I hate to say it, but

"I hate to say it, but it looks a little bad". That's what Eli told me when I modeled my finished Riding to Avalon Hoodie today. What do kids know anyway.. sheesh! LOL

I really like it, although I am hoping it softens a little in the wash for better drape. In the end I used 320 meters (just over 3 of the 4 extra balls that I purchased) more yarn than the pattern called for and my measurements were bang on to the schematics. Final mods were:

1) Shortened the hood (by 2 inches, I'll NEVER wear it and couldn't be bothered to do the full length)
2) Added a 2 inch border of the purl twist stitch to the bottom edge and finished it off with 4 rows of garter (2 garter ridges). I had initially just cast off the purl twist stitch, but it flared and rolled slightly, so I took out the cast off (again, a provisional cast off on the bottom is pure masterful genius!) and did the garter. That worked beautifully.
3) I only used 5 buttons on the sleeves and 3 buttons on the collar flap, so lessened the total button count by 3.

So, all in all, rather minor adjustments. I'm pretty sure this sweater will be worn to death by the end of winter.......