Ever since I first started knitting, my dad has said how much he would love it if I knit him a cabled sweater. Now, nine years since I first picked up the needles, he is finally getting his wish.

Shhhh! It’s a super-secret 52nd birthday present!

10/11/09 - AHH! Got the yarn from Knit Picks today! So excited! (have to wait to clear some needles though before I can start knitting)

3/12/09 - Started! Had to go a needle size bigger to get the right gauge. It feels so loose, but that’s just in stockinette, so the cable should make it more sturdy.

6/12/09 - Gah! Sweater = big project ugh! Only about a foot into the back, at most. Yes, I know it’s only been three days since I cast on and that there are 137 sts per row and I’m using 10’s, but I could have totally had a sock done by now. I will finish this, for love of Dad (and I don’t know what else to do with 22 balls of WotA), but it’s going to take a lot of movies/TV.

8/12/09 - Put stitch markers on the either side of each cable. Sooo much easier to keep track now (I kept getting off by one stitch and having to tink back).

10/12/09 - 12 cable crosses + 3 rows = 17” total

20/12/09 - Back done (Jeez, my pace slowed down)

2/1/10 - Oops. Accidentally did the first half inch of the cable pattern on the front in the smaller needle size instead of the larger one. Hopefully no one will notice…

8/1/10 - Finished the front!

10/1/10 - Blocking the back today, since I don’t have room nor pins to block all the pieces at once.

12/1/10 - ARGH! Popped in The Incredible Hulk, hoping to get the first sleeve done, and short by thirteen rows! I would stay up and finish, but it’s already quarter past 2AM. Oh, and blocking the front today; should get the first sleeve done and blocking tomorrow. Oh, and definitely going to have enough yarn leftover for slippers. I guesstimate it’s going to take about four more balls to finish this, leaving me a whopping six balls left over. I could make two pairs of slippers…

13/1/10 - Finished the first sleeve and the ribbing of the second. Lets hope I can get a substantial amount done today. I have until Friday to get this thing done.

16/1/10 - Under different circumstances, I would have hoped to get some nice mattress stitch up the sides, but time only permitted cruddy whip stitch. Oh well, it only looks bad on the inside, and the seam is still very sturdy and will hold the thing together.

12/2/10 - Yay! His birthday was yesterday, and he loved it! Apparently he put it on right away and didn’t take it off until he had to go to bed. :D