I ended up selecting these as the Official Buttons of the Must Have Cardigan:

I think that’s a butterfly under the thing that looks like an olive branch. But it could be a cicada.

And the final effect is something like this:

It’s so nice to have closure.

And the book I looked at while posing for the above picture is Handknit Holidays. Simply Delicious. There is a sweater in there that makes the entire book worth owning. You’ll know it when you see it, I was a little bit breathless after flipping through the first time. And if you don’t drool over the sweater, there are always the cabled tree skirt and matching stockings, the ornaments, the table runner, and the really tall socks that My Darling Sister wants (she will have to swear that she will wear them before I make them – but I am contemplating a shorter version to wear with clogs). Handknit Holidays is packed with knitting goodness and probably the best $20 I’ve spent this year (yarn and corduroy flats excluded, of course). I’d be looking through it right now but I don’t have it with me. I’ve left it with Great Gran for tonight – we’ll see if she can spot the Sweater of Emily’s Dreams. This is just as well, I’ve got to tutor my cousin in algebra tomorrow and I need to work my way through Chapter 7 to be sure I know what I’m doing. They are starting radical equations and irrational expressions. Sounds like fun, huh?

PS Great Gran and I are going to try felting one more time! This is our inspiration.