Queen Bee Knits

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

Adventure … Grace Robinson, Freeport, Maine

Posted on February 19, 2025 by Queen Bee Knits

Today is brutally cold outside today. I chose to stay inside for my picture of the day and I included my “Love and Light” that’s down there because who doesn’t need more love and light these days?

I had a great adventure yesterday I went to pick up my new eyeglasses and decided to go look at yarn on my way home because I’ve been fretting about knitting the “Bolin Cardigan” which is the MDK Bang Out a Sweater pattern for 2025. I really like the cardigan and I haven’t ever knitted with Rowan Felted Tweed and it just so happens that just off the highway, on Route 1 in Freeport, Maine is one of Rowan’s flagship stores, Grace Robinson. As a flagship store, she carries ALL of the colors and yarns that are made by Rowan.

The building is right on Route 1 and literally a hop skip and jump from I-295 so easy to make a quick stop and worth it! I wish I’d asked to take some photos of the gorgeous samples that Grace knits for the shop. They were incredible. Talk about inspiration! But I digress … I went in specifically to check out the colors of Rowan Felted Tweed and, boy oh boy, was it a difficult choice! The colors are beautiful and there are so many choices. I had my hands on a couple of different grays, a black, a blueish gray and a red and I own a bunch of an orange (it’s a bright orange). AND I ended up going with the neutral beige-y Stone colorway that is the photo in the pattern paired with the Kidsilk haze in the Rose colorway because I liked the more neutral colorway and I don’t have anything that’s beige/camel colored in my hand knits. Decision made, while Grace herself went to get the yarn from her stock room, I wandered the store. It’s a huge space, and perhaps half of it is needlepoint and the other half is hand knitting yarn. Many of the familiar brands are carried there and some that I wasn’t familiar with that are on the higher end. Grace was gracious and warm and I enjoyed chatting with her. She’s just coming off a week plus of having her “right hand” on vacation in Florida and on her way home with a boat on a trailer in all the east coast storms as she comes north. I know Grace will be glad to have her back in the store. The building (and business, I believe) are for sale and I wish I lived closer!

I swatched last night and my stitch gauge is spot on. I’m blocking the swatch now as I type (and the orange swatch too) to see if it changes at all. Mine don’t seem to but there’s a first time for everything. I plan to start knitting today after I reschedule my colorwork workshop.

I am really happy with the color! It’s not too pinky rosey but it’s not a boring neutral and the fabric feels absolutely fabulous! My friend Glenda has already begun knitting and she suggested I swatch to make sure I like the color and I’m so glad I did. I can hardly wait to get started!!!

While I was at Costco getting my glasses I also grabbed another container of forced tulips. I love tulips and the ones I bought last week have started to bloom. A pop of color in the house at this time of year is so welcome and cheering. I look forward to seeing what the new ones look like and they’ll all be planted in the garden as soon as the snow is gone and the ground warms up a bit … or in the fall. Whichever comes first.

I’ve got my pattern queued up in my knit companion app and I’ve got to get my swatches out of their bath …

Gone knitting!

Crofter’s Smock Test Knit

Posted on February 5, 2021 by Queen Bee Knits

I swatched and swatched and swatched again! The first swatch, the pink-ish yarn was on target but the red, that I thought would be perfect for this project wasn’t right. This swatch was knitted flat before I discovered the instructions to knit the swatch in the round … so I got my needles back out and swatched again, this time in the round, with the red yarn. It was close “enough” and would probably have given me a little bit larger sweater when finished. But then I thought, since I can’t identify the yarn because it was gifted to me, that wouldn’t help the designer. So back to work. I dove into my stash and thought that Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Worsted is a heavy worsted. But I didn’t get gauge. Last chance was a stashed Hayfield Aran with Wool and my gauge was spot on! Woo! Hoo!

Next day I was off to my LYS (Yardgoods Center in Waterville, Maine) to see what two (big) balls were in stock for this sweater. I’d done a bit of research into colors so I did have some idea what I wanted to do and found Celtic Grey (is it grey or gray?) I also happened to grab a couple of balls of Raggi worsted sock yarn and ordered some Lettlopi for a future Stopover Sweater and Mary Jane Mucklestone’s new Heart Mittens. They’ll both be a “reward” for finishing my test knit.

I’ve been knitting away as often as I can manage between work and my volunteer board meetings and phone calls and as of this afternoon I have passed the seven inches mark. I checked the Google doc for the test knitting group to pass information to Gudrun and I’m doing pretty well … even if some of the testers have moved on to the sleeves. A few more inches to the armpits!

Crofter’s Smock by Gudrun Johnston in Hayfield Aran With Wool

I am enjoying the mixture of textures in the body of the sweater and it’s simple enough to not have to look at the pattern. So, I’d best get back to work so I can keep the progress rolling! One stitch at a time! I’ll be back soon with a post about measuring gauge (just in case you don’t know how to do it!)

