Queen Bee Knits

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

Saturday Before Thanksgiving

Posted on November 22, 2025 by Queen Bee Knits

It’s cloudy today but the sun is still shining on the south side of the house. Enough so that it’s warm enough to venture outside for a late morning photograph. The loons are still on the lake in their winter feathers but soon enough they’ll be gone again to their winter home on the coast.

This weekend is all about getting ready for the Thanksgiving holiday coming up next week. We have plans with our Massachusetts family for the day and we are looking forward to being together after what seems like “forever”. I am tasked with making a couple of desserts chosen by my nephew who will be with us after several years away at veterinary school – cheesecake and an apple pie are the requests. I have also found a recipe for pumpkin dinner rolls that I think I’ll try. I just have to get a grocery order together so I can pick it all up tomorrow or Monday. That’ll be next on my list.

This morning I’ve been catching up and trying to finish some of my crafty projects so that I can wash my favorite hand knit vest to wear around the holiday. I’ve worn it a lot and yesterday I dripped on it at lunchtime. Oops. So, today before I could block it out, I had to finish this unicorn hair clip hanger for my granddaughter. Her mother saw one on Pinterest or somewhere and made the request so Sylvie’s hair clips and headbands can be corralled and she can see them, too. I am pretty pleased with the end result. I hope they will be, too.

And I’ve been knitting a lot trying to get Christmas knitting done. I don’t have a lot left to do but I always make my hubby a pair of socks and this year I’ve decided to go with a second pair using a pattern that I’ve used before. I have some balls of Raggi yarn left that I bought when we were losing the distributor in the US at the shop and I loved knitting the first pair (despite a pattern reading mistake). I’ll knit them the right way this time. LOL. I first saw the pattern for the Thompson River Socks in Interweave Knits back in 2016 and it’s available to purchase on their website but I saved my pattern so I started knitting last week. I have to be careful to knit them when he won’t catch me so they’ll be a surprise. I hope I’ll have them both done for him in time.

I’ve finished the knitting part of the Jamberry Cardigan for Sylvie’s Christmas gift and I have begun the duplicate stitch yoke decorations. Why, I wonder, didn’t I just knit the yoke in colorwork? It would have had some long floats but the duplicate stitch floats are equally long and the process isn’t nearly as enjoyable. Regardless, I made the decision to follow the pattern and I’m duplicate stitching. It’s really a cute sweater and I hope she loves it. It does look huge! I made the 4-year size so she can grow into it and she can always roll up the sleeves if it’s too big now. I’m excited for her to see it.

I have finished the Wee Liam pullover sweater and the little Billie pants for our nugget, the grandson out in Colorado. My hubby picked the buttons and I am quite happy with these two little garments. Hopefully he hasn’t grown too much and will be able to wear them. (All the size details and yarn, etc. are on my Ravelry project page.) The buttons are solid wood and I like the way they pop off the sweater. And I love the color. It’s showing as more gray here in the photo, it’s really more of a dark sage green.

I am spending the later evenings when my eyes and brain are tired working on the endless stockinette stitch of the Easy Folded Poncho in orange (Zinnia colorway) Rowan Felted Tweed. I really like the color and it’s going to be fun to wear. I am around the 30-36″ mark, I think. I haven’t got the guts to really measure it because it seems to take forever to get any significant progress made on it. But I am making some progress.

AND I have cast on two more projects. I couldn’t wait to cast on the Alpine Bloom Hat by Caitlin Hunter. I’ve had the Patagonia Organic Merino in charcoal and light gray in my stash for a while waiting to cast this one and I need a hat that I love. I don’t like myself in hats and I’m praying that I do like this one because it makes me so happy knitting it! I’m about half-way through the chart and I made the ribbing extra long so I can fold it over. This is what I WANT to work on but I “make” myself work on the things I need to get done first and knit this as a reward.

My sister-in-love asked me to make a blanket for her brother’s partner whose daughter is about to have the first grandchild. I have also cast this on hoping that I can get it finished before Thanksgiving and hand deliver it to her. I chose Berroco Vintage Chunky in a sage green colorway and am knitting the Three Cable Baby Blanket which is a free pattern we have in the store. I’m not sure where it came from but it’s my go-to pattern for baby gifts and I’ve made several of them. I am loving the green yarn. Green is my brother’s favorite color and this is a lovely soft yarn. I got almost one hank of yarn knitted yesterday afternoon … if I stick to it, I should be able to finish it by the end of the week. Crossing my fingers. I’ll have to resist knitting everything else.

