knit in one piece.
cast on 135 stitches, did a seed stitch cast on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O85AC7T8iqo but did one row of ribbing (matching knit stitches to cast on stitches that look like knit stitches) then launched into seed stitch because i thought it looked better. knit the bottom band with size 4mm needles, and body with 4.5mm. because of first row change, every side starts with p (k, p) instead of k (p, k). added one purl stitch between seed stitch band and chart A on both sides. this made the seed stitch border line up properly with the seed stitch inside the bottoms of the large cables.

modified all the cables so that they are symmetrical, with the left side (looking at the work) is slanting left, and right side slanting right for both the large cable and the smaller twisted stitch cables. see the overall hand-drawn diagram in the photos here, and the new Chart A and Chart B also pictured here. the back matches the front. knit more repeats before casting off for the arms as my gauge made the work shorter in the vertical. did the cast off for the arm holes as a curve, not as a vertical drop off.

redid the button band with wider spacing between the button holes, so that there are 7 buttons total.

knit arms in the round, finished with curved cap top to the outside of each sleeve. hid increases on the sleeves next to the outside edge of the twisted stitch four stitch panel.

knit the collar on to the edge all the way around, instead of sewing it on after the fact.

used wooden buttons that look like leather.