Here is my first mistake.
Choosing a sweater with a knitted on button band. Stupid. If you hate picking up stitches, hate knitted on button bands and still pick this sweater and don’t adapt it for a sewn on button band, then you are stupid. (That would be me.)
(Pattern: Sirdar book 241, “E”)
Having already made mistake number one…there is no reason not to make Mistake number two, which would be deciding to knit the pattern in a worsted instead of a DK. This by itself is not a mistake, but it leads to all sorts of things not working anymore. Instructions like “knit until work measures 10cm” work fine, but since it will take a different number of rows to get to 10cm, the whole picking up thing is going to go down the dumper in short order. If you are determined to make Mistake number three
then you must ignore that and pick up the suggested number of stitches. Clearly, in the picture above I have not picked up enough. The way that the stitches want to gather up before I have even started the button band are a terrible omen. Nix that, and proceed rapidly to Mistake number four. The exact nature of mistake number four is a mystery. What I did was pick up more stitches (this seemed reasonable since I had too few…but knitting is seldom obvious) in a multiple of 11. 11 seemed right, since the pattern for the buttonholes contains the intruction “Rib 9, cast off 2…rep”. In the world the way I know it…9+2=11. This was obviously mistake number four…though if anyone can see what is wrong with my math I’d appreciate the *&^%$#ing heads up. (Rat bastard math. We hates it.)
Clearly, even though me, Joe, Megan and the computer calculator all feel that 9+2=11 this cannot be true since it doesn’t space the buttonholes (indicated by the yellow arrows above) anywhere near accurately and I wound up with and infuriating number of stitches left over. I took a deep breath, pulled out the row again and proceeded to mistake number five.
Even though I believed (and still do, actually) that 9+2=11, I was forced to accept that on this sweater, that was not true. Therefore, I suspended that belief and re-worked it, being sure that I wasn’t married to the concept of correct math, opened my mind to the possibility that there was an answer to 9+2 that was something other than the traditional 11 and tried again.
Well. At least this time I had closer to the correct number of stitches left over. I tried interpreting the instruction “Rib 9, cast off 2”.
Could I be wrong about what that meant?
(Thus we witness the birth of mistake number six: Overthinking.)
It could mean that you rib 9, then cast off 2, using the 9th stitch as the first one to be dropped over in the casting off. It could mean that you ribbed 9, then that those were independent free agents and you started casting off two more that were beyond the 9. It could mean….
It could mean that I was too angry by the result to take a picture. Suffice it to say that the problem remained unsolvable.
Finally I decided (mistake number 7) that I would take a more organic approach. Obviously there was no point in doing any more math. Once 9+2 =11 stops working you are in over your head.
I threaded a needle with yarn and decided that working inward from the ends I would mark the two stitches I was going to cast off for each button hole. I marked the ones at the ends….
then counting inwards from the ends I found the middle, marked that, marked the other two at equal intervals and …..
discovered that the buttonholes are still not placed evenly (which I really should have seen coming, what with basic addition deciding to step off the logic curb only moments before) and I made mistake number eight when I stopped myself from taking the whole thing outside, hurling it into the middle of the road and then laughing maniacally while cars ran it over again and again and again. I went to bed instead.
This morning I pulled out some baby alpaca, (I don’t see any sweater, walk away from the sweater.) and started getting my graph paper mojo going on. The sibling of the snowdrop is due soon, and I think the newcomer will need a little something. I shall commence swatching pretty darn soon.
I left this on the chair after taking the picture and when I came back with my coffee I found this.
She scratched me when I tried to pick up the alpaca.
Mistake overall…to make a cardigan. Maybe a zipper would be better.
Sometimes we are just defeated and have to surrender.
Oh. Buttonholes. Oh. Oh dear. No, some mysteries are too intimidating.
I don’t blame the cat. I want to scratch you for all the ganglia-frying math you’ve tortured me with this morning.
MMMmm, alpaca.
More. Coffee.
I Vote for the Zipper!
smart cat!
And…breathe.
Now: coffee.
And don’t try to wrestle the alpaca from the cat. Know when you are beaten.
Heather xx
ok — this is probably too simple — but could you just place where you want the top and bottom buttons to be — then measure the distance between, find the half way point (in terms of cms — not stitch count), mark those stitches, then measure the stitches between that new point and the top or bottom buttonhole, find the half way point etc.
