Sweater Success!!

I am proud (and amazed) to say that I have completed my first sweater! A huge part of the success comes from the fact that Ysolda Teague created a great, easy pattern with Cloud Bolero so I had no problem following the directions for the yoke, and then after that I did some adaptations.
Here you can see the completed version, and for anyone interested in doing the same modifications as me I'll lay them all out here:
1. After completing section 1, rather than binding off arms in picot, transfer them to waste yarn
2. After section one do three rows in garter stitch (to look like purl, knit, purl from the right side) then do stockinette stitch for the rest of the body with three stitches in garter on either edge
3. I didn't cast on any stitches in the underarm section and it's a great fit (I did size medium for a 36" bust
4. At the bottom I did three rows of garter stitch before binding off to mimic the transition from the feather and fan to the stockinette stitch
5. Once I knit the body I picked up the arm stitches, adding one or two extra from the arm pit to make it a tight connection, and knit the arms using the magic loop method. My sleeves measured about 3.5" before I did three rows of garter stitch and bound off.
I'm really happy with this sweater and still can't believe that I made something that wasn't a simple hat or sock. If anyone else out there is like me and struggling with first sweater phobia then Cloud Bolero is the place to start, see my previous post for the pattern source.

This yarn was a birthday present from my Mom and though you can't see it in the pictures there is great color variation. The yarn is dyed in seawater and to me it just looks so oceany with blues, greys, greens, and I really wanted a project that would show the yarn off and use ever precious inch of it!

Happy Knitting!