See my pretty felted fleece egg? (Thank you Deni, for making it for me) See that it is resting on a finished front with a built in button band? Ha! Despite Aubergines reservations and the fact that I just broke with tradition, threw caution to the wind and boldly knit an attached button band…without even burning a skein of mohair at midnight under the full moon…everything is ok.
No locusts, no plague, no rain of fire or hailstones. In fact, it is a bright and lovely spring day. I’m taking that as a sign. The band is even, lovely and does not flare or pucker. I really think I’m on to something here. This could be goodbye to button bands forever.
I’ve put pins where I want button holes on the other side, and as long as I can work out a button hole I like, today should be the end of the boring cardie. Anybody know a buttonhole that looks particularly good in twisted rib? I hate button holes in rib. They always look wonky.
You know, for just hauling off and trying something like that without so much as a swatch (hear that? No Swatch. Sends a shiver down the spine of cautious knitters everywhere) that went pretty well. I’ve done some big frogging in my time, but the Boring Cardie holds a record for the sweater with the most risks taken with fewest consequences. As a general rule I expect to be punished by the Knitting Forces for my lack of respect and cavalier attitude. My list of offences for this particular project include:
-Not swatching.
-Not using a pattern, and not rewriting the notes I made after the cat…er, decorated them, but instead relying on my own memory to replicate the raglan shaping on each piece.
-Not knowing what yarn I have, what the fibre content is or how much of it there is. (I’m going to have more than enough, by the way. Turns out that I’m a neurotic mess. Who knew?)
-Giving the sweater a name I’m sure it finds objectionable.
-Mocking button bands openly, and within hearing of the yarn.
-Saying “this should be quick” out loud.
and yet…nothing. (Hold on, I’m just going to run into the other room to see if my knitting has burst into flames) This time, I’m either going to get away with it, without needing to so much as tink back one row, or I’m going to put my eye out with a darning needle during the making up.
Yarn Harlot
Yay, Stephanie! You give hope to the fearful knitters out there, the shrinking, nervous ones who cannot deviate from pattern, as written. An inspiration. And Happy Jellybean Day!
Open mocking of the Knitting Gods? Brave. Foolish, but brave.
😉
What do you mean, no swatch? That looks like a big blue multi-dimensional swatch to me, of the same type as Snowdrop. Brilliant bit of freestyle extreme swatching – congrats!
Don’t worry — I have it on excellent authority that yarn doesn’t hear very well. If it did, I would have been strangled in my sleep long ago. 🙂
(Okay. The image of yarn snaking across the room after me just freaked me out. Please disregard.)
Swatches? We don’t need no steenking swatches!
Beeewtifull!
The two words I couldn’t wait to type as I read were “Yay, Stephanie!” And then those were the first two words already there, from Nathania. Yes. Beautiful work. As always. Bien fait.
I hate buttonholes on cardigans. The combination of buttons and buttonholes always causes them to sag. Sew a button on to the buttonhole band anywhere you want a button and then sew snaps on the underside.
Ends up looking a lot neater.
When I am desperately going to need buttonholes (rarely – I don’t button sweaters usually) I try to design it so that my buttonhole band is a cable and the buttons are froggy things that will go through the cable twist.
One neat buttonhole in ribbing is done by putting a k2tog, yo in the middle of the band. You want the yo to replace a purl stitch. Then on the next row, you knit into the yo hole. You can do this on a third row as well if you need a bigger hole. This make a buttonhole that is virtually invisible when the sweater isn’t buttoned. This is a vertical buttonhole, not a horizontal one.
Must “me, too” what Charlotte said.
That’s the only kind of buttonhole I like.
Of course you had enough yarn.
I have that looking over the shoulder and seeing ruin ahead disorder as well.
It’s one of the reasons I can make such clever scrap sweaters.
I’m not clever enough to collect good things for such projects.
I’m just paranoid.
Mwah!
Me too on the buttonhole…ONLY…this is a trick some woman in the busdepot showed me years ago…instead of yo, bring yarn forward as if to purl, then k2tog. this brings the yarn over the needle like a yarn over, but much shorter strand. It makes a much tighter, sturdier buttonhole, and also smaller, which nice in worsted weight.
Barb
while I am impressed and amused by your cavalier thumbing of your nose at the Yarn Gods, I fear for you eventual smoting.
Fabulous!
I think what may happen is something far worse than anyone has suggested…
You may just wake up one morning and completely forget how to turn a heel, and not be able to find books to show you how, and your internet will be out, so no online research…and your phone won’t work, so no calling knitting friends. Then the car will break down and 4 feet of snow will fall, preventing you from going anywhere…
Ok, that was a horrifying thought.
Smoke signals, you say?
No matches.
Oy oy oy, I am befuddled. “Bring yarn forward as if to purl, K2tog”.
How’s that different fron “yo”?
Isn’t that how one does a yarnover in front of a knit stitch?
Not me like being mystified.
Sheesh! Re-read my entry, and no wonder you don’t know what I meant. I had to get out my needles and take a good look at what I was doing to see what the difference is so I could describe it. Makes me realize how a picture is worth a thousand words.
Anyway, the difference is, in yo you bring the yarn to the front, then over the needle then knit. So the yarn is already in the back when you perform the knit stitch.
With this you bring the yarn to the front, put the needle into the stitch to knit, now knit, so the yarn goes over the needle after the right needle is already in the stitches. So the length of the yarn that is going over the needle is shorter.
I know it doesn’t seem like it when you look at the instructions, but it is different, and if you do both on sample, you can see it.
(Actually I wondered if Abby’s curse had got to me, and I had forgotten how to yo properly. But googling gave me “Bring yarn to front and over top of right needle. Knit the next stitch.” What a relief!)
Barb
Hey, fortune favors the bold, and so do the knitting god(esse)s.
Harlot!! Two days ago you are thumbing your nose at the gods — and now we don’t hear from you! should we send out a search party — have you been smoted, sacrificed – what?
olly-olly-oxenfree!
Let’s hope it’s the snowdrop baby!
uioeydavaup qerauh.
Can you explain these instructions in a lacy shawl pattern:
(k1, yo, k1) in one stitch.
I can’t figure out how to do that “in one stitch.” Thanks!