Queen Bee Knits

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

Musselburgh and WIPs

Posted on September 2, 2025 by Queen Bee Knits

We got up early this morning and spent a good two hours watching the lake. Highlighted by the baby loon and his/her parent feeding right in front of the house. The lake was totally smooth for a time. And it was so quiet. A breath of fresh air after a busy summer and a busy Labor Day weekend.

I spent a chunk of it making a sample for the store. I chose a Yarn Snob Worsted weight wool in the Times Square colorway. Mostly because we have no samples of Yarn Snob knitted up. And, being worsted weight, it was going to knit up more quickly.

This hat pattern is wonderful!!! I’ve made one before but I had to remind myself how to do the pinhole or Emily Ocker’s magic cast on and I knew that i particularly liked Jen Arnall-Culliford’s method which is simple and doesn’t require a crochet hook. Just a pair of DPNs. (Ultimately you need a set of 4 or 5.) I really liked the Yarn Snob yarn and this hat will be a modern sample for the shop in an unexpected yarn. I made the toddler size because that is what the yardage allowed for. I loved that the colorway was named after a NYC landmark that happens to be in the heart of the theater district and my kiddos are all employed in the arts in New York City. So a nod to Times Square added a smile to my face. When the winter sets in, I’ll reclaim the hat for my granddaughter.

I spent the past couple of days working on my Vanilla Sweater by Corrine at The Wooly Thistle. I may have said this before but the color is what I fell in love with and I “had” to buy the kit. as happens with almost every simple pattern I attempt, I am struggling to read my knitting – it’s either the light in my atelier or my aging eyes or both combined with the heathery yarn but I can’t see the increases well enough so I’ve been thinking back and reknitting now and again. But I’m getting there and am almost to the end of the increases. I am up to over 300 stitches around so the rounds take a minute. I’m knitting on gauge so I will be excited to see how it fits.

I’ve also been working away on one of the critters in Louise Crowther’s book Animal Friends. I bought the yarn a few months back for three of these animals and I’m beginning with Noah the horse. It will be a gift for my daughter who loves horses. It’s fun to knit but a little bit hard on my hands because it’s knit at a tight gauge in teeny needles. So the stuffing doesn’t show through the stitches, of course! I’m making good progress. Two legs to go and the outfit and I can sew it all together.

I had nearly completed the garter stitch section of my All About the Ruffle shawl. Over 350 stitches on the needle. and I just didn’t love it. So, today I frogged it and it’ll be something else, probably a tee shirt. So boo and yay. Boo that I frogged all that work but yay that it’ll be something that I will love.

I was gifted and also grew some giant zucchini and I’ve been trying to use it up before we leave for vacation. I’ve got some chocolate zucchini muffins in the freezer with a loaf of zucchini n bread. Today I made banana zucchini muffins. Hubby seems to think they’re all for him. Ahead of vacation? Yeah, right. He’s been informed.

If I can’t get it all baked before we leave, it’ll go into the freezer all shredded and portioned into 2 cup bags. I have a lot of frozen bananas, too. I’ve not been baking enough apparently.

We are enjoying the last days or weeks with hummingbirds before they head south. I haven’t seen any male hummers recently and they had off ahead of the female and juvenile birds. So the rest will be heading off soon. We will keep the feeders full for those passing by for a few weeks.

The garden is still giving us food. I picked the first Delicata squash. There are more coming. Tomatoes are coming along too. Peas are still growing and we hope we get fruit before the first frost. I picked most of the lettuces because they were about the bolt. Our garlic is dried and cleaned and ready to store away and use. We need to grow more again next year.

I’ll be taking my Murmuration socks on vacation with my Vanilla sweater and some “purple sparkly” Encore worsted for mittens for my granddaughter and a blue bulky pullover (pattern by Knitting Pure and Simple) in superwash wool. I’ve got two grands to knit for now. Best get going on the tiny knits!

Gone knitting.

Saturday – Peace on the porch and a little knitting.

