See notes for changes made to resize the sleeves and the hood.

15th-March: Swatched during SPA, and now have finally cast on and knitted 4 rows.

2nd May: Frogged the Riverstone Bulky due to the weight being a bit much for this project. I want a garment that I can wear throughout the year. Researching through the stash to see what I should use.

8th June: Cast on with the orange Posh in my stash. The resulting fabric is incredible, and the yarn feels like magic in my hands.

14th June: OMG! I was finally able to show the 6 inches of progress to Heather (Sales Mgr of Classic Elite Yarns), Pam Allen, CosmicPluto, and Ysolda. All are looking forward to seeing photos of the finished object. :)

9th September:
After being on break for 3 months, I frogged back to row 19 and now the first 117 rows are done! Vivian measures 44 inches length at the bottom, 34 inches length at the waist, and 22 inches high from the bottom to underneath my arms. I am researching on making the arms shorter and wider. Considering starting at 46 inches instead of 42, and removing the last set of 40-some rows. If all goes well, this puppy will be finished in time for Rhinebeck. Woohoo!!

13th September:
After reviewing the pattern to figure out how to widen/shorten the sleeves and oversize the hood, I decided to invest in another dyelot strictly for the sleeves. I purchased 2 skeins from Sakonnet Purls in Tiverton, RI.

14th September:
For the left sleeve, I cast on 46 stitches because my arms are definitely larger, and followed the pattern as stated for that size, going down to 38 stitches. I calculated that I needed to increase 16 stitches to get to 54 stitches of the size 36. I took out 6 rows from the 3 repeats (rows 41-46, 71-76, and 101-106), and doing so gave me the 8 sets of increases. As for shortening the sleeves, mine still measured 22 inches, so if I knitted the 18 rows that I had removed, the sleeves would end past my fingertips instead of at the base of my thumb (which is want I wanted).
Note: The left sleeve was just shy of 65 grams, so I need to purchase another skein (total will be 13). Interestingly, the newly bought yarn does not have as much sheen as the other 10 skeins, but the dyelots look close enough. I would rather have the 2 sleeves match and blend into the body than have to use another dyelot in the middle of the hood.

20th September:
Sleeves finished and attached to body. Out of 150g for the sleeves, only 20 grams were left. Started yoke and stopped after row 121.

8th October:
Have been stuck on row 150 after knitting the saddles of both sides for the past 2 weeks. Project in time out until I can either fix the cabling, or frog back to the beginning of the saddles. :(

10th October:
Saddles and hood done! I frogged back to the beginning of row 150 to uncross all the cabling that I did. Only the sleeve sections are supposed to be crossed. For the hood, I increased the width to 20 in the seed stitch section instead of 14 to give me an extra inch for my head’s circumference. Also increased the hood height another 24 rows for more room in case I want to wear a hat underneath.

11th October:
Wore Vivian out to King Richard’s Faire with just a shawl pin to hold it closed. May not need a zipper, but I am thinking of using a ribbon of VT-like orange/maroon colorway with a brushed silver zipper. Latest photo taken during the Renaissance faire.

It has been agreed that Vivian’s drape would be ruined by a zipper. Besides, shawl pins are much more fun! :)