First Baby Sweater

Well, well, well!
A couple of days ago I finished my first baby sweater which is very fun and exciting for me. I was shocked by how much time the "finishing" of a sweater takes. This is the first time I have made something that took so much sewing up and it really was the most consuming part of the project. It took me a only a week to knit all of the parts and then it took a whole other week just to sew it up and put on the buttons and collar. I guess part of it was finding the time to be motivated to do this part though which isn't as much fun for me as the knitting.
The most fun part though was that a friend with a 9 month old baby let me try the sweater on her little one and it was so neat to see the sweater in action. It magically fit him perfectly and I was really pleased.
I have no idea why the pattern called for such huge buttons but I guess they are sort of fun, and maybe less of a choking hazard.
When I tried the sweater on my friend's baby there was just one loose thread still left and of course it ended up showing in the photo but oh well.
Anyway, just getting to the point of high stress before leaving for Africa. So much to do and only two weeks to do it so not a lot of time for knitting but I do have a VERY long plane flight to look forward to.