What WASN’T modified? Nothing, I think.

The stitch pattern was modified: the second row (which was worked on the inside/back face of the fabric) was knit across only on the bottom and top three repeats. On all other repeats, only the lace increase portion (yo and adjacent stitches) were knit, while the decrease portions were purled so as to lay smooth on the front face of the fabric--there is a close-up of this.

The decreases were also made symmetrical--K2tog on one side of each panel border, and SYTK on the other, press “+” button on photo of fabric close-up for details.

The body length was modified: the pattern as written would have made a tiny cropped jacket. I knit 4 extra inches of length and another inch would have been OK, too. (Note: I am short, and short waisted. If I were taller, I’d have had to add even more inches to get a mid-hip length.)

The sleeves were modified: I knit them flat. The instructions for knitting them in the round made absolutely zero sense to me, so I ignored them. There is a close-up of the sleeve seam. The instructions for fitting the sleeves into the armholes made no sense either, so I ignored those also, and just fit them in where they made sense to go--IF consideration is given to having the patterns match, this will be a fairly simple modification given the yoke nature of the garment and the straight (no shaping) nature of the sleeves. Finally, the length of the sleeves was adjusted--they were made longer, although I actually made them almost TOO long. If I knit this again, I would make them shorter (but still longer than the pattern calls for.)

The yoke depth was modified: According to the measurement schematic, the yoke depth would have made a very tight underarm on me. I therefore added a pattern repeat (4 rows) of chart 1 above where the sleeves were first joined to the body. This did add over an inch of ease, but if I ever re-knit this garment, I would add yet another pattern repeat of chart 1 (two total ADDED) before beginning chart 2.

The back of the neck was modified: I added quite a few short rows to the back of the neck. As shown in the first and last photos, the back of the neck was thereby raised above the front of the neck. If I ever re-knit this pattern, I would raise the back of the neck even further. IMHO, the jacket as written would be essentially unwearable (at least by me!) unless the back of the neck is raised.

In this connection, it is interesting to note that the photo of the model on the Drops website shows her leaning forward with the jacket falling open. I suspect that in order to have the jacket as high on her neck back--and as low on her waist-- as is shown in the photo, the back of the jacket is hiked WAY up. Hiking the back of the jacket up like that would have made the fronts fall very oddly indeed had their fall not been disguised by posing the model leaning sideways, too. (Why yes, I do have a deeply suspicious mind.)

The neck opening was modified to be smaller with two different tricks. First, the last two pattern repeats (last 8 rows) of jacket were worked on one size smaller needle (size 3) than that used for the main work. Second, the neck was made substantially smaller by working an additional decrease round beyond that specified on every panel EXCEPT the two over each mid-shoulder (these were left at 7 sts each, to prevent the sleeves from puckering at the top). Had this add’l dec not been done, the neck opening would have been WAY too large. If I were to knit this again, I would switch to the smaller needle three pattern repeats short of done. I would also modify the last repeat (from 7 down to 5 sts) so as to have YO holes in the last repeat, by k3tog, yo, k1, yo, sssk, rather than the plain stretch of fabric suggested by chart 2.

The button holes were modified by being eliminated. The original pattern called for a very few buttonholes to be made “as you go” in the garter bands. Instead, buttonholes were added at the end by running a line of slipped stitches along the edge (post about that method here) and doing a loose 4 st chain to create loop buttonholes where wanted, 9 buttonholes/buttons in all. I put the buttons on the “wrong” side for a ladies’ jacket because I find them easier to button that way.

The front bands were modified by a new unvented method to prevent them from flipping. There is a whole TECHknitting post about how this was done.

The yarn called for was not used, instead, 3/2 perle cotton was used on a US 4 needle. The first swatch came out exactly at stitch AND row gauge--a first ever, I believe.

Overall, a cute little project, and one available in a large range of sizes. (Thank you, thank you Drops!!) However, there is one little thing that bugs me about the finished project: when I was a kid, little lace jackets like this were called “bed jackets,” and this is the sort of thing which pregnant women wore over their nightgowns in the hospital when they went to deliver. Somehow, every time I see this jacket, I imagine it over a nightgown, which is NOT how I WANT to imagine it. Want to wear it with jeans!

Note 1: the photo of the “bottom band” is most true as for color.

Note 2: I made size XL--I like loose garments. However, this was still pretty snug.

Note 3: An edging was worked all the way around ALL exposed edges (sleeve bottoms, sweater bottom, bands and neck) using the “neat little edging” trick. This will stabilize the garter st fabric esp along the front bands, as well as adding heft to the bottom bands for a better drape.

Note 4: I don’t normally go for waist shaping, due to a very high waist. However, this project has a somewhat Kimono-like, or even tent-like drape, due to having been knit in cotton (heavy, does not “draw in” at all). If I were to reknit thisit might be wise to consider making all the mid-body repeats (from 6 or 8 up from bottom, up to 2 or so shy of underarms) on one size smaller needle (size 3) to try to get some sort of waist shaping going.