There are things about this pattern that could be much better. Here goes:

• Leave long tails when you start and end sections. Because the sweater is knitted from sleeve to sleeve, the neck edge is badly stretchy. If you have long tails where you’ve joined to knit, you have tails you can use to backstitch the back/neck and both front pieces to stabilize them. Backstitch gently: not tight enough to make the pieces draw up, but snuggly enough to make the neck less limp and stretchy.

• The pattern thinks you should pick up stitches and knit the skirt for the back and pick up and knit for each side of the front, then seam the pieces. No. Please don’t make yourself count rows on all three pieces, worry about matching gauge, worry about matching rows on your seaming. Just don’t. Instead, pick up all the way around and just knit back and forth on the entire body of the sweater. The only seaming you’ll have left is the seams up the arms.

The pattern isn’t written badly, but it’s not written intelligently, either. And that sleeve-to-sleeve design desperately needs a collar--which this pattern doesn’t have. I won’t be knitting this one again.

Not getting gauge with a size 8; changed to US9/5.5mm. Knitting used only a bit of the second skein.

Ladybug/Ladybird button added for good luck.