Queen Bee Knits

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

Sunday is for Sitting – What do you WANT to do today?

Posted on July 6, 2025 by Queen Bee Knits

My hubby asked me this morning what I want to do today and all I heard from my brain is that I should vacuum, finish folding the laundry, clean the third floor, etc. What I wanted to do was to sit right here on the porch and drink my coffee. So seldom do I allow myself to sit and do “nothing”. So, after I finished my second cup, I headed up to my atelier to get my yarn and check my calendar and here I am writing about what I want to do. This is NOT a should. I love writing about my life.

We have another week to prepare for our family visiting and we’re excited to have them all here. We have bought a new mattress for our bedroom and upgraded to a king-sized mattress. Our bed will head up to our guest room and the guest room bed will head up to the guest cottage. To be fair, we may end up upgrading that bed once we finish the guest cottage. We are going to try to move the guest room bed ourselves this week; piece by piece. We hope we can encourage the delivery drivers on Saturday to move our bed up to the guest room. It’s really heavy!!!

We’ve been working to get stuff done around the house and it’s been a great couple of weeks! Hubby is making great progress in the guest cottage. The shower is built (I hate it but it’s done. It’s just not what I had envisioned but it will serve) and the porch is re-screened. The water is connected but the water heater is blown and needs replacing. Boo. We still have the “kitchen” to install and a deep cleaning to get done. I’ve been busy planting our vegetable garden and flower pots and weeding gardens and walkways. I’ve also been cleaning drawers and refrigerators and laundry rooms as they come … and there is so much more to do.

I haven’t cooked as. much as last week but I did bake a batch of blueberry muffins for hubby’s morning sweet treat. I had thought about baking cinnamon buns but never got around to it. Something keeps happening that sidetracks me, I guess. But it’s all good.

Here are some photos from around the house this week …

My bee planter is full of flowers (and needs watering all the time). I love the dooryard when it’s full of flowers and the addition of our red Adirondack chairs is a perfect lead up to our front door … also red! I’ve been almost monogamously working on my Anker’s Summer Shirt and my mystery yarn socks. I have started a “self-imposed sock club” at work and I have to finish these before I start my July socks. I’m using the Yankee Knitter sock pattern which I know by heart. This yarn needed to be simple vanilla socks so the yarn could get all the attention. It’s so pretty! My Anker is on sleeve island and I hope I can get it finished today – maybe that’s what I WANT to do!

Our flag was flying on the 4th of July and all we did was go to the town’s library book sale which is a fundraiser for our library. My goal was to get some children’s books to add to our library. I was successful and am very happy about my haul. We had a fabulous avian visitor to the other side of our boat house this week, too. A Great Blue Heron! Some people see them as a positive omen often associated with patience, self-reliance and finding inner peace. I’ll take it! I spent a good chunk of the day with one of my knitting student friends sewing … or trying to sew. I’m making a supreme effort to get some of my sewing WIPs finished, too. Now if only I can remember how to do the paper piecing. Ha! Ha!

Blueberry muffins were all that I baked this week. But hubby is happy with that. AND I may have bought a bit of yarn this week, too. I ordered a sweater quantity/kit for Corinne’s Vanilla Sweater and the Hot Summer Days sock yarn collection. Oops! BUT it’s just in time for my SISC at work … even though my initial thought was to use my (substantial) stash for this! Life is too short to knit with cheap yarn. I may have also bought the beautiful green linen yarn I need to knit the vest in the photo above. I’m not a lover of green but that color is spectacular and I can for sure wear it with my white linen blouses or t-shirts. So many things to knit and not enough time. I’ll be set for my retirement (If i ever fully retire.)

So, back to what I want to do today … I’m going to sign off here and take my knitting downstairs to the porch and spend some time knitting before it gets too warm to be outside. And then I may come back upstairs to knit in the air conditioning.

Gone knitting.

Sunday (with a very little sun)

Posted on May 18, 2025 by Queen Bee Knits

We had thunderstorms and heavy rain overnight and more rain this morning but by late morning it had cleared up enough for us to take our coffee outside on the porch. Through the day we have had more rain showers (hubby got drenched on the way back from getting his paper) but it’s not been a bad day.

