02/02/14 — 6 matte black buttons purchased & attached. Sweater is finally complete. Maybe I’ll even get The Boyfriend™ to photograph it now :P

12/29/13 — Threw in the sweater with my regular wash using cold water. Then sat at the edge of my seat as I tumble-dried it on “extra low” for 25 minutes, stopping the machine and peeking in every few minutes. The wool softened up significantly and shrank a tiny bit. Maybe not enough to have it properly fitted to The Boyfriend but better than before. Hooray!

12/28/13 — Finished! All I need are 6 buttons. (I ended up making an extra buttonhole because of the number of stitches I ended up picking up. And because my gauge is off so the number of rows in the body varies slightly from the pattern.)

12/26/13 — Ugh. So freakin’ close… The I-cord bind-off is such slow going! I’m halfway through the neck/front band. Then I’ll need to knit & attach the pockets. After that, just weaving in the ends. (Boyfriend has tried it on. It’s a little big. That’s what I get for not swatching. I might wash it in the machine and hope for some shrinkage.)

12/22/13 — Sleeves attached to the body. (And underarms grafted.) Now to figure out how to do this saddle sleeve thing and shape the shoulders & neck…

12/01/13 — Seven “little wave” pattern repeats in the body, 1+ to go before I put it down and start the sleeves. It’s relatively smooth sailing! I’m surprised I’m making as much headway as I am. (I just started a third skein!) I’m watching “Once Upon a Time” as I knit this and I worry what’s going to happen when I run out of episodes >_<

11/24/13 — Knitting this for my boyfriend. It’s going to be a surprise but I’m knitting it right in front of him. (No other way!) I hope it’ll work out.