Posted on August 30, 2025 by Queen Bee Knits

I have had a lovely, peaceful morning with my coffee and yarn on the porch. I got up without an alarm, took the dog out, fed the dog and took my coffee out to the porch. It was pretty gray and we even had a little sprinkle of rain. Since then, I went up to my atelier for my yarn and I’ve been sitting here drinking my coffee and knitting and listening to the sounds of the lake. The sounds of home. Hummingbirds chasing each other away from the feeder, ducks quacking by, the train passing heading south, and the splash of an osprey right in front of our boathouse (coming up with empty talons.) And now the sun is coming out and the bees are buzzing in the cat mint.

I’m working on my Vanilla Sweater by Corrine at the Wooly Thistle in Rauma Garn Finull. I fell in love with the color of this yarn and had to buy it. No regrets here. This is a wooly Norwegian wool and I can already feel it softening up as I work it. I’m struggling to see my stitches though with the heathery wool and I’ve had to go back several times when I increased where I should not have. My attention span seems to be challenged right now. Lots going on, hubby away, boss away, the world on fire and I may even need a better light by my knitting chair.

Musselburgh in Yarn Snob “Times Square” colorway

At work we have decided we need some more contemporary samples. I said I’d knit a Musselburgh hat and brought home a hank of fingering weight Yarn Snob yarn with neon pops of color. And then I thought about all the things I have going on and brought it back. I chose, instead, a hank of worsted weight yarn snob. There was enough yardage to make a toddler hat and the. I looked at the name of the colorway and that clinched it. I’m knitting this for a sample and then when it gets colder I’m taking it for Sylvie to wear in the city.

I always have to remember how to cast on with the Emily Ocher’s cast on but I found a Jen Arnal-Culliford turirial and got it done. Yesterday, this hat was a good thing to work on while I was teaching and I made some good progress.

The crown Emma’s some random pooling and now it seems to be striping. It’s all good and it’ll be done soon enough.

I’ve also been working on my shawl, All About The Ruffles. I’m nearly to the full stitch count on the garter stitch section. I wish I had figured out how dull the garter stitch section would be and skipped this project. I sure hope the ruffle section makes it worth while. the “Harbor” colorway in Emma’s Yarn Practically Perfect Sock is lovely and this year is really lovely to work with. I’ve not taken any pictures because a garter stitch triangle is not very exciting but there will be some coming.

I snuck in a Knitting for Olive yarn order before they stopped shipping to the USA. I’ll be knitting one of their designs, too, for the first time. The Wilson sweater has a Henley feel without the buttons and with a collar. I need a black sweater and I think this one is classic and can be worn with our without something underneath. I’m really going to have to invest in a better light to knit with black yarn. (I also have some black linen to knit a sleeveless top with. I love black clothes, I cannot lie.

My SISC continues with Murmuration. Another pattern from the Sock Project book by Summer Lee. I may have already posted this photo but I repost it because there is a mistake here and the photo pointed it out. I’ve since frogged it back and added another (third) eyelet round to the third lace pattern. Good grief. My brain! My focus is definitely struggling with all that’s going on in the world. I am looking forward to our Rhode Island vacation next week and am planning to tune out and turn off social media for a few days to see if that helps my brain to focus. It’s all good in the end but good grief, I’m supposed to be an “expert” and a knitting teacher. I get frustrated with myself when I make such rookie mistakes!

I picked three cherry tomatoes and my first Delicata squash today from the garden. they say that Delicatas are ready to pick when they have stripes and you can’t easily break the skin with pressure from your fingernail. This one is there. I think I’ll have to cook it for supper tonight to see how it tastes. I also have cups (and cups) of shredded zucchini to use and will get it grayed, freeze some of it and bake with some of it. Plan is to make some zucchini bread, some chocolate zucchini bread and maybe a chocolate zucchini cake to take with us to the beach. Yum. We still have e some tomatoes on the vines and a few more delicatas coming along. Lettuces and kale are going to be picked today for salad with my supper.

I guess I’d best get myself moving. I have a bank deposit to make for the store before noon and then I can drop off the banking stuff at the store. The boss is back Monday and I no longer have the responsibility of banking. I had a bowl of granola this morning so I may stop for ice cream on my way home for lunch. More knitting will be worked into my afternoon.

