Depression, doggie sweater, and orange progress

Well, the election was a big bummer for me. I think the county-by-county map from www.electoral-vote.com pretty effectively demonstrates why lefty pinkos like myself feel isolated in the US right now. Hang in there, progressives!

Meanwhile, my sister-in-law sent me a photo of her Chaucer in the Icelandic Beauty doggy sweater:

I think the fit around the upper body is good, but the drangling under the belly will have to be adjusted. Tucks, maybe.. or reknit the back end.. not sure. But the sweater will have to come to Calinfornia for a visit for adjustments. I'm a little peeved about this, cause I sorta suspected the belly was too big, but I made a paper dog cutout and he looked pretty good in the sweater, so I figured I was just nuts. Next time, I'll have to find a local victim to model the sweater before shipping it to Philadelphia!

In orange news, I've finished all the pieces of Fuzzy Stripey #2 and am ready for assembly. I also (finally!) tackled the heel of my Step Above sock and will be ready to cast on #2 shortly. In the Xmas present countdown, socks for me do not count, but Fuzzy Stripey does. So far, number of presents planned is, oh, say 6: Fuzzy Stripey, Meadow Flowers, Narcisse, Tie, Snowman, and Linen Stitch Hat. 4 are started, zero are finished. 5 weeks to go before the Xmas shipping deadline! I think this is finally going to push me over the edge to install a project thermometer thingy. The pressure, the pressure!

Have a good weekend, everybody!