3/4/13 - started swatching. 8’s are definitely too loose. So far, looking like I will knit this on a 6?! Will decide after washing the swatch (learned my lesson with the last 2 sweaters…). Won’t be making mine oversized, though. I think it will look better on me with little to no ease at the bust.

3/12/13 - measured my washed and blocked swatches. Winner is the one knit on a US 6 (wow, my knitting is loose…). To balance the yo’s between the cables and double decreases, I will do a single yo every time except for the yo just before a cable, that will be a double yo and I’ll drop the extra strand on the next row. I tried it without the yo and picking up the strand on the next row without twisting, but I think the yo’s came out too small that way. I will be knitting the size 38 for a 44” finished bust measurement.

3/23/13 - finished left sleeve, started body. Will be working more rows even when I get to the middle of the body, since my row gauge after blocking (and before blocking) is tighter than the pattern specifies. Hope that doesn’t come back to bite me in the butt!

4/14/13 - finished thru neckline decreases on left side. Tracking pattern repeats with orange stitch markers, key points (end of sleeve, dividing for neckline, end of decreases, etc.) with blue stitch markers. Since my row gauge is tighter than specified in the pattern, I will be working 42 rows even between the end of neckline decreases and beginning of neckline increases instead of the 30 specified in pattern, so my sweater doesn’t end up too small around!

5/11/13 - finished knitting. Decided to work neck edging before soaking, blocking and seaming. I’m soaking and blocking before seaming so it will have already done a little stretching out and then the seams won’t end up too tight. I think I will work the same neck edging around the cuffs once it’s seamed, since my cast on and bind off edges don’t look quite the same. I think it will make for a nicer finish.

5/15/13 - all seamed up! For now, I’ll leave the cuffs as is. The slightly mismatched cast on and bind off edges don’t bother me as much as I thought they would.