I went up to my atelier to get some knitting to bring down to the porch and got sidetracked … as I often do. I gathered my knitting – a hat that I’m working on for a customer – and headed to the porch. I finished the hat and didn’t have a needle to thread the yarn through the last few stitches at the end. Up the stairs I trotted again for a needle and the next ball of yarn to make an identical hat, well it’s a different color but the same pattern, and thought … I have to sew the binding on Sylvie’s quilt. So, I sat down to sew the binding on. I had to go downstairs for breakfast but I got it all sewn on and then brought the quilt, my quilt clips AND the rest of the knitting stuff I needed.

I got the quilt binding clipped all around and cast on the second hat for my customer. I was feeling so good about it … and it was only noon!

So, my dear hubby has one or two more parts to play in creating a space for our granddaughter to sleep when they come up this summer. Today’s task was to attach the shelf system to the wall just in case she decides to climb it in the middle of the night or during her nap. He cut away the baseboard trim and we slipped the bookshelf into place and he screwed it to the studs so it won’t be going anywhere. AND then (he helped) I painted the space … at least I got the first coat of paint on the walls. Tomorrow I’ll get a second coat on and then I can buy the mattress and put the bed in place. It’s a tiny little nook behind the bookshelf in my atelier but it’s going to be cozy and I think she’ll love it. I would have loved it as a kid. Heck, I love it now (and you may find me napping there in the future.) Of course, all the storage boxes that fit into the shelf had to be removed so the atelier’s a mess again but I am excited to have this project finished. It is very purple (her color choice).

I have finished her purple cardigan. I got the buttons sewed on last night while we were watching “stupid tv” and I think she’s going to love it. She chose the mismatched buttons and I think they’re perfect. I also sewed the buttons on the Steek This Coffee Cosy that I made when I was teaching my colorwork workshop at the store. Two more finished objects for 2025. You can finally see that the cardigan, which doesn’t photograph well indoors, is purple. Do you see a theme here?

I am so thrilled with the Little Tern blanket that I am knitting for our future Denver grand-baby who I am calling the Nugget. I’ve written about if before but it keeps making me happy so I am going to keep on writing about it. The yarn is gorgeous and so wonderfully squishy and the pattern is engaging and requires just enough thought so that it never gets boring. I’m nearly done with the first end’s lace edging. AND I think it will be a perfect addition to the baby’s room!

I’m also continuing work on a pair of Hermione’s Everyday Socks in On the Round yarn. This is another pattern that I find very engaging and it makes me so happy. It’s a free Ravelry pattern but it’s not a vanilla sock. The 4-row pattern repeat is easy to memorize and it produces a very satisfying texture … and I love the heel! This is the third (?) time I’ve used this pattern and it always makes me happy. The yarn is fabulous, too. This has been stashed for a long time. I bought it specifically to make a pair of baby socks for one of my daughter’s friends who was in Wicked on Broadway and the colorway is aptly named, “Wicked”. I have leftover yarn because baby socks.

So, now that I’ve been so productive, it’s time to sit down and work on knitting the black hat for my customer. I’m trying to get all the things that I “have” to knit done so I can have some fun and knit an animal or two out of the book Knitted Animal Friends by Louise Crowther. I have the yarn for three of her designs. So, the two hats and two Love and Light fairy light hearts need to be finished first – and none of these projects takes a long time to complete so I just need to prioritize them. (I probably have enough knitting projects and yarn in my atelier to knit for a good little while. And that good little while could be the rest of my life.)

Gone knitting.

Mother’s Day

Posted on May 12, 2025 by Queen Bee Knits

Yesterday was a perfect day! We had nothing on our schedule so we had coffee on the porch in the sunshine, I wrote the store newsletter, hubby made blueberry pancakes for breakfast and we went to Lowe’s to get some supplies for building the little “nook” for our granddaughter’s visit this summer. I spoke to all of our kids and got a chance to knit a little, too, before a lobster dinner (what a treat! The price of lobster is crazy right now.) I took this photo of our first humming birds who have arrived back in Maine for the summer. I love these little birds so much … and pray that their navigation skills as they zip around the house are top notch … when we sit outside we can feel their wings pass by our ears. They’re miraculous.

Mother’s Day is typically a sad-ish day for me and is often fraught with conflict in my head and heart because my mother died in 2008 which means I’ve had sixteen mother’s days without having a mother to celebrate with. All of my kiddos were already out of the house by then and having adult children living lives of their own is another strange way to experience Mother’s Day. So, I’ve spent many years being sad and having expectations about what would happen and being disappointed and lonely. SO … I’m coming around to the belief that Mother’s Day is hard when you don’t have a mother and that expectations lead to disappointment so it’s better to consider this another day that I choose to make a good day. And yesterday was a good day.

