5. Knit neck in the round
I prefer the smoothness of knitting the neck in the round without picking up stitches. Sometimes this costs me front neck shaping, and I end up with a pucker in the bottom of the front of my turtleneck. I'm not worried about that in this sweater, because the neck is wider, stands away from the neck, and has a folded-down knit lining.
I'm not getting the pattern to line up exactly on the row edge; I'd have to add 6 stitches, which I think would look awkward. So I may just live with it, although I'd prefer to have the pattern be seamless.
Should finish the neck tonight, and the seaming this weekend!