Almost looks like a skirt rather than a sweater. I promise it will start looking more like a sweater soon.

Notice the stitch holders. Just after casting off the extra stitches some stitches are put on hold just before starting decreases for the neck line.

On the front neck line, several inches of stitches in the center of the body are put on hold and the knitting continues in the round with decreases on either side of the extra stitches. Thanks to Anne Feitelson’s book, I learned that the decreases should slant towards the extra stitches – totally opposite of what I would have thought.

On the back neck line, about 1/3 of the stitches at center back are put on hold just a few rows before the body is complete. This small dip in the back will help the collar sit comfortably around the neck; or so I’ve read in various knitting books.

Although not shown in these photos, the shoulders were grafter together earlier this week.

Next step is to cut the extra stitches at the sides  and to pick up stitches for the sleeves. What a difficult thing to do since once done, there’s no turning back.

By the way,  this photo wasn’t taken in my yard. We tend not to water the little grass that we do have. This large lawn was well nurtured by my father for the past year.