Martha has been lurking in my queue for years.
As I have a few skeins of a wonderful dark Arlene I started swatching today. Nice knitting.
Trying for 3 mm needles now.

Not happy about the Rowan pattern, no chart - you have to find out tediously for yourself before starting the swatch and there are not nearly enough measurements given. I do like to know what I am supposed to do before the fact and not start a stitch by stitch instruction and figuring everything out by doing therefore needing to rip back if changing anything.

Mods so far:

knitting the body in the round (beware of the buttonband -you don’t know where to place the buttonholes, as the buttonbands are knitted on, as you go)

knitting the sleeves in the round

making a smaller neck opening

lengthening the sleeves by about 2”

August 26: Cast on today. Knitting in the round. Hopefully it will get a bit wider with washing and blocking - the swatch (unwashed) came out on the spot.
Have been making the cast on with 3 mm needles. Knit the first two rows (garter st) with 2.5 mm needles and changing back to 3 mm for the pattern.
The yarn is a pleasure to knit with.
I am knitting with two skeins, alternately using the two skeins every two rows.
It is a shame that I am not able to knit for longer stretches at a time since I am still on sick leave and would have a lot of t i m e t o k n i t….

September 5: have been frogging a few inches because the waistline decreases seem to drastic for “my” waist. Going with fewer decreases now. Frogged yarn is knit up again. Like the texture.
The colors in the pictures don’t show properly, again… I need to read the camera manual in earnest… the first picture is most accurate only shades darker.

January 8: it only needs buttons and a bath now! And thank goodness, it seems quite stretchy. The sleeves fit beautifully. The finished cardi weighs 486 gramms without buttons.

Summer 2011: I lengthened the cardigan by about 3.5 inches - much better now!