Modified neck to make it wider, “more summery”: Eliminated the double neck altogether and knit my ribbing for 1 inch. Started my short rows at 20 sts then did wrap and turn 6 sts before, not 3. Stopped at 7 garter ridges.

As I began knitting I knew the smallest size would be too big. Here’s what I did to make it smaller:

Page 5, stopped at row 60.
Page 7, added ZERO underarm stitches.
Page 8, after separating sleeves off and rejoining the body in the round and doing the 4 rows of MC, I jumped to rows 9-12. I had to do a little modifying to make the counts work but it was not difficult.

Eliminated the double ribbing for the hem, but kept the twisted st rib, very pretty. Now just the sleeves to do!

The pattern is well written and easy to follow and pretty easy to customize. You could also adjust the size of the bricks to get your perfect fit.

So far so good. If I had not made the above mods it would have been way too big. I’m knitting the body down now and then I’ll see about the sleeves. I may have to do a little mod or two on them too as they seem like they may be big.

The yarn: not an unpleasant knitting experience in anyway, but not a fun yarn either. I adore bouncy wool or a cashmery-soft cotton, and this is neither, but still it’s ok and most likely I’ll love the outcome.

PS: The WIP picture does not show the colors well. Maybe because I took it against wood? The colors are a teensy bit more vibrant and not as muddy looking as the photo suggests.

In the end I gave it away to a neighbor but didn’t get any modeled pics before she moved to the opposite coast! It looked much better on her. It felt heavy and was still large on me, even with all my mods. The sweater just seemed like there was a lot going on for a petite person. My neighbor is tall and thin and it was darling on her and she loved it.