Gone knitting.

Hugging my Way Through the Week

Posted on March 9, 2025 by Queen Bee Knits

This was my weekend to work and so I trotted off to work yesterday (and forgot to take a picture of the lake before I did. So I posted a shot from the winding table at the store and said that I’d be there all day. And lo and behold, I had two special friends appear at the store for a visit. First Bristol Ivy and her husband, Will, and then Ellen N. who used to come to knitting class on Friday but she’s been busy being a grandmother and has even taken a new part-time job which requires her to be there on knitting class day.

And on Friday another dear knitting friend, Katie, came in for a visit! Each of them gave and collected a big hug from me and it brightened my whole week seeing them. This is why I love working in a LYS! It’s all about the people, the community that is built in these small businesses, mostly women-owned, safe spaces for everyone. At least I can speak for my LYS.

At my last class on Friday I also “birthed” two new knitters! Anne and Liz are a mother and daughter duo who came in to learn to knit or get a refresher after a really long time. They caught on quickly and I am eager to help them get to where they want to be with knitting. So, all in all, it was a really good week.

My two sweaters are getting banged out even though it’s now March. I’ve been working on the Cardoon this week for the most part and an officially on sleeve island. One sleeve has been started. I’m also ready to pick up stitches on my Bolin Cardigan but, to be honest, I haven’t picked it up since I finished the shoulder seaming. It’s next for sure. Maybe I’ll get one sleeve started today.

I started another hat for my customer Judy. She picked up the black tam and I’ve cast on the (final for now) navy one. I ran to the shop this morning to pick up my check so it won’t get forgotten. I also got the car washed and picked up some sour cream for our beef stew dinner tonight. I haven’t got any new photos of anything I’ve been working on so you’ll just have to trust me. Maybe I’ll have some real progress shots for later this week.

For now, I’m going to put my feet up and knit and watch some “stupid tv”. It’s Sunday!

Gone knitting.

FO

Posted on February 13, 2025 by Queen Bee Knits

SNOW DAY! I was supposed to work today and while the accumulations have not been thrilling to this snow-loving girl, I am enjoying my snow day immensely. We had our coffee in a very leisurely manner not typical of days we both work. I went up to my atelier and wrote the store newsletter for Sunday and now I’m writing this blog post because I realized that I never posted a picture of my finished Hoodola.

Hoodola by Laura Nelkin is one of the 8 FOs that I’ve managed for 2025 so far. I knit my Hoodola in what I thought was going to be boring creamy-white yarn by Berroco that has been discontinued. I was given a couple of hanks of the white and one or two of a dark green. It was DK weight and I decided, why not give it a shot and hoping that I wouldn’t have to play yarn chicken. I am thrilled to report that I didn’t and it’s finished and I really do love it. Laura sent out a minor update to the pattern once I was well on my way and I didn’t choose to put a tie on mine (I’d have had to use another colorway and I didn’t want to do that.)

Here it is …

The long ribbed section at the neck keeps my neck warm without need for a scarf, I can certainly fold it up and cover my nose with it if I want to. AND, I can pull the hood down in the car or when in a shop so my hair doesn’t get too flattened out and then just pull it back up when I head out again. I may have to make the green yarn into another Hoodola because it’s such a great “hat”! (Behind me is the American Flag quilt that I made several years ago. One of my favorite sewing projects of all time. I even quilted it on a friend’s long arm machine!)

The snow is coming down a bit heavier now (yay!) and it looks like the rest of my day will be watching Netflix and knitting. I am hoping to get the lace part of my Winter’s Finery shawl finished and get it bound off so I can finish the edge ornaments and block it. I also want to work on my Bang Out a Sweater … Cardoon. It’d be great to get past the colorwork before all of my classes tomorrow. I’ll bet I could get well into the body of the sweater if I could get to the sleeve division today. So I’m going to sign off.

Gone knitting.

The Most Wonderful Time … ?

