it in the round. I’ve decided that my first WIP (or UFO) attack for 2022 will be my lobster hat. It’s been languishing way too long.

You can see all of these projects on my Ravelry project page. Gone knitting!

Starry Light

Posted on December 15, 2021 by Queen Bee Knits

This has got to be one of the quickest and most delightful projects I’ve ever knitted!

This is Starry Light by Laura Nelkin. It’s a quick knit on US 17 DPNs with a 66 foot length of fairy lights. I ordered mine on Amazon but this is a strand that needs to be plugged into a USP port. I have mine connected to my laptop on my desk and it works. We have a couple of those USB blocks around the house but I like my light on my desk – at night I can enjoy the starry light while I’m knitting in my atelier.

The knitting isn’t easy. Wire doesn’t stretch like yarn but it doesn’t take too much time to get adjusted. The start is a bit awkward as I think everyone who has started one of these has said. I’m sure that when I make more that they’ll get easier with each try. Regardless, when the knitting is done and the wire is threaded through the live stitches, you have to really “massage” the lacey wire mess into a star. I found it easier to bend the wire into 4-inch lengths which would become my star. (I wish I’d taken some video of what I did.) I then stretched and pulled and wiggled the wire into shape being careful not to stress the wire so much that I broke it.

I’m tickled with it – and bonus, my lights have eight different settings controlled by the button at the base of the lights or the remote that comes with the set. I’m going to order more after Christmas and knit up a bunch to use around the house – maybe in the big picture windows in our living room. We all need more light at this time of year!

Gone Knitting.

It’s been a “Timespan”

Posted on November 20, 2021 by Queen Bee Knits

This has been a crazy busy timespan … since I am lazy enough to not go back and see when I last posted, I’m using that word to indicate that it’s been a while since I have last written something here.

Life has taken on a life of its own and I am feeling the pressure of fall and shorter darker days and the impending holidays that always add pressure. Maybe one of these days I’ll learn to say “no” more often but for now, I am keeping my promises and working hard to stop every so often so that I don’t fall apart. Spending part of every day with yarn in my hands certainly helps. It also helps me to see that I am making progress both in my knitting projects and in work and volunteer areas of my life. My husband and I even had a date night and went to see a movie – neither one of us “liked” it but we went out. Together! A first since the pandemic began.

I started a thing at the store that isn’t original and not close to being my idea. Socktober. I found an article somewhere on the Internet about it and did a bit of research and then added it to my work newsletter that I write each Sunday morning. The Yardgoods Center – Yarn department – donated 16 pairs of hand knitted socks to the Mid-Maine Homeless Shelter. I knit the pair above and also included a pair of baby pink hand knit socks, two pairs of store-bought socks that have been in my gift drawer (doesn’t everyone have one of these?) and the wonderful customers at YGC brought in the rest. I think it’s a wonderful gift to those who are less fortunate and I hope the socks will keeps some feet warm this winter.

Pattern: Yankee Knitter Socks for the Family, Yarn: Regia 8 Fadig. Check my Ravelry project page for more details on this project and all of the others I talk about. I’m LindaR on Ravelry.

I have a bunch of projects on the needles and a few that I feel like I need to get to or need to finish.

I have finally made some real progress on my husband’s Christmas sweater. I gave him the yarn for said sweater last year at Christmas and it looks as if I will have it finished by Christmas this year. I’m knitting him the Knitting Pure and Simple Men’s Pullover in Cascade 220 yarn in a heathery-gray colorway. I don’t recall ever knitting with Cascade 220 yarn and I really like the hand of this 100% wool yarn. It’s not scratchy at all.

Pattern: #991 Neck-Down Pullover for Men, Yarn: Cascade 220 (100% wool).

