A Dinosaur Sweater

My nephew's birthday is in December.  December 26th.

A couple years ago, I made him a dinosaur sweater.  He's mad about dinosaurs.  I looked everywhere for a good pattern, but all I found was a reference to a pattern that had been published sometime in the '80s.  That pattern is out of print and impossible to find.  So, I designed something myself.

I was not pleased with the results: the front and the back.

Shortly after giving my nephew the sweater, Knitty published a dinosaur sweater pattern.  It was way cuter than the one I had just finished.  But, I had just made the other sweater, and I was not in the mood to make another.  At least, not yet.

It's been a couple years, and I felt ready to tackle another sweater for the nephew's 5th birthday.  I have the time.  (And I just saw another dinosaur sweater pattern.  Why are the dinosaur sweaters popular now?)

First thing, I needed my nephew's measurements.  He wanted to know why.  I started off by trying to be coy.  My niece gets it when I measure her and act coy.  But my nephew hasn't caught on to the surprise factor yet.

My niece tried to explain the concept.  "She's going to knit you something."  Well, he wanted to know what.  And for when.  And what was it going to be.

On the one hand, I'm all about the surprise.  But it occurred to me that if he hated it, he would have no compunction about telling me so.  (When I go over to his house, he'll greet me with, "What are you doing here?")  I figured it would be better to see if he liked it, rather than spending the time making something he'd hate.

I pulled up the website and showed him the picture.  He liked it.  Okay, then.

But then he was all about when he was going to get the sweater.  December is a long time from now, especially for a child.  And he hasn't learned that knitting a sweater takes time (especially when I haven't even gotten the yarn, yet).

Maybe he'll forget about the sweater before December.  Maybe he'll pester me about it from now until then.  I think I made a mistake.  I shouldn't have told him about it.  Or should I have?