Posted on December 15, 2024 by Queen Bee Knits

We woke up to ice skimming the lake this morning. It was a cool 16 degrees on the thermometer but my weather app said it was 12 degrees. Either way, it was cold. I look forward to the ice at this time of year. It’s like my lakeside neighbor said, “it’s another phase of life”.

I’ve been super busy again this week. I’m not sure if it’s the time of year or if it’s simply my life but I’ve been trying to finish up the shopping for Christmas and we sent our our Christmas cards, I had a Maine Arts Academy school board meeting – it ended up being virtual because of the crazy weather – and have had some “issues” to deal with surrounding being board chair and we’re looking at meeting dates/times, trying not to have a quorum at committee meetings to follow the rules, attending a board goals setting training, and there was some work and “normal” life stuff to do at home. Thank goodness my husband doesn’t mind (much) doing the cooking. Add the full moon into the mixture and my sleep has been wonky as all get out! I’m sleep deprived, overloaded at work (we had a roof leak this week in the afore mentioned crazy weather) and yesterday was my Saturday to work.

On Thursday I arrived at work to find this mess (above). The heavy rain and wind had caused the roof to leak (I think) and the spot in the front corner of the store that had leaked before had been totally soaked and one of the tiles had fallen to the floor but not before hitting the bookshelves below it. And the toys we have for our little visitors. And the books in the shelves, the free patterns, etc. I cleaned it up but being there solo doesn’t mean I could do much more than a basic clean-up. Yesterday I worked with my friend and colleague, Carol, and we got to dismantle everything around the leak and make sure there was no further damage. We had the “class” table covered with books, etc. and moved everything around so that area was free of merchandise until the roof is repaired. It took us the whole day to get it all off the table but the front of the store looks great. AND we were both pooped – the store was busy yesterday, too!

I have gotten to do some knitting this week. I finished my pink Lane’s Island sweater by Lori Versaci. I made this sweater in a slightly off-white colorway and I love it so much that I wanted to make another. Part of what I love is the Berroco Remix Light yarn that I used. The weight is perfect for a woman of a certain age who is usually warm and I loved the sweater design from the time I saw in (in horizontal stripes) on the front page of the Berroco pattern collection book at the shop. I made mine in solid colors, my new one is a size smaller than the first and I like them both. I wore the pink one on Friday without even properly trimming the ends after they were woven in. And it still needs a QBK label!

I’ve been working on finishing the pair of shortie socks in King Cole Footsie for my granddaughter’s favorite aunt so they’ll be sock twins. I’m hoping to finish the second sock today. Fingers crossed.

I cast on a new project (surprised?!) using some Cascade 128 in my stash that has been taunting me. I am knitting a pullover for my granddaughter in a larger size for a future year. Maybe. I got the knitting to the arm separation and didn’t like the fabric with the needles that were called for in the pattern. SO … I frogged what I’d gotten done and went down to a US9 needle and started over. I like the new fabric much better but the size will not be a 4-5, it’ll be a 2-3, I’m guessing which means she can wear it this year and/or next. I also found a hood pattern that I really want to make for her with “fur” around the face. Maybe she’ll put it on and keep it on? I also have a miscellaneous purl bump in the center front of the sweater (who knows why, but it’s not going to last forever and I can cover it with a bit of embroidery). It’s a quick project and the hood will be too.

I want to knit a larger pair of mittens for my great-nephew in Salem, MA. He loves the ones I made him last year (and they have to be a bit too small) so I bought more of the same yarn at the shop and will make a bigger pair with an i-cord string that can go in his jacket sleeves so they don’t get lost. I also have some stashed Raggi sock yarn that is wanting to be knitted up and will be work socks for my hubby. He works outside all year long and he loves his wool socks. He has quite a collection but can always use more. This is a grey/white marled yarn and I think they’ll have blue cuffs, heels and toes. He is likely to get a ball of yarn in his stocking because I don’t think they’ll be done before that time.

I found a lobster tam, design by Mrs. Knitter, in my cabinet. It’s already in progress and I pulled it out because it’s so close to being finished and the kit has to have been in my ownership for at minimum eight years. I bought it at Over the Rainbow Yarns in Rockland, ME and they went out of business in late 2017. I’ll be working on finishing that this week.

