So much for Rule 6

I swear I would have posted progress reports sooner...if I had felt there was anything interesting to share. Since the back and fronts of this sweater are knitted all in one giant piece, my sweater-in-progress hasn't looked like much more than a pile of gray 2x2 ribbing since I cast on. Here's a picture to prove it. I put it in front of my Hoosier for scale and interest, but you can still clearly see that it's a big ol' pile of nice gray wool.

 

And here it is piled up in a slightly different way:

That being said, though, there are some interesting things going on in the construction of this sweater that make it quite different from contemporary patterns. Once knitted, the back looked extremely narrow to me, but as I got going on the first front, I realized that the width of the underarm area is cast onto the front only, which means that the fronts end up much wider than the back. Additionally, the fronts include a deep overlap for the double-breasted construction.

Here's the sweater laid out with the side edges folded under, as if the side seams were sewn. You can see the overlap and height of the center front.

And here it is with one front open and the full underarm width visible:

You might also notice in these pictures that the fronts both have some short-row shaping at the lower edge. The underarm length is left the same as the back while the center panels are about 1.5" longer. I suppose the shaping adds a tailored appearance to the jacket.

Onwards to the sleeves!