Gauge & Hook Size:
I wanted to finish at more like 35” than the 36.5” of the pattern. After swatching and a few false starts, I ended up working all the stripes 1 & 5 (patterns A & E), including the foundation row & excluding pattern A row 10, with the larger hook (size F), and the rest with the smaller hook (size E). Did the edging with the hook F.

I switched back and forth like this because patterns A & E just seemed too tight with the smaller hook. The pattern doesn’t give a row gauge, but in order to get to 17.5” wide, the rows just looked too flat – the fans weren’t rounded enough & I didn’t like the fabric. So I switched to the larger hook. But when I got part way through the second stripe, I realized that it was growing exponentially, to at least 20” without stretching! So I ripped back to the end of the first stripe, re-did row 10 with the smaller hook, and continued on with the smaller hook. Stripe 5 then behaved similarly to stripe 1, so I switched back to the larger hook for that, in order to get the fans to fan out more.

Sleeves:
According to the pattern photo, the sleeves look like only 2 reps instead of 3 of pattern E (6 rows instead of 9), but I did all 3 reps, as my gauge is so much smaller & tighter.

Neck:
I found the neck opening to be a bit uncomfortable at the back, as it was really just a slit. I was thinking of cutting the edge stitches of the fronts where they meet at the back of the neck there to form a point, in order to open it up a bit. But my friend Susan talked me off the ledge. She suggested that I just encase those stitched with some single crochets to pull them down and create a straight padded edge there instead of a point. So that’s what I did and it worked really well. Thanks, Susan! I should have taken a picture before I did that, but I didn’t think of it. Essentially, the back of the neck looked exactly like the front. It came to a point, and the Cotlin yarn is not very giving.

Godets:
I don’t usually call a project done until all the ends are woven in, but I stopped on 7/21 with 12 ends left (all those bordering the godets), because I wanted to block it first to see if I could get it to lay better. The godets were cupped at the top, and puffed out so weirdly when inserted that I was afraid I might have to adjust how I had sewn them in, which would be much easier if the ends were not woven in.

I tucked the godets into flat pleats for blocking, but when picked up and worn, the sides still puffed out again. It was kind of a deal breaker for me. I didn’t like the way it looked at all.

So I took another length of yarn and sewed the sides together at the top, kind of shoelace fashion, tucking in & flattening out the pleats. Then I brought the yarn “laces” to the inside, holding the pleats down, and tied a bow rather than weaving them in, so that I could come back and make adjustments if needed. This did not entirely fix it, but it seems to have helped a bit – at least enough that it’s wearable. Without that, I would have considered the project to be a complete fail.

My husband says that the same thing happens with Kristin’s project, but that she’s disguising it in the pattern photos. I’m kind of disguising it too, but I don’t know. Hers looks pretty smooth on the sides, like in the photo where she’s facing forward with her arms out. It looks like a gentle curve, not like a bump. Even so, it’s not very comfortable to be constantly adjusting your top when you’re wearing it, being all self-conscious about how it looks. I’m calling it done for now, but it may need surgery at a later date. I might want to remove the godets entirely and just seam front to back, although that might be too tight. Maybe I could seam it together with some stitching that gradually increases, joining as I go, instead of the separate pieces? I don’t know. We’ll see…

Approximate Finished Measurements:
Bust: 35”
Length from Underarm: 14”
Length from Top of Shoulder: 21”
Length of Sleeve from Underarm: 13”
Sleeve Circumference: 14”