I am knitting away on several projects and have several more in the wings (that’s lined up on the shelf in my atelier). I’m working on my Hermione’s Everyday Socks in On the Round “Wicked” sock yarn. I am loving these socks. The colorway is spectacular and the pattern is soothing. (It’s also free on Ravelry!) They’re what I go to when I need something small to throw into my purse.

I worked my way down the second sleeve of my granddaughter’s purple cardigan (Knitting Pure & Simple yesterday and got the neck ribbing done. I picked up the stitches on the first front band which is the button hole band and have pinned the spots where I’ll make the holes. That means that I am so close … maybe today?

I’m almost to the part where I bind off the Little Tern blanket for our Denver Nugget and start the lace edging. I can’t tell you how much I’ve enjoyed this blanket project again! I love the squishy yarn – Fyberspates Vivacious DK – and I love the pattern. I am so excited to gift this one (as I was excited to gift the first one. This is a family heirloom knit. Exquisite, if I do say so myself.

I have twelve projects lined up on my shelf. Twelve! And that doesn’t include my WIPS that I’m not really working on right now. LOL.

In this line-up are two tams for a customer, a cotton summer dress for Sylvie, two knitted hearts made with fairy lights, a pair of fingerless mitts for my daughter if the first one fits properly, a bulky sweater for Sylvie, more little chicken friends for Ernie, a blueberry hat for the Nugget and Sylvie, the Fair Isle bag I started in a class, my Patty tank, and another Arne & Carlos Christmas stocking. I also have yarn for a Petite Knits Slipover. AND all the animals I want to make. Good grief, I need to quit my job and quit volunteering and just spend my time knitting. (NOT!)

I also have the baby quilt to finish. I did buy some cotton flannel to back it with and I have the batting. I just have to wash the backing and put it all together. I doubt I’ll have time to take it to Candy for machine quilting on the long arm but I’ll give her a call to see. Otherwise, I’ll be quilting this myself on the machine or by hand … I haven’t decided which yet.

We bought the paneling and paint for Sylvie’s “nook” yesterday. The paneling is up on the IKEA storage unit and needs a bit of tweaking and filling in holes and then I’ll paint the whole space purple (her request) before I get the picture hung, the wallpaper up and build a mattress support so she won’t be sleeping on the floor – although she’d probably like that, too. I have a pillow cover to sew, and I hope I have enough flannel so I can make her a pillowcase. I only need to find a little book shelf for the wall and get it all done.

My next house project is to paint our guest bathroom and guest room. We’ve been in the house 10 years around Thanksgiving and we’ve not even painted all the walls yet. The primer has served us well but it’s time! I’m taking on the project hoping to energize my hubby so he will get the stairway and third floor done, too. We are also renovating our guest cottage space. We’ve torn out the bathroom from 1950 red indoor-outdoor carpet and all and we are rebuilding a bathroom that will be a little bit lighter and brighter with new shower stall and flooring. Once that’s done, we will outfit the living room with a counter (likely a buffet) and storage for the kitchen area to include a refrigerator, microwave, coffee maker, electric kettle and toaster oven so that our renters can fix themselves something to eat. A new coat of paint on the outside of the cottage and it’ll be gorgeous. WE loved living up there while we built the house – until it was November and cold. It’ll be a good additional revenue stream for us and a great spot for creatives to create or for couples or singles to call home as they explore Maine. When we’ve made some progress, I’ll post about this, too.

We are busy and contented and life is good. We are so grateful to call this place home.

Gone knitting.

Short Weekend

Posted on March 23, 2025 by Queen Bee Knits

It’s been a weird, short weekend. I haven’t felt “right” but I’ve been fighting whatever it is and trying to get some of my projects at least farther along. Friday night I chose to have a cocktail and I slept really badly (I don’t sleep well when I drink. You’d think I’d learn that it’s just not worth it.) and I woke up on Sunday feeling very tired. Duh. Ha! Ha! Anyway, last night I slept better but am still not feeling like me. I’m hoping I will be back to normal tomorrow because I said I’d work! The pressure is on. AND it’s supposed to snow tomorrow.

