FINISHINGAttaching the band as you work it is really the only way to make a neat job of Bridie's asymmetric front detail. Still, the idea of knitting one long snaky strip of ribbing and simultaneously wrangling needle and yarn sounded too fiddly to me: as soon as I read that part of the directions, I knew that I just didn't want to do it, and realised that unless I worked out a sew-less way of getting the band in place, poor Bridie would be going back into the knitting bag with sad naked fronts.
Block all pieces to measurements. Sew Shoulder seams.
Left Front Band / Neckband
Note: to ensure a perfect fit, sew piece AS YOU WORK IT to Left Front, Back neck shaping, and Right Front neck shaping.
Luckily, I have learned some things in my time knitting (even if I haven't learned not to be a baby about seams). Remember Matilda Jane? Remember my delirious joy at her seamlessness? And remember that she has button bands? Knitted in button bands, no less. Adding a chain selvedge by slipping a stitch purlwise at the neck edge is a minor alteration of the pattern - but when you are the sort of pouting child that I become when faced with a bit of slightly-challenging making-up, it's an alteration which makes the difference between ending up with a wearable garment, or ending up with a sorry heap of knitted pieces.