Update 5/12/14: Buttons on, photos taken and uploaded!

Update 5/11/14: Completely finished except for the buttons, which I must now acquire. Pics will be taken tomorrow if it’s sunny enough. Made the 40” chest size.

Update 5/8/14: Finally picked this up again. Used size 2 (sleeve) or 3 (front/back) bamboo circs for seed stitch sections, and size 6 nickel plated circs for the main colorwork parts. Size 2 made gauge, but it seemed so tight and stiff that after I finished the sleeves, I went up a size for the front and back. Had problems with all the seed stitch sections curling up on me, but after a round with the steam iron, things are better behaved.

Added a few extra rows to the bottom sections of the front and back pieces. 5 (instead of 4) rows of purple before adding lavender, 3 (instead of 1) rows of plain purple before starting gold, and 3 (instead of 2) rows each in the gold/orange, gold, and gold/green sections, plus one row of plain dark green before starting in on the main body chart (green/lt. green). 6 extra rows in all To start the chart on a knit row, I purled the first plain purple row.

Off the needles and blocked all the pieces. Looks pretty good! No puckering or other funkiness in the colorwork. Now onto the shoulder seams and button band.
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Feb. 2014: First Fair Isle project. Swatching madly. Not even close to gauge with suggested needles! 28st/4” with size 6 on my first try, and I thought I was knitting so loosely!

I’m a right handed thrower, so this is complicated. Trying to work out color dominance. Current swatch on size 8s might work out. Need to make it a little bigger, then will try steam ironing it to see if the slight puckering goes away. If not, I will frog and try again!

This is really weird for me, as I usually need to go down two needle sizes to get gauge with single color projects. :(

Update: Um, after three hours, I frogged it and decided to go with the Loon Lake Pullover, which should be a much easier first time Fair Isle project, since it’s worked in the round.