AND I will be winding up some yarn to cast on a new sweater … or vest. There was a pattern release for a DK weight vest this weekend and I really like my vests. BUT I bought enough yarn for another colorwork pullover in two shades of purple wool from the clearance section of the shop and I may cast on. If I can get the yoke finished before Christmas, it will be good mindless knitting over the holiday. I’ve also been dreaming of an Alpine Bloom hat for which I’ve purchased my favorite yarn in a light gray and a deep charcoal gray … Not sure which will end up coming first. There is also a gnome KAL happening that I’d like to join and I’ve got the yarn to make a few knitted animals for Sylvie … if I can part with them. So many patterns and so little time. I’ll be taking off a week or so between Christmas and the New Year so maybe I can indulge myself with some selfish knitting after I get gifts wrapped and ready to give.

Gone knitting.

Elton

Posted on May 24, 2022 by Queen Bee Knits

I’ve been doing some monogamous for the last few days. Elton is on my needles and I need to get some knitting under my belt on this fingering weight cardigan.

It was a busy day … I picked up groceries at 9:00-ish, forgetting that the hot rotisserie chickens aren’t ready until 10. My bad! Home and put the groceries away and picked the chicken while it was warm. (I have a thing about handling meat and this is the only way I can deal with it.) I decided that I might as well make the casserole for dinner since the chicken was done.

Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole is a family favorite. My kids still request it for Sunday dinner when we are together. You can use a whole chicken or three or four chicken breasts, cooked. Two boxes of Uncle Ben’s Long Grain and Wild Rice original recipe. Follow the instructions on the box to prepare. 8 ounces of sour cream. 1 can cream of mushroom soup. Curry to taste. We never did when the kids were little but now we add broccoli. Fresh or frozen and warmed through – Al dente is best because it gets cooked again. Combine all ingredients and put in a casserole dish. Cook for 45 minutes, uncovered.

When I was cleaning the dishes and wiping down the counters, I discovered three very ripe bananas. Just the amount I need for banana bread. So … I made muffins. Banana nut muffins with blueberries. One of our favorite recipes.

I did a couple of loads of laundry, and vacuumed the downstairs. The little rolling balls of dog hair were getting pretty thick and my allergies have been all sorts of crazy. When the muffins came out of the oven, I cleaned up the kitchen and headed upstairs for a little bit of knitting.

Elton is an interesting construction as I have mentioned before and at this point I’m past the interesting construction. I am knitting 4-row stripes of each of my two yarns. Four fingering weight and four lace weight mohair and silk. Not particularly exciting knitting but I’m hoping that when it’s done and blocked that it’ll be a really elegant cardigan.

Today, though, I found not one, not two, but three (THREE!) dropped stitches. I used my crochet hook to pull up the first and all the while I was thinking that it would be too wonky looking. Pulled too tightly because I was squishing an extra stitch up in the middle of two others. I fully expected to have to frog back several rows (half of this rows are mohair which is fuzzy and sticky. I wasn’t looking forward to it.) Fortunately though, I was wrong. It looked fine. So, when I found dropped stitches two and three I did the same and they all looked fine.

I’m measuring 4 inches below the arm pit. Another 11 inches to go. Let’s hope I don’t drop any more stitches. I may not be so lucky the next time.

But dinner was good!

Gone knitting.

Ice Out and Critters Return – Welcome Spring!

Posted on April 10, 2022 by Queen Bee Knits

As soon as the ice goes out (this year it happened on April 6th) the water birds and critters return to the lake. It’s miraculous, really, that they know when it’s safe to come back out on the lake. This year we heard reports from the northern end of the lake that the loons had returned while our section of the lake was still covered by ice. BUT as soon as the ice was gone, the loons were calling from the cove. There’s nothing quite like living so close to nature. We are so grateful to be able to witness the seasonal changes, to watch the sun change its position in the sky, and to know that there are more miracles coming soon when the babies are back with their parents. It won’t be long.

