Hi, guys,

Yep, I've been jonesing since February 17 for my MacNicol Modern Dress Red 8-yarder from ScottishStore.com. I've had a number of calls to them about the nasty delay. Appears that my Dress Red MacNicol isn't in much demand, so they had to wait and WAIT for their kiltmaker to run a batch of fabric (Strome 16oz.). Well, finally on Tuesday this week, I got the word from Colin, the honcho at ScottishStore.com, that my kilt was en route via air mail. He apologised profusely, but cautioned me that it's a sad fact that the major mills just don't run rare (or, not-in-demand) tartans until they have 16-20 yards'-worth of orders. I'm now on the final approach for the mail to arrive, and I feel certain that the wait will be worth it. I'm also getting a Kilter hanging bag from them, which will be really nice for travelling.

I'm also waiting for Matt Newsome to restore a vintage-1935 kilt in Douglas blue that I got with a tweed Argyll jacket and waistcoat (eBay.co.uk last December). This one was just a bit too small, so Matt is letting two pleats out on either side of the overapron and fitting new leather straps and new cotton interlining. Nice that I'll have a real vintage kilt that's 70+ years old. I gave Matt that one in mid-June and he said it'd be 90 days or so. His workmanship is tops, so I told him to take his time.

Sometimes, you gotta just sit back and let them old mills do their thing...