Best Quote I Heard All Day
I bought my brother some gift-wrap for Christmas. I took it to the Gift Wrap department and told them to wrap it, but in a different print so he would know when to stop unwrapping.--Steven Wright

Bowed but unbloodied, I continue in the never-ending search for gifts with one week to go.

It gets pretty scary when you leave the mall one evening after a rapid gift-hunt sortie, only to find a police helicopter with searchlight circling the parking lot and a passle of local cops and state troopies at the entrance milling about.

Ho fucking ho. Christmas in New Jersey.

Fleece Navidad
The vest is finished. Well, almost. Still stitching down the steeks. And then blocking. However, I managed to tuck in all but one end and take a picture of the penultimate garment.



It fits nicely and the shoulders, which are to me the most important fit, are perfect. No wings.

I'm still debating the button selection. I did buy these, which are Lucite containing bits of lavender. But I don't think they are quite right for this vest, nice as they are.

I'll continue the search this week. I'd prefer some nice wood buttons.

The Christmas Fug Scene
In the meanwhile, after seeing a number of fugly Christmas sweaters live and in person, I think that one of my 2007 projects may be to design a Fair Isle Christmas sweater that I can live with year-round.

My favorite Christmas colors are forest green, magenta and a dull gold, rather than the traditional primary red and green. More of a Renaissance coloring, I think. It's what you find at my house at Christmas.

This is just a graph doodle--that's the best way to mess around with Fair Isle design ideas--and the colors aren't exactly what I'm talking about. They need to be deeper and richer. Much. But for reference, it works.

Anyway, that's for next year. I generally don't care for humungous Fair Isle motifs. For one thing, they tend to limit the sizing range. If you have a motif that spans 48 stitches and you're working 8 spi, that's 4 inches right there that you've sucked up on the sweater.

There's little that annoys me more than a sweater offered in two sizes: 34" and 50". Not to mention the effect a large motif has on length, as well. Smaller motifs mean more flexibility in size.

And then there's the delightful elephantine fashion statement you make wearing one of these beauties if you're larger than a size 12.

Party On, Bob! Party On, Jean!
I spent a lovely evening last night at the Fivehouse annual Christmas party. Long, long time friends. Jeez, guys, it must be 20 years, at least. We met back when our kids were a lot smaller, that's for sure.

Jean discussing Weffriddles after several glasses of wine

The increasingly Claus-ian looking Bob the Brat

I love these two. And Bob, who was one of Jimmy's closest friends, makes amazing models of steam ships. In miniature. He sells primarily to the Mystic Seaport gallery but I know he's up for any reasonable offers. Here's his latest, a model of the Lusitania.

Those little dots on the deck? Brass deck furniture. I kid you not. Even the magnifying glass didn't help me. I had to take off my glasses and stick my nose up close and personal. He's an amazing artist.

Bob's going to help me with an upcoming project in the next few months. No, I'm not knitting a Titanic sweater, although I don't know a soul who knows more about the Titanic and the rest of the White Star fleet.

Suffice it to say that Bob does other things besides modeling. I'll be talking more about this project once it becomes a reality.

Tree-ism
Time to get out of the dingy bathrobe and into jeans for the final assault on the Christmas tree. It's up, the lights are on, but it needs the ornaments. Corinne vacuumed needlessly last night, clearly forgetting that there will be more showers of needles as we trim the tree.

And I still need to shop. But I'm staying home today. Because where I live, half a mile from the mall, driving is most certainly not a rare and handy activity. These days.