Queen Bee Knits by LindaWarner

09/26/2020

Today is a bit cool so I’m wearing my newest sweater. Humulus by Isabell Kraemer out of Ella Rae Classic Wool yarn. I’m pretty darned please with the fit and my color choices!

09/24/2020

I’ll be knitting on the porch as much as possible today. Before we know it, it’ll be too chilly!

09/23/2020

My September socks are off the needles! I love them so much I may wear them tomorrow!

09/20/2020

I love these socks!!! September socks for our 2020 Sock Challenge. How are your September socks going?

Mine are knit in Raggi sock yarn. Pattern is Rustic Cabled Socks, a free pattern on Ravelry. US4 DPNs.

09/16/2020

My September socks are finally on the needles. Pattern is Rustic Cable Socks (a free pattern on Ravelry) and I’m using Raggi Worsted Sock yarn and US 4 DPNs.

09/12/2020

Oh, this is pretty and I have at least two colors in my stash.
And Yardgoodsyarns has lots of colors in stock.

Northeast Fiber Arts Center has 22 colors of Juniper Moon Farm Patagonia Organic Merino in stock. You need four colors to knit the fabulous Antonia Wrap. Sounds like fate to us!
Order your yarn http://northeastfiberarts.com/yarns/patagonia.php
Purchase the pattern https://knittingfever.com/design/17127

09/11/2020

Found a spot where I forgot to cable!
But I got home, dropped six stitches down to where the mistake was and then knitted up with the cables in the right place.

Tip: mark the rows where the cables are supposed to be for an easier time remembering where to add the twisted row!

09/09/2020

I test knitted this pattern for Romi. It’s a free pattern. A great first lace pattern, too.

emPower Lace is live on Ravelry! For those who can’t access the pattern on the Ravelry site, it will also be up on the site very very soon. You can tap through this link right now to Ravelry, though, to get your free copy: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/empower-lace
This cowl is fully written and charted with schematic, and if you’ve never knit one of my patterns before, this is a great way to try out my designs! It’s a free pattern, but it’s also fully tech edited and tested and I think you’ll have a fun time knitting it 💜
In local news... After so much smoke and fire, the blue skies and clear air in my part of the eastern Sierras are so appreciated but come with the sad understanding that when the weather turns cooler here, the west coast suffers terrible hot and gusty winds blowing in an offshore current. This is the worst part of the fire season for my friends on the other side of the mountains and you are on my mind constantly. Stay safe; stay well. Sending so much love. And sending so many thanks to all the firefighters (many from this area, as well) who work so tirelessly to keep us all safe.

08/31/2020

Sometimes what is simple actually keeps tripping you up. Today’s work is getting a student in Florida “over the hump” on her knitting project.

08/29/2020

I put my Hope Cardigan aside today to work on a test knit project for Romi - a lace bandana cowl similar to the EmPower people cowl I knitted as a store sample. It’s lovely and addictive.

08/23/2020

I worked on my Hope Cardigan by Amy Christopher’s today but tonight I almost finished another pair of Sue’s Baby Booties in Cascade Yarns Fixation.

08/17/2020

More of Bristol’s birthday bash. I love a good Aran knit!

Today is affectionately known as Aran day on ! I forever am convinced my best life is wandering the misty shore, covered in knitwear, avoiding seagull p**p. These three pieces are all about that life! Offshore, knit in All-American, was originally designed for men but I love the oversized skater-sweater feel on the model here (anyone else still obsessed with the skater sweaters from the 90s?). Oranmore, knit up in ' luminous Cormo 1.0, is a play on using cables to draw in your fabric and create a-line shaping (and fun fact, this was my dating profile photo when I snared ). And Delius was a vest I first designed as a Christmas present for my dad, and then had the opportunity to publish with Twist Collective, in Columbia. Almost 9 years later, it's still one of my most solid sellers. I guess you can't beat a good cabled vest!

Offshore, Oranmore, and Delius are on sale for 35% off with the coupon code "birthday!" (no quotes, no caps, exclamation mark included) on Ravelry (linked in my profile) and on my website, bristolivy.com through midnight August 18th. Nsubra is still on sale through midnight August 17th, as well!

08/15/2020

Finished! August socks for the 2020 Sock challenge.
Pattern: Sue’s Baby Booties
Yarn: Cascade Fixation
Needles: US 3

These will go into my “gift drawer” until there’s a baby to send them to.

08/14/2020

Sue’s Baby Booties are one of my favorite gift patterns. And Cascade Fixation is a little bit elastic so Baby doesn’t kick them off! This is the bottom.

08/12/2020

EmPower People bandanna is finished and just needs a light blocking.
Pattern: EmPower People
Yarn: Malabrigo Rios in the Pupuras colorway
Needles: US7

08/11/2020

Before blocking. But you can see he gorgeous textures.

08/10/2020

The Shape of a Bay is off my needles!!!
It was not without drama today ... I played yarn chicken and lost so I had to take out two rows (1046 stitches) and then bind off again. Now to block.

08/09/2020

Bristol’s birthday bash continues with this beauty!