I have pulled out the beautiful green linen yarn that I bought to make the Broadgate Tabbard and I really want to start knitting that. I have a new white blouse that will be perfect under this “vest” and I can’t wait to see the color! Another new green project and I have very little that’s green. It’s never been a favorite color but when I saw it in a photograph on social media, I had to have that exact color. I think I will be able to wear the tabbard (it’s like a vest but not closed up on the sides) in the summer, too. Over a tank or a tee. We’ll see. But the color green that I bought is stunning. It will wait until I have finished my Christmas knitting.

And with that, I will sign off and get to knitting the baby blanket. If I can get it nearly to the half-way marker today, that would be a huge win … first, though, I have got to put a grocery order together. So until the next time … 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.

WIP Wednesday

Posted on January 15, 2025 by Queen Bee Knits

My amaryllis is in full bloom this morning as it has been for a few days. I’ve been ignoring it despite its beauty and it probably needs water. I’ll get there, I promise. BUT it’s a glorious sunny day today and I don’t have a meeting until 2 so I thought I’d take a few minutes to write about WIPs (Works In Process, Muffin). I have several and a couple of FOs, too.

I’ve finished a couple of projects and one has been sent off already. I finished the pink sparkly blanket for my granddaughter’s baby, Baby. She requested the color and the “spahkly” and what kind of a grandmother would I be if I didn’t knit what she really wants?! Ha! Ha! The blanket should arrive on Friday and I hope I get to see her open it. Thank the heavens for FaceTime!

I have also finished knitting two tams for a long-time customer, Judy. I think I’ve knitted twenty of these tams for Judy over the years. The pattern is no longer available on Ravelry (not sure why, but I had to reach out to the designer for a copy as I’d cleaned out my paper patterns in favor of electronic copies on Ravelry. Thankfully, she was kind enough to email me a copy.) Anywho … the hat is the Quick Lacy Slouch hat knit, this time, in Berroco Vintage Chunky. One black and one a dark navy blue. They’re drying as I write after wet blocking.

The little red square is a sample for the store for our Valentine’s knit kit. We will have a crochet kit, too, but I am not a confident crocheter so one of our other “girls” has made the sample. I’ll put them together this week at work. Tomorrow.

Last, but not least, my daughter sent me a stocking that was made for her ex-husband and I’ve removed his name from the stocking and some evening soon I’ll be adding her dog’s name to the stocking so she can still use it. This was a kit by Accessories Unlimited.

Not really knitting but I also finished a puzzle this week. I was sent this for Christmas and while I don’t get the gaming part of the puzzle, it was a challenge to make and has an extra bonus – when you finish the puzzle you switch the three sections around and there’s an extra section to build. It was fun and I got a sticker that says …

OK, it’s WIP time.

I’ve got a Hoodola on the needles. Using stashed yarn by Berroco, a discontinued yarn, Inca Gold. It’s a DK weight combination of merino and silk so it’s really wear-it-next-to-the-skin soft. I didn’t swatch for it so I hope I have enough to cover my huge noggin. I do have a skein or two of a dark green if I need it for the cowl or the cinch. It’s a very clever design with an applied icord edge and a seamless cast on that starts at the top of the crown of the head, if that makes sense. I missed one of the decreases on one side so I’ll have to remember to add an extra decrease at the end to make the stitch count right.

I still have a pair of Christmas socks on the needles. I’ve finished one sock and have begun the second … working my way down the leg of the sock. This is my go-to project if I am walking on my walking pad or in a meeting because I really don’t have to look at it for the most part.

My other WIP is my New Year’s cast on which is Winter’s Finery by Rosemary Hill (Designs by Romi). I love her shawls and this is a special skein from when I went to Knit City in Montreal and the dyer is a friend of a friend. The colorway is perfect for this shawl. You’ll see!

Other WIPs that I haven’t really done anything with for a while are as follows:

Honestly, the only ones I really should count are the ones I plan to knit and that’s the first two. The pink mittens I bought the kit for the embroidery at Knit City and I’m not enjoying the embroidery … it’s way too fiddly. BUT I’ve gotten too far to go backwards, I think, so I’ll finish the embroidery on this one and will likely NOT embroider the second mitten. I do want to wear these because the color is lovely. (I don’t really NEED a new pair of mittens, but …) Second is the gift bag that I am knitting as a swatch for a class that I took in Shetland colorwork and color choices, in particular for that style of knitting. I loved the class but I haven’t begun to make progress on the project. I really need to pick it up … but the holidays weren’t a time when I had the head space for stitch counting. Now I think I’m ready.