This weekend I have made progress on two of my projects. One knitted and one sewed. Yes, I’ve been sewing again. I had bought fabric for a baby/crib-sized quilt for my granddaughter’s bed here at our house. A few months ago I started cutting it up and sewing it together and then put it away … this week, Wednesday, I got a bug in my bonnet and turned the sewing machine on and finished the 9 patches. Once that was done, I had to figure out how to lay them out and sew them together. I got that done this weekend and even got the border on. I didn’t buy enough fabric for the backing or the binding (yet!) but I did attempt to use up the rest of the fabric I had to make a scrappy binding. I’m not sure I did it quite right but it’s together and I think I have enough to get all the way around the quilt. I just have to find the backing and quilt it all together. (Like that’s not a near-monumental effort for me.)

I’m quite pleased with myself and I think it’ll be bright and cheerful for Sylvie’s spot in our house this summer. I have a couple of pictures to hang in her spot and I have a plan to make her a “Very Hungry Caterpillar” pillow and a knitted fairy lights heart like she has in her room at her house. I may have to buy purple fairy lights because that was her color request and since I’m trying to use up what I have, purple hasn’t yet entered the picture.

I also finished the sleeves on my Bolin cardigan. They’re big wide sleeves with a lovely cable down the side and even the ribbing is wide so the sleeves will be full. There was a new-to-me bind off to learn for the sleeves and that was fun. They’re quite attractive, actually,

Yesterday evening I started the button band which will be added up the front right, around the neck and down the left front. A lot of ribbing at 18 stitches! This is something new for me, too, the technique for knitting on the ribbing and it took me a try or two to figure out just where to pick up and knit the stitch that attaches the ribbing to the body of the sweater, but I figured it out and am working my way up to the second button hole. I’ll be picking it up again this evening.

I did finally get our guest room bed made up again. The sheets and blanket have been in the dryer for days. I love the quilt I made for that room, too. It makes me smile. When I’m back to feeling like myself, I’m going to vacuum behind all the pictures and wash the fish that lives up there and a good vacuum of the rug and a dust of the tables and it will be ready for our spring guests. I’ve added a couple of new pillows and of course, Opus the Octopus.

Opus lives in the guest room. I may need to knit a purple one for a certain little girl. I know she’d love it. If I ever pick up my animal knitting, I have a couple of animals to knit, too. We’ll see which comes first!

I’ve not worked on my daughter’s new fingerless mitts again for a bit. I’m going to take the first one to New York when I go to babysit at the end of the month to make sure she likes the fit. And then I’ll knit the second mitt in earnest! I still have a couple (or five) WIPs that I would love to finish. One knitted heart for my bonus daughter and her husband … especially now that they’re expecting a new little one in the early fall. I need to get that done before we travel out to Denver in May.

Since I cleaned up my atelier to make space for Sylvie’s bed, I have moved my WIPs to the edge of my yarn cabinet and they’re “in my face” more this way. Think that will make me get them finished? (I’m thinking they need to go in the cabinet, honestly.)

Gone knitting.

A Case of the Tuesdays

Posted on January 21, 2025 by Queen Bee Knits

Today began as other days have begun … with a colorful sunrise across the lake. This morning’s sunrise was a “chilly” zero degrees (they say we made it to -2 overnight.) When I opened my atelier blinds this morning there was condensation on the inside of the windows which means it was really cold outside. Even by our Maine standards.

Yesterday there was another sunrise.

Yesterday was Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in the US and a president was inaugurated in Washington, DC. I chose to focus on MLK Day because he was a positive, truthful man who cared about all people being equal. He was also a minister, a faithful servant, a God-fearing family man whose son and family continue his legacy. They want MLK day to be a day of service and are, in fact, “doubling down” on asking people to serve others. I believe in service to others. I believe in education and the arts and I believe in caring for our planet – leave the campground better than you found it. I will spend the next four years giving back – volunteering and teaching, setting an example.

Yesterday I chose to turn off the TV and stay off social media. I’m still thinking about the “Metav-erse” and whether or not I am going to leave it. I’m thinking I won’t … regardless of their ownership and philosophy … or lack thereof. Instead, I took care of some female health stuff and had a bone density scan in the morning, came home and cleaned up the house, did some laundry, cleaned a bathroom and straightened up my studio. I also watched a couple of podcasts that bring me joy and worked on my Jelly Roll Blanket. I’m making progress toward finishing the fifth strip!

