Christmas in.... February?

I am going to knit Christmas stockings for my family. Now that I've written that down, I can be held accountable, right? I want to do a two-color (probably red and white) traditional Norwegian design, or a mix of traditional designs. I want each of ours to be different, and have the owner's name on the cuff.

That's not too much to ask, right? Gulp.

My challenge now is design - which patterns do I use, and where? There are so many beautiful charts. Too many. I want traditional snowflakes, like this:



But I'm also drawn to interesting variations on tradition:

I'll figure it out, and keep you posted as to developments.

Also in the works: a pattern I'm writing to submit to Knitty. OOOOO.