I’m going to frog (rip it, rip it!) the next two. One is the sweater I wanted to knit in a 3T size for my granddaughter for next winter. I’ve adjusted the needle size and the sweater is coming out too small so I will frog it and work on it later in the year. I have the same yarn in pink, too. AND I’m going to frog what little I’ve done on the Three Season Cardigan that I started ages ago. I love the yarn but it’s a bugger to frog. Regardless, it’s been sitting on the needles for too long and I fear for my tension. Frog I must.

In the queue are a couple more (mind you, these are all in project bags around my atelier and they’re starting to bug me. So I have to make some tough decisions. All wound up and ready to start is a Cardoon by Isabell Kraemer in two shades of purple. If I would just cast this on and get through the yoke, it’d be a quick knit. Alas, I haven’t. Next is a new idea, Bang out a Sweater month is February so I found this great orange (ginger colorway?) yarn and I want to bang out a Bolin cardigan by Norah Gaughan which I will cast on on January 31. I will finish it in February. I will! Next up is a pair of fingerless mitts to replace my daughter’s favorite pair, Chivalry Mitts which have a “L heart T” on the gusset. The T is gone now and she needs a new pair for her new life wherever that leads. She’s doing really well and I’m so proud of her. These are a priority. The yarn is currently sitting on my desk. Next, I have yarn for a hat or headband for my daughter’s friend, Sheldon. I made him mitts for his early morning runs for Christmas and he’d like a hat. He’s a very knit-worthy person (and he “stole” the socks I knitted as a wedding gift for his husband when they divorced because Sheldon loves his hand-knit socks.) On my windowsill is yarn I pulled out of my stash to make a gnome. I’ve bought the pattern and it won’t take long but it hasn’t been a priority so it still sits on the windowsill. AND not pictured is Doris. She’s hidden away in my cabinet, mostly finished and just not put together. Poor Doris. One day, Sylvie will love to have her to play with and I think Doris will like being played with. She’s naughty like that. Doris, that is.

Gone knitting.

Snow Machines have quilted the ice-scape – out my atelier window this morning

New Year, New Knits

Posted on January 5, 2025 by Queen Bee Knits

I woke up late this morning and knew that I had a phone call to make at 10am. Otherwise, the day was our oyster today. No plans at all. We spent the morning having coffee and I spent some time in my atelier straightening and puttering. Hubby made his weekly trip to the dump with our trash. And then we went to see the new Bob Dylan biopic, A Complete Unknown. We loved it!

I’ve got several projects already lined up for 2025. A hat for Sheldon who’s like a son to us. A couple of tams for a long-time customer, a blanket for our granddaughter’s Baby, pink and sparkly.

Hoodola by Laura Nelkin in Berroco Inca Gold

I also decided to join Laura Nelkin’s First Quarter KAL and am knitting her Hoodola pattern. I’ve got some Berroco Inca Gold, 3 hanks, from my stash that I’m using for the project. Today I cast on and got the first four sets of set-up rows done. I had to cast on twice because the first time I had waaaaay too much yarn left over after casting on and since my yarn and the required yardage are so cloes, I didn’t want to take the chance of “wasting” a yard of it. It’s a fun start and I hope it’ll be a “hat” that I will enjoy wearing. I need a hat for the cold days that are coming to Maine, I hope.

Yankee Knitter #29 Classic Socks in West Yorkshire Spinners yarn

But I couldn’t be loyal to only one project so I cast on the second Christmas sock and got a couple of rounds of the cuff completed. I also worked on my Lobster Hat by Mrs. Knitter. As I believe I’ve written before, this is possibly the longest WIP I’ve ever had dating back to 2014 at least. I bought it at the now closed Over the Rainbow Yarn as a kit. I started it in 2014, set it aside for a few years, brought it back out, frogged it and restarted it and then set it aside a second time. This time, I am determined to get it finished! I have six rounds of colorwork left on the chart and then the crown and it’ll be ready to block. It’s really going to need to be blocked. I’ll attempt to steam block it but it may require a wet block and a couple of days wrapped around a plate or a balloon. I’m excited to finish it and it will be my second WIP completed in 2025.

