Started out on US 5 as pattern calls for with crochet provisional cast on and doing the yarn-overs, but really prefer the look of the store sample without the yarnovers, and my fabric was more open than the sample in the store appeared. Ripped, restarted with a judy’s magic caston onto an interchangable cable with a smaller needle and will use the lifted increases as in the more advanced pattern.

1. i’m super glad i went down a needle size. my gauge is much neater.
2. magic looping was not working for me at the beginning. had to get a 16” and it went much more smoothly.
3. i used this youtube video to teach me how to do a lifted increase. apparently i thought i knew what it was, but didn’t. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8qFg1H0m90
4. the spacing of the lifted increases made the pattern not flow as well as it did when i started with the yo’s as on the tag that comes with the yarn. in hindsight, performing m1r and m1l in place of yo’s may have made the pattern flow better for me. but i’m not ripping back again.

(update: now on the third stripe and the lifted increases may now be my favorite increase)