This sweater was a challenge for me because of the intarsia. I typically shy away from intarsia projects, but this particular pattern was so adorable that I just had to give it a go. I’m a perfectionist with OCD, so as soon as I add my first color of the intarsia pattern I’m feeling a little uneasy with the loose tension and the yarn tail just flailing about without anchor. My anxiety grows with every added color. I have to constantly pacify my urge to chuck it in the corner and tell myself, “Mill, it’s going to look like a hot mess until you can weave in all of those yarn ends and adjust your tension--CHILL OUT!” Well, I made it through and I think I may have been successful at conquering my disinclination toward tackling more intarsia. And, I’m proud to say that the only thing duplicate stitched are the owls pupils!!!

This is a very well written pattern. I made only a couple of modifications aside from the retro color palette. The entire pattern is written for straight needles. I did knit the front/back/arms flat, but after seaming the pieces I picked up the neck/bottom stitches to knit the 6 rows of 2x2 ribbing in the round. I used JSSBO for the neck so the kid could get his head through! (Toddlers have very disproportionately big heads in comparison to their body/neck size) I did add about 2 inches to the length so this would take Andrew through at least a couple of seasons.