Mrs. Knitter Lobster Hat pattern kit from 2014 (or before)

I’ll be working to finish the hat tomorrow since I’ve written my newsletter for the store tonight. I love a slow Sunday morning!

I have started a New Year’s new shawl, too. I cast on New Year’s Day a one skein pattern by Romi Hill called Winter’s Finery in yarn I bought from Knit City Montreal. I love the colorway and I loved the shawl. It started off with a complicated pinhole cast on which I haven’t done for a minute and that Rosemary does a little bit differently than I had learned. Regardless, after a couple of tries, I got it and am making some progress on the first part of the shawl. Did I say I love the colorway?!

Winter’s Finery by Romi Hill in Mailles a Part yarn from Knit CIty

On the way home tonight from our movie the sky was a beautiful pink and when we got home, I had to head out to the porch and catch a shot of the remainder of the day. Gone Knitting.

Project Bag Check – WIPs

Posted on September 21, 2024 by Queen Bee Knits

Another busy week almost behind us and tomorrow is the official start of fall. How can time pass so quickly? We have been home from the beach and our family vacation for four days and yet it feels like weeks. We’ve had a super full moon and a bunch of gray days. Work, knitting classes taught, the dock is out (it disappeared before we came home) and the generator’s been serviced (also while we were away) and we’re slowly getting ready for winter.

I’ve just done a project bag check and wanted to update you on what I’m working on.

My pink Lane’s Island pullover sweater is almost half-way done. I’ve got another inch or two to finish the back. I love the color pink and I’m delighted at not having to think too much as I knit this. My brain is rather full of everything else on my plate and stockinette stitches are just what the doctor ordered.

I’m also working on a Musselburgh hat for my son for Christmas. He chose the colors and the yarn is worsted weight Moonshine by Juniper Moon Farm. This pattern is so adaptable and I love knitting it! I have made one before in a single color in Berroco Vintage sock in black. This worsted version is great and quick to knit up. I have one more for my future daughter-in-love in green and red in a fingering weight Juniper Moon Farm Herriot Fine so that will be on smaller needles and with finer yarn and will take a bit longer but it’s good for watching television at night knitting.

Two more projects … a Christmas stocking for my college roommate’s newest grandson and a sample for the store of a soon-to-be-released cowl pattern. I copied the stocking pattern from my roommate’s childhood one because everyone in her family has one. I’ve made three (?) of them already and apparently the last one was bigger than the others. We’re going to try to make this one the same size as all the others – a little bit smaller – so I have downsized my needles to a US6 and that seems to be fixing the “problem”. I also realized in this process that I likely knit my own stocking with a US7 needle and would probably have loved it more if I’d used a US6, too. Once again knitting is humbling me. I hope to have the stocking finished and in the mail by mid-October which means that I have to get moving on the worsted weight Musselburgh which I should be able to finish today. I have one other project with a date attached to it and that’s a new sample for the shop. Our Berroco rep shared the pre-release pattern with me in hopes that we can move some of the Jamieson’s yarn that we bought. I’ll be knitting Gudrun Johnston’s new cowl called Cloud Drift. It’s a mosaic knit cowl knit with the Jamieson of Shetland Spindrift in four colors and a hank of lace weight mohair. I’ll be using a skein of Berroco Aerial. I hope it won’t take too long to knit. I’d love to have it in the shop ahead of the October 1 pattern release date and maybe will even lead a KAL.

I was given a ball of Fjallalopi at work and I have a pattern (also from our Berroco rep) for Writer’s Warmers fingerless mitts. The Fjallalopi is a new yarn and one that my boss chose not to order this time around. It’s a sport weight yarn and in a pretty bright pink color. A good color for winter in Maine. I’ll get to these after my Christmas knitting is finished. I also bought a bag full of Scheepjie’s yarn for making some stuffed animals. They’re on my list for post-Christmas knitting. There’s never enough time to get all the knitting I want to do done. I know what I’ll be doing if and when I ever fully retire!

I’m really enjoying my day at home today. Hubby just got home from a trip to the dump and maybe we’ll head out to the garden center for a pumpkin and some mums. It’s really feeling like fall today. I’ve closed most of the windows on the second floor of our house where my studio is and I’ve got two long sleeved shirts on today. I’d just like to see the sun – not sure that’ll happen today.

Gone knitting.

