FO--Ribbed Baby Jacket (by Debbie Bliss)

Ta da! The buttons are a little higher than I thought I'd put them, so now it looks like maybe three buttons would have been better. Hopefully the recipient's mother will not mind. But she's in fashion, so. . .
Close-ups of the buttons.

Above, the right side before single crochet edging. And below, the left side after single crochet edging. Because I like to compare and stuff.
So in the pic below, you can compare the two sides. Doesn't curl as much now, eh?
And the pieces before I picked up stitches.
It's a cute FO, but I think I hate Debbie Bliss patterns. The first sweater I ever chose to knit was a DB baby sweater, before I learned what top-down was. It was knit all in pieces (and at this point, I'd really *just* learned to knit) and then I had to seam the frickin' thing. And then, because I hadn't learned that much about gauge, after I blocked it, it had widened to gargantuan proportions so it fit me. It was like a No Doubt-era midrift-baring crop top that was actually supposed to be a baby sweater. So that got ripped.

This was a little better. But I'm resentful part of the allure of this pattern was its supposed "one-piece" construction, but sheesh--you cast on for the bottom of the back, knit the back, then cast on more stitches for the arms, do short rows for the shaping, then put the stitches on a holder, then knit the skinny little sides, THEN pick up stitches for the front ribbing, and THEN you have to sew the sides and arms together? Really? Seems a little fiddly. I mean, surely a more elegant pattern could have been written, but no. So I mattress-stitched the sides and Kitchener-stitched the arms and they came out decent. Also, I thought I was running out of yarn (I'd bought four 50-gram skeins) but it turned out when I thought I was on my fourth ball, I was on my third, so I should have enough for a hat even though I single crocheted around the cuffs and bottom to prevent curling.

The buttons have suns on them, which I suppose is ironic since the expectant mother lives in Seattle. I still have a helmet head (aka Aviatrix) to knit them, but I may take a break from the baby stuff. I feel like I have all of these little projects to do and I'm so behind--I owe Bub a sweater, Itty Bitty a baby blanket, and I'd wanted to knit my brother socks for Christmas. (Unfortunately, he has extra-wide size 11 feet. Yes, I know.) And it's almost the end of October. And Hubby and I started a gym membership and we go about five times a week (which severely cuts into knitting time). And we are supposed to be repainting our bedroom. But more on that later.

I hated knitting this sweater (again, inelegantly-written pattern) so I am *thrilled* that it's over! I'm not even sure why I did it. I'm not sure the mother is the type that would appreciate it. But when I first got pregnant, I wanted to knit so that the baby would have nice hand knits. Hopefully she can appreciate the sentiment.