I finished my “Christmas Tree” socks that I’ve been wanting to knit for ages. I’m trying to keep up with a pair of socks a month (2021 Sock of the Month Challenge) and I may have fallen off the wagon just a bit but I think I am back on. This pattern is on Ravelry and I used deeply stashed yarn by the Buffalo Wool Company. Back when I was being paid to work full time (as compared to now when I’m working part-time and volunteering part-time) I joined a yarn club with BWC. I got to know the owner because we had a couple of shipping snaffus … mostly because we were in Maine for a couple of months and then Florida the balance of the time and yarn went to one place when we were in another and never the twain should meet. Ron was an absolute wonder to work with and when I “tripped” over him at an outside holiday art/craft festival in Washington, DC one year, it was really fun to be able to meet in person. (And of course he remembered me as the shipping problem. LOL)

Pattern: Evergreen Socks, Yarn: Buffalo Wool Company Tracks Sock

I’ve begun working on Arne and Carlos’ 2021 Advent Calendar patterns. I adore these little “jumpers” so much and they’re fun to knit and very satisfying to finish in a day or two. I’ve finished the first two jumpers and have finished knitting the third but still need to weave in ends and steam block it. I don’t imagine that I’ll finish these before Christmas is over but I will get them done (probably before I finish the Christmas balls from 2020) because I really want to have them displayed in the house. It takes me about four hours to knit one of these and another half an hour to do the finishing. Each one is unique and there is a collection of Christmas balls to match … I won’t be buying that pattern … yet.

Pattern: Arne and Carlos 2021 Advent calendar mini-jumpers is available for purchase on their website, yarn: Patagonia Organic Merino by Juniper Moon Farm.

I have been crocheting snowflakes for the store window display using free patterns off the internet and scraps of yarn on hand. I have to get the glue out and dilute it to “starch” them so that they’ll hang straight. I’ve also been crocheting a set of Yip Yips that will be a gift. I’ll stop talking about them here and will write about them after they’re delivered. Another gift is a pair of socks that are on my needles currently. It’s a pair of “vanilla” socks in a colorful colorway and I’ll write more about them later, too. Suffice it to say that I am almost done with the first sock. I’ve got a way to go to get them completed.

My FEZA baby blanket is nearly finished. I’ve reached the finishing point of the fourth color. Since this isn’t promised to anybody (I started it as a project to work on when I am teaching classes or sitting in a Zoom meeting) it is sitting alone in the bottom of my knitting bag. I’ll get it finished one of these days. My Fine Sand Cardigan is in the same place. I won’t likely wear it until spring. That gives me the winter to get it finished. I really need to get it finished THIS winter, though.

With any luck, the next time I write here, there will be more than one finished item. Perhaps a sweater and a blanket by the end of the year? I’m keeping track this year of how many projects I complete … so far it’s up to around 50. Can I reach 60? Time will tell … that work thing keeps getting in the way of my knitting time.

Gone knitting!

I Learned Something About Loons

Posted on September 1, 2021 by Queen Bee Knits

You know (don’t you?) that I live on a beautiful lake in Central Maine. We are very fortunate to have a thriving loon population despite the crazy boaters that have caused nests to fail (one year we had two lost eggs on the same nest).

This year, the loon pair nearest to our house had two chicks. They nested on a nesting platform that has been built by our lake association (and is in need of some work). Loons don’t walk on land well. Their legs are located farther back on their bodies than other waterfoul and their bones aren’t hollow like other birds. Loons sit low in the water and are very heavy so nesting is a challenge for them. Regardless, our pair had two eggs and hatched two chicks. We watch them like hawks … and I’m not kidding about that at all. Hawks and eagles and other animals prey on baby loons. They become “my” chicks every year. My neighbors feel the same way.

Two chicks on the adult’s back (photo cottagelife.com)

This year, we have all enjoyed watching the twins with their parents until there was only one twin. My heart was broken that we seemed to have lost one of our sweet chicks. But our local lake tour guy, and a friend of mine who sits on the lake association board of trustees with me, texted me about the “missing” chick that he hadn’t seen for five days. He reached out to another board member who just happens to be our resident nature guy and loon expert. Here’s the skinny …

Feeding the chick (photo birdsoftheworld.org)

Our loon is healthy and well and living in pseudo-captivity for the next few weeks in Massachusetts. And this is the gist of what I’ve learned. There is an organization here in Maine called Biodiversity Research Institute and they’re authorized to move loons (after they’re big enough to feed themselves but before they are able to fly) to Massachusetts to translocate loons in an effort to restore the common loon to an area where they’d disappeared. This is what’s happening to our loon. He or she is helping the loon population to grow in another place. And the BRI program has been very successful over the past several years. This is loon conservation at it’s finest! (Read about the success of the program here!)