Would that work?
This proves that the cat has excellent taste. BTW, she looks like the twin of one of our cats.
Zippers. I’ve never done zippers or buttonholes. Yet. But it sounds like a zipper would be a heck of a lot easier. Less aesthetically pleasing, I suppose. Buttons are nice.
When you return to this beautiful blue sweater, lay it out flat and then take some of those little orange/blue plastic safety-pin things and put one where you want the bottom button, and one at the top. One in the middle, etc. Then reach up behind your ear and turn off your math switch because you won’t need it, and proceed to knit up sts at what appears to your good knitter’s eye to be the right rate. No counting, okay? Not allowed. Trust your peaceful eyes. Now knit up the button band without counting (work holes for buttons, of course). Before casting off, do count, only because on the other side you’ll need to work approximately the same number of sts. Unless your house catches on fire, this ought to work. It is a beautiful sweater!
I’m wearing a sweater I just finished with way-misplaced buttons. So far no asked if the knitter was drunk. Please do let us know if you come up with a solution for the knitted-on button bands (besides never doing another in my entire life)! Could you bribe the cat with some tuna to rescue the alpaca? I can usually get my Molly (a 65 lb bulldog) to give up the yarn with a nice yummy treat.
When you return to this beautiful blue sweater, lay it out flat and then take some of those little orange/blue plastic safety-pin things and put one where you want the bottom button, and one at the top. One in the middle, etc. Then reach up behind your ear and turn off your math switch because you won’t need it, and proceed to knit up sts at what appears to your good knitter’s eye to be the right rate. No counting, okay? Not allowed. Trust your peaceful eyes. Now knit up the button band without counting (work holes for buttons, of course). Before casting off, do count, only because on the other side you’ll need to work approximately the same number of sts. Unless your house catches on fire, this ought to work. It is a beautiful sweater!
Whoa. Dude. My head just exploded.
Logic steps off the curb all the time in my house. I fully expect 9 + 2 NOT to equal 11…you know, because some idiot decided to start counting at 0 instead of at 1 like normal people do. Damned computer geeks.
(…she said, trying to become one herself. Sigh.)
Maybe you should try starting your count at 0 and see what happens. Either that or just start ripping holes in random places…and call it an illogical cardigan. Randomness is good for kids. Really. A little entropy never hurts.
how about pewter (or non-pewter) clasps instead of buttons? no holes to place..
I’m all for a zipper, myself. Buttons are overrated.
Your cat looks so much like my youngest kitty that it’s scary!
9+2=11 except in buttonbands when you want a hole at each end. You don’t knit 9 before the first buttonhole, you knit maybe 3. And you don’t end the band with the hole, you need another couple of stitches after it. So then you just have to fit the 9+2 in between the 2 end holes. Or just follow the advice and eye-ball it. Or use tiny buttons that can be shoved through the knitting at any point! I’m struggling with a buttonband myself, but it’s the “knit a long thin piece and sew it on evenly allllll around the front and neck and other front” type. Neither is pleasant…
Oh dear god – why does knitting have to be so hard?? I don’t have a clue, but maybe the cat can figure it out. She seems awefully smart – went right for the alpaca didn’t she.
Could it be that 9+2=12? Rib nine, then knit two, pull the first over the second to bind it off, then knit another and pull the second over the third to bind it off? If you needed to bind off two at the beginning of a row, you would end up knitting three total, right?. It’s worth a try.
!! It certainly isn’t YOU – it is the fault of the evil numbers and the little club they call math (don’t get me started on the radical branches like calculus or the sleeper cells such as trigonometry). math = badness. You will laugh, but my heart broke a little bit when I found out that knitting involved math. I can still remember crying in the kitchen with my dad as he tried to help me with my multiplication tables. . .
I’m lucky though — since I’ve only been knitting for a year and a bit, so I can still get away with going to see Pearl (where the big giant carder lives in Vancouver) and have her or Angela do the math for me. I don’t know how long the lovely ladies at Knit and Pearl night will accommodate me before they tell me to get off my ‘arse’ and do my own math. I pray the day never comes.
