But-ton sweater, Part Deux

I've been a bit torn on how to present this post, so I figure, a little transparency never hurt anyone, did it?

So, if you listen to the podcast, you've heard the story of the But-ton Sweater for Boo. Jump to the bottom (**) for the story, if you haven't heard it.

So, I knit this sweater (which ended up being a coat, mostly because I let Boo select her own sweater), Mom seamed it up, I did an applied i-cord edging, and we did all of the Awesome Couture Finishing stuff (grosgrain ribbon behind the buttonband, backing buttons) that should be done. We *might* have finished the sweater a few minutes before I left the house for the Inlaw Easter Shindig.

We arrive at the Inlaw Easter Shindig, say our "hello"s, and I find Boo so that she can unwrap the sweater. The sweater was an unparalleled success, and she wore it the whole day. If you were four years old, wouldn't you?

She liked it so much, she wanted to help style for the photos for the brief moment that she wasn't wearing it:

I know these aren't the best pictures of the sweater, and I know a full-length photo would be awesome. I have quite a few awesome pictures of Boo in her sweater, my favorite of which captures her sparkling, charming, four-year old essence entirely. (These pictures, for the record, were not only worth a thousand words, but also a million estrogen-infused sighs.)

However.

Boo is not my kid. Despite the fact that I got permission from her parents to post photos of her online, I'm still not 100% comfortable posting them on my blog, mostly because I am not sure I *would* post pictures up here if she were my kid. The internet is too big a place, and she is too adorable for words. I also think it's creepy to have a full-body shot of a kid and crop out their face, so there you go.

Things I have learned from this sweater:

- If you're going to knit a wool sweater for a child, make it Malabrigo. Or any other impossibly soft wool. Guess who didn't complain about the sweater being itchy?

- If you hand a four-year old a book of sweaters, she will pick the most labor-intensive sweater/coat, and also place her order for three *other* sweaters. (She asked for a "sparkly blue" sweater next, for the record. Dream in Color Starry, anyone?)

- More rhinestones on the buttons = better sweater.

- If the recipient of the sweater is cute enough, it *is* possible to knit miles and miles and miles of seed stitch.

- A squeal of delight upon sight of a sweater from an appreciative child does *actually* cause knitting amnesia, making the knitter think about the next sweater. Sparkly blue, huh?...

**If you haven't heard the story, I knit a sweater for Boo when she was a wee bairn, and it had matching rhinestone buttons. Rhinestone buttons = awesome, she loved the sweater, and was sad when she outgrew it. Since this is categorically unprecidented in the history of Knitting Sweaters for Children, I told Boo I would knit her another, and let her pick the pattern and the color of the yarn. In my great wisdom, I made sure that this sweater also had rhinestone buttons.

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