Gone knitting!

Why Swatch?

Posted on January 15, 2013 by Queen Bee Knits

Downton Abbey KAL swatch

I never used to swatch. But after a few knitting disasters, I’ve decided that it’s the new “must happen” in knitting.

My last post was about the trouble I was having with the Turkish Bed Socks pattern. The first time I knit them up, with the suggested yarn and needles, they turned out too large and slip off my heel. (I have to admit to making the foot longer because my feet are not – NOT – eight inches long.) The second time I used a lighter-weight fingering yarn and smaller needles. They looked adorable but they were way (WAY!) too small. I frogged them.

Did I ever tell you about my “boyfriend” sweater? I bought this beautiful bulky tweedy black yarn and knit the sweater. I actually did swatch this one and everything was working up just right – according to the directions. Perfect. Except that I was knitting the wrong size! So, even when you do swatch, you’re not guaranteed perfect fit but it sure will get you close. Next time, measure the boyfriend before knitting an entire sweater! (I’ll be frogging the sweater this summer in Maine. The lake-side frogging will help with my dismay!)

So, back to Turkish Bed socks – version three is on the needles. I’m using the Cooked Lobster colorway handspun that I bought this summer in Maine. I had to go up a needle size to get gauge so I’m knitting on a US #4 using magic loop (I really don’t like knitting with DPNs any more!)

I knitted three swatches for these socks. One on a smaller needle, one on the pattern sized needles and then finally settling on one size up. The only way I’m going to skip the swatch step from this day forward, is if I’m knitting a felted bag! Or something where the size is irrelevant – like …

I just joined to knit in the round … wish me luck!

Gone knitting!

Pantone 612U

Posted on December 20, 2012 by Queen Bee Knits

Several weeks ago, a Facebook creative friend put up a photograph of a bunch of Pantone frames that she wanted to do something with. People posted suggestions (as did I) about what to do with them. Lo and behold, I got a message from Kanella asking if I’d be willing to knit a swatch in the color to be framed and used as part of the art installment. Of course, I said, “yes!” So, today, I am finally getting around to starting the swatch so that I can get it sent back to Greece close to the New Year! Step 1 – what is Pantone 612U? (Thank goodness for Google!) And I just happen to love this color and have some wool in the lemongrass colorway by Patons (ha! Patons – Pantone … the names are even close!)

Frame + Googled + Yarn = Success!

Step 2 – Plan the pattern I love cables. They make me happy. So, I decided that three cables of six stitches would be about the right width of the frame. Cast on 42 stitches and it should be OK. (It’s all a guessing game when you’re swatching!) At the end of several rows of 42 stitches and the set-up for the cables, the swatch was way too wide for the frame. BUT, as cables do, when they were twisted, the cables pulled the swatch in beautifully and it will fit the frame just about perfectly!

Step 3 – Knit!

So, there you have it! The cables are going to be three stripes of wonderful in this rectangular piece of fabric. I’ve completed two twists as I write this and I think it’s going to be a very simple and yet pleasing pattern … perfect to show off the art of knitting and also to highlight the color of the yarn. The Pantone color.

I can’t wait to finish it up and fit it into the frame and then send it off to Greece!

Gone knitting!

You better Swatch out … or you’ll be crying

Posted on March 27, 2011 by Queen Bee Knits

Here's the side view ... can you see the pretty buttons that I worried over? No?

Well, in all the years I’ve been knitting, I think I’ve knitted about two … maybe three … swatches. Yes, I know. Everybody tells you to knit a swatch to determine your gauge PRIOR to starting your garment (whatever it may be!)

I now have a better, first-hand understanding of WHY you should knit a swatch … even if it’s “just a cowl”!

Not exactly upstanding, is it!

And from the front ... the leaning tower of cowl.

I’ve taken three photos … well, I didn’t but my sweet love took time away from polishing his boots in the garage to take it for me.

Photo one above shows a side view. There are two lovely buttons that you can’t see because this cowl is so darned big. Nothing like the sample photo on the pattern. Why, you ask? Because the Queen Bee is a non-swatcher. (I’m almost ashamed to claim the title.) But it’s the truth and I always tell the truth.

It’s rather funny, actually. In my day-to-day life, I am such a rule follower. I don’t cross the street when it says “don’t walk” and I make a full stop (counting to three) at stop signs. I don’t litter. BUT … I don’t swatch!

And now, I will have the pleasure of frogging my lovely Thermis cowl and then making a swatch so that it turns out the right size. I’ll blog about it again, dear reader, when it’s knitted properly!

While I may have hit a creative block, I’m thinking about knitting … and am off to the library to find some books to peruse while my creative block is still in the building. 🙂