12/21/2024 - My sweater is finished and it is the oversized, cozy sweater I was hoping for. I actually finished the knitting about 3 weeks ago, but was waiting for the buttons I ordered to complete it. I am a bit concerned about the longevity of the yarn though. It is CRAZY soft and pilling because of this. I will just keep using my shaver on it and enjoy it while have it :) The gauge is a bit loose which has caused quite a bit of growth. Hindsight, since the pattern shapes are pretty boxy, it would have been pretty easy to knit it at a tighter gauge and accommodate the difference in gauge by adding some stitches to the width.

11/16/2024 - this is actually on my 2025 sweater list, but I really wanted to swatch for it, so I cast on the pockets and used them as my gauge swatch.

I made a few modifications to the sweater.

1. I integrated my pockets by knitting them up to the 4 rolled edge rows and placed them on hold. Then I knit the body to the defined top pocket placement, replaced the stitches from the body with the pocket (placing the body stitches on a stitch holder) and continued knitting the body. Then I went back to the body stitches on hold (outside/top of pocket), knit the rolled edge for the top of the pocket and sewed it down on the inside of the sweater. If I knit the sweater again, I would make the pockets about 1 1/2” longer.
2. I cast on the front and back together, adding a total of 4 stitches that I later used at the underarm. When I got to the point I was ready for armholes, I split the body, binding off 4 stitches at each underarm (2 stitches that would have been used for seaming and the 2 extra stitches I added at the beginning). This helped with the fit of the armhole/sleeve.
3. I did German short rows to shape the shoulders, then did a 3-needle bind off at the shoulders. I stabilized the shoulder seam with a tight single crochet stitch after blocking.
4. I picked up all of the stitches for the neckband at once. I did my buttonholes in row 2 of the neckband instead of on the body of the sweater.
5. I picked up my sleeve stitches in the round and worked a few short rows to create a small sleeve cap to help the fit of the drop shoulder.
6. I did a wet block of my project and hindsight; I think just a light steam block might have been better as it grew in length quite a bit. I do not mind the extra length in the body, but the sleeves are now about 1” to long. I suspect once I have worn it for a month or so, I will get bothered enough by it to undo the bind-off and rip back the inch to shorten them.