04/25/2025 - I got it in my head that I wanted to try using a plant based fiber for this sweater, so I went looking in my stash for yarns that looked like they would hit gauge.

1. To keep my tension even with the cotton yarn, I did my stockinette knitting with a US6 on my left needle and a US7 on my right needle. I did this for both the flat and in the round knitting.
2. Since this was a test knit, I knit the neck as defined in the pattern. The cotton yarn I chose created some wobbliness with the transition from the stockinette to the ribbing. It’s not horrible, but if I were to have knit this NOT as a test, I would probably have done the stockinette and ribbing with US5 needles then transitioned to the larger needles for the yoke/body.
3. For the Back Panel, I did the backward cast on suggested in the pattern for the last of the armhole increases. I was not crazy with how they turned out, so for the front, I tried a cable cast on. I had to transition to doing the increases at the beginning of a row instead of the end, but I was much happier with the finished look. After completing the front, I I ripped out the back and did them the same way.
4. Again because I was concerned my cotton yarn choice was going to flair at the ribbing, for the body and sleeve hems, I switched to US5 needles.
5. I went out on a limb and soaked my sweater for blocking by putting it in my washer on a delicate cycle. I did this because I was a bit concerned about how I would squeeze out the excess water after soaking but before blocking. I got a bit of shrinkage in both the width and length but overall it all turned out OK. My sweater ended up having about 1.5” less body circumference and about 3/4” less length than what is defined by the pattern schematic for the size I knit.
6. The sweater after blocking is on the verge of being short for my fit preferences. My gut tells me I will be more apt to reach for it with 2 more inches of length in the body, but I’m going to leave it for now, wear it a few times and then decide if I want to add the length.