The MC yarn is intriguing. It is a combed worsted spun so there is a slight density to it. It is merino and cottony soft and will be amazing next to skin. There is texture as well; a slight tonal marled twist that reflects light in a beautiful way.

Gauge swatch late April. Tried several needle sizes; settled on recommended size: US 4. This gave the most neat and tidy stitches at stitch gauge. Row gauge, which is usually more difficult for me to reach, is spot on.
Unblocked: 6 st/in; 8 R/in

MC: Mountain Meadow Wool Tweed Sport in Gypsum colorway, a lightly marled merino.
CC: Schaefer Yarn Co in Stephanie colorway, a multicolored merino/silk blend.

Choosing size 4 (40) to allow 3-4” positive ease.

Knit the body and colorwork as written.

5/28: Time for the body hem. I will switch to US 3 needles rather than size US 2 for a slightly swingy hem. Hmmm, not as swingy as I had hoped; will see what happens after blocking. May re-knit with US 4. Used a knit bind off edge. 6/8- decided to re-knit the hem with US 4.

5/31: Moved forward with neck ribbing. Asked Albina about number of picked up stitches. For example, my size 4 added up to 128 sts not the instructed 124 sts. A few other sizes might differ as well. Purled the bind off edge (I Love the purled version!).

6/1: Left sleeve. Had to p/u 2 more extra stitches than instructed under the arm to close the gaps. Decreased underarm sts with the others as instructed in next row. After colorwork section, began sleeve decreases starting with 4th row rather than with 2nd row. Continued decreases on every 10th row.
I don’t like the look of my SKP decrease (messy) so I have come up with a decrease that mirrors the K2TOG. It is barely noticeable and leans to the right, both qualities I want here in this situation (photo up above: it’s a small detail but makes me happy ). I’ve written the steps below in case anyone else might like to try:

Slip 2 sts as if to purl to RH needle, turn work to the back, purl those 2 slipped sts, turn work to the front, slip the st just worked as if to knit over to RH needle, continue with instructions for the remainder of the row to the last 2 sts, K2tog.

(Though I came up with this on my own, someone else must have invented it? But I couldn’t find it on the web, so it is S2P2togB for now; Slip 2 Purl 2 together at back of work.)

Finished left sleeve cuff with 1.25” MC, 2R of alternating MC & CC stitch colorwork, ending with 1.25” CC and a purled bind-off edge. It looks really sweet folded over.
Finished right sleeve and cuff by 6/26/21. I added the ripple just above the cuff using main chart since there were 60 sts after all the decreases. Repeated right cuff colorwork as above for left cuff.
Next steps: weave in ends, soak, block.

…oh no after soaking, the CC wool has bled; there are dye spots on the grey MC! I’ve never personally encountered this issue; hugely disappointed in wool that does this. I should have checked a sample of the yarn for color fastness prior to knitting (huge lesson learned). Now to see if I can remove the color smudges, or at least the worst ones.

This is a lovely relaxing project. Clear instructions. Sweet ripples. I’m happy with the process and anticipating the finish… except for the bleeding of CC dye during blocking process, a knitter’s worst nightmare!

Rainy days won’t keep me down. Even though the knitter in me was gut punched when the contrast color bled into the grey color during its bath, there is so much to celebrate in what did work: the undulating color ripples, the positive ease, the simplicity of the pattern.
I will knit another in other colors. I will wear this one and celebrate the glorious time and effort that went into both the writing and knitting of the pattern.

New-to-me technique:
Provisional Cast-on
S2P2togb