French Macaroon by Caroline Hewger for the Noble Thread

Posted on June 23, 2024 by Queen Bee Knits

It was gray and hazy when we woke up this morning and we’ve since had a really good rain storm. Think rain boots and full-length yellow raincoats with a hood pulled up rain storm. The plants will thank us for it, I’m sure. I had intended to start the day with a trip to Target to return some stuff I bought last week that didn’t fit as intended but I went up to my atelier instead.

AND I’m happy to report that I’ve finished the first French Macaroon sweater. This was a simple/boring knit until the finishing part. The garter stitch body starts with the main color and then you cast on the stitches for the sleeves on each side of the body in a contrasting color resulting in a little “T” shaped boxy form. The second side is pretty much the same except for a button hole at the middle of the back. Then it’s a three needle bind off at the shoulders/sleeves and seam the sides and underarms are you’re good to go. BUT I realized a little too late this time that the sleeves are meant to be folded back so the next time I make this sweater I’ll weave in well past the normal distance.

I left the cast on tail extra long at the very beginning so I could use it to seam the body in the main color and I cut off a length of the left-over contrast color to seam the underarms. Seaming Garter Stitch is pretty simple if you look at what you’re doing and know how to read your knitting. On the sides, you grab the bars behind the smiles or frowns (look at your knitting and you’ll see what I mean!) on one side and then go to the other side and do the same. On little garments I tend to use every stitch rather than two at a time which I sometimes do for adult garments.

Under the sleeves it’s a bit different but still simple enough if you read your knitting. I took a few in-process photos to show you what I mean.

I marked my stitches on the top of the underarm with grellow “loops” and I use the bottoms of the loops where the “v” is to insert my needle. Can you see the lower “v” that’s in front of my needle? (There’s another loop with a “v” stacked on top of where my needle is. I am careful to catch the two legs of the bottom “v” (the stitch) when I am seaming.

This is half of the seaming … seaming requires two sides. In this case I’m holding my sleeve horizontally so I have a top and a bottom that I am sewing together. Here’s the bottom.

The photo on the left shows the little smiles and frowns that are on the bottom row of the sleeve seam. I am going to go under the smile in this case and grab both legs of the stitch and in this case, they’re an upside down “v” (an “A”?). You’ll notice that the smiles are above and between two frowns.

Now you’re going to loosely sew between the top and the bottom of the sleeve leaving the stitches loose for about an inch or two and it will look like the first photo below. I’ll take hold of the tail of the yarn and pull the working end/ where the needle is … gently! until all of the stitches are zipped up tightly. I pull once more from each end of the working yarn to ensure that the seam is taught and will lie straight. Continue across the underarm a couple of inches at a time until all the stitches are used up.

Ta! Da! You’re done! I find seaming really satisfying when you (finally) learn how to handle the different types of seaming that you’re asked to do in knitting. After 40-ish years, I am finally settling in to being comfortable with seaming and don’t dread it like I used to. I knitted seamless garments for years because I was so intimidated by seams but as I started to learn more techniques for finishing and seaming, I got more comfortable. Kind of like everything in life, right? Thus the statement, “The more you know” (remember the PSAs on NBC?)

I knitted this little Macaroon sweater in Berroco Vintage DK rather than the intended cotton yarn. I don’t love knitting with cotton and Vintage has a bit more stretch and it’s soft and washable. This one is going to live with a friend’s baby who is bi-coastal and he should be able to wear it in the fall. The fact that the sleeves can be rolled back is a good thing because it’ll give him a few months more wear because they grow almost fast enough that you can see them grow out of clothes from day to day.

I have two more of these sweet sweaters to knit for other babies in my life. I think I’ll take one of them with me on my next travel excursion and in the mean time, I’m working on a pair of Hermione’s Everyday socks for my sister and I cast on a tank top for me last night.

Hermione’s Everyday Socks is a free pattern on Ravelry by the Crazy Sock Lady. I have written about it before and I love this pattern. These are knitted with Coop Yarn’s Socks Yeah! fingering weight superwash wool with nylon. I love this yarn! I had gotten several hanks of it when I joined A Year of Techniques with Jen Arnall-Culliford back in the day and chose not to make the projects in the class. Years later, I made a pair of orangey-pink socks for myself and I want to send a great pair like this to my sweet sister. I like this pattern with variegated and solid yarns and it’s easy to memorize. I’ve started the second sock and they’re almost always with me just in case I have a few minutes to knit.

