I am returning to this pattern having attempted it several years ago and frogged because even though I was knitting to gauge it was absolutely huuuuuge on me.

This time I put in 8 short rows around the neck and shoulders to raise the back and reduce the size of the neck opening so that the garment doesn’t slip off my shoulders and hang off me like a sack. I also knitted it in handspun wool rather than (as last time) in a wool/cotton blend in the hope that this will result in less drag on the bottom hem-line.

A note on one of the instructions in the pattern which made absolutely no sense to me. At the neck the pattern reads “k1, p1 yif” and the next row instructs us to “p1 wyib, k1”. I dutifully knitted the first row following the instruction, but wondering why on earth it would be necessary to be told to purl with the yarn in front of the work - because what other way is there to purl? Then I got to the next row and tried valiently to purl with yarn in back. This is, of course, impossible. After some head scratching and tinking I think what the designer means is (for the first round) “k1, slip 1 purlwise with yarn in front” and on the next round, “slip 1 purlwise with yarn in back, k1”.