Sweater -- second time around

Many of you may remember the sweet sweater I made for a friend whose baby was due last February.

I have had the great fortune of getting to know that sweet baby over the past year, and luckily she seems to like me *almost* as much as I like her.  The sweater was a huge hit with her parents, and only recently was it packed lovingly away, waiting for the next child to be born into this amazing family.

Baby's first birthday was last weekend, and I decided that since she, and her mama, seem to be fans of handknits, that I would knit her another sweater.

So I whipped up this little ditty.

I had made the Saroyan shawl for myself this fall, and had a great time with the fun leaves on the edge, so knew that those same leaves down the front would be super cute.  This is my first top down raglan pattern, and was so much easier than I thought "real" sweater knitting would be.  I have been thinking about making one for myself (a top down raglan, that is) but fear I am delusional about how much knitting time one for me will take.  I'm significantly larger than a 1 year old.

I wasn't around for present opening time, but have been told that after the sweater was opened, Lady Z walked over to it, picked it up and started rubbing it against her face.  A lover of handknits turned one last Friday, to be sure.