Ingrid, that sweater is AMAZING! So beautiful!
I really like the way the two-color pattern on the sweater decreases inward around the neck steek, then when you cut the neck steek, magically, the pattern looks "flat" again -- so cool!
How did you end up resolving the back-neck issue? It looks great in the finished photo.
(Oops! couldn't help myself!)
PS - to everyone who hates sewing machines, in "Knitting for Anarchists" Anna Zilboorg shows a steek method that requires only a yarn needle -- no sewing machines.