Hi, I'm the new girl

Hello, all! I am so excited to be joining this knitalong. I will be knitting this jacket for my mom in Peace Fleece Shaba. It is a pretty grass green with flecks of blue. I will probably work on this slowly as I am a non-monogamous knitter and always have a few projects on the needles. While I am likely to finish in the next couple of months, I am planning on giving it to her in the early fall as an early birthday/holiday gift. I am also thinking about lining it.

So far all I have is a swatch. My gauge is almost perfect. I was stunned when I actually got 18.5 st/4 inches. However, my row gauge is 27 r/4 inches. I was planning on making the 41". I think my row gauge will make each side about a half an inch wider than intended. I have been reading about alterations due to mismatched row gauge, but I am not sure exactly what people have been doing. I am also wondering since the row gauge is pretty close if I should just scrap it and go ahead moving the toggles to make it closer fitting. If I start with a front then I could make the back smaller if necessary, yes?

You have all been very inspiring! I can't wait to get started.