Knitting

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Finishing Workshop: Buttonholes

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knit buttonholeI admit to not being much of a cardigan knitter, and I stick with pretty basic buttonholes when I do need them, either doing a decrease or a bind off for however many stitches and then casting on stitches to replace them in the next row.

It’s not elegant, but it works for my purposes.

But every time I think about buttonholes, I think about Maggie Righetti, who dedicated a whole chapter in her excellent book Knitting in Plain English to the buttonhole, called “Buttonholes are Bastards.” Her complaint is that all the common options are kind of ugly and floppy and though she offers a solution it’s rather complex and I’ve actually never tried it (shame on me!).

The common choices are the eyelet buttonhole (aka yarn over, knit 2 together), horizontal buttonholes made by binding off stitches and what’s commonly known as the one-row buttonhole, in which you bind off, turn back and cast on, then turn back and work across those stitches again, all in the same row. (Check out this video from Knitting Help if you need a visual.)

There’s a great roundup of your options at Vogue Knitting, which also has a tip for buttonhole spacing. There are lots of pictures in a tutorial from Knitty.

Do you have a buttonhole preference? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

[Photo via Knitty.]

Comments

  1. Hi Sarah – Thanks for the great web sources for button holes. I tend to make buttonholes a couple of different ways, depending on the size of the button and the stitch pattern of the button band.

    If I just need a hole for a small button (like on a baby sweater), I usually do an eyelet buttonhole. If I need a bigger opening, I’ve usually knit a one row buttonhole. But none of mine come out as clean and lovely as the buttonhole in your photo 🙂

Have you read?

Pencil Knitting Patterns

Getting ready for back to school makes me think about pencil crafts, so let’s take a look at some pencil themed knitting patterns! 

I recently made a pencil on a circular knitting machine, and it was a fun, quick, easy project that uses little bits of leftover yarn (and if you don’t have yellow you can make it a colored pencil using whatever color’s your favorite). And if you want to make a bigger version check out this pattern from Orange Olive Road on Etsy.

If you want to knit a pencil pillow by hand, check out Sketchy, available on Ravelry from Shana S. Cohen. This one uses worsted weight yarn and has two size options and the choice to make a pencil with an eraser or a colored pencil. 

Pencil scarves seem to be the most popular kind of pencil knitting pattern, and there are lot of cute ones. This one from Cosy Craft UK mostly uses garter stitch, with some welts to add texture and what looks like an I-cord edging. It calls for DK weight yarn. 

If you want to go all garter stitch try this version from Emsley Co Creations, which uses five colors of DK weight yarn and just a little shaping to make the point of the pencil.

There’s also this fun, mostly stockinette so it looks like it curls a bit, pencil pattern that looks like it’s worked in chunky yarn from Little Knits Studio. This one uses just a little garter stitch and easy shaping for the point. 

If you don’t want a pencil scarf, how about some pencil socks? The No. 2 Pencil Socks from The Yarn Enabler are available from Ravelry and use five colors of sock yarn. They feature wide ribs to mimic the texture of a pencil and have options to be worked from the top down or the toe up. 

Needs Sharpening by Alexander Walker is a free pattern on Ravelry that uses five colors of sock yarn to make a sort of shortie sock. The little bit of black at the tips of the toes inspired the name. These, too, can be worked in either direction and are available in three sizes.