I’ve decided to change my approach to this blanket as I’m not making a significant enough dent in my leftover sock yarn bin. SO from here on, I’ll be using two strands of bits and bobs (some of which I have nearly a whole skein) held double. It’ll change the look a little bit but I’m going to try to treat it as a fade … light colors first and darker colors later. This blanket will likely adorn our granddaughter’s new bedroom nook in my sewing studio … which I’m also creating in my mind. We will be making a trip to IKEA in Massachusetts to buy a “junior bed” and mattress and maybe some other goodies for her spot … she’s going to be too big for a pack and play crib this summer!

I worked for a bit on my New Year’s cast on project, Winter’s Finery by Rosemary Hill (Romi Designs). I had to frog back a few rows because I saw a mistake in the center spine that I almost certainly made on Friday when I was teaching and talking and knitting. Yes, I still make mistakes. Lots of them. Anyway, I frogged back and then knitting on … and I’ve now passed the point where I had been when I started frogging. Knitting takes patience and persistence, that’s for sure. This yarn is making me so happy and I’d like to do nothing but work on this project but …

I also worked on my Christmas socks and got the heel turned and the gusset is almost done … I think I have two more rounds of decreases before I can just knit knit knit to the toe. I love the way this WYS sock yarn is working up and it feels good in my hands, too. I did find a dropped stitch waaaaay down from where I was working. I’ve hiked it up a ways but will put it on a holder (here a pink lightbulb stitch marker) and will pull it back to the inside of the sock and weave it in at the end. It would make a ridge in the sock, I think, if I were to pull it all the way up. Those little stitches on US1.5 needles with fingering weight yarn make it difficult to pick up stitches. It’s ok, though, these are for me. I added a stitch on the instep needle to compensate for the dropped stitch so we’re all good.

I did not work on my fingerless mitts for my daughter yesterday. I will today. I have gotten into the charts and they’re starting to look like something. This pattern has five charts to follow. Two of them (the first and last) are just one stitch each. Not sure why they couldn’t be tacked onto their neighboring charts, but whatever … I’m getting it done and I think they’re going to be really subtle and really pretty. I have been wearing my Lumos “boob” lights to brighten up the black yarn and that really helps my “old” eyes. I wouldn’t knit with black yarn for just anybody, that’s for sure!

I did sew yesterday. I found a tutorial for a quilted journal cover for a composition notebook thingy and I know I have had some pre-cut strips that I won ages ago … so I pulled them out and had a look and decided to try to make one for my bullet journal that I use as a calendar/planner/record-of-all-things. And that’s what I spent my afternoon doing. I revved up the old Bernina and got sewing. Since my calendar isn’t the same size as the cover the tutorial made, I had to wing it and that was a learning experience but it’s all good, I did it and it fits my book. It does make my book fatter which I may decide I don’t like. But for now, I’ll try it. I added ties to keep it closed (I would have made these be a piece of elastic if I could have found some. I couldn’t … so, ties it is. My book this year is blue (I choose a particular color each year … last year was orange, the year before was pink …) and I chose blue fabric even if I don’t LOVE this fabric, it does the trick for now. I may be going to the office store to buy a composition notebook to see how that works in comparison to my hard-cover book. BUT today I’m going to rearrange furniture, clean out a few bins and knit.

Gone knitting!

(I can’t seem to find the source/artist who designed this wonderful image but I wanted to show you what I think of when I write this at the end of every post. AND since I live on a lake, “gone fishing” is the normal retort for most lakeside residents. Not this one, though. I like the giggle I get when I think of gone fishing and gone knitting being one and the same … or not.)

New Year, New Cast-on and Goal Setting

Posted on January 1, 2025 by Queen Bee Knits

Well, here we are. To me the New Year means a clean slate to create a year that I want to see; to be proud of, to enjoy, to bring people together, to celebrate, to strengthen relationships. All in a span of 365 days. There’s a lot of the unknown this year and a lot to be grateful for as our family grows again and hoping for health for all of us, too.

I’ve spent the last 24 hours cleaning up my studio/atelier and getting my new journal/planner ready to go. Today I get to start a fresh book, too. The old orange book will take it’s place on the shelf and the clean, fresh turquoise book will start traveling with me. It’s my “bible” that I count on to keep me all together. Calendar, record of business, keeper of notes and birthdays and more. I’ve been using a bullet journal for several years and while mine aren’t very creative, they are a bit of peaceful time each week where I can set myself up for success.

