Originally, I had these ideas:
Change cuff to bell - http://techknitting.blogspot.com/ . See post entitled: “Increasing in seed stitch (and decreasing in seed stitch, too!)” from December 7th, 2011.
Link to pictures: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-12ayDwww-to/Tt-CSmnr-JI/AAAAAAA... & http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-l4M_i2foneI/Tt-CRpvQSlI/AAAAAAA...

Didn’t end up doing this, but leaving the links for future reference. I decided to work just a plain sleeve in seed stitch with no cuff. I plan to do a little shaping to the cuff edge in the block instead.

Add side slit pockets
(Easy - cast on 3-4 stitches in seed pattern at back and on fronts where pockets should be (with a slip stitch every other row for easy folding). Cast off where pockets should end. Pick up for knitted pockets later.)

Did this. It looks like it will work well

Eliminate outside seams… seam w/RS together (garment is too heavy to knit in the round; seams are needed to stabilize).

Did this. Worked fine.

Maybe add flower to front.

Modified the hood chart to the front right (the side with the buttonholes). Looks good! I’ll use the larger flower petals on this one.

March 5th Man, alive, does this yarn have a lot of crap in it. I don’t mind a little, but this is getting ridiculous. I think it’s going to take almost as long to pick hay out of it as it will to do the finishing work…. makes me think the chemical process to dissolve it might not be so bad. ;)

I did a swatch last night, but I was knitting pretty tightly in the seed stitch. After washing and blocking, I was getting about 13 stitches and 17 rows, so I’ve loosened my tension to normal and cast on… I’m six rows in and was getting gauge (or as close as I can tell only six rows in) as of last night.

I have to say, this yarn really does soften up a bunch after it’s been washed.

The pattern doesn’t seem as difficult as I thought it would be when I purchased it a year ago and I think it will go well, especially if I pay close attention to the plethora of different cables as I go.

I’ve placed markers every ten stitches to help keep track of where I am in the row. I’ve also opened up the file in Photoshop and have added guides… I may end up color coding all the little cables, but I don’t think that’s really necessary at this point.

March 26th I haven’t worked on this for about a week… the seed stitch becomes endlessssssss…

April 30th After over a month hiatus while I worked on two pairs of socks, I picked this up again this weekend. I finished the sleeves (hoping they’ll work with my modifications) and almost finished the left (plain) front, which means the monotonous parts are almost done. Once the front is finished, I’m going to block and baste the front, one sleeve and back and try it on for estimated fit. I think it will be right on the money, but you never know. If it looks good, I’ll proceed with the rest. If not….. it’s off to the frog pond, baby!

May 1st Finished the plain front and basted it all together and it’s looking good! I made the pocket flaps a little longer on the back (4 stitches) and shorter on the front (3 stitches), which ended up being a good thing: they lay flatter and there isn’t obvious bulk, kind of like a graduated seam allowance. I’m going to frog my red skirt and use some of the yarn from that to make the pockets (stockinette stitch in a tight gauge) and I think it will work quite well.

I’m getting excited about this project!

May 4th I’m going to have to modify my modification for the pockets. I think I may have a fix that doesn’t involve re-doing the fronts and back, but right now there’s a little too much bulk for my liking right at the hip. I think if I make a gusset that goes from the waistline seam to the outer top edge of the pocket, that may reduce some of the obvious bulge. I’ll finish the second one and the seaming and see how it works this weekend.

May 7th Still damp this morning, but dry or not, I’m going to try to finish after work tonight. All that I have left is to sew on the flower petals and attach the buttons. The sleeves grew a lot more after this second blocking, so I may need to chop off a few rows and re-do a bind off. No biggie.

After seaming, the pockets aren’t bulging too badly, so I’m not even going to have to try the gusset trick.

I can’t wait to wear this! Of course, I’ll finish in May, when I’m not likely to get a chance to wear it until October. :)

May 8th All finished! It was a drizzly rain today and I wore it. My bus driver even commented on how much he liked it, LOL!, and when I told him “Thank you, I made it” he was blown away.

I flattened the tip of the hood… it was a little too “pixie” for me.

I also discovered another problem with the pockets but I developed a really easy fix. With anything heavy in them (like my keys), they sagged and pulled down the line of the coat and created a different kind of bulge. In order to fix it, I ran an i-cord from the bottom of the armhole seam to the top of the pocket… it completely re-distributed the weight and it hangs beautifully now. The photo gives an idea, but I’ll take better ones that are more clear later.

I’m so pleased with how this turned out and I’ll have to take better pictures when there is more light. I just know this will get worn a lot when the weather gets cooler.