Since the ice went out, we’ve seen all the weather. Beautiful blue bird skies, thick fog and days of rain. Fortunately, it seems that mud season was relatively short this year and early. I had some white knuckle trips down our road and I may have let a few four-letter words escape my lips while hoping that my car wouldn’t get stuck in the mud.

I’ve been knitting like a mad woman. I seem to want to cast on all the new projects and I am trying to stay focused on finishing some, too.

I’ve got a full basket of cotton yarns that I’ve collected over the years. I am trying to knit down the stash and one of my favorite projects is dishcloths/washcloths that I’ll pop into my gift drawer and pull out as needed. These two are from deeply stashed yarn from a big box store and they’re obviously seasonal. We use them here at home and the kids like them, too. They’re great stocking stuffers or as a gift with a special bar of soap. The pattern is so simple and easy to remember which makes these dishcloths good TV knitting.

I’m almost half-way through the collection of Advent jumpers from Arne and Carlos. I love knitting these little sweaters and they knit up so quickly. I’m using Patagonia Organic Merino yarn from Juniper Moon Farm and, I have to say, this is my favorite yarn right now. I’ve made my Humlebi Shawl in it and I’ve got the charcoal gray colorway set aside to make an Emsworth vest. Number 12 will likely be finished by the end of the day today. I like to spend Sunday knitting for fun. I also like to bake and I’ve eaten all of my granola and my baked oatmeal.

The body of my Traveling Sweater is nearly done (it may, actually be done but I have to measure it again to make sure.) This has been a fun knit. Patsy is a customer who has come into the store a bunch of times to purchase Plymouth Gina yarn for the sweaters that she makes. She has a Facebook page for the sweaters because she’s knitted over 100 of them. I have loved the sweater since I first saw it and have almost bought the yarn once before. When we heard that Plymouth was discontinuing the yarn, I put aside what colors we had in the shop and the boss ordered bags of each remaining color. When they came in, I bought the yarn and cast on my sweater.

The pattern is a Knitting Plain and Simple pattern #9724, Neck Down Pullover for Women. These patterns are simple beginner patterns and are knit top down in the round with minimal seaming. The sizing is somewhat size-inclusive but they certainly could be expanded. It would be wonderful if they added full stitch counts, too. But I recommend these patterns often for customers and students knitting their first garments. I’ve chosen 10 colorways of the Gina yarn and have randomly pulled them out of the bag to knit next. I have simple knitted the whole ball and then spit-spliced the next ball and kept knitting. I had a bit of a challenge making gauge but I decided that I would use the recommended needles and knit the size larger so that it would fit comfortably. I’m thinking that I may use a folded hem rather than a rolled hem but I haven’t decided yet. I suppose I can knit the rolled hem and then sew it up if I change my mind.

I’ve got to buy one more ball of Gina so that my sleeves, at least at the shoulders, match as closely as possible to the body of the sweater. After that, random is fine.

Gone knitting.

Hope Cardigan

Posted on February 1, 2021 by Queen Bee Knits

I’ve finished another item after it’s been in “time out” for a long time! This is my Hope Cardigan. The pattern is from Making Magazine / Dots.

The pattern called for (and I used) Berroco Remix Light which is a mix of recycled fibers but feels like cotton/linen and has some man-made fibers including acrylic. It’s got a tweedy texture which I like and the design is very interesting.

The sweater is knitted beginning with the cuff and the sleeve (a good reason not to swatch because it’s a small area and small enough that if your gauge is off you can start again without much fanfare!) Stitches are cast on at the underarm and the body is knitted to the middle. The second half is knitted the same way and you join the pieces with a 3-needle bind off at the center back. I like the simplicity of this sweater and I like the little eyelets along the sleeves and the neckline.

I am looking forward to wearing this with a tank top and white pants in the summer!

More details can be found on my Ravelry page. (I’m lindar on Ravelry.)

Gone knitting!

GRRRR!

Posted on July 17, 2020 by Queen Bee Knits

When you are knitting lace and there are obvious demarcations between sections, it’s so simple to take a few minutes to put in a safety line … it’s so simple! So, why in the world did I go zipping on by? Laziness is my only excuse.

