I thought I would be smart and make a to-scale paper mock-up of the sweater to understand how it fits together. I’ve halted the knitting on this project (and have been working on other projects) until I understand how this works. The pieces don’t seem to fit as they should. I’ll have to check the comments of the other “Ravelry-ers” who have made this.

I’ve already purchased the buttons. I thought it might be fun to have three different colors that echo the different colors in the yarn.

7/31/11 - Figured out why my paper scale mock-up didn’t fit together. Re-cut, re-pieced and now it fits, so I feel comfortable knitting again on this project that will be a Christmas gift for my mother.

8/15/11 - The knitting is going REALLY fast. I should be ready to start piecing together the sweater within a week. I hope the blocking mat I’ve ordered comes soon. I’ll definitely want to block this before piecing it together.

8/16/11 - I’ve finished all the piecework and am waiting for a blocking mat I’ve ordered. It’s weird to be without a project in progress.

I’m swatching some recently purchased yarn while fleshing out details of their associateed projects.

8/22/11 - Blocking mat arrived on Friday. On Saturday I applied some applied I-cord to the tops of the pockets (thanks YouTube) and blocked the sweater. Last night I started assembling the sweater. I hope to finish the remaining assembly tonight and start working on the collar.

8/24/11 - Finished the assembly (stitching fronts & pockets together) and the garter stitch collar. My first buttonholes weren’t so challenging. When the I-cord collar bind-off is complete, all I’ll have left is sewing on the buttons.

10/16/11 - Some break. I realized I didn’t feel comfortable with the remaining handwork - applying the grosgrain ribbon to the back of the lapels (??? what’s the name of the flaps on the front of the sweater where the buttons are attached on one side and the buttonholes installed on the other?)

I’d thought about asking a friend about helping with the sewing. My mom sews - well. I’m hoping she’ll overlook the little imperfections.