What to do with all those scraps from the Kelbourne Collection? A colorwork yoke, of course! Second Grace, named after the luminous Nick Drake song and my first ever foray into colorwork yokes, is all about the geometric shapes and vivid tones. It is so cuddly and warm and coming on four years after I knit it, I still haven't clipped the ends. 🤷

Second Grace is on sale for 35% off with the coupon code "birthday!" (no quotes, no caps, exclamation mark included) on Ravelry (linked in my profile) and on my website, bristolivy.com, through midnight August 10th. In August, Away is still on sale through midnight August 9th, as well!

08/04/2020

Wow!!!

Don’t catch your heels in your zippers! 😋 Pattern from Wild Mittens & Unruly Socks 2 by Lumi Karmitsa published by TSB.

08/02/2020

The Shape of a Bay shawl by Bristol Ivy. In Cashmere People Yarn. I’ve completed the first repeat of the last section ... placed my lifeline and I’m ready to go! Portfiber

07/31/2020

July Socks! Just under the wire! I love the Rebel colorway ontheround!!! Pattern is Yankee Knitter Designs Socks for the Family.

07/20/2020

There's a discussion going on in the knitting world about designers and subbing yarns. Knitter's are upset because designers use expensive yarns. They expect some help from designers - list other yarn brands that will work for your pattern.

Knitter's don't seem to understand how much work goes into a design or how little designers make. Designers often end up paying out of their own pockets for yarn and tech editing before a pattern is available for sale. Sometimes yarn companies give them yarn to design with and the yarn company (sort of) has an expectation that their yarn will be listed on the pattern because it sells yarn!

Knitter's shouldn't not, IMHO expect designers to do their work if looking to sub a yarn. Designers did all the work to bring you a gorgeous pattern that you want to knit. It's your job, Knitter's, to figure out what yarn you want to use according to your budget.

I work at a LYS and we may not have "cheap" yarn but we have a variety and part of what you pay for at our shop is customer service. We are knowledgable about yarn and knitting. We are always willing and able to help find a different yarn for a pattern. We also provide pattern support: a "knitting problem", dropped stitch, etc. Sometimes that help is free and sometimes it's not. But you should at least offer to pay someone for that service. It's saving you a lot of time and trouble. They're experts, after all. You pay a mechanic to fix your car, you pay an appliance technician to fix your dryer, why expect a free knitting fix?

Big box stores don't provide knitting or yarn support but they have "cheap" yarn. If you buy yarn there, don't expect yarn substitution help or pattern support. That's part of why they can offer the lower prices. They buy greater quantities and don't, as a rule, hire trained Knitter's.

My gram used to say, "you get what you pay for" and in this case, she's right again.

I'll write more about how to learn about yarn substitutions on my blog ... Maybe today. Maybe next week. I hadn't thought I'd get so "into" it here. I'm stepping down off my soapbox. "Gone knitting!"

07/16/2020

Such a pretty heel!

Pattern: Yankee Knitter Designs “Socks for the Family”
yarn: ontheround Signature Sock “Rebel” colorway.
Needles: Signature Needle Arts US 1.5.

07/10/2020

2020 Sock Challenge - show me your socks! My July socks are on the needles.

On the Round Signature Sock yarn in the Rebel colorway. Signature needles, DPNs 1.5US. Yankee Knitter Classic Socks pattern.

07/05/2020

I have finished the “ripples” section and I have exactly 263 stitches! Woo! Hool! On to section 7: “Waves”!!!
The Shape of a Bay shawl by Bristol Ivy in Cashmere People Yarn fi*****ng weight.

07/04/2020

I have been so busy that I forgot to post anything here for almost a week? Today I’ve been sitting on the porch crocheting Cal Patch’s Simple Slippers from Making Magazine #9 “Simple”. I have two soles, left and right. Woo! Hoo! Yarn is Brown Sheep Company Lambs Pride Bulky.

06/29/2020

I’ve been pretty monogamous lately. Working on my The Shape of A Bay shawl but today I ventured out onto Sleeve Island on my Humulus sweater.

06/23/2020

Fixing Sophie’s shawl today and sending it back to Florida tomorrow.

06/22/2020

I’ve been very focused on my The Shape of a Bay shawl since Saturday. I’ve finished the first repeat of the ripples section and have begun the second repeat. Progress.

06/21/2020

Yesterday I participated as part of Team Budd (Ann Budd) in the Longest Day, a fight a for victims of Alzheimer’s Disease. My mother was one. By this morning, my fundraising goal of $1,600 was met and I am thrilled to have spent the day knitting in memory of my mom. Here is what I accomplished.
Finished my June socks and worked a lot on my The Shape of a Bay shawl.

06/16/2020

Holy Moley! Have you all seen Ravelry today???

06/16/2020

The heel is turned on sock number two! On to the toe!

06/14/2020

Yarn of a different century: Traditional spinning takes center stage at Maine mill

Made in America. Still.

“I love the old machinery. It does a fantastic job. We’re producing something more of quality than quantity.”

06/13/2020

I keep knitting and it feels like I don’t make any progress. But I have 2.5 inches left ... and then ribbing and sleeves.

06/08/2020

Shearing Sheep, and Hewing to Tradition, on an Island in Maine

A great story about Maine.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/08/travel/lens-sheep-island-maine.html?smid=fb-share

In a remote area of Maine, the Wakeman family maintains the traditions of island shepherding, the cycles of which have been largely unchanged for centuries.