Opted to rip this back because I’m just not convinced that this yarn is optimal for the project (as has become more clear the longer it becomes). Were I to make this again - and I don’t really recommend the pattern - I would use a slinkier yarn with more drape, maybe even a superwash but def something with silk content. Also, I would a) do more short rows which I’d start right away b) start incs for bust sooner and do them more gradually and c) decrease much sooner after those front increases. Remember that this thing is like a pyramid. It keeps getting wider quite assertively. So my decreases should have happened higher up. Also, I casted on too many additional front body stitches. I should have stopped at 18. This wasn’t clear because I didn’t anticipate how the instructed increases would interact with my mods.

• Sizing: I’ve opted to CO for XS though I suspect this garment can be re-sized while knitting given the many options and marked places of increase. Because I have changed the neckline - as it is too open for my taste and not my style - and because I am small in the shoulders, it seems like the prudent choice (though I will have to figure out how to get to the desired circ at bust).

• Gauge: Though I started the body using a US6 I actually got the 22.5st gauge on a US4 (I wrote down my swatch information incorrectly.) Sigh. So I immediately sized down to US5 for about 5 rounds and then sized down again to US4. I don’t think the transition will be noticeable - it’s all in the first 3” of the body so I’m not going to rip back. Update: At ~7” below base of neckband, I returned to using US5 needle. I wanted more drape than the US4 can provide (and US4 is hard on my hands with this yarn). I’m trying this on as I go so I’ll be able to pivot with stitch counts or needle size, as necessary.

• I don’t love lifted increases - and I rarely do them, not that they are hard, they’re just not rote - so I substituted M1L and M1R. Looks just fine as far as I’m concerned and prevents me from having yet another thing to remember as I continue to modify this pattern in multiple ways.

• Modifying the Neckline: To get a neckline I prefer, I opted do a provisional cast on at 124st (crochet chain) to work 4 rounds of the body, then put that on holder, and picked up the provisional neckline stitches to knit 2x2 rib on US 2.5 needle for ~1” (124st is divisible by 4). I think this neck shape will work for me because it provides more cold weather coverage and it lies flat.

• When I tried it on, it became apparent that I would need to remove 20st to get the neck to lie flat (it was standing up somewhat). I ripped it back and then re-casted on and decreased on my first round of rib in an extremely convoluted way that a) spread the decreases around the circ evenly-ish while b) ensuring that 2, K2Tog decreases happened on either side of the cable such that the cable seems to merge into the ribbing. Figuring out how to do this - working in the opposite direction from the body (which has 4 cables) was a bit of a PITA. After a couple of hours of drawing pictures, I managed to figure out how to get the 2x2 ribbing (knitted upwards) to flow into the cables (knitted downwards). It’s not perfect - I’m not really sure if this particular 3x3 cable can merge entirely seamlessly into a 2x2 rib, but it’s not bad looking either.

• Short Rows: I don’t know why there isn’t neckline short row shaping included in this pattern. It’s disappointing because now I’m going to have to figure it out for myself (my least fave thing to figure out / modify when knitting)… Really, why doesn’t every raglan pattern include short rows to lower the front neck (in alignment with human anatomy)?? And while I’m griping - there is no schematic provided in this pattern and it’s pretty difficult to figure out what dimensions should be at what depth. Sizing by waist circumference (the only horizontal dimension provided) is both strange - and not particularly helpful.

How I Added Short Rows:

• I used this tutorial as a starting off point: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_yBcvZL79k - to determine how I’d position the short rows such that I’d get a wedge of extra fabric / length on the back body to push down the neckline on the front body.

• I opted to do 10 short rows (5 on RS / 5 on WS). I started them on Round 7 of my 4th 8-round repeat. That’s a RS row and I needed to ensure that I would continue to do the cables and increase rounds on the RS short rows. I also wanted to start on a round with no cables or increases, to get used to things. The 10 short rows ended at the end of Round 1 of the 6th 8-round repeat (though I had to work 3 more increases on Round 2 (given how I set things up re: BOR).

