Paul McCartney sweater—charts don’t consistently match up regards to stitch count so I chose a cast on number that was divisible by the most of the chart repeats—would add or decrease on the MC rows as needed.

Used 7 stitch steek panels for sleeves and v neck started all on same row.

Front loaded my decreases for the vneck. Tried to hide any breaks in pattern chart in the seams picking up for neckline I was mindful not to pick up too many. I really love how it turned out.

Did a felted steek, it worked great. Allyson’s demo of a sewn reinforced steek would be my choice for any other yarn, but for this wool I did not feel the need to reinforce with machine or crochet. I just took my little felting kit I bought off of Amazon and stabbed away. It was mildly therapeutic! Cutting the first steek was nerve racking of course, but when that went well I was very enthusiastic about cutting. It is fun to challenge yourself with new techniques and overly ambitious projects.

Your gauge, your measurements, and style/fit preferences are EVERYTHING with a project like this. Swatch INTHE ROUND. It is the most annoying thing to do with 5 colors but it pays off in that you can get yourself a sweater that fits and you can see if your colors are going to work. I found out my original plan, to use the mint color in place of the meadow heather, was NOT going to work because there was just not enough contrast with my gray main color. I was thankful I took the time to do this. I still found a way to use the mint (I had already purchased it after all!) because I loved it, but it is very subtle.

Back neck width, v neck depth, armpit width, and armhole length are definitely measurements I measured twenty times to make sure I had them right. I had never knit a vneck, I had never steeked, so I really forced myself to live and die by my gauge. I also don’t own any necks so I wasn’t sure what my preference was!

All my swatching and math paid off because I am really fond of the fit.

Did ribbing on collar and sleeves with a size 1 needle, because I liked the look of it better.