Tag Archives: vote!

Yeah, I Know it’s Tuesday

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Tuesday, November 3, 2026

I know it’s Tuesday and this is going to be (mostly) about my WIPs and maybe I should save it for WIP Wednesday but I simply feel like writing now and I don’t want to wait until tomorrow … or maybe I’ll have more to say tomorrow. Who knows! Happy Election Day! I voted a week or so ago and my hubby voted on the last day of early voting here in Maine. I have no idea if our local poling place will be super busy with lines out the door but we chose to vote early. I hope you’ve voted today, too. It’s so important to let your voice be heard! I saw a meme that said something to the order of if you’re on an airplane and 5 passengers don’t vote, three vote to crash the plane and two vote to land safely, you’re still going to crash. I feel very strongly that if you don’t vote, you’re still voting … just for the one you probably don’t like! My father was a huge proponent of voting and he raised us all to prioritize voting. I can’t miss one! Especially one as important as this!

I’ve signed up to knit every day in November for the American Cancer Society so I’ve been knitting every day. Today it was such a gray day that I couldn’t get myself motivated to do much so I decided to head up to my atelier and work there.

Levitate Wrap

My daughter’s Levitate Wrap is done! All I have to do is find a big snap for inside and sew on my Queen Bee Knits label. The snap holds the inside front part to the outside front so it won’t just hang down awkwardly. I hope I can get one tomorrow when I have to run into town for dinner. This was a very fun knit and it’s a beautiful sweater. I hope my daughter loves it and wears is a lot. I did make a change and knitted the first part of the tie onto the bottom border and I shouldn’t have. I was showing the finished sweater to my college roommate who was here for the weekend and I had an AH! HA! moment where I realized that the ties can’t both be at the ends of the bottom border, they need to cross and tie at the side. SO rather than frog the whole thing, I cut the misplaced tie, bound off the stitches left behind and then grafted the tie onto the right spot. I wasn’t sure it was going to work but it did.

I put my DPNs on each side of where I am going to cut the yarn and then carefully cut one strand and unraveled the yarn. The last shot is the two pieces now living apart. LOL. It was a success! I have been using the Italian Sewn Bind-off and it’s gorgeous for this project. Today I took the tie that I cut off and grafted it onto the body of the sweater near the side. I’m so pleased with the success of this surgical procedure! Yay, me!

WIPs … I’m making a hooded scarf (The Hooded Scarf by Shaina Bilow) as a gift for my nephew’s girlfriend who has moved from Georgia to Boston and doesn’t have a lot of cold New England weather clothes. Her favorite color is red. I’m knitting with Mecha by Malabrigo and the yarn is so soft and lovely to knit. I have finished one side of the scarf and have cast on the second side. This is a very simple pattern with larger needles and bulky yarn. It’s moving along pretty quickly.

I’ve cast on the Gnumpkin gnome a couple of nights ago when I was feeling I needed a new project. I love knitting gnomes and this one is such fun so far – the hat is so cleverly constructed. I am using left-over yarn which is good, too.

Today I cast on a new hat project. A winter hat for our grandson who takes off all of his hats (and he may take this one off, too.) This one will have a tie and ear flaps … time will tell. I’ll be making some little mittens for him too for the cold Denver winter days. I’m using Vintage by Berroco because it’ll need to be washed and it’s soft enough to put on those precious little ears. I’m using the Knitting Pure and SImple #253 Basic Hat and Mittens pattern. I’m making the smallest size which is for a 2-4 year old (he’s got a big head!) My plan is to add little ears to the top of it so he’ll resemble the teddy bear that he is.

I finished the first of my gray Reverie Socks last night before I went to bed. I love this pattern and I needed some singly-color socks to wear when I want to be “fancy”! I’ll be casting on the second sock later today or tomorrow so I can get it going and finished before November 14th when the LYS where I work is starting a Fall Sock KAL with a “cast on party” at the store. Several of us from the staff will be there to kick off the KAL and I hope I can get a pair of Christmas socks knitted for my hubby’s stocking. The goal is for everyone to finish before Christmas and we’re going to have prizes to incentivize our knitters.

I voted for her (them!) I hope you voted today!

Gone knitting.

Finished!

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I’ve finally finished a couple of things …

So, let’s first talk about the Shape of a Bay. This is a gorgeous shawl that I bought as a kit with some gorgeous Cashmere People yarn at the Medomak Fiber Arts Retreat two years ago. It was my first time going back to the camp where I spent several very happy summer as a child and a teenager and it was my camp splurge. When I started it at camp, I learned fairly quickly that it wasn’t a have an adult beverage and knit this kind of project. It has been languishing in my time out drawer for a long, long time.

Sadly, I ran out of yarn and didn’t get to knit the last six rows or so of the last section but I wasn’t going to try to buy more yarn at this point in time – even though I know that they still have the same colorway, I’m not sure if it’ll match … and for six or seven rows? Yeah. No. I played yarn chicken and lost near the end. Needless to say, I had to frog back a couple of rows … a mere 1046 stitches but who was counting?

The Shape of a Bay shawl by Bristol Ivy in Cashmere People yarn (unblocked)

This shawl is a knitting challenge as I might have assumed knowing Bristol’s mind. I loved the project, though and I enjoyed the brain exercise. Even when I had to frog a few rows because I was an idiot and decided I was too smart to use a lifeline. Note to self and to future knitters of this pattern – lifelines are your friend. Use them! The textures in this shawl are amazing and lots of fun. Bristol is a knitting/knitted stitch genius.

Cashmere People yarn is sold at PortFiber in Portland, Maine and it’s really really special to knit with and it blocks out into a lovely lace shawl. I love working with this yarn. I love the way it feels and the way the stitches just pop out on it. Amazing.

EmPower People Bandana Cowl in Malabrigo Rios

My emPower People cowl is also finished. I made this as a sample to loan to the store (Yardgoods Center where I work) for a time. It’s a quick and simple bandana cowl and it is a free Ravelry pattern. It was a quick knit for me … it took about 3 days of a short amount of knitting. I chose the Rios which is technically a worsted weight yarn and the pattern calls for a DK. I think Rios is a light worsted or a heavy sport which is close to a DK. This cowl is knit on a US 7 needle and I know that the fabric with Rios on a 7 is a good thing so I went ahead and cast on. I really like the heft of the cowl and the fabric. This will be a good neck warmer this fall and winter.

This pattern is from Casapinka and it’s a free pattern. The emPower people project is about getting out the vote. As it says on the pattern page:

emPower people is a purple colored craftivism project aimed at uniting crafters to spark conversation, engagement, and action. Wear it when you vote, grocery shop, march, or knit in your socially isolated bedroom. We would love to see a sea of purple to represent unity so please tell your friends, family, knitting groups, or anyone who can knit, crochet, or sew a simple pattern. Make a bandana and a commitment to vote

If I had more time and fewer projects that I wanted to knit, I’d knit this one again … and maybe add something a bit fancier to one side or add the word “vote” to the bottom. It was a fun, quick knit.

We are “enjoying” a heat wave here at the lake and while it’s lovely outside, I sure don’t love the heat. We moved to Maine to get out of the heat in Florida … I remember returning to work in Florida after being up here for the summer or a part of it and it was dreadfully hot and humid. Even our pool was like bath water! At least the lake is refreshing!

Gone knitting!

More information is available for these projects and others on my Ravelry page. I’m lindar on Ravelry. You can also follow me on Instagram @QueenBeeKnits and on Facebook Queen Bee Knits by Linda Warner.