• I inserted a marker on the centre front (between stitches 21 and 22, as I had 42st on the front body at this point). That helped me to ensure that the GSRs would be positioned evenly on either side.

• To get started: I knitted from the BOR marker (at centre right sleeve) to 2 st past the raglan on the right-hand side body. I made the third stitch the GSR. Then I turned and purled all the way around to 2 stitches past the raglan on the left side body. The third stitch was the GSR. Thereafter, I made the next GSR the third stitch beyond each previous GSR. In the end, I had 6 st on either side of the centre front body that were unworked (the short rows didn’t go that far). Essentially I worked from the raglans towards the centre front body while doing these short rows. They kept getting longer as I went. I will say that, pre-blocking at least, the shaping is pretty noticeable. I can actually see (if vaguely, and pre-blocked) the worked double stitches. and the way the fabric tilts (effectively biased because of the wedges of fabric created on the side front bodies).

• Having said this, I had to remember to work in pattern over the 2 increase rounds and a cable round (both on RS aka knit side of the object). So that interfered with number of stitches on either side of the centre marker (or from the raglan cables on either side) on each one of the 2 increase rounds (one of which was also a cable round). I made sure that, on each round, I kept the same number of stitches on either side of that centre front marker so that the short row wedge would be even.

• I’m pretty sure I messed this up from the perspective of where the BOR marker is positioned (which influenced where increases were worked on any given round). I believe the net impact is that I’ll have 1 fewer round worked on the right front cable when I get to R1 of repeat 7. I’m hoping (and I believe) that it will not be noticeable. Update: It’s not.

• Note: At pattern gauge, after 19 8-round repeats, you’ll be at 18.5” of depth vs pattern’s 19. That’s likely long enough but keep it in mind.

Increasing the Front Body for Full Bust:

• Given that I am knitting the smallest size re: desired length of pattern and neckline/shoulder proportions, I’ll increase on the front body (or front and back body) at either side of the raglan cables. This is likely unnecessary on the back body but I’ll need some additional circ on the front body to keep the cables firmly at the outside of either boob… IMO, this element of the pattern is drafted suboptimally. I feel that the cables are skewed too much towards the centre front and back of the garment and unnecessarily wide over the shoulders. This isn’t helped by the omission of short row shaping. The net impact is that, if you have noteworthy (or even moderately-sized boobs), unless you modify the positioning of those cables, they will fall over the centre bust (def not my jam). It strikes me that the easiest place to modify them is at the start of the body but (though I suspected) I didn’t know to what extent this might be problematic until I’d knitted a few inches of the body. So I did the next best thing and started to increase quickly to widen the span between each cable. I knew that I wanted to have about ~16” of circ between the interior side of each cable (I measured it while wearing a bra). So that told me how many stitches I’d have to increase.

• Update: Incs not necessary on back body. I figured out what width, at my gauge, the front panel would be at my full bust depth (or 10” below base of neckband) and it would be 12” from cable to cable. I wanted 4” more. To accomplish this I’ll work 2 incs at (at the left and right the side fronts), on 3 of the 8 rounds in the pattern repeat - and obvs those 3 are not R1 or R5, the ones that already have front increases instructed. This means, for the next 3” of knitting, I’ll be doing increases on all but 3 of the rounds in each 8-round repeat. At first, I spread them out so that I was not required to increase back-to-back front increases on the front body over every round. But, when I tried this on, with 274 st on the needles, It became apparent that I would need to do the front increases every round until I got to Repeat 10, Round 1 - and that I should increase 6 more stitches than I’d originally anticipated. Even having switched back to a US5 from US4 needle, I needed more distance between each cable. And I will block this section assertively if I must. FWIW - after these increases, and before blocking, the distance between the cables is now 18” and I think it’s the right distance. That’s a lot wider than I had expected… Were I to make this garment again, and, if I weren’t to shift the cable positioning at the top of the body, I would start the increases higher up (but then I also would have started the short rows higher up). Having said this, I’m going to keep on modifying as I go…**

• My unblocked gauge appears to be ~5.25-5.35” in 1” (though it’s been a bit unknowable in this project). So increasing 20st over 10 increase rounds will add 3.75”, the extra circ required. And I need to do this within 26R, as that is 3.25” or the amount of depth I have remaining before reaching full bust apex. Update: It would have been easier and more even to do 26st increase over 5”.

