The Baby 'Surprise' Jacket - now with pictures!

So, after a few blah months, I finally found a pattern to get excited about again. Browsing around Webs I found the Elizabeth Zimmerman Baby Surprise Jacket pattern. Being a 40-year-old pattern this is old hat to many people (but it was new to everyone once). Here's the description from the Ravelry page:

The Baby Surprise Jacket was designed by Elizabeth Zimmerman in 1968 and remains a popular baby garment to this day. It is an excellent pattern for making use of oddments of yarn or self striping yarns with long color repeats, but looks equally nice knit in a single color with a contrasting button band.”

The jacket is knit in a single piece with just two seams that run across the shoulders and down the length of the sleeves. It includes extra ease across the back of the garment to fit well over a nappy (diaper).

Commonly referred to as the "BSJ", the baby surprise jacket is a very entertaining piece of knitted engineering."

I was intrigued by the whole 'entertaining engineering' thing - so I cast on the evening the pattern arrived, using Schachenmayr nomotta Crazy Cotton, colorway # 81 (pink and green). I very soon realized that the almost blasé instructions weren't going to cut it for this literal chick (hen*) so I wrote notes all over the A4 envelope the pattern came in...At this point The Other Denise mentioned she'd seen a handy spreadsheet for this pattern online, and sent me the link. Very helpful.

From there I sped along. I was out of town on a business trip last week - usually this allows for plenty of knitting time, but as my family (including in-laws) were along on this trip, not so much. (Did get to have Club Orange and Taytos at the Dublin, OH Irish Festival though...mmm).
Anyhoo...on the plane back I cast off. Yay! Figured out how to fold it, and...oh dear...
It's a surprise alright...Look at those joins across the front!Here's the instructions that do not say anything about making a hole-free join, grr...
Actually it looks better mid-blocking. Or maybe I'm just getting used to looking at it :)

*Had another birthday yesterday - already!