What a fun project! It was just plain fun watching those holes take shape, and the back-and forth knitting between the holes broke up what could otherwise have been a tedious expanse of stockinette. I did get tired of trimming the holes, but there were a lot of holes. And it’s so darn cute! Wait til you see.

I had planned to use an intense bright color to edge the circles, but this pink/cream variegated yarn is actually quite overwashed with gray. Clear bright colors make it look dingy, so I decided to go with dark gray instead. And then I found the perfect Aran weight pink tweed in my stash, also from HOALM, so I used that too!

WM Twin held double for worsted weight

Modifications:

Used a provisional CO and skipped the ribbing, because I was pretty sure I’d want the body to be longer than written (and indeed I did).

Added some holes, since the pattern gives the XXXL the same number of holes as the S but with considerably more fabric in between, which I thought would detract from the overall effect. So I changed the 2-hole sections on the body into 4-hole sections. Turns out, this wasn’t necessary. I wish I had noticed sooner that the designer’s samples actually have fewer holes than the pattern calls for. But it’s fine and it certainly doesn’t look bad. But it did leave me with more holes to trim.

Used German short rows rather than w&t.

Did not bind off the fronts and back at the shoulders, but kept the sts live and did a 3-needle BO. It seemed silly to seam them. I just wish I had knit one more row to resolve all the short rows before doing the 3-needle BO.

After I joined the shoulders and tried it on, I unzipped the provisional CO (gotta love a crochet provisional CO) and added a 4-hole section at the bottom. Followed that with 8 rounds stockinette, then 1x1 rib for 9 rounds and a tubular BO.

I don’t usually like a long section of ribbing at the bottom, but in this case I wish I had gone the full 15 rounds. I may undo the tubular BO and add those rnds, but it’s doubtful. (Note: I did not. That would be bananas. It’s fine the way it is.)

Eliminated the 5th hole section on the sleeves, as they were already quite long. Seems like most knitters have done the same.

A lot of people have commented that the rate of decreases in the sleeves is too fast, but for this, the largest size, it was ideal. When knitting at the large end of the range I usually have to add a bunch of decreases at the beginning of a dropped-shoulder sleeve because the armscyes are enormous, but for this one I didn’t have to add any. I continued the slower rate of decreases (every third round) all the way to the cuff, and worked the cuff over 46 sts. Perfect!

Worked the neck as written, including folding it over and sewing it down, and it made a lovely neat crewneck but I hate crewnecks! Ripped it all out and started over. Second time, picked up 30 more stitches (almost 1/3 more than written), then worked 8 rows rib and finished with a tubular BO. I like it MUCH better now!

The hole trim as written allows the holes to gape and to stretch into ovals, which makes it all look a bit too loosey goosey. However, two of the designer’s samples on the pattern page show a flatter, tighter edging to the holes, which I liked. So I devised my own edging:
Pu&k 44 sts.
Knit one round, decreasing 8 sts evenly around.
CO 3 sts using cable CO and work icord BO, decreasing 2 sts, one at each “side” of the circle.
Pick up three sts from beginning of icord and graft the ends together.
This isn’t as flat as the ones in the designer’s samples, but I wanted a little bit of puff, which is why I knitted one round before the icord. I like it!

US6 for gauge in stockinette
US2 for trim around holes