Last night I cast on the Staple Linen Top by Joji Locatelli in Muse, a merino/linen blend yarn that I bought when I attended Knit City Montreal. I’m eager to see how the yarn knits up. This pattern was one of the shop models at Sonder Yarn Company’s booth and I thought it would be a good summer garment and I hope it will fit well and look a little dressier than a t-shirt. I loved the pale pink Grand Ballet colorway. Crossing my fingers. Ha! Ha!

I’ve gone on too long. The rain has stopped and I can go get dressed and head to Target for my returns. Gone knitting.

Eclipse Day – Maine Edition

Posted on April 9, 2024 by Queen Bee Knits

Tuesday, April 9, 2024 – The Morning After

I have about eight minutes until the muffins are ready to be taken out of the oven and here I am trying to put into words how incredible our day was yesterday, Eclipse Day 2024. Maine was in the path of totality and my husband took the lead in finding a good spot from which we could see the full solar eclipse, better known as totality. Initially, he and a bunch of friends were going to go to Arkansas, rent a couple of houses and watch the eclipse but the plans fell through. And then we learned that we were in the path of totality! Right in our own back yard!

We set out early to get to the spot that he and his boss, Tom, found in The Forks, Maine. We headed for the spot which turned out to be a boat launch ramp on the Kennebec River and was not marked by a street sign. When we arrived, after stopping at the Bingham Hannaford store for provisions and use of their toilet, there were only 3 or 4 cars. During the day, though, the cars trickled in and we were probably around 20 cars by the time the eclipse started.

Eagle’s Nest in the tallest tree across the river

Of course, I brought my knitting! I should have been working to finish up either my Fiddlehead Mittens or the socks I’m knitting BUT instead, on such an auspicious day, I cast on a project that I’ve been thinking about for ages. The Braided Cable Handle Tote by Amanda Silviera. This is a free pattern on Ravelry. It’s knitted in worsted weight wool and then felted … no gauge measuring! I had been gifted some fuchsia colored Galway worsted wool from my student, Donna, before she moved to Nevada and it seemed that this bag needed to be made in that generously gifted yarn on a special day.

The eclipse experience was incredible. We donned our glasses at the start of the eclipse and sat back to watch what happens. We doubted that it would get dark enough for us to really notice. We were wrong. The temperature dropped, the birds quieted and it got dark – too dark to read but you could still see what was around you. I don’t use the word “awesome” often but I would for this experience.

Above are photos of Ned relaxing to watch the eclipse and Ned and Tom with a beer to celebrate the eclipse as it began. You can see how much darker it got during totality. For three minutes we all, all of us gathered in that little spot in The Forks, cheered and stared in awe at the miracle of nature and wondered what it would have been like for the first people to experience a full solar eclipse. In fact, a solar eclipse ended a war in the sixth century. Thanks to Tom for the tidbit!

The Battle of the Eclipse^[1] (or Battle of Halys^[2]) was fought in the early 6th century BC in Anatolia (present-day Turkey) between the Medes and the Lydians. According to ancient Greek historian Herodotus, the battle was interrupted by “day turning into night” – presumably a solar eclipse – and the result was a draw which led to both parties negotiating a peace treaty and ending a six-year war.
Wikipedia

All in all, it was such a wonderful day. Even the bumper-to-bumper traffic, at a stand-still for at least 20 minutes, was worth it. The ride up was about 90 minutes. The ride home was 3 1/2 hours. It’s maybe 60 miles total. We turned the car off at one point. But people were patient and respectful and, I think, happy to have been able to witness such an incredible sight. I don’t remember where I was seven years ago when we had another solar eclipse but this one I will never forget.

This is the photo of my knitting when I put it down last night to go to bed. I did pretty well in a day. I’m excited about this tote. One of my wonderful Friday knitters has this bag and it’s gorgeous. I’ve admired it for (probably) ten years or more. It’s time that I got around to knitting it. I have promised myself that I will work on the Fiddlehead Mittens or the Oorik Tank Top today and get one of them finished. I hope I can keep my own promise!

Gone knitting.

Easy on a Wednesday Morning

Posted on October 18, 2023 by Queen Bee Knits

It was a calm, peaceful morning here on the lake today. All I could think about was how lucky we are to live here where it’s calm, quiet and safe. How lucky we are to live in this country, too, despite the chaos in politics. But the people who live in the middle of war zones around the world … my heart breaks for them and especially the children. The children are bearing the burden of the choices made by adults. My heart is so heavy.

