The sweater knitting is mostly done, and the blocking has made a big difference:

To review my major modifications: I did a v-neck instead of a crew neck, and I added some much needed back-neck shaping on the back (frankly, for a $7.00 pattern, it should include this in the pattern, and not assume that the knitter would know to do this).

The sleeves are also blocked, but it was a bit hard to get to them yesterday – Brandy was in her feline approval mode:

As you can see, this is a stressful assignment for the kitty!

I’ve decided to do an i-cord edging along the fronts and neck – it turns out that a 5-stitch i-cord works beautifully, tightens where it needs to tighten, and firms where it needs to firm. The sweater is a tiny bit looser than I’d like, although I haven’t attached the sleeves yet, so that might change things a bit.