Celtic Knot Sweater

We had company over the other night, and I wanted a brainless knit. For some reason (perhaps relating to the brainless requirement, perhaps because I've been trying to make myself not work on it so that I finish Durrow) I completely forgot about my sock yarn blanket. Instead, I realized that I had the right needles (sort of) to start the celtic knot sweater, even if I don't have the right needles to continue.

So I cast on for the size I intended to make, and knit as far as I was supposed to on the smaller needles. Yeah, not far.

Comments:
1. I think I'm going to love this sweater when it's done. :)
2. The pattern calls for 4 mm needles to start. My boye needle gauge says that a US 5 is 3.75 mm, and a US 6 is 4.25 mm. Urm...? So I went with my US 5 3.75 mm needle. (I need to look at the US sizes in order to remember if I have them. I think it's because I (re)learned to knit while living in the USA.) However, later I checked the KnitPicks site to see if they had 4 mm needles, and their US 6 corresponds to 4 mm. I happen to have some Options in US 6. Whoops. Oh well... as:
3. Using the US 5 needles, I got an approximate gauge of 19 stitches to four inches. (Yeah, it's a bit hard to measure with so little knit.) The pattern on the larger (US 8 / 5 mm) needles is supposed to be 18 stitches to four inches. Somehow I don't think I'm going to get gauge on US 8 / 5 mm needles. (I *wish* they had specified what gauge I was supposed to get on the smaller needles!) Thus, I *need* to swatch for both this project and Klaralund (which also calls for US 8) before I go off to Ram Wools to buy nice needles.
4. This bit I've knit so far is *wide*. I've measured my weasley, and it's half way between the size I'm knitting and the next size down. I'm wondering if I should go down a size, or go for really baggy. (My old Klaralund isn't that helpful... it's stretched to be wider at the bottom than at the top. The Klaralund size I knit previously is the same as the smaller sized Celtic Knot sweater, but I'm not sure I actually got anything close to the recommended gauge... I didn't swatch, and I can't remember if I measured gauge at any point. I do remember using the called-for needles, but I can't remember if that was when I was a tight knitter, or after I had loosened up.)

Also, the join on the Addi Natura needles I'm using? Ugh:

Here's a close-up:

(My flickr account was getting full, so I shrank the photos before uploading them last night.) I hadn't used these needles before now. I really doubt these needles would work for something like lace yarn, with how nasty the joins are. There's even some roughness on the bamboo right by the join. (I need to sand it.) I don't think I'll be buying any more Addi Naturas. (I think I got them to see if I liked them more than the Addi Turbos... this was back in the day before KnitPicks Options or Addi Lace. Not that I've had a chance to try Addi Lace needles yet.)