I hope the math bandits step aside and allow you to do your buttonholes as you wish.
That cat is wayyyy too smart.
I don’t know why everyone is offering advice on button holes and zippers and math stuff. Clearly, the sweater has disappeared and the blog will never see it again. Are they not remembering your name? Sheesh.
Now that alpaca? The cat has good taste. So does my cat, Mason. He keeps going for the Trekking. It’s hard to get angry with a cat that has such good taste in yarn.
Black cat + white yarn = the Universe’s way of laughing at us. I’m with Kelly, ditch the buttons and use clasps.
Do you want the top button to be at the very top of the work, or do you want it to be down from the top by a matching 9 rows? If so, then a multiple of 11 isn’t going to work, you need a multiple of 11 plus 9.
If that isn’t the case, then I think you’re right about it being some problem with the way the pattern views “cast off 2” in the middle of the row. If they’re not counting that last stitch on the needle (from casting off the second stitch) as the first of the 9, then they’re expecting you to have 10 stitches between buttonholes–does your remainder come out to the total number of buttonholes?
Wish I knew what was up.
this is going to sound completely illogical, trust me i didn’t understand it either, but…when you go to do the button holes, knit 10 then then bind off the stitches, i think it will work, my brain is a little frazzled so it sounds right in my head, but i’d have to try it in theory before i can say i’d bet my life on it.
how about using either snaps and fake out the whole button hole thingy…i am thankful that my cat does not seem to be obsessed with yarn but my dog sure is, if i leave a “ball” unattended she thinks it is a new toy for her to hall around the house. of course this is the same dog who can open the fridge and help herself to any goodie not in a drawer (visualize cheese and butter tubs littering the house)
Sharon
ps- can’t wait to hear you when you visit us in Massachusetts again (the 22nd – right?)
Steph –
Cat’s comment above is right (though it doesn’t make nearly a good blog entry as eightfold frustration)
I’ll add my own hints.
There’s no reason to not do a sewn on button band instead if you prefer them. If you know your gauge in ribbing, just do it as you would like it to look and sew it on.
Forget the pattern’s instructions. Make sure you know your gauge in ribbing. Make sure you know the size of your buttons so you know how big the buttonhole needs to be (for others reading, your buttonhole should be much smaller than the button. Buttonholes that are close to the size of the button let buttons flop through)
Use safety pins or other markers and mark where you want the buttons. Using a tape measure mark off 2 inch (or 5 cm) intervals. Pick up the number of stitches appropriate to your gauge using the 2 in. interval markers as a guide – you should pick up the same number of stitches between each – and the same number of stitches on both side of the placket. Now knit to your measurements, and it should turn out right. (But alas, no guarantees)
oops its Oct 18th that you will be at Willow Book
Well she is YOUR cat! If she were Joe’s she’d be curled up around a circuit board or something… 😉
The cat is working under my direction. She is holding the yarn hostage for me. When you make the motions of packing up the yarn in a nice box posted to Ohio she will release that skein so you can swatch the new peice.
And no I don’t have a cat so no, you can’t have any of my fingering weight alpaca.
Mwah ha ha ha
Your cat has fine tastes…are meals served in a champaigne glass, too?
My cats are not possessive about balls of yarn. However, one cat (med hair tortie much like yours) will find my current knitting project and sleep on it – needles and all. The other cat prefers to wait until the project is done and will dig his way underneath it and then snooze. Which is a real pain in the butt when the knitting is being blocked. Mind you, he is a really stupid cat. His favourite place to sleep is on the sofa but under the slipcover (I have pictures…).
Ditch the buttons – my vote is for the snaps.
take 2 needles(cirulars are best) and pick up an equal number of stitches on both side of fronts. (unless you think you really are going to remember how many you picked up!)
knit the left (button, not button hole) side first.
if after 1 or 2 rows, you realize its too big (or too small) correct (remember this band will be unseen when the sweater is buttoned. you can fudge 1 or 2 stitches easily.
after you have completed button side band, lay out your buttons. pin where they will go.
now, the tedious part. count. (in ribbing this isn’t so bad)
On the second band (already on a needle!) slip split ring markers were ever a buttonhole will be needed–match the stitch count-
or just lay the buttonhole side stitches up next to the completed band, and work “freehand” with the split ring markers.
