What is it about bees that makes them so enchanting? While bugs, insects and arachnids can be interesting specimens, by and large I prefer they keep their place and maintain their distance. Except for bees. Bumblee bees seem to bring luck when they stop by and honey bees give us the gift of their buzzing in summer and their honey too. For several years, we had a hive in a tree just near our creek crossing and each of those years it would swarm on a bush just a little farther along on the opposite side of the path. Placid as could be, these bees were delightful in that we could invite any children (or adults) along to have a close look at them right at child’s eye level in the wild with no fear of their misbehaving. Our local apiary has the tastiest honey and we’ve found we use far more than we ever had before discovering it. While searching for project ideas for my chapter, I happened upon this quick and easy Whitework Bee pattern by Sarah Homfray (etsy), and picked it up. It was the perfect pallet cleanser one afternoon following the dreadful drawn thread cutting error fiasco that happened while I was working on The Proper Stitch Sampler. A scrap of leftover linen, a scrap of leftover batting, a scrap of leftover muslin and a scrap of foam board later it was turned into a delightful little hexi and I was ready to face my error and move on.
