Letters
One Bee
Dear Kay,
On the cusp of our events at MDK this weekend, I myself took off for a quick one-night getaway with friends.
It was the sort of last-minute Hail Mary pass that actually worked—I had been thinking I wasn’t going to be able to join them, but sometimes a sliver of time opens up, and you just have to go for it.
Hidden hours, hidden hours.
We found ourselves on a pickleball court. Having never played pickleball, I have to say: pickleball is pretty great. It’s the only sport I know that names part of the playing field for a room in the house: the kitchen. You can’t step in the kitchen unless the pickleball has bounced in there. Or something. Nobody was very good at staying out of the kitchen. It’s the first sport that seems attainable to me. It’s like big ping pong. It’s hard to really suck at pickleball.
We wandered out in the woods, and while everybody was admiring the view, I looked down. At my feet was a bumblebee on a flower.
I’m a sucker for picturesque stuff like a bee on a flower, but when I leaned in, I saw that the bee wasn’t moving. Sad. A departed bee? Wait! I remembered a moment from our visit to Maine this summer, at the transcendently beautiful Thuya Garden. A docent there told me that bees sometimes sleep inside the flowers, then wake up and continue their pollen work.
GRATEFUL THANKS TO C. FOX FOR PHOTO OF THREE WOMEN SUDDENLY THINKING THEY WORK FOR NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
Sure enough, once we had all documented this motionless bee, it stirred, poked around its flower, then took off in a lazy circle.
Meanwhile . . .
I’ve embarked on a massive yarn-winding effort. There’s a pattern in the new Field Guide No. 19 that launches on Friday. I can’t reveal it until then, but it’s a beauty and I’ve been itching to make it for months now. The pattern calls for Rowan Felted Tweed, and we have a (beautiful) bundle for those yarns. For me, I was wandering down the aisle of Jill Draper’s yarns the other day, and before long I was picking out 11 colors of Mohonk Light for this project. (Hint: it is not a pair of mitts, clearly.)
I mention this only because we do have a small amount of Mohonk Light on hand, and if you’re feeling like 11 skeins of Mohonk Light would somehow improve life, please join me. I don’t think there’s a bad combination of colors—Jill and Melanie Falick figured out the palette for us, and I have wished for a way to knit a ton of Jill’s colors at once. The time is nigh.
I will say this: each skein is 550 yards, so you have to really, really love winding yarn.
One More Thing
We’re approaching our capacity for this Saturday’s Knit Night, so if you’re thinking of coming, please sign up now, right here. Once we hit our max, we’ll need to close registration in order to maintain safe distancing for the event. Really looking forward to seeing everybody here in Nashville.
Love,
Ann
beeee-ewetiful moment. Napping bee.
The pattern for the throw in FG#19 calls for two balls each if eleven colors. But the bundle includes three balls of several colors. Probably the bundle is correct?
Hi Ginny! Yes, the bundle is correct—we’ll be noting the pattern’s quantity correction on our Corrections page at the bottom of the MDK homepage. (That’s where we note all corrections to MDK patterns.)
I just last night cast off a big project using Mohonk light (Vantage by Elizabeth Elliott). It is such a delight to knit with, I’m really at a loss for what to do next. So it may be time to restock on one of my favorite yarns!
I am knitting the Sorrel Sweater using Mohonk Light in California Poppy held with mohair. To say it is creating a glorious fabric is an understatement. Now you have me thinking I need another blanket project. So glad to have a subscription to the Field Guides.
You got me Ann Shayne! This could do my ball winder in. You’d better get a good one into the shop!
I’m in Spain, walking the Portuguese Camino, enjoying your columns everyday! Thank you!!
My sympathies are with that flower and bee! There they were, minding their own business and just doing their thing, when suddenly they are surrounded by these three obviously insane monsters all laser-focused on them. Think of the story that bee told back at the hive!
And on cool mornings they don’t want to wake up. You can even pet them! I showed this to my 4 year old neighbor (who likes our garden) to demonstrate that bumblebees are not ‘mean’ – now when she sees one in my yard she asks “Don’t you want to pet it?”
I pet bees occasionally too! My sister and I discovered this fun when we were very young. My father was amazed recently when I showed him (50 yrs later).
All those balls of yarn! Baby Kermit would have had a blast!
Covid left a once very athletic woman into one who must use a walker to get around and the beauty of this is simple because I have a dog who must be walked daily and frequently. I have noticed the little things that I have always loved but never examined and I can still take my kayak out on the water and enjoy the simple quiet and the water and sky. So thanks for bringing this little bit of nature into our lives
This a.m. while eating breakfast at a B&B in norther NJ, a small bird flew into the window which I was facing. He/she hit pretty hard and fell into the soft needles of the bush under the window. Really stunned it lay there for quite some time. Having finished our breakfast, before we left the table, I glanced at the little bird and saw it was alive but in need of compassion by the owners of the B&B to take it to a bird sanctuary close by. I am glad for your bee, but this bird needed assistance.
What happened to the “Blanket Dreams” post at the top of this email? I got a “page not found” error message when I clicked on it. Did anyone else have trouble opening this?
Me too!
Yes Beth, I got that error msg too. It’s probably a post for another day!
Yes I’m sure you’re right, thanks!
Me too!,,
I love to gently pet sleeping bees – I usually run a long blade of grass over them lightly, they keep sleeping and it makes me happy. My teen stepkids think I’m a bee whisperer because they are too scared to try it (so I retain my strange and mysterious airs with them).
See you, and all the latest at MDK, on Friday!
Handwound balls of yarn are more picturesque but for that many skeins a ball winder is so much easier …
I would totally love to attend Knit Night but not possible this year. Maybe, maybe…next year? (Life is so full of unexpected circumstances I never plan anymore beyond next month.)