Feb Baby Sweater (Modified)

Hi everyone. I'm a latecomer to the wisdom of EZ. I just discovered her at Christmas when I was bought the Knitter's Almanac as a gift. I've been working on variations of the February baby sweater since then. I love the overall pattern but I really HATE garter stitch, so I've been trying to work an alternate version sans garter. I also wanted it to be a gender-neutral one, suitable for boys and non-girlie girls so that ruled out the lace for me.

I worked one in plain stockinette with the garter bands and one in the original pattern - neither of which was setting me on fire. I totally chose the wrong yarn for this one. I used Rowan cotton glace for the body and mercerised cotton for the edgings. I may have to relent and do a wool version just to camouflage those armhole stitches.

For anyone who is interested the modifications I made are on my blog.