Boxing Day, 2014: No JAM

Yesterday was a relaxed day, with time spent in the kitchen on and off during the day getting the various components for dinner prepped,

Dining table in the process of being "dressed" for dinner, with 1860s portrait of great-great-Uncle Fred and Aunt Isabella in the background (yes, they're both wearing petticoats).

and time spent on the sofa in the living room on and off finishing the body and right sleeve of James' Modern Gansey.

Being a very good fellow, and understanding of the process of producing a well-fitting sweater, James co-operated not once, not twice, but THREE times during the course of the day by trying on the semi-finished garment. He wants it longer, so that when he raises his hands in the air there's no exposed skin at the waist. Not unreasonable, but it meant spending most of today re-knitting the last few inches of both right sleeve and body with an additional panel. It's the ribbing that seems to take forever.
As for the experiment with adding his initials to the cuff, it was a spectacular failure, as anticipated. Initials work best in seed stitch (when done in purl only they disappear into the fabric). Here's how his initials looked when charted:

The "A" is for Anson, my grandfather's name.

The problem? Ganseys are traditionally worked at a firm gauge in tightly spun sport-weight wool. I'm working in chunky wool. This makes the letters very large, enough to go all the way around the cuff, but difficult to read and rather odd looking quite frankly. So, the experiment was doomed. Still, it was a fun way to play with wool on a strangely warm and unsnowy Christmas Day. Now on to the left sleeve. I might actually get this done by his birthday on January 1!