Making a list and checking it twice

Things that must be done:

• Work today.
• Pick up family photographs from photo studio, stuff them into all the envelopes with the New Year's cards, put stamps on all the envelopes and get the cards to the post office before the last mail pickup at 5pm.
• Get DH and DD to sign all the Christmas cards for the close family we'll be visiting over the holidays, then stuff the cards with the appropriate photos and seal them up.
• Dinner tonight with my parents (my cousin from Calgary is visiting and it's the only chance to see him - really looking forward to it - since he's spending Christmas with his dad, not my aunt).
• Call my aunt about Christmas dinner - she apparently told my mom she didn't want DD sleeping at her place, which I suspect is a result of her wanting my munchkin to stay up late to spend more time with the family rather than some bizarre refusal to let my kid bunk down in her own playpen in one of my aunt's guest rooms. This matter will need to be cleared up.
• Find a photo frame for the 8x10 family shot (hopefully we've got one kicking around the house so I don't have to go shopping and be hampered by The Masses) and wrap it as DD's gift to my MIL.
• Plan and pack for all the Christmas visiting we're going to do (for those who don't have kids and don't quite understand what 'planning' there is to be done, TRUST ME...when you have kids, getting out of the house with everything you're going to need takes planning worthy of a precise military operation).
• Finish up my MIL's Christmas sweater and wrap it.
• Get some sleep (I'd really like to kick this headache that's been hanging around since the beginning of the week).
• Do lots of laundry.
• Enjoy Christmas.

I'm exhausted just thinking about it.

Christmas sweater for MIL

The knitting component of the sweater is finished (11pm last night). Yes, there was enough yarn. This is how much I had leftover, smiley face mug has been included for scale:

Tons. I'm not even sure why I was worried. But I'm pretty annoyed with myself about it because when I accepted the idea that I might be making a short-sleeved sweater, I started slacking off on The Schedule, which is why there has been some frantic catch-up knitting over the past several days.

I am now working on weaving in a whole bunch of @#($*&@&!!! ends:

This is the sweater inside-out. I was trying to demonstrate the multitude of ends for you, but the picture quality doesn't really capture the hopelessness of it all. Trust me, there are a lot.

Ends aside, I think the sweater looks good enough that I don't really have to block it, which is good, because I'm not sure at this point that it would dry in time. However, I might do the damp towel thing.

Two days ago when I finished the first sleeve, I tried the sweater on just to see how it looked on a human being.
IT. IS. AWESOME.

This may be the most incredible thing I have ever knitted. I love the sweater. I adore it. It's completely the wrong colour for me and a little big, yet I have still had a few moments of weakness where I contemplated braving The Masses and going to a mall to get a last-minute gift for MIL just so I could keep the sweater all for myself. And that was just with one completed sleeve. Last night I tried it on again when the knitting was done and loved it even more. When the ends are all woven in I will take pictures, and I will get DH to take pictures with me in the sweater, and you will see what I am talking about. GORGEOUS. All hail the Starmore.

There is just one problem. On the left cuff, right at the top where it's really obvious and MIL will see it whenever she checks her watch, is some really nasty laddering that occurred because I was panicked and not being careful while knitting in the round - you can also see where, about three-quarters into it, I realised that I was screwing up and started doing it right. I could kick myself. In shame I offer the visual proof of my poor knitting:

Sorry, Fran. :(