Baby Bolero from One Skein

Pattern: Baby Bolero
Source: One Skein
Designer: Leigh Radford
Yarn: blue sky alpacas organic cotton, color 80, (1 skein = 150 yds/100 g)
Amount needed: 1 skein plus about 20 yards from a second skein
Needles: size 6 Addi circulars in 24" and 16", size 6 metal doublepoints for sleeves
Gauge: 18 st and 24 rows to 4" on size 6 circulars in st st

Detail of the back: a simple eyelet detail that gives the sweater focus:
And a duckie button!

Modifications:

• I'm learning to read other knitters' notes in Ravelry before (well, to be honest, during) the making of something new. Many folks commented on the number of seams and ends to be finished in this little sweater, so I went with a few suggestions: a three-needle bind-off for the shoulders instead of binding off fronts and backs and then seaming; picking up stitches for the sleeves instead of working the sleeves flat, seaming them, and then seaming those into the armholes; and I followed directions for the sleeves from a knitter who made the bolero in a Wasabi yarn (sorry, can't recall the name right now) to pick up 40 stitches at the armhole, work one round plain, then decrease SSK, K1, K2 tog 4 times at "underarm" seam," repeat every 4th row 3 more times, then work sleeve plain for 4" total, do 2 rows of K2P2 ribbing on same size needle, and then bind off
• I added a button to the front so that the baby could have a more dignified look, if preferred.
• I worked a crocheted button loop (my first ever) from Nancie M. Wiseman's The Knitter's Book of Finishing Techniques - this is an excellent, easy-to-follow manual that covers a myriad of finishing techniques and options, and has clear illustrations and pictures to help you to visualize the technique. (I don't crochet and I never do button loops, and I did a respectable job while watching Jesse Martin's last episode of Law and Order.)
• this yarn goes in the Pegotty Hall of Fame of Great Yarn: soft, textural, easy to work with, a lovely pearlescent sheen that is not too fussy for baby boy sweaters, and organic, long before the trend hit the fiber world. Happy Belated Earth Day.