And when I become overwhelmed by the chaos and death and destruction of innocents, I cast on. I’m not sure why and I sometimes (OK, often) wish that I could make that finishing but that’s just the way it is. It’s how I make the world seem less out of control. I have two pairs of socks on the needles, two sweaters, and I have been sewing, too – both hand sewing and making garments on my sewing machine. I am feeling quite pleased that I have finished a few things … most of which are for my granddaughter’s birthday … and I have a couple more to start for my travel this week and next.

I’ll be casting on the Framework Mittens by Knitted Bliss. I’ll be knitting it with two yarns that we bought this past spring at Knit City Montreal. They were the special show yarns: Akara BFL Fingering 2-ply in the Spring in Montreal colorway and La Bien Aimee’s Kumo in the color Alba. The first yarn is a light pink tonal and the suri/mohair is a darker pink color. I think they’ll play nicely together. I bought an embroidery pack from Knitted Bliss, too, at CKM23 and the plan is to embroider flowers on the mittens when they’re done.

I’ve bought some yarn to knit a new vest (or three). The first one I am going to attempt is Andrea Mowry’s Tessellated Vest. I bought some navy blue Patagonia by Juniper Moon Farm for the main color. I told you I love this yarn! The pattern calls for two additional yarns to keep it interesting – and I’m going to attempt to do that with a skein of Feederbrook Farms Entropy DK and two of Lana Grossa’s Silkhair Haze Melange. The Entropy DK is multicolored and visibly twisted and the mohair is also a navy blue/black. I hope this won’t be too busy on my body. If it is, I’ll frog it and knit it differently … I haven’t decided what that means exactly but I need a navy blue something vest-y.

I’m wearing the heck out of my Emsworth vest. I wore it yesterday, in fact. I knit it in the charcoal gray Patagonia and it is great to throw on over a blouse and a pair of jeans. I spent the day yesterday with my friend Lori and we were both wearing vests with a blouse … she designed hers, though. Maybe she’ll let me test knit the one she was wearing! Goodness knows I have the yarn.

I’ve been busy cleaning up and organizing today … and I keep getting distracted. This post was NOT on my to do list for the day. But I’m trying to listen to my body and my soul and do what feels good and right. So, here I sit. I still need to finish the laundry and wash my office window … which means clearing everything off my desk and windowsill. I won’t even show you a picture of the chaos on my desk!

Gone knitting.

FOs and WIPs

Posted on April 30, 2023 by Queen Bee Knits

Today is the antithesis of yesterday. It’s damp and dreary and there was no coffee on the porch this morning. Maybe I’ll take the time to get caught up with house cleaning or agendas for the meetings I am running this week or maybe I’ll bake something. And maybe I’ll stay up in my studio and knit. Yesterday I wore my Emsworth Vest over a blouse and summer shoes. Today I’m back to socks and slippers and a turtleneck under a fleece sweatshirt. Ah, spring in Maine.

I have finished a couple of projects and I’m really pleased with them. Let me tell you about them …

This is the Little Coffee Bean Cardigan by Elizabeth Smith, a Maine designer. The sweater was designed to be two (or more) colors in stripes. I used the pattern to knit a plain cotton sweater and then I added “daisies” in embroidery. The embroidered design was inspired by a sweater that I saw online.

All of the yarn I used were stashed yarns. I only bought the buttons. The photos that I took are a perfect example of why you should take photos during the day in natural light. Ha! Ha! The last photo of the completed sweater are much more real colors.

This little Coffee Bean cardigan knits up super quickly and is very simple. I used some stashed 100% cotton yarn that was a gift to me when I was a school “nurse” (clinic assistant was my title) from a wonderful family. I love the color and it’ll be adorable later this summer or early this fall on my granddaughter.

Second, this is the Jasmine Romper by Maria Atencia. As I’ve written here before, the inspiration for this knit was from one of my customer/friends who has knitted three (THREE) to my one. But this was a really fun project to knit. The simple lace on the front of the romper held my attention and interest and the simple (let’s call it plain) stockinette on the back gave me the TV knitting finish that I needed after all the lace. I chose to knit this one in white Bamboo Pop yarn by Universal Yarns. Bamboo Pop is a really nice yarn to work with. It didn’t split like a lot of natural plant fibers tend to do and it didn’t hurt my hands. It’s also soft and will feel good against a babies skin.

Spoiler Alert! If you don’t want to see what clue #1 looks like, don’t read further.

