I really should have shown it modeled with the front left open. One of the unanticipated issues I had with this design was that the pleats flip out a bit when the clasps are closed. The stress placed on the front bands when the cardigan is closed tends to flip up the pleats. When the cardigan is left open, the flipping is minimized. But there are potential fixes. One is to orient the pleats in towards the direction of the side seams rather than out towards the center.

I put together a small tutorial outlining how to do this. In the original instructions, the pleats fold at the turning ridge and are tacked back to the wrong side of the garment. The pleat at the edge of the front bands (at the center of the cardigan) is the bottom pleat, with the other pleats (that are picked up at staggered points along the band) overlapping it. In the new instructions, the pleat at the edge of the front bands overlap the other pleats; and the pleats fold at the turning ridge and are tacked to the right side of the garment (the attachment point is hidden since the pleats overlap and cover it). Following the tutorial, I have a few photos of a swatch I worked up with the pleats down and up (to make the construction more clear). I hope this method works for those of you who might want the pleats to be less flippy (Click image for a bigger view).

I’d also recommend giving the pleats a good dose of steam to help them lie flat. Steam also brings out the shine in alpaca and silk. Just be sure to not touch the iron directly on the fabric. I’ve burned Alpaca Silk once when I inadvertently set an iron down on a blocking sweater!