• I will want to reduce some portion of that 26st once I get under the bust apex. From the point at which I’d increased 26 st (at bust apex), I worked 20R in pattern (without any uninstructed increases but continuing with pattern instructed increases on R1 and R5). As of the start of Repeat 12, I started to diminish the number of stitches on the front body in 2 ways - a) I didn’t increase on R1 and R5 and b) I decreased 2 st on R7. I’ll continue to do this, likely 7x or until part way through Repeat 15. I’ll decide if I want to decrease the full 26 added front body stitches when I see the circumference at that point. I feel that, given that my hips are proportionately narrow, there isn’t a need to retain these stitches and I don’t want the front body to be too big below the bust or the garment will look unnecessarily bulky. For the right side body (K2Tog), for the left side body (SSK). Update: If you make this again, only inc 18st at this gauge and do it more gradually. Then decrease starting right after the full bust apex is reached. Given that multiple stitches are increased every 8 rounds, I had way too much extra fabric at the side fronts (though the fit at the full bust was perfect.

• IMPORTANT: When you do the sleeve and body ribbing, make sure your st count is divisible by 4 because you’ll be working 2x2 rib. For the body, aim for 200st and on the sleeves work either 40 or 44st. You’ll want to increase on the first round of ribbing if you need to add any stitches…

Final Thoughts:

• What I Modified: A) I changed the neckline from rolled to 2x2 rib (and did 2x2 rib - not 3x3 - on all of the other edgings for consistency) B) I added short rows to lower the front neckline and C) I increased extra stitches on the side front body (on body side of each raglan) to ensure that there would be adequate ease for my full bust.

• About the Yarn: It’s rare that I can’t tell if I “really like” a yarn or not by the time I’ve used 100g. I am leaning towards liking it a lot - the colour is a beautiful, matte, muted grey green. It is pretty soft, though with an occasional guard hair (something I really don’t love so it’s good that they are far and few between). It’s got a unique hand - incredibly lofty but quite dry. Also vaguely spongy. It appears to have some drape but also to retain its shape - a good combo for a knit such as this one. It is in no way slinky, it leans towards sticky. I don’t know that I’d use it again but it’s interesting. It’s a bit hard on the hands when working it on a US4 needle (or smaller). It was easier on the US6, given the loft of the very lightly-spun yarn. I do appreciate that it’s sustainably produced but I’m not sure it’s worth 42CDN, before tax, per skein. The proof will be i the blocking and wearing. Even though loosely plied, it was not splitty. It was easily hand-breakable (almost like a very loosely spun yarn) but it didn’t break at all when I was working it. Seems durable.

Gauge Swatching:

Yarn rec proposed gauge of 24st in US 4 - 6 / 328y in 100g

US5:
Pre-blocked Stockinette: 21st and 30R in 4”
Post-blocked Stockinette: 20.75”st and 30R in 4”

US 4:
Preblocked - stockinette - 23.5 st and 31R in 4”
Post-blocked - stockinette - 22.5 and 33R in 4”

Preblocked - 2x2 rib - 33st and 32R in 4”
Post-blocked - 2x2 - 24st and 34R in 4”

It would appear that stockinette shrinks by 4.5% horizontally and 6.5% vertically when blocked but apparently only on the smaller needles…

Projects I considered Using this Yarn For:
Traveler’s Sweater by Minimi Knit Design - 23st and 32R
Balloon Sweater by Petite Knit - 21st and 28R
Simple Vneck by Ankestrick 22st and 29R
Rachel by Josee Paquin
Field Day Cardigan - Ozetta - 22st and 32R in 4”
Evening Dew Cardi - Ririko - 22st and 31R in 4”
Beaufort 5 by Isabell Kraemer 21st and 28R in 4”