04/05/2015 This won’t be the first sweater I’ve started, but I’m hoping it’ll be the first one I finish! I’m doing this one right - gauge swatch and everything. I’ve put in a lot of time already researching others’ FOs made with this yarn.

04/07/15: Yarn arrived today! Cast on my gauge swatch on size 8 needles. I’d always believed that the best way to handle gauge swatches is to block them, but I’ve come across more than a few people the last few days who say otherwise. I’m going to be throwing this one in the wash and tumble dry on low with the rest of my laundry since that’s how I plan on washing this sweater. I’ve used superwash yarns before, but never washed them. Still kinda skeptical about their washer/dryer durability, but we’ll see what happens.

04/08/15: Threw my first swatch in the wash with cold water and then in the dryer on low. This yarn says it should be dried flat, but decided to run it through the dryer anyway after reading pixieface’s project notes. The swatch did shrink a bit, and definitely fuzzed more than I had expected it to. Gauge before washing was something like 18.5 sts x 25 rows = 4”. Gauge after washing was 18 sts x 27.5 rows = 4”. Contemplated whether I should continue on using an 8 or go up to a 9. I could probably fudge it using the 8s but decided to do a swatch on 9s just because I know I’ve gotta do more laundry tomorrow anyway! If the second swatch is too big, I’ll use the 8s and just make it work. I’m a little bit smaller than the size I’m making, and my gauge is only .25 SPI/RPI off so I think it would work out okay in the end.

04/09/15: Finished and washed my second swatch. Gauge ended up being 17 sts x 26.5 rows = 4”. Bah!! Gonna just go with the 8s and see what happens.

05/04/15: I sorta lost steam on this after the first sleeve. Quickly did the bottom border before starting the second sleeve. I’m iffy on this because it is SO LONG. I read a lot of project notes that said it would be long, but I didn’t expect this much length. The sweater completely covers my butt, and I’m not sure I’ll be able to button it all the way down. Will finish the second sleeve then start the collar, then decide on the button hole row if I want to do buttons the whole way down. Might just put one under the bust and let the rest hang free? We’ll see.

05/09/15: Well, it’s done. And I’m a little underwhelmed.

• I should have definitely done the modifications for the shorter version. Everyone that has seen it thinks it’s awesome and the length is fine, but it’s just too long for me.
• Even more troublesome than the length is how floppy the collar is. If I bend forward at all, the collar flops around and gapes open. I blame this on my small bust and I feel like if it were larger, the collar might stretch and lay more flat in that area.
• I can’t button more than the top button without the button band stretching out and looking weird. And despite buying larger buttons than what the pattern called for (3/4” vs. the recommended 1/2”) the button keeps popping out of its hole.

The pictures make it look really nice - and it is! - but I guess my expectations were too high.