If It Doesn't Move, I'm Kitchenering It

At this point with Vivian, I'm Kitchenering the heck out of every stitch in sight.

The reason is that I modified the original pattern, which calls for working the sleeves in the round and then attaching them as you work from the bottom toward the neckline of the sweater. On Version 1 and 2 of the sleeves, I was dissatisfied with (as many Raveler posters have noted), how fitted, well, just too tight the sleeves were. So, on Version 3 (or perhaps 4), I decided to work the sleeves down from the shoulder, after adding the held stitches into the body. Another dead end: working a sleeve in the round when attached to a bulky, heavy cabled sweater is not fun.

Version 4, or 5, and the ultimate choice: I worked the sleeves flat, used the stitch count from the size Large instead of my size Small, and worked the sleeves from cuff toward shoulder.

And because I was over the sleeve question, I put this all on the back burner while I tried to finish the body and hood of the sweater. This meant that I need to create a little faux top of the sleeve (about six rows) to add in when the pattern called for adding the sleeves to the body.

Time, then, to connect the sleeves. I decided to Kitchener stitch them to the little cap sleeve I'd created. Oh, and did I mention that I ran out of yarn (again)? Saved by another fellow poster on Ravelry, who sent me two skeins of the no-longer-available Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran, after I'd eked out every inch left of the tiny odds-and-ends at the bottom of the knitting bag.

The result is not bad. There's a slight seam line that's visible, and I'm not sure that it isn't going to hit my upper arm instead of shoulder.

Live and learn, right? I'm now pushing along to complete the second sleeve seam, work in multitudinous ends, and sew in (yikes) a zipper. This is one orange sweater, two years in the working, with end, hopefully, in sight. I am stupified by knitters who've posted on this sweater and have completed it in a few weeks. Do they do nothing but knit? Please, share your secrets with me! And does this mean that taking on Sylvi next might be a bad choice?