Update 5/9/23
Three and a half years later, finally frogged. I never wore the pullover--ends didn’t even get woven in--because it was just too bulky. The design is meant to have drape, and with this much positive ease, mine didn’t. The front and back stuck out, very like. The fabric wasn’t dense but again, with this much ease and cropped, it’s just not going to drape.
Going to reuse the linen and make another though. Although I don’t knit warm-weather clothing, I think I’ll make an exception for this one--it’s just so pretty (and such a quick knit).

Overview
Super straightforward and simple pattern and a quick knit. Highly recommend browsing others’ project notes; it’s been knit so many times and there’s tons of info on possible mods and tweaks (short rows are a common one).

Mods

• cast on provisionally
• knit selvage sts in stockinette
• adjusted for row gauge difference
• added short rows to back neck
• adjusted for row gauge difference (body and sleeve length, sleeve pickup number and rate)
• used 3NBO for shoulder seams
• made long sleeves

Finished measurements

Resources
Rox’s finessed three needle bind off

Yarn
Sort of an odd hodgepodge of fiber types but…not buying new yarn for a while, and I don’t knit warm weather garments (or anything with short sleeves)--one of my many knitting quirks/hangups--so I wanted to make the pullover warmer yet retain some of the intended drape.
Found this long lost Pure Linen shoved into the back of a closet and had recently purchased 2,000y of Llamerino on closeout with no project in mind. The two are very similar in color and held together equal the length per weight of the pattern yarn (≈70y/50g).
I got an ok fabric with just the two, but then thought to add a strand of mohair. It didn’t make a noticeable difference in my gauge but I love the marled effect it has on the fabric. The mohair is a shape-shifting non-color that I’ve been obsessed with lately (somehow I’ve ended up with at least four different mohair/silk yarns in pretty much the same color)--kinda brown, maybe taupe, sorta gray, but can look pink or even purplish depending on the light or other colors it’s next to.
I adore the final fabric…the llama/merino is a nice basic base; the linen gives it a good weight and drape with flashes of shine that remind me of mother of pearl; the mohair gives it a fantastic halo and subtle but interesting color variation--great depth.

Notes
Front
9/28
Cast on front using provisional crochet cast on so I can later use three needle bind off to join the shoulders.

10/3
If I’ve done the math correctly, the smallest size is meant to measure ~14” from shoulder seam to hem measured over the stockinette section and including the hem trim (the dropped yo’s in the hem trim will add a tiny bit more length)…this seems so short, even for a cropped garment and I’m pretty short waisted. The sample looks much longer than that on the model…i must be missing something.
Regardless, four repeats of the pattern only measured 10.5” rather than 12” due to my row gauge; added a 5th repeat for 14” before beginning hem trim…should end up just under 2” longer than pattern intends.

10/4
Finished front. For bind off, used a crochet hook as the right needle (same size, USK/6.5mm}--bind off came out much neater, more even and looser than usual…must remember to do this in the future for chained BOs.

Back
10/9
The back has been on hold for a few days while I pondered how to best do short rows on the back neck but finally decided to go with the simplest, easiest approach--just a few short rows across the center. Used German srs.

After provisional cast on, k 2 rows (start with p row--can’t remember why I did this…the long tail cast on called for in the pattern includes a k row, so that’s why the pattern’s first row is a p; not necessary with provisional co but that’s how I knit the front so made the back to match).
1st sr: p to 26sts before end of row, turn and ds
2nd sr: k to 26sts before end of row, turn and ds
3rd sr: p to 4sts past 1st ds, turn and ds
Repeat, knitting 4sts past previous ds each time for a total of 12 srs (6 turns each side); last turn on each side is 6sts from the end. Total length added 2.25”.

10/22
Progress has kinda stalled…missed the deadline for the bipocmal2019 so motivation has waned and have been distracted by new projects…but determined to wear Deschain at some point this season so have been keeping it in the truck to work on when I have a few minutes…getting oil changed, waiting in the school car line, during cross-country meets etc. Only get a few rows done at a time, but it’s gotta add up eventually.

12/16
Finally picked back up with renewed focus…every other wip is going wrong, needing daunting adjustments or big components reknit, and completely frogged others two today.

Finished back.

Used 3NBO on shoulder seams (31sts each side), mirroring the chain by binding off from outside in (shoulder to neck) on both sides (Rox has a great demo, linked above). Used USI/5.5mm crochet hook.

Seamed sides (using one strand of linen only), leaving 24sts (instead of 21, to account for row gauge difference) on front and back each (48sts total) for sleeves.

Sleeves
Pick up and knit 36sts (3sts for every 4rws)
Knit 8 rnds. (2”)
Dec rnd: k2tog, k to last 2 sts, ssk. (2sts dec’d)
Knit 12 rnds.(2.75”)
Dec rnd.
Repeat, decreasing 2sts after every 12 rnds three more times.
After last dec, k 15 rnds.
Chained BO knitwise with USK/6.5mm crochet hook.

Knit the first 4” of the first sleeve so many times:
Initially picked up sleeve sts at a 1:1 ratio (48sts) per pattern; knit a few rounds and ripped it out…too many sts so the sleeve was wider than the armhole and looked really bad.
Second try picked up 5sts for every 6 rws (40sts)--much better but still kinda bunchy and poofy.
Third attempt picked up 3:4 (4:5 would have given just one less st than 5:6). Much better, but after a couple of inches I noticed that my tension looked…odd. Really uneven. Tried to pay closer attention and maintain better tension but no improvement. Finally--halfway through the sleeve--I realized that one of my dpns was three sizes smaller than the rest…I have several projects going at once in my knitting corner and I must have grabbed the wrong one to knit with; I also knit an extra st from the next dpn to avoid ladders so the inconsistency was spread through the whole sleeve rather than limited to just a strip.
Wtf. How did I not notice such a big difference in needle circumference?! Stress and preoccupation but still…
Ripped out to start a fourth time.

12/18
Finally finished first sleeve.

12/21
Dragged my Deschain to FL to finish at my parents over the two week holiday break…and forgot to pack extra yarn. And of course I ran out of both Llamerino and Pure Linen with just a couple of inches of the second sleeve and the neck bind off left…and of course both have been discontinued for a while now so no chance of finding any in town.

1/5
Back home and finished this one up this morning.

Neck
Place the 68 sts on hold onto needle, picking up two extra sts at each corner of 3NBO (last st bound off both front and back, otherwise huge gaps between shoulder and neck BO) - 72sts
BO per pattern.

Final Thoughts

7/16/22
Frog and reknit with Pure Linen held double (will equal weight of Kestrel almost exactly).