12/8/11 - A STRONG WARNING
Having worn this sweater now through the cold months of late winter/early spring of 2011 and now in the wildly variable fall/winter of 2011, I caution anyone making the sweater to take the pattern to a LYS and REWRITE IT before staring on it. The sizing is WAY OFF.

3/28/2011 FINALLY FINISHED
I’m astounded that it took me so long to finish this sweater. But with the frustrations of the pattern, I put it aside more than a few times.

Now, having completed the body of the sweater, as well as the finishing work, two weeks ago, I finally picked it up from the tailor who put in the zipper for me. They did a beautiful job with the zipper. And the sweater fits well and looks great. But you can read below about myriad inaccuracies in the pattern.

1/25/2011
SIZING PROBLEMS DELAYING COMPLETION
Let me just say, I love this design. But the sizing issues with this pattern are really unbearable.

1. Having measured myself as a men’s small (my chest is 39”) and completed and seamed all pieces, including the collar, the front panels are nearly 2-3” too narrow which means that the sweater closes, but is MUCH too tight and form fitting. The design is meant to be a close fit, but this is RIDICULOUS. I have to make two additional panels to seam onto the front panels.

2. The armscye measurements, which I adjusted early on, are still off and WARNING be sure to adjust if you are making this sweater as, even with my adjusted sizing, the armscye is still very snug.

1/13/2011
IS THE PATTERN SIZING OFF??
Having now seamed 75% of the sweater and tried it on, I’m very glad that I adjusted the armscye. The sweater is meant to be fitted, but is a little tight in the armscye - even after my adjustment.

In addition, according to the pattern, a Men’s Small should fit a 38-40” chest. With a 39” chest, I chose to make a small for myself and, even though my gauge has been perfect, the sweater still seems a little tighter than I would like it - even as a fitted garment. We’ll see when the sweater is blocked and the zipper is added.

1/12/2011
REVERSING THE PATTERN FOR SYMMETRY
As I weave the pieces together I noticed an unsightly mistake at the top of the right, front panel where the detail is what makes or breaks the design. because of certain vague aspects in the pattern which force guesswork, I have to rip out a few rows at the top of this panel and do even more guesswork to make the Right Front Panel match the Left Front Panel in this crucial, and very visible spot.

1/11/2011
With all pieces finished, I have begun joining the raglan seams (the lovely details of which you can see in the closeup photos) as well as the rest of the pieces. The simple detail of Jane Ellison’s pattern makes for a beautiful effect.

Once this is finished, I will begin creating the collar.

WHAT I’VE DISCOVERED ABOUT THE ARMSCYE
In order to compensate for shortcomings (no pun intended) in the pattern, I had to add 8 rows (in pattern) at the top of each sleeve after the final, indicated row of decreases. Had I not done this, small arscye of the pattern would have made for a tight fit in the underarm. Other men who have knitted this sweater have commented on this and the simplest solution was to add rows at the top of the sleeve. It will make for a more comfortable fit.

1/6/2011
NEARLY FINISHED ALL PIECES
I continue to discover frustrating aspects to this pattern, mainly having to do with the notation of decreases.
1. As I work the sleeves, the pattern indicates that the decrease is set 6 sts in from the edge and that the sleeve must be decreases until there are 6 sts left on the needle, then put the remains sts on a holder. SO - when you have decreased to 12 sts, the decrease placement remains the same, but on the next row (10 sts), where do you decrease???? Guesswork. I’m playing by ear.

12/29/2010
WHAT I HAVE DISCOVERED SO FAR
The longer I work on this project the more frustrated I become with the pattern-writing. Jane Ellison’s design is lovely, but the editing of this pattern is very unclear:

1. The decreases, which are meant to by symmetrical, are not marked properly in the patterns, leaving the knitter to figure out how to create a visual match on both sides.
2. The front panels, which include visually arresting decreases, are only detailed for one half of the sweater. The second half indicates “reverse shapings” which left me searching on the internet for help with them.
3. In general, there are inconsistencies with some of the instructions, which leaves the knitter having to assume what is meant.

11/2010
STARTING THE PROJECT
The pattern calls for 2 colors - 1 for the main body of the sweater and a second color for edging detail. I am making adjustments to color suggestions on my personal taste as follows:

I have chosen to use 3 strands - 2 lace weight yarns and 1 DK weight, which adds visual interest to the simple K2,P2 rib.

Filatura di Crosa makes lovely yarns and the Zara line is a beautiful, soft merino with as near to cashmere as you can get for 1/4 of the price. The lace weight yarns are from Filatura di Crosa’s Nirvana collection.

For the main body, I have chosen gray with lace weight navy and copper. For the edging, I switch to dark brown while retaining the navy and copper, which helps bring the whole color look together.

Although the pattern calls for the contrast color only at the cast on edge, I am adding one row to this throughout so that I will cast on in dark brown and knit one row in pattern before switching the main color, gray. The navy & copper is consistent throughout.