Knit second button band (making any correction for stitch count in row 1)–and make buttonholes as indicated by your stitch markers.
Voila! perfect bands.. and beautifully spaced buttonholes–no math needed. (well a little counting maybe, but nothing more)
(one day i will publish my incredible easy, firm, supportive NON garter stitch knit in place buttonband- until then, the process above works.)
She reminds me of my cat Saint – the yarn snob cat. She will only fondle, roll in and try to knit only organic yarns. You should have seen what she did to my mohair! I swear, if she had opposible thumbs, I’d teach her how to knit.
Smart kitty. Why let go of something so soft and wonderful?
Also, smart harlot. This is the point when you put a project down for a long, long time…until either you or it has calmed sufficiently to finish it up or you decide it really, really needs to be something completely different.
Smart cat.
Or you could be me, with button bands blocked & ready to be sewn in … except I freakin’ forgot to make any button holes.
Awwwww……A cute cat pic as a diversion.
Cats are so darn territorial about their yarn, aren’t they?
Love the color of the sweater, regardless of it’s issues.
Any chance of sharing the yarn name and color?
And all the math? Is probably why I’m still doing throws and shawls and such. I just don’t think I want to mess with changing up patterns.
Maybe in my next lifetime.
My head hurts…not from your post but the very fact that 9 + 2 doesn’t = 11 in the real world of knitting… I think that’s why I’m avoiding buttons…I can’t do math like that!
Thank you, thank you, my dear Stephanie, for making me realize that even those with significantly more knitting experiance than I have these issues. And I have the same cat problem….
Is it possible that the top pattern section and the bottom pattern section are at a different gauge of rows per inch? If you calculate for each section separately, does it come out?
I have a Debbie Bliss Jacket with Seed Stitch Bands that is missing the front w/ button band piece because of the same thing – different gauge yarn and knitting to specified inches rather than rows. On this one the button band is knitted along with the sweater and I just can’t bring myself to sit down and do the math. And it’s stockinette too, easy to see, so I could just count the rows on the other front piece and figure it out. But I don’t. It’s been in a knitting basket since March. I feel your pain.
That blue color is rilly purty. Why do I suspect that you will come out of this with a perfect sweater?
I loathe buttonhole bands in any form.
Your cat is SO. FLUFFY. Can you spin that stuff?
xoxox
I’d scratch you too, if you tried to steal my Alpaca. …but I was a cat in a former life so it figures. 😉
I KNEW it! I’ve been looking for a ball of alpaca for two weeks now! I should have know to ask the stinkin’ cat! She probably stole it to trade with one of the cows to get fresh milk all winter or something like that.
Suddenly, avoiding button bands does sound like a smart choice. A heck of alot smarter than trying to add 9 and 2. You should really be careful of such risky behavior. It’s healthier for everyone if math is ignored completely.
Clever cat.
(am ignoring the math issue. That’s worked msotly well for me my entire life)
At least the cat has good taste!
ah well, you picked up more stitches because you used a thinner yarn, and then thought 9+2 would still work as proper buttonhole distance? you should just fudge it, that works out nicely.
Okay – here is my equation so far for this button band:
X is number of buttons you would like on the band.
Total number of stitches = 2X + 9(X-1) + # of stitches that you feel looks good before the first button hole + # of stitch that you feel looks good after the last button hole
Generally one would assume that the last two numbers in the equation are the same and are probably about 1/2 of what is in between the button holes. If we go with 4 stictches (instead of the impossible 4.5) then you get:
Total = 2X + 9(X-1) + (2×4)
Regardless – I don’t know that I would have continued past 3 mistakes before using it as insulation so kudos on not giving up!
I think the cat is trying to tell you something…
My suggestion… knit the other side where the buttons will go. Sew on the buttons in locations that seem appropriate. As you knit the buttonhole side, you can eyeball where you will need to make each buttonhole, math be damned. If that doesn’t work, have some Screech and just sew the buttons on the buttonhole side and put snaps/hooks/Velcro behind. We won’t tell anyone.
Please tell us what the yarn is…it’s gorgeous! It somehow has the same blue with pink undertones that a morning glory flower has.