More good news … Our remaining loon (and the loon that was translocated) has a significantly better chance of surviving to adulthood. Feeding two chicks is a huge job for the adults. Feeding one chick is a big job. This way, since loons don’t count very well, the adults will be feeding their remaining chick well and they’ll all three be healthier and more prepared calorically for their flight in the near future to the coast. Our loons will winter over in the harbors off the coast of Maine and then in the spring after ice out, our adult pair will return to the lake. The young chick will remain on the ocean for a couple of years before flying “back home” to find a mate. The translocated chick will be fed minnows for a few more weeks and when he/she is ready, will be released on a lake in Massachusetts. That baby loon will fly to the coast from it’s new home in MA. Baby loons navigate “home” based on their first flight.

I am delighted to report that our baby loon is going to be a positive helper in the future wellbeing of the common loon. This kind of program has also helped to bring back Ospreys, Eagles, and other animals. There is currently a program that is working to bring turkeys from Maine to Texas where there used to be a lot of them. (We have tons of them in Maine!)

There you have it! I was so excited that I needed to share.

Gone knitting.

I Saw Live Theater!

Posted on August 16, 2021 by Queen Bee Knits

I was fortunate to be able to sneak away for a couple of days to Saint Louis, Missouri to see my eldest daughter star as Maria in the Sound of Music at the MUNT theater. Wow! What a venue! This theater can (and does) hold 11,000 people and it was full even on closing night in the heat!

The performance was incredible! I was so proud of all the hard work that this cast did to bring the show to the stage in just a few short days. Six performance in an outdoor venue in the heat of the St. Lewis summer. Can you imagine wearing a wig and two layers of costumes (one of them a nun’s black habit) in 80 or 90 or 100 degree heat and 100% humidity? It was difficult enough to sit in the audience in the heat! There were, obviously, a bunch of kids in the performance and Missouri is having a COVID surge so their safety and health was a huge concern and the MUNY did a phenomenal job. Everyone stayed healthy for the three weeks that the cast was in rehearsal and doing the show.

And because my kid was in the performance, can I please mention how incredibly proud I am of her. Kate has worked so hard to get into and stay in this business. She makes what she does look effortless … kind of like the best athletes, gymnasts, and yes, knitters. I know that it’s not as easy as she makes it look and I really admire her talent and determination, her persistence, too. She’s incredible and she was the best Maria yet. (There, I said it!)

This trip was also a bit of a reunion with a dear Cincinnati friend! She grew up in St. Louis and was a wonderful tour guide. We picked up where we left off way too many years ago.It was wonderful. We were able to see the Sound of Music twice in the two evenings that we were there. We found a downpour when we tried to meet with my daughter and her husband for coffee and ended up making a quick exit to the car. We spent a lot of time in the incredible park that houses the theater and was the model for Central Park in New York City. What a phenomenal resource for the citizens of St. Louis!

I’ll just be over here recovering from all the fun, late hours, lots of chatting and catching up!

Look at me, writing twice in two days! LOL! Gone knitting.

Gnoming

Posted on May 29, 2021 by Queen Bee Knits

I’m up to five gnomes in my gnitted gnome collection. I have several more to gnit and I will get them done. They’re so much fun! And they’re really cute.

All of my gnomes are patterns written by Imagined Landscapes’ Sarah Schira. Her patterns are often offered in MKAL format which offers you the opportunity to knit a gnome over a short period of time (and print the pattern on lots of paper.) I have also purchased some of Sarah’s “gnormal” gnome patterns (not MKALs) that I want to knit. I enjoy the KALs and I think I’ll also enjoy the simple pleasure of knitting a gnome at my own pace.

