3/4/2014 Update: I wore this again yesterday -- with a black turtleneck, black mini-pleated skirt, black tights, black short books with heels. I got serious compliments all day long from men and women. If you are on the fence about this pattern, get off and knit!

Original notes: I have a “winter” wool boucle dress with no sleeves. What was I thinking? It’s not as if I have such a cocktail party life that such a dress would see much wear. Thus, a shrug!

I made this twice, first in a spruce green and then in burgundy. Overall I am quite happy with it. It’s very elegant and unusual and I get lots of compliments. I recommend it.

But, the pattern is not without its troubles and flaws, thus the 4 stars vs 5.

The 1st (spruce) one’s neckline droops and shifts after a few hours, so I made the burgundy one with a slightly smaller neckline/scarf (sans 12-14 out of 300+ sts.) The smaller one is definitely better.

It is also hard to get the neckline arranged right. I find I loop it around once and then sort of figure eight the rest and pass that over my head. Simply wrapping it around a couple of times doesn’t work. Definitely something you have to put on in front of a mirror!

Here are my notes on the pattern itself:

The pattern is graded as difficult, but it isn’t, really, only unusual in its construction. It’s knit from the top down in one piece, including the long attached scarf. Just follow the directions and you’ll be fine.

I followed the pattern pretty faithfully. I made two changes, one I recommend, one is up to you. The optional one comes right at the beginning. You cast on and then work k2, p2 rib for the collar (top down, remember.) Since the cast on is a multiple of 4, I did slip 1, k2 p2 k1 so the ribbing would be symmetrical. This turns out to be a problem for the row after the ribbing, when you are supposed to k2tog, p2tog to get to k1 p1. If you do what I did you have to fudge, s1 k2tog psso and then just p1 or k1 at the end of that row.

The second change is important. Towards the end you divide the yoke, casting off the stitches for the scarf and the back, leaving the sleeves to knit a bit more. The pattern wants you to do this over two rows in such a way that you have to break and rejoin your yarn a couple of times.

Ridiculous!

Do it like this:

• pattern across the first sleeve
• cast off for the back (with the bobbles as written)
• pattern across the second sleeve
• cast off the scarf stitches

Then you will be all set to knit the first sleeve in the round. (The photo is taken right here.)

A minor casting off thing. For the long scarf, which is a straight cast off, I used a 7 as my working needle during the cast off to make sure the cast off edge would not be too tight.

A last note. The pattern calls for 3 needles, one long and two short, all size 6. Huge waste of money. You really only need one long and one short size 6. You could even get away with only one long one If you know the magic loop method (or, knit flat and sew up your sleeves.)

Have fun, and if you knit this, do write it up and share your tips.