The math usually doesn’t bothe me, but it made my head hurt this time. I would have chucked that project against the wall with a few choice words long before you did.
Now, I know full well that I am not alone in this. I have tried to tell my husband hundreds of time that sometimes, just maybe, math does not work. While it is harder for men to think in abstracts, I have told him that sometimes what is known in everyday life, that when knitting, seems to be abandoned. It is things like this button band that just prove my theory. Some how, without really any idea of how you did it, it just happens. One of those things you vow to “never make again”, mostly because you know you will be unable to repeat the whole process, because deep down you believe it only worked the first time due to divine intervention from the knitting goddess herself. These are projects I like to dub “I don’t give a sh*t how I got here, but god willing I did it!” The only drawback is I find myself laying awake at night, trying to figure out just what I did, and in a moment of weakness rip the whole thing back and try to recreate the magic again. Frustrating doesn’t even begin to cover it.
But on the upshot, I am looking forward to the new “snowdrop sib” project. Nothing like alpaca to soothe the knitting mind, even if you do have to wrestle the cat for it.
Sweater? WHAT SWEATER? We don’t see no stinkin sweater around here! No sweater + no button bands = happy Harlot.
Cute kitty. Mine loves alpaca too. A lot. I had a scarf laying out to dry that was a gift for a friend. Now the cat sleeps on it. Remind me again who’s boss in my house?
Looks like the cat is not alone is his love for beautiful yarn: this year top three finalists for best business award in Canada includes… a yarn shop!! Proof can be found at http://www.cnw.ca/fr/releases/archive/September2005/21/c2176.html
under the 3rd listed award entry.
As for the blue sweater, let me know what type of space translation equation you used to make the button holes fit where they should.
I have no idea what I just read except for something about 9 plus 2 doesn’t equal 11 and your cat likes alpaca.
And I don’t blame your cat 🙂
I love that little sweater, so it’s all worth it (says she, with a 101.7 temperature. That would be 38.7222222222222 C, according to the handy-dandy online calculator.) Actually, my temperature is fairly normal right now, but it was that last night. I’m just milking it for sympathy.
Suck it up and knit the damn button band. For God’s sake, you people! I like Laura’s solution above. But then again, I hardly know wtf I’m talking about. Margene’s zipper approach sounds reasonable, too.
Or, here’s another thing you might not have considered: Is this American math or Canadian math? Have you taken into consideration the exchange rate? ;-D
No one will notice mis-spaced buttons on that beautiful blue…
Norma – “exchange rate” – LMAO
Your 9 + 2 = 11, reminds of an old math joke: What’s 2 + 2?
The answer from a mathematician is: 4.
The answer from a computer geek is: 3.99999.
The answer from a business consultant is: “What would you like it to be?”
The cat obviously had talks with the sweater while you were sleeping and the inanimate object (the sweater) has channeled itself into the animate object (the cat) and WILL NOT BE DISGARDED!
I wonder if the cat has been talking to the squirrel.
I love the cat’s expression.
You will note, of course, that she, being a black cat, has decided to take possession of a yarn ball in the opposite color to better show off her beautiful self.
Does she ever pick up balls in her mouth and carry them away? TNC used to do that – ew, cat spit.
I’ve never heard of a blue sweater with button bands. But I sure am looking forward to Snowdrop Shawl, part the second….especially since I’ve decided it’s time for me to try lace for the first time!
Nope, no blue sweaters here. Just pretty shawls for pretty babies.
I think the problem was with mistake number two which was using worsted instead of dk, which like you said isn’t a mistake really but trying to apply the stitch count for the buttonhole band probably is. You probably need less stitches between the holes. Ignor the numbers from the pattern, mark where the button holes should go and make them when you come to them. I’d probably do what you are doing, work on something else until the solution comes to me, usually while I’m sleeping. No I’m not kidding.
I, for one, have NO sympathy with the button dilemma. Why? Because you can REDO knit buttonholes. I have a lovely teal tunic that sewed for myself, and its buttonholes are OBVIOUSLY misplaced. Nothing I can do to correct it ever. Yes, I wear it anyway.
I am 99% sure that Sally Melville has a straightforward explanation of buttonhole placement in either The Knit Stitch or The Purl stitch. Basically, you count the number of stitches you have picked up and take into account that you will want one more buttonhole than you want spaces AND you will want upper and lower edges. I can visualize it but always need to figure it several times before actually trying it.
