January 16
Plan to use Aeiost’s mods - cropping the length 3 inches and using a contrast color at the neck/shoulders.

Tried the tubular cast on, but found it a bit tricky and hard to get the hang of… found another cast on suitable for 1x1 rib in the alternating cable cast on - it was much easier for me to figure out even if it isn’t going to be as perfect as the tubular cast on. (Just not a perfectionist.) Tutorial for alternating cable cast on here.

The last stitch I cast on was a knit stitch, so the first row of knitting I started with was Ribbing Row 2 (WS): K1, (p1, k1)

January 21
Joined the front and back hems today. Loving how this is knitting up so far. The Narwhal color-way doesn’t have as much contrast as Newsprint so not sure if it will read as gray/white vs just light gray. Just hoping it will pair well with Postcard as a contrast color for the shoulder ribbing.

February 13
Started shoulder shaping for the front. It’s been snowing since yesterday and I’m enjoying being confined to my house by the snow AND quarantine so I can spend HOURS UPON HOURS knitting!

February 14
Finished the front. I watched tutorials for kitchener stitch on one needle and decided instead to bind off on a larger needle in P1, K1 pattern and I think it looks just fine. (Maybe not perfect, but totally fine!)

February 21
Just finished binding off the shoulders. Tried it on and it doesn’t seem to be as loose as the recommended ease… I am a tight knitter (and didn’t do a gauge swatch as per usual), but I know this yarn will achieve amazing things during blocking so I am not too worried.

Now starting on the first sleeve. I picked up 76 sts rather than 72 and am starting decreases at 1.5” rather than 1” to make sure the shoulder/upper arm is roomy enough (I do not have dainty shoulders/arms).

February 23
Have decreased to 66 sts and now continuing decreases every 3/4.“ Plan to stop decreases at 56 sts as my fabric seems to be tighter than the required gauge. Also continuing through to the specified number of decreases would result in sleeves too long for me.

February 25
Finished the first sleeve. Only did about 1.75” of ribbing for the cuff. Used Very Pink Knit’s stretchy bind off…

March 1, 2021
Finished weaving in ends and blocking. Final bust measurement is 42” so a little smaller than the pattern. Had two full skeins leftover (well, technically a little less than two full skeins, but it would have been more than two full skeins if not for an unfortunate yarn ball mishap caused by one of my dogs). Side note: I have pondered for QUITE awhile… I generally think if my gauge is tight, then it means my item is smaller and I’ll use less yarn. But I’m realizing that if your gauge is tight and the pattern tells you a number of inches, then I use more yarn. I’ve only been knitting for like a decade and yet this is like higher level math for me. But I still am confused because this pattern is mostly “knit to X inches” and I still had two balls of yarn leftover, which seems like more excess than I expected even cropping the body.

The sweater is a lovely fit. Cropping 3” was a good call for me (I’m very short), and omitting some of the length of the sleeves was perfect too. Though it’s a little smaller than the pattern called for, a 42” chest circumference works great for me (33.5” bust), so overall it’s a boxy/cropped shape that I like.

This was a fun and easy knit (though I admittedly cheated and used easier cast on/bind off methods, which I don’t think detracts at all from the finished product)!

Highly recommend this pattern. And I think the color-ways I chose work really well together. I cannot say often enough - I love love LOVE Brooklyn Tweed’s Shelter and Loft. Amazingly, I haven’t tried their other yarns yet, but I know I need to!