I also decided to cast on a new project today. I saw Romi’s Winter’s Finery yesterday. It’s a one-skein small shawl with a fun edging. I chose my yarn this morning and am using a skein I bought a couple of years ago at Knit City Montreal – Mailles a Part in the Maree colorway. It was hand dyed by a friend of a friend and is a special skein that is perfect for this project. I’ve wound the yarn and will pull out my needles when I finish this post.

I’ve made myself a cup of tea, set up my day for success and now, I can relax for a bit and enjoy some knitting.

And speaking of knitting, I want to report that I completed 63 projects in 2024. 11 pairs of socks, four Emotional Support Chickens, four Christmas stockings, two sweaters and a vest for me, a bunch of hats and mittens and lots of baby/toddler sweaters, mittens and hats and one toddler dress. Colorwork was very prominent this year. I also had a few commissions. It was a very good year.

On my needles (see details on my Ravelry page):

Jelly Roll Blanket: being knitted with scraps from sock yarns that I’ve been carrying around for decades! It’s maybe 1/3 done? This will be a long-term project. I work on it during zoom meetings and watching youtube podcasts.

Pink Embroidered Mittens: I’m challenged by the embroidery on knitted fabric but I really have to pull them out again and get them finished. Even if I don’t embroider both mitts. The color is so pretty and they’d be great driving to work mittens!

Fair Isle Gift Bag: started it after taking a class with Jeanette Budge on Fair Isle knitting and choosing colors for Fair Isle projects. I loved the class, got feedback on the colors from Jeanette and just haven’t prioritized the project.

Lobster Hat: Another old project that I just need to keep working on and get it done. This is a Mrs. Knitter pattern that I bought as a kit from Over the Rainbow Yarns a “million” years ago. It’s been closed for a long time. Thought this would be a gift for the lobster-loving daughter but I don’t think she wants it … I’ll give her first dibs.

Neds Christmas Socks & Christmas socks: two pairs. One for Ned, obviously. Worsted weight boot socks. I have one foot and toe to complete to finish them. The other pair is progressing down the first sock’s foot. One more to go. I’d like to make at least a pair of socks a month this year.

I have a sweater in time out for Sylvie. I want to make another Love and Light for my bonus daughter and her hubby. I have the lights. I have at least three sweater’s worth of yarn to knit for me and a couple for Ned. AND we have a new great-nephew arriving and a new grandchild, too. SO, lots of inspiration and good reasons to knit in 2025. (There ma be more that I’m forgetting about.)

I’ve promised myself that I will sew more in 2025. I have several projects started that I’d like to finish and I have bought a tunic pattern & fabric, two kits to make totes, and a pattern and fabric to make an apron for me and a pattern for pants for Sylvie. I know I have a paper-pieced quilt top started and there are likely more in the cabinet. Do you think I can commit one day a week to sew? I’m going to start there and see how I do. My friend Carol said that she’ll come over and help with the totes because they’re overwhelming to me … that will happen in February or in the spring.

I’m planning to teach a workshop at Yardgoods in January or February. I just have to find a date. It will be a colorwork class and they’ll steek their project (a cup cozy) at the end. My teaching is a really happy part of my life and I want to keep it going. I’m working to build the 3-5pm class on Friday but I may mix them in with my other classes and call it good.

Mostly, I want 2025 to include lots of family time. We’re planning a visit to my hubby’s girls in the spring and summer and I’ll try to get to see Sylvie in NYC at least every six weeks. Time in person is so important to building on the relationship we have already which is amazing!!! I adore that child. I’d like to get to Reno to visit my aunt and uncle and cousins there. They’re not able to travel east any longer so it’s up to me to get out there. I’ve also never been to my “new” sister’s house in AZ. If not in 2025 then for sure in 2026. Reminds me I need to get the new license so I don’t have trouble traveling. OK, I need to go sit and knit … this is getting overwhelming.

Happiest next 365. Wishing you health and cheers to filling the blank slate as we each see fit.

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!

Homecoming

Posted on October 31, 2023 by Queen Bee Knits

I got home yesterday from the longest time I’ve been away from home since … well, I’m not sure. Suffice it to say, that I haven’t been gone for more than a week for years. I was ready to come home but I really enjoyed our/my travels. I haven’t been knitting much but my heart is full.

