This project started with 6 beautiful buttons and a silk blouse I had nothing to wear with. Loft Woodsmoke yarn was chosen to match the blouse color (3rd, 4th pictures) and tiny Loft Cast Iron yarn accents added to match those 6 black buttons. Got different gauge of 23 st and 33 rows so I knitted 43 1/4 size for my 42 size bust.

Made a lot of modifications:

1. Back, front and sleeves cast-on with Cast Iron color for a cast-on row only, then changed to the main color.
2. The same tiny black line appeared on the collar with elastic garter stitch bind-off row.
3. Made 7 lace stitch motifs in the back (instead of 6) to change central motif with a button band in the front (6-9th pictures).
4. Made my Merle buttoned in men’s henley style. Button bands were made way longer (8th picture) than in a pattern description.
5. For me a neck in the pattern was too wide and a collar was a little bit too flabby and too small, especially in the back, so I made a neck shaping smaller and added two-sided tight collar band (9th, 11th picture). Picked up less stitches than in the pattern (28-43-28), knitted 5 rows in st st, then picked up the same amount st from the right side, knitted 5 rows. Then put and knitted together, added 7 st and finished collar in garter st increasing in the ends by 1 st in every 6th row 5 times to have an acute angled collar (8th picture). With some short rows made collar curved with more fabric in the back and less in the front.
6. Sleeves were too narrow for me so at first I tried to knit one sleeve one size larger. Did not help, frogged. Second time after the cuff (56 st) was made I drastically increased by 14 st (70 st) to have my sleeves in the bottom way more roomy. Then made increases in every 10th row 8 times. Ended with 86 st in total. Very happy about this modification. I have a good sleeve fit now.

If I knit it again, I would do bust darts and would not do waist shaping, for me it was too low and unnecessary.