Left to right (above) are my current gnomes:

Most recent FO is Gnot just another Gnome, Gnathan. I knitted my gnome in worsted weight yarn rather than the proscribed fingering weight. I love my giant gnome. I used DPNs smaller than the yarn wrapper indicated and checked the fabric to make sure that it was tight enough that the stuffing wouldn’t show through once the gnome was finished. I used US 5 DPNs throughout. My Gnathan has gnarly arms (they look a bit too thin) so in the future I’d add a stitch or two to the i-cord numbers to make them more proportional. But he’s acceptable just the way he is … he will have to do more pull-ups to build his arm muscles! LOL! Gnathat has some wonderful cables on his hat and on the side of his body. The cables on the sides run from the base to the tip of the hat. It must be my Irish heritage, I love cables.

Second from the left is Gnome is Where You Hang Your Hat. This one was really fun because it was a stranded knitting design from the start and this gnome (gnamed Gnemo) got a hand-knit sweater! This little guy is knit in fingering weight yarn and US 1 1/2 needles. I’d love to make this guy again in a sport-weight yarn so he’s a little bit bigger. I didn’t weight this gnome … probably because I was lazy and didn’t have anything in my studio at my fingertips. That’s a bummer because he does tip over. I’d also like to make one of these with the hat pointing up. It’s a lovely piece of knitting!

Gnome is Where You Hang Your Hat, “Gnemo”

Gnutmeg is the next one in the lineup, pattern name is the ADVENTure Gnome. This one was knitted in early December 2020 thus it’s name. I used all leftover yarn bits and bobs. I actually love this guy, too. This was a MKAL knitting project. I love love love his boots! This would be fun to make in a heavier weight needle, too. This one is in sort-of-holiday colors … I was in a sort-of-holiday mood, apparently. I’d rather the gnomes not be too holiday-ish because they stay out all year. Until now, they’ve lived on a bookshelf in my atelier. They may move downstairs in the wintertime. This pattern came with a pattern for a Christmas ball, knitted of course, and two recipes.

The first gnome project I embarked on, and the last two in the lineup, was Oh, Gnome, You Didn’t! I may have un-gnowmingly knitted the first Gnellie with the wrong size needle and so I decided to knit a second Gnellie (appropriately named Gnellie 2.) Again, I used leftover scraps of fingering weight yarns from my bins (and bins and bins) of little bits of sock yarns. I braided Gnellie’s hat but left Gnellie 2’s hat alone with its three points. I love the Gnellies’ pockets!

These guys would be fun to make more of. It’s probably good that Sarah keeps adding MKALs because the likelihood of me having time to make duplicates at any time soon is unlikely. I have already bought four more of Sarah’s patterns and I absolutely will knit them all … as I type this I am printing out the pattern for Gnome de Plume (Gnatalie to be) … I may have to knit two; one with braids and one without!

Gone knitting.

Another Wonderful Weekend

Posted on May 5, 2021 by Queen Bee Knits

Last weekend we traveled out of the state of Maine for the second weekend in a row. This time we headed for Marblehead, Massachusetts and a reunion with two of my brothers and their families. (Most of them, at least.)

It was so good to hug our family!!!

I can’t say that I’ve gotten a whole lot of knitting done. My Daytripper is still languishing on the ottoman in my studio. It needs to have the steek fastened down on the back and I need to find some wonderful buttons. I’m going to buy some ribbon at work on Thursday for the steek cover. Buttons will probably happen on Saturday. Or early next week. It’s getting a bit close to too warm for wearing this sweater.

I started and finished the knitting on a gift for my Louisiana brother’s birthday. I can’t write about them until after they’re gifted. I’m sending the gift on to Louisiana for their last bath. More on this later. This photo is the best I can do to show you what it is … and I don’t think you’ll “get it.”

