Oh man, this pattern was a bucket of struggle. I find that all slightly hilarious, considering that I knit intricate colorwork sweaters without a problem.

I found parts of the pattern to be poorly written or make extra work, particularly with the fold over hems. I didn’t follow those directions specifically. For the bottom hem and sleeves, I simply did a provisional cast on with a second set of circular needles and then once enough was knit post turning row, I folded the bottom up and K2TG (one from each needle) to finish the hem.

The neckline was a bit… confusing. I followed the directions exactly as written, decreasing until 6.5 inches of shoulder had been accomplished. As you can see from the picture, it didn’t fit at all. Thankfully, a friend came to my rescue and picked it out for me to the turning row (otherwise this would have been in hibernation until I didn’t feel like screaming). I ended up knitting a total of 9.5 inches in decreases to achieve the desired neckline that, I feel, closely represents the sweater pattern sample.

Blocking right now. The waist shaping looks superb and I can’t wait to wear it. It’s a very classic design and the yarn feels like I’m wearing a perpetual cuddly hug. There’s more ease than I normally wear but it’ll be great for layering.

As frustrating as this entire experience was, I’m tempted to knit another one with a few modifications, such as narrower sleeves. That won’t happen until next summer, at the earliest, if at all.

Based on swatch, changed needle size to 6. Knitting size 37” but with 41 length measurements. Should hit a happy medium of my 40” bust.