The Shape of a Bay by Bristol Ivy in Cashmere People Yarns Fingering Weight

So, I’ve been knitting along on my The Shape of A Bay shawl by Bristol Ivy and I’ve been right on the stitch count all along. Until section 7. I learned this 12 rows in when the pattern wasn’t working. I counted my stitches and, if I am counting stitches correctly, I should remain at 523 stitches througout. I had 403. That’s a difference of 120 stitches. Yikes!!! No way to fudge through 120 too few stitches (and I have no idea why that happened.) I had no choice other than to frog back the 12 rows to where section 7 begins and start over and knit more carefully!

A safety line will help. When I get to the 523 spot again, I’ll put in a safety line. A safety line is a long piece of, in my case mint flavored dental floss, thread or yarn that is the same weight of the yarn you’re knitting with or finer. Thread the long piece onto a sewing needle with a blunt tip so as to not pierce the yarn and bring it through the bottom of the stitches on the needle. On the first row after installing the safety line, be careful not to knit the safety line into your pattern. Let the safety line hang out until you are finished or reach another milestone or stitch count that is correct. You can put on in every couple of rows if you want. Or not. The purpose of the safety line is so that, God forbid, you make a mistake and have to frog back (again?!) you can just rip back to the safety line, put your stitches back on your needle and start again. It’s much simpler, especially when knitting a 2-sided lace pattern like mine, than finding all of your stitches, making sure you’ve not dropped any, etc.

As of this afternoon, I’m back to 523 stitches on my needles and I’ll restart section 7.

Humulus by Isabell Kraemer in Ella Rae Classic Wool, sleeve #1

But for the rest of the day, I’m going to work on my Humulus sweater’s sleeve and see if I can get it finished and ready to block. It’s pouring rain and thundering and lighting … I have a very frightened BBD here by my side … so anything that gets wet will likely stay wet for awhile!

Gone knitting!

Wonderful Steam Roller Wallaby

Posted on May 4, 2020 by Queen Bee Knits

Wonderful Wallaby (adjusted for no hood) by Cottage Creations

My newest family member is my nephew, Hugh. He just turned a year old and because of life and Corona Virus, I’ve not met him in person yet. When we were facetime-ing a little while back, I decided that I wanted to make him a sweater.

I went through the normal (ha! like anything I do is “normal”) process of figuring out what pattern and what yarn to use … I had this great blue tweed in my stash and it’s a worsted weight yarn. This, I decided, would be the color. BUT we had a sweater pattern at work called Digger Jacket and I loved the idea of putting a construction vehicle on the sweater. I didn’t love the jacket pattern, however. I considered knitting the jacket in my chosen yarn with the intarsia vehicles but I really love the Wonderful Wallaby pattern. I love the construction method of Wallaby and the pouch is something little kids love. SO, I decided to knit the Wallaby with no hood, a crew neckline and a steam roller on the pouch.

To be very honest, I had planned to knit the steam roller into the pocket but I forgot. It’s one of the “symptoms” of anxiety and lack of focus that I’ve been experiencing during this Corona Virus/Covid-19 pandemic and physical distancing. So, I made lemonade and duplicate stitched the pattern onto the pouch after the sweater was completed. I’m really pleased with the outcome!

My nephew lives in Northern California and I didn’t think that the hood as the Wallaby pattern is written would be a good idea. Typically, the Wallaby has a divided placket and a hood, neither of which I wanted. I followed the pattern up to where the placket begins and then I went off on my own, fingers crossed, hoping that I really do know what I am doing. I continued the decreases at the shoulders as set until I had 60 stitches. The head opening was too small. I frogged back to where I had 76 stitches and it was much better. Six rounds of 1×1 ribbing and a bind off round in pattern and the sweater is pretty much done … I just have to seam the underarm and sew in the ends, block it and put it into the mail. I already got online and sent a little board book about construction vehicles in advance of the sweater. My son loved his trucks books and I hope Hugh will, too.

Gone knitting!

Join me on Facebook: Queen Bee Knits by LindaWarner, on Instagram: @QueenBeeKnits and you can see all of my photos and information on this project and others on Ravelry, I’m lindar.