While Ms. Z received no gift that went unappreciated, some gifts are likely to be around longer than others -- especially those handmade gifts that fall into the "heirloom" category.

This lovely cardigan was made by my good friend Judy.  Out of cotton.  Two color knitting with cotton is one of those things that I definitely put in the "hard" category: hard to get good tension, hard to keep even, hard to manage yarn.  But she did a beautiful job. The sweater is bordered by a sweet crocheted edging and held together at the neckline with a pewter clasp.  Judy wasn't so sure about the clasp, but, given Ms. Z's lack of affinity for the whole button concept so far, I think it's the perfect closure.

This little sweater is definitely large enough, I think, to give Z several years of wear.  And given that it is in cotton, it will do double duty as a fall and spring garment, although the blooming tulips definitely give it a "spring sweater" feel in my book.  It's still a little big for her now, so the photo shoot including the baby is a little while off.  But the garment itself was just to pretty not to make it to my blog before Z actually fits into it.

And, because, as knitters, I know you can't resist the desire to peek inside, I give you this shot to show how even and lovely Judy's floats are -- even with cotton.  Thank you, Judy, I absolutely love it and I know that Z will like it very much as she gets old enough to understand how it came to her.