April 2017 UPDATE: In the end I did not wear the sweater as much as I thought I would. Mostly because of the neckline. Even after adding the tie, it bothered me that the neck was so wide. I finally did a makeover and unraveled the front to the row where the left and right front pieces were separated. Then I re-knitted a simple crew neck. I used left over not used before yarn for this. That is why it looks a little different to the rest of the sweater which I had washed multiple times ( side note: this yarn softens a lot with washing). For more details on the makeover, check out my blog post from 4.20.2017.

Beginnings 2012
I bought this yarn years ago when the store went out of business. I am finally using it this summer (2012) for this simple project. I will knit both the body and the sleeves of the sweater longer than in the instructions. That should not be a problem since I have plenty of yarn. I think I will be wearing it a lot, it is such a nice time-less look and neutral color.

June

All the pieces are finished, now I just have to sew them together :) As I was not 100% happy with the neckline I added single crochet strings to the corners of the neckline to give myself the option of tying it closed. As the yarn is relatively heavy the neck pulls open probably from the weight of the long sleeves. Had I given it more thought I would have probably done a boat-neck, but I do like it well enough like this, too.

May

I finally continued on this project after making several smaller items in between. I like working with this yarn; it has a nice weight and drapes well. It did bother me at first that I couldn’t keep the yarn completely flat (it is a ribbon type of yarn), but at times I just keep the twists in and accept that these variations give it a unique appearance and texture. I am also very pleased with the color.
I finally started working on the sleeves over Memorial Day. I am making long sleeves, so I started by casting on 33 stitches and increased to 57 stitches over 15.5 inches.

March

• I did the decreases and increases two stitches into the body of the piece.
• I knitted 3 inches in st st before I started on the decreases; started the increases at 10 inches; the armhole at 14 inches.