Decision Made

I hope my mom can forgive me, because I'm casting on for the cardigan for me! I would like to say that the deciding factor was that Ysolda is donating the proceeds from her patterns to Haiti, or that this pattern is easier, but realistically it's just because I have no self control and I want this sweater! I've been reading all the comments from Ravelry and looking at all the project details and I have to admit I'm a little freaked out. It looks like a number of individuals have had issues with sizing. The body of the sweater is knit in garter stitch, and it's a stitch that tends to stretch with wear. Because of this many people have decided to knit the sweater with negative ease (the sweater is smaller than their actual measurements and will then be a snug fit).
Because of all the hulabaloo about sizing and horror stories about the ever growing cardigan I've been trying to decide what size to knit. There are a couple complicating factors, for one thing, I'm knitting with size 8 needles rather than the size 9 the pattern calls for. This will obviously make the sweater smaller, and the fabric denser and less likely to stretch. I also have a tendency to knit things too small, I'm not sure if it's that I'm a tight knitter or always underestimate measurements but my finished projects come out snug more often than saggy.

After a great deal of back and forth, knitting up swatches to measure my gauge, and even a sweater nightmare or two I've decided that I will knit the sweater in my actual size (not a size larger or a size smaller) but on the smaller needles and with the sturdy Louet Riverstone (it's a nice dense wool, not silky, so I don't think it should stretch too much) and hope that all the different factors balance out to a perfect fit.

I really want this sweater to be perfect so I did some practicing last night of the techniques I'm less familiar with. I have a phobia of button bands and tried Ysolda's buttonhole technique four times before I thought I could pull it off nicely on the actual sweater. Also tried the I-cord edging which gives the collar a really nice finished look. Still a little concerned about all the short rows for shaping and some of the other elements but my patience has run out and I'm going to dive in!