I’m making this in fingering weight. I got about 5.75 stitches and 7.5 rows to the inch, so I’ll be making the small size to get more like the XS in the end since this cardi has a lot of positive ease.

The combination yoke version is the one I’m making. It almost gave me a heart attack when I saw 6 or so “at the same time” boxed instructions. Luckily, the designer writes it out for you line by line and sorted by size right after that page. I just used a row counter and the whole thing was a snap. Since I am using a lighter weight yarn, I’ve added a couple of rows to each stripe section, but my experience with such large superwash garments has taught me that this baby will grow, so I’m not adding much extra. I tried the sweater on after separating the sleeves, and I’m satisfied with the fit. The shoulder and armhole fit is most important to me. I do love the nice natural curve and fit of the combination yoke shoulder on this pattern. It kept me on my toes, but it seems really worth it.

I did not do a provisional cast on. I used a long-tail. I don’t mind picking up stitches from a cast on row, and it seemed that a garment this heavy and large would benefit from a sturdy cast-on row. I thought using a provisional wouldn’t give enough structure to the top.

I took a break from the body after the first CC2 stripe to do the sleeves, since sleeves always seem to take forever when I leave them till the end. I decided that I didn’t like the slipped stitch pattern at the top of the arm. I was inspired by Jettshin’s example with the slipped stitch part over her elbow. I did that for mine. I will probably make the sleeves to at least 15.5-16” before doing the ribbing. I like long cozy sleeves.

Small errors: I forgot to change back to the MC at the bottom of the pockets, but the CC1 was hidden well enough when I did the i-cord bind off. I also forgot one of the short row repeats in the first Set 2 section of the collar, but I caught it by the time I got to the Set 2 of the right side and corrected by adding them after both Set 3 sections.

I haven’t wet-blocked this yet. I did a little steam blocking right after I finished