Buttonholes on the left

I made most of this yesterday while snowed in watching Jennifer Aniston movies on Lifetime. I sewed the pieces together this morning.
I had a gift card from my LYS, so went shopping for yarn to make a sweater for a little boy who is almost 1.
<---I couldn't resist these little sheep buttons with dangly feet!
I am always searching the internet for free patterns and I wanted something that didn't have to be pulled over the head, as we all know how babies feel about that.
I got this one from the Lion Brand Yarn website, where there are plenty of free patterns available. What caught my eye on this one was that the model wearing it was a boy, and sure enough, after checking out the directions, the buttonholes were appropriately on the left.
Now, some knitters write things such as "It doesn't really matter to a baby." while others staunchly proclaim "Of course it matters -- boys' buttonholes are on the left, girls' are always on the right!" In any case, I went right along with this pattern without the extra bother of reversing the directions for the buttons and buttonholes.
The pattern featured organic cotton yarn, but I used Red Heart multi colored yarn called "Seagrass". It's a blend of blues, greens, and a neutral, which is what led me over to the button aisle where I found the neutral little sheep.
I like multicolored or varigated yarn for several reasons, as it can blend with many other clothes; but also I find that it can be "forgiving" when you are sewing the pieces together and small flaws are less noticeable.
In any case, I did modify the pattern slightly. I used US size 8 needles, rather than 9, and changed the yarn. I was careful to go by the gauge, which is the most important thing. The gauge here was 17 sts + 24 rows = 4 in.
This pattern is knit from the bottom up to the armholes, where you split up the stitches to finish the back, separate from the two front pieces. Later you just sew the shoulders.
I liked the idea that by casting on 102 stitches (for 18 month size), that covered the width of the back of the sweater and both front pieces. You separate and place the back and the fronts on holders as you are finishing up the last few inches on each. Then I made both sleeves at once on one needle, with separate skeins of yarn, which ensures that an equal amount of rows are used on both sleeves. (You know how yarn can stretch when measuring) The only sewing, besides a few inches across the shoulders, was to stitch up the underarm of the sleeves, then attach them to the shoulder and body of the sweater. I will post a pic after my little guy tries it on. Right now, we are separated by a snowstorm. :-)


Here we are with the update