Kisses for Rose – Wee Wonder Woman shawl in Sisu yarn

This is our Chocolate Lab, Monk, wearing the Wee Wonder Woman shawl that I knitted for my granddaughter in France. I couldn’t send her one in red and gold. I actually bought red and gold yarn and then returned it because I needed to send her a pink one. This pink and white wool worked out perfectly. I was thrilled and I think my Rose was too. Monk is Rose’s favorite and Monk loves her. I like to think that he was sending her a big wet kiss.

I have begun another knitted gift. Socks are such a great project. I love knitting socks and these are turning out really well. I like Paton’s Kroy. This is Yankee Knitter’s sock pattern. It’s my favorite pattern that I almost always go to when I knit socks. These are for a child and the slightly heavier fingering weight yarn will make these a little heavier than normal and slightly less heavy than boot socks.

Two weekends of late nights and food and adult beverages has me tired and with a full heart. I love my family so much and I hope we can get together again soon. I hadn’t really been able to spend time with them since my niece’s 30th birthday and she’ll be 32 in October (and married in November!) There is so much to be grateful for.

And then we came home to this … flowers budding and that beautiful big pool we live next to!

Bleeding Heart and Messalonskee Lake … home

Gone knitting.

A Long-Awaited Visit

Posted on April 29, 2021 by Queen Bee Knits

It’s been a long time since we’ve been able to see our family. This past weekend, we were able to travel to New York City to visit my children. We brought my mother’s piano (in a u-haul trailer) to my daughter who will USE it. We don’t use it and it’s a real shame that it just sat in the living room and wasn’t played.

On Saturday it was a gorgeous day and we walked parallel to the river with my daughters and their husbands and dogs to the weekly farmers market and to drop off their compost materials (they freeze it and then walk it to be composted every week!) My daughter’s step counter said it was more than 12,000 steps. She guesses it’s about 5 miles and the last bit was up hill. I haven’t walked five miles in forever! It was such a fun day and we completed it with a family dinner to celebrate (for the first time) my son’s 31st birthday. We were supposed to celebrate 30 last year when Covid required that we stay home.

I have been knitting! I knitted a pair of birthday socks for my son. I’ve never used this Schoppe-Wolle Das Paar sock yarn before. A customer last week bought a hank and asked that it be wound … I thought there was something wrong when it “broke” about half-way through until I realized that it was meant to happen! They made the yarn so that you get two socks that are the same! So, I had to try it and I loved it. I liked the hand (feel) of the yarn as I was knitting and the socks are exquisite! I’ve put aside two more hanks for future sock knitting.

I’ve begun a baby gift of socks for one of my daughter’s friends who had a new baby recently. The gift is socks for the boys – each the same, two-color socks (heels, toes and cuffs will be red and the body of the sock a marled gray.) I love knitting little socks! These are especially cute in my humble opinion.

When we got home I reinforced and steeked my Daytripper Cardigan. It’s thrilling to cut down the middle of a sweater and have the stitches hold. I’ve since picked up my stitches for the button bands and only have to secure the back side of the steek and find eight buttons to make the sweater wearable … just in time for warmer weather. I’ve steam blocked it to make it easier to steek but I’ll still give it a good wet block before it’s really and truly finished.

This is the beginning of my next “surprise” gift. New felted clog slippers for my LA brother. I made him a pair … I did the knitting and my sister-in-law did the felting and added the slipper soles … a bunch of years ago and they’re holey. She asked if I’d make him a new pair … we’ll handle it the same way as last time so they are felted to fit his feet (they live in Louisiana so it’s difficult to do at a distance!) This time he’s getting some LSU slippers. I decided to hold two strands of the different colors together which will make them quite different from the former pair that were dark gray or black. I hope he loves them. He’s such a LSU fan that he had a purple leather chair.

We came home on Monday to another beautiful day and the blossoms of spring in Maine. The forsythia is blooming and the rhubarb is starting to grow. It won’t be long before strawberry rhubarb jam season. My bleeding heart plant is growing so fast that I think you could actually see it growing. The daffodils are up and the birds are all traveling through … no sign yet of our hummingbirds but I’m sure they’ll be here early this year.

Life is good.

Gone knitting.