Twice I pulled out the blocking board and twice I put it away. The fabric is quite firm and is holding its shape well, so I decided to postpone the blocking until the whole sweater is finished. The raglan seams and the neckband went together without a hitch, so I'm glad I decided to wait. Things got complicated when I started the buttonbands, though. I had trouble picking up as many stitches as the pattern required, but with perserverance I finally got them all...only to end up with a wavy finished product. Darn! Google to the rescue! This Tips & Tricks page (scroll down to Picking up stitches...) has a great suggestion. I'm going to knit a 1x1 rib swatch, calculate my stitches per inch for the 1x1 rib, and then pick up MY correct number of stitches for the 11 inch buttonband. I've heard the ratio rule before (pick up 4 stitches for every 5 rows, or 3 stitches for every 4 rows), but I think the buttonband gauge swatch will eliminate the guesswork. I'll let you know if it proves worthwhile.

FO COUNTDOWN
• Rip out buttonband  7/01/04
• Knit 1x1 rib swatch  NOT!
• Knit right buttonband  7/01/04
• Knit left buttonband  7/02/04
• Close side/sleeve seams  7/03/04
• Weave in ends  7/03/04
• Select buttons  7/01/04
• Attach buttons  7/03/04

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• Knit toe of sock  6/29/04
• Weave in ends  6/29/04
• PICTURES!

One dusty, seven-year old sock and three-quarters of a brand-new mate!

Matching the gauge was tough (I settled for close enough). Turning the heel was fun, fun, FUN! I want more therapeutic heel-turning every evening.

OOooooo! Loobylu is making some beautiful fabric in Australia, and her links introduced me to Amy Butler's fabrics, which led me to this fabulous find right here! The Glorious Color Shop in Bucks County, PA! It's not clear to me if they have a retail location, but I HOPE they do! [UPDATE: they DON'T...darn.] I got Kaffe Fassett's book, Glorious Patchwork, for Christmas a couple years back, and it's my favorite book to drool over. I believe Liza Prior Lucy (co-author) must be the shop's owner? Or closely affiliated? Because they carry the complete line of Fassett fabric, kits to replicate the designs in the books, and complementary lines from other manufacturers. An exploratory road trip is in order-- PRONTO!

Other finds in my area that justify the price of gas: The Village Quilter and Woolbearers in Mount Holly, NJ.

Recently I've been visiting my stash distractedly-- when I get a free minute, I wander over and pick up a project, review the steps needed for completion, fondle the yarn, then walk away empty-handed. Until the other day when I picked up one lonely, blue and red, seven-year-old sock. When it was new, I ran out of the red Peace Fleece needed to make the mate. I must have bought more sometime, because now I have plenty. I've started knitting it from the cuff down, and I am looking forward to turning the heel and working the gusset. I've learned how to pick up and knit stitches (with new yarn, if you please, not needling and twisting tight stitches all out of shape to make them live again) and I think my heel is going to be less hole-y than previously. And I really like the way the gusset fits my foot. Toe-up socks lack this feature. Although they're still perfectly wearable, I think the cuff-down method might be a more comfortable sock for my foot. Stay tuned for photos of an FO! As soon as I figure out how to match my seven-year-old gauge...

Further evidence that one knitter's stash is another's treasure... At last night's Stitch-n-Bitch Cindy brought me a skein of Cascade 220 in 7805: bright, bright hot pink! She got it in a grab bag, and it was the odd color out. When she saw it on my wish list she generously offered it to me-- I love it! I'm looking forward to swatching and choosing a sweater pattern for ME ME ME! And I've also seen a lovely bag I wouldn't mind owning in case the sweater doesn't work out... Thanks, Cindy!

I had a dream a night or two before we returned from Maine. It was all about my dread of returning to work at the end of a restful vacation. When I woke up I thought, "That's silly, I don't have a job!" Within 24 hours of returning home I realized how challenging my job is. Phew! It took all weekend to get back into the swing of things. I decided to take it easy this week and have had two great days with Lydia. What a happy girl-- she thinks her name is "Li'l Cutie." When she hears it, she responds more consistently with a smile than when you coo "Lydia"!

So I promised a report on Maine, but John beat me to the punch (see the June 2 entry, not yesterday's sad tale). I get to just show off the yarn loot, then! There is a well-stocked yarn store in Belfast, ME called Heavenly Socks, where I got some very nice scarf yarn and one ball of striped sock yarn for a baby hat. The scarf I made is at a much tighter gauge than I had envisioned, but it turned out well and constitutes my entire year's FO list, so I'm not complaining! Then we took a day trip to Camden, ME and window-shopped. John found a classic convertible to covet, and I bought a sock pattern, my first Dale baby sweater pattern, and an awesome bag (all from Unique One). I didn't get the yarn for the baby sweater, because I don't think I'll get to it before Lydia is two. But it will be a fun gift for someone!

Today I'm headed to a local quilt guild meeting. Should be fun!

She's already fitting into this 6-month size sweater I made-- I'd better hurry and seam the aran sweater together!

*P.S. the sweater color is really off here, it actually looks more like this.

To wit, we left for the Bangor airport at about 2pm on Tuesday and walked through our door in PA around 8:30pm on Wednesday.

The long delays all occurred in Boston. First there were mechanical problems, and then there were weather delays, and after we boarded the plane the flight was cancelled. Happily, John's home office is in Boston, so he took us to his favorite swanky hotel and we took hot showers, used a lot of free wi-fi and recharged all batteries (both personal and cellular). Then after a good night's sleep, a leisurely breakfast and a visit to office headquarters, we headed back to the airport for our 1:30pm flight home. And there we waited as 1:30 turned into 3:30, then 4:30...

Further mechanical problems led to the cancellation of our flight and we were rebooked on another airline on a flight an hour later. We trucked the baby and her car seat and her diaper bag and her baby bjorn/accessory bag through the airport to be reticketed and then to the new airline to be re-reticketed and then we waited in the security line only to discover that the ticket agent had given us one correct boarding pass, and one boarding pass for someone else, and we had to go back to be reticketed again. And then we were chosen for a random security screening. Are you surprised we missed our flight?

Yet again we were reticketed and meanwhile the thunderstorms rolled in... After another hour's delay we finally boarded the plane and taxied down the runway only to be held back for another hour due to air-traffic jams. And then we took off! Poor Lydia hadn't been on such a big plane before and the higher altitudes bothered her ears. She decided it was only fair that the rest of us had bothered ears, too, so she did some lung exercises.

And then we got home! And the garden has grown immensely, and the cat is still squeaky, and it's wonderful to be here. Tomorrow I'll tell you about the relaxing visit we enjoyed in Maine.

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