Holiday Sweaters

I'm kind of bummed.  The last time I washed this sweater (which was probably last Christmas), I think I automatically put it into the dryer.  I tried it on a week or so ago and now it's too small :(   I have had it for about ten years, so I definitely have gotten my money's worth out of it!

Since the sweater doesn't fit me anymore and I have worn it around the holidays for such a long time, I had to start looking to see if I had anything that could become it's replacement as "the" holiday sweater this year. I have a couple red sweaters with no snowmen, sleighs, etc. which I guess could work, though they seemed kind of plain.  I then fished around a little more and found this one!

One of the local papers around where I live is having a contest to see who has the best holiday sweater. I don't think it's an "ugly sweater" contest, I'm pretty sure they are looking more for ones that are unique.  I have had my "penguin" sweater for as far back as I can remember.  I do believe I used to wear the sweater with a pair of black stirrup pants, so that will tell you how long I've had it!  Since it had been a while since my "penguin" sweater had made an appearance, I asked Lauren and the hubby for their opinions.  Lauren told me the sweater was "loud" and it would be a good entry into the contest.  My husband said it would be good to wear when I'm out holiday shopping. The thing about holiday sweaters is they have a very limited shelf life, about six weeks.  You really can't wear it before Thanksgiving or after the New Year.  Well, I guess you could, but you probably wouldn't want to. People might look at you a little funny if you wore a holiday sweater in the middle of July! I'm going to enter my "penguin" sweater into the contest, but I'm not sure how good my chances are.  A few weeks ago, the paper posted a picture of an entry that had a man and woman sitting on Santa's lap.  The man was wearing a sleeveless holiday sweater.  Not sure I can compete with that!