My dear hubby and I went to New York City for a few days to celebrate our granddaughter’s first birthday. Yes, you read that right, she’s one year old! That may have been the quickest year yet. Just sayin’. We spent the weekend with my son and his fiancee and it was wonderful. I love seeing all of my kiddos and on Monday we got to celebrate our “little monster” with family and friends.

Notice that Sylvie is wearing the Tybe cardigan that I knitted for her in Berroco Vivo (cotton) and it’s a perfect fit right now. I made the 9 month size … she’s a little peanut. But she loves chewing on the vintage buttons that I bought when I was at Knit City Montreal and they remain the perfect buttons! She’s a walker now and it was so much fun to watch her explore.

He’s Hungry … Caterpillar in Berroco Comfort and Comfort Print

I brought her a few hand made gifts for her birthday. I finished knitting the Very Hungry Caterpillar that I started ages ago. The yarn is perfect for the project and I did use the yarn the pattern called for, Berroco Comfort and Comfort Print. The pattern could be better … but you get what you pay for – it was free. If I were to make this again, I’d make the body and then after decreasing for the last time, I’d pick up the head from the body and knit the head rather than knitting it separately and then sewing it together. I’d also add some legs because the caterpillar in the books DOES have legs. We checked. But it’s a cute little gift and Sylvie loves books.

I also made Sylvie a couple of pairs of Harem pants. I sewed them without making any glaring mistakes and I was proud to finish them without any drama. They don’t fit her yet but … that’s the story of my life with this little one. Either her mom will send them back to me (I brought her a proper measuring tape) with a better waist measurement OR she’ll grow into them. They’re awfully cute!

Also finished and delivered to New York were three hats and a little newborn cardigan. Some for Sylvie and some for one of my daughter’s friends who are expecting boys. I knitted two of the Garter Ear Flap hats in beautiful alpaca yarn. This hat is SO soft! They both ultimately had pompoms on them but I didn’t photograph the second one when it was finished. Oops! I also knitted a tiny Newborn Vertebrae cardigan. The blue hat and the cardi are for my daughter’s friends. The raspberry hat and the turkey hat are for Sylvie. I designed the turkey hat and will write down the pattern soon. I may make it available on Ravelry. I have a couple of patterns that I should publish. The turkey was one that my daughter pointed out last year and I never got around to knitting it. This year, I did. It’s probably a bit large for Sylvie at this point but it’s pretty cute.

I have finished two pairs of socks for Christmas presents. I don’t think the giftees are reading this but I’m going to err on the safe side and say that you should have a look at my Ravelry page if you really want to see them right this minute. Otherwise, I’ll post pictures after the holidays are over and the gifts are given.

I wound yarn from our trip to Knit City Montreal, these were the “official” yarns sold by the event organizers and I HAD to buy them both. Haha! I thought it would be a great idea to make a pair of mittens that I also saw there and bought a kit with which to embroider said mittens … but I started knitting the cuff and it wasn’t what I had in mind at all. BUT when I was in North Carolina with my college friends to celebrate our collective 65th birthdays, I found a yarn shop right around the corner from where we were shopping and popped in. They carry Berroco yarns and I hoped that they’d have a lace weight mohair in a similar light pink colorway. And they did!

I like this second combination so much better!

And I would be remiss if I didn’t talk about the second half of my travels. My hubby dropped me off at my college friend’s house in Weymouth, MA on the way home from NYC. I spent a day with her before we flew to Raleigh-Durham, NC and drove to Pinehurst to celebrate our 65th birthdays. We were to have been 8 but ended up being 7 because our dear Nell got Covid and was unable to travel. We were all bummed to hear that bit of bad news.

I’ve known these women since the fall of 1976 when we first met as freshmen at Wells College. We’ve been friends since – 47 years ago. We often skip months or years but when we get together it’s as if no time has passed. What an honor it is to have such wonderful women in my life and it’s a true blessing to have such long-time friends. We spent a long weekend at Betsy’s house in Pinehurst and it was a perfect weekend. Shopping, eating, taking walks, reading, knitting and laughing … there was lots of laughing! Betsy pulled out all the stops and wins the hostess with the mostest award. She even booked us all a sound bath session with her friends and neighbor.

Wells College ’80 Celebrating 65th Birthdays

There’s a lot of wisdom and experience in this group and we are all so fortunate to be enjoying life at our age. Many haven’t had that chance. We have all grown and changed but as soon as we are together again, it’s like no time has passed … the years melt away.

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.