I have cast on a new project, laying aside my Three Season Cardigan for a wee bit. I have always wanted to knit a shawl by Romi and I jumped at the opportunity this week when I saw that Romi is doing a mystery shawl KAL named, Falderal. The name attracted me, too. Do you remember “Falderal and fiddle-dee-dee” in the song, Impossible, from the Rogers and Hammerstein movie Cinderella? I’m talking the 1967 version with Lesley Ann Warren and Celeste Holme (click on the link for the way I remember the song). I’m dating myself but I loved that movie!

Anyway, the first clue was with color 1 and consisted of simple lace knitting. I thoroughly enjoyed knitting the lace and only had to frog back a couple of times and only a few stitches each time. I use lots of stitch markers to help me with lace repeats so that I know if I’ve missed a yarn over. Yarn overs are the most often missed thing in lace knitting. I finished the first clue before the delivery of the second clue today. I’ll get working on it today, too. (But I have an agenda for a meeting tomorrow that I have to write before I am allowed to knit!)

Both of the yarns I am using are Emma’s Yarn Practically Perfect Sock in (purple) February ’23 and After Dark colorways. The After Dark (gray) was in my stash. I think I had planned to make a shawl with a dappled gold yarn from String Theory Yarns, a Maine yarn dyer. I have quite a few shawls with gold in them and I’ll let that hank hang in the stash while I use this gray in my Romi shawl.

I still have a line-up of WIPs on my shelf in my atelier: a pair of mittens, my genser, and the Jane “pants” for my granddaughter. These don’t include the projects that are in the cupboard and out of my sight. So … there you go!

“Impossible things are happening every day!”

Gone knitting.

WIP Monday

Posted on March 28, 2023 by Queen Bee Knits

This morning was one of those lovely sunny spring mornings when all seems right with the world. I had an 8:00am phone call with one of the other lake association heads to discuss a possible collaborative approach to milfoil mitigation going forward. It was a good talk and I value their work in our region. Our lake association is a group of dedicated volunteers and we’ve been fighting an uphill battle for funding since our inception but we’ve done incredible work. Volunteers are more difficult to find these days and finding a seasonal workforce has become much more difficult since the pandemic. It’s been a busy two years as the president of Friends of Messalonskee and I’m getting ready to pass the torch at the end of July.

I’ll have more time to knit, want to add time for sewing more and did I mention that I will have more time to knit?

I’ve been making progress on my Arne and Carlos Mini Nordic Jumpers Advent Calendar. I’ve mostly finished numbers 17 and 18. I only have to seam the underarms and block them. They take about a day to knit and it’s so satisfying to finish something. I have another seven to finish before the end of November. I think this year I may actually get there.

I’ve been trying to figure out how to display these sweaters in our house … any suggestions? I was thinking a “laundry line” hanging in front of the windows in the living room. I’m not sure about it so any suggestions are most welcome.

I’ve restarted my Favorite Genser but to be fully honest, I haven’t been focusing too much on getting it knitted because I have a very important socks to knit. Today I made it to the toe of the second pair of “the longest pair of socks ever” … and I will have the first sock finished before I go to bed tonight. I’m knitting a new pair of socks for my “baby” brother who is having a birthday next month. He’s a really exceptional brother (my big brother is, too!) and I wanted to make him some new sister-made socks for this birthday. It’s a big one for both of us this year. I’ve chosen to knit his socks in the “Legal Tender” colorway of Practically Perfect Sock by Emma’s Yarn. His favorite color is green and the word “legal” reminded me of our father. No pictures allowed because I want him to be the first to see them. I did show you a very starting photo here.

I’m making slow progress on Sylvie’s little bamboo & cotton romper. This is quite a fun knitting pattern and I can’t wait to see her little pudgy legs in it. There are lots of colors of Bamboo Pop and I chose white. It’s a good summer colorway. Maybe I’ll make another one, too.

On April 1 we are starting a Plant Fiber-Along at work. I’m technically leading the PFAL (see what I did there?) I have some worsted weight cotton that I would love to knit out of my stash. I was given it by a former student and her parents from back in the day when I was a school “nurse” at an elementary school. It’s a light teal-y blue and it’s really soft. I’ve got five hanks of the yarn and I hope it’ll be enough for a sleeveless tank or a tee shirt. I’ve got to start something so I can show my progress in our Sunday email newsletter. It may end up being a little sweater for my granddaughter … Hey! It could be worse, right?

I have other projects on the needles that I’m not even paying attention to right now. And sweaters worth of yarn to get done. So much knitting, so little time. Gone knitting.