fo: Gender Neutral Baby Sweater

I finished this wee little baby sweater during our fishing trip to Haines, Alaska.  You might remember it from this post.  I've been putting off blogging about it because I'd hoped to do a joint post with a baby vest I knit, but I can't seem to get the buttons attached and it's currently sitting in timeout.

It's called the Baby Boy 5-Hour Sweater, and was designed to be less lacy than then classic 5-hour baby sweater.  I liked it because it could easily be gender neutral, and I started it for Darryl's sister when she was pregnant and didn't know the baby's gender.  I made the newborn size (0-3 months), planning to mail it to them before the baby was born.  Uh..that didn't quite work out.

They claim 5 hours to knit it, but I think they meant 5 months since that's how long it took me to finish it.

Though to be fair to the pattern, I spent about 6 hours on the sweater up to the hem, then put it down for 5 months until I shamed myself into finishing it.

It has a neat construction.   You knit top-down to the sleeve divide, then knit across the front to the first sleeve and knit it completely, seam up the arm, then continue around to the second sleeve, finish it (plus seaming), then finish the row.  There's your sleeves, done, and you just finish knitting the body.  I hate knitting sleeves, so this way forces you to get them done right away.

I knit it out of some leftover Knit Picks Comfy Worsted from my Grey Amber sweater.  I think it took about 2 skeins to knit?  My Ravelry project page says 1, but I remember having to join on another skein not long after finishing the sleeves, so whether I started with a partial ball or used 2, I can't really say.

I got hung up on was the buttons.  By the time I got around to finishing it, I at least knew that the baby was a girl (since she'd been born 2 months earlier), but I still couldn't find what I wanted.  Granted, Whitehorse doesn't have the best selection - even if our awesome Local Yarn Shop has brought in a ton of beautiful buttons.

But then Haines happened, and their LYS had THE PERFECT BUTTONS.  I adored the filigree-look to them, and they were the perfect shade of silver for the grey fabric.  You don't realize how many shades there are of silver until you're trying to pair it to another grey.

Anywho, there is this simple sweater, finished at last.  It's actually an easy pattern to knit, and I love the construction of it.  The recipient, Baby L, has already worn it to a wedding with a pretty little plaid skirt.  Her parents are so knit worthy - every time I knit for their kids, facebook winds up full pictures of the cute little sprogs wearing the knits. 

That reminds me, I need to get started on their Christmas gift.  I have a great idea planned for Baby L and her big brother.  More on that later.

Do you have any truly knit- or sew-worthy people in your life?  And have you ever managed to make things for kids in time for them to actually fit the item?  I think Baby L has outgrown her sweater already...