First Knit Sweater

My first knit sweater is ~finally~ complete! This had been an ongoing project since the end of January, so it definitely felt good when I wove in all the ends last week. (I don't think I can make another fingering weight sweater for a while...)

Close-up of lacy yoke. It's the same on both the front and back.

Below are some project notes:

• Because vintage patterns are notorious for being vague, I was a little nervous starting this project, though referencing other people's project notes (mostly CarmineZuigiber's) on Ravelry helped me plan and customize my own sweater. My modifications include: knitting in the round, making the body 2" longer than indicated in the pattern, and making the sleeves 0.75" longer.

• I chose Knit Picks' Gloss Fingering yarn for this project, which is relatively inexpensive, but the quality is amazing for the price. It was easy to knit (no splitting) and washed well. My needles were sort of a different story. I used two circular sets—US 0 (2.0 mm) for ribbing, US 1.5 (2.5 mm) for everything else. While knitting, one of the 2.0 mm needles snapped, and the cable also started separating from the needle... To be fair, they were a cheap wood set. However, my stainless steel 2.5 mm needles by ChiaoGoo worked fantastically. They're super durable, and because they're metal, my stitches glided along. I really wish I had gotten my 2.0 mm from ChiaoGoo as well (they weren't available at the time).

Broken needle :(

• One thing I love about knitting (and crocheting) is that I can always frog my project without wasting material. I experimented with knitting my sleeves to 3/4 length and ended up liking short sleeves better, which meant that I needed to rip rows of stitches. And I got to use lifelines for the first time. Following this tutorial on Craftsy, I was able to fix my work pretty quickly!

So that's it from me—a mishmash of project notes and lessons learned. What are some things that you wish you'd known when you knitted your first sweater?

What I used:
Pattern: Lacy Yoke Blouse by Bernhard Ulmann Co.
Yarn: Knit Picks Gloss Fingering (70% Merino wool, 30% Silk; 220 yards/50 grams per skein) in Velveteen (approximately 4.5 skeins)
Needles: US 0 (2.0 mm) circular, US 1.5 (2.5 mm) circular, 1.3 mm crochet hook (to finish neckline)