I have a lap ho, er, cat, who also covets the alpaca, so much so that when a giant ball of alpaca recently went missing, we interrogated him and he pled the 5th.
9+2=11 in base 10 math. Other maths, not so much. I suspect you were using base Harlot math, in which case 9+2 never equals 11; in fact 9+2 never equals the same thing twice.
Hee! ‘She’ looks my ‘he’!
http://www.bastet.org/albums/YarnPorn/CIMG2116.sized.jpg
Is she also a Turkish Angora?
I blame it on Sirdar. I find their patterns irritating. It is them, not you, I say!
I’m printing and stapling this entry into my copy of your book! I went through something similar with a front band last month and have another lined up soon. What the hell was I thinking?!
My cat has an alpaca fetish and has actually pulled pins out of pieces I’m blocking so he can steal them. It does not make me happy. He will actually go through my yarn stash to find the alpaca. The sad part is that I laughed at my mom’s cat – who has a wool fetish – for years before I found out I had a problem too. Talk about a Karmic bitch slapping!
I live with an Alpaca stealing cat as well. They will take it and hide it in the most unusual places (like in a different country) and deny ever seeing it. If you are knitting with alpaca this cat must be in your lap.
I don’t think it is your math skills but that the sweater can’t count. 1,2,3,9,7…
Steph, what Mary DeB said.. you forgot about the begining and the end.. then work from there 🙂 iknow you will figure it out.. you were just tooo close to the situation 🙂 karola
YO buttonholes. I echo the “don’t count, just put them where they look OK” comment made earlier. My kitten nurses on alpaca and mohair. I think she swallowed some sock wool this morning, too. Cats must think they’ve found a furry friend with that stuff.
I think by about mistake number three i’d have added some rum to my coke and called it a night! You’re such a trooper! Truly inspiring!!
Apparently you missed the part of Murphy’s Law that says, “That which we intend to use but set down momentarily will be clamied by any nearby feline as its own!”…or something like that!
~Suz~
KITTY!!!!!
I didn’t know you have a cat! I am just– well, I don’t know, but it’s a KITTY!
Wow. I think that made all the imploding brain cells from the math come back to life.
I like the silver clasp idea. Would look very stunning against that gorgeous blue, I think.
I knit the side the buttons go on, place the buttons on top of it and eyeball how many stitches it needs to look right below the bottom one and above the top one, then add up the stitches in between and divide them by how many buttons I want in between.
I LOVE that cat! But if it doesn’t give back the alpaca, that’s okay; you can always comb her fluffy white chest there to spin more (nice kitty, kitty, here, kitty, kitty. C’mon, cat, fair’s fair.)
Thank you for making the rest of us feel like we are not COMPLETE morons. I am sorry about your math and buttonhole woes. Humm, can you just mark the spots you want the holes at and then just cast off those stitches? Who cares if the number of stitches between them is different as long as they are equally spaced, right?
So… I like math in general… but I think butthole logic is a whole different branch of the subject with its own rules. (you know – like Algebra and Trig and Geometry. Buttonholes)
Actually Steph – you didn’t make any mistakes. Sirdar patterns NEVER work out. I don’t care who you are or what you do. THEY are the mistake.
It’s posts like this that have restricted me thus far to pullovers. You are scaring the crap out of me with all that math. And don’t tell me the little math I can master doesn’t work!
I have a very cute picture of one of my cats sleeping snuggled up to a ball of sock yarn on the couch (while I was knitting it) with one paw possessively arranged on top.
Wow … that’s a lot of mistakes and CLEARLY none of them were your fault. I mean how could a person know that 9+2=11 is an incorrect mathematical statement?!?! Seriously, if “they” are going to change the rules of math, “they” should be letting us know, right?
Your cat is a smart one … Alpaca is nice to cuddle with. 🙂
I’m with the cat. Soft white fuzziness – good. Math and picking up stitches – bad. My cat and I have had to have a little discussion about whether or not he’s allowed to play with my good yarn, as opposed to the mangled ball of something my son uses for his ‘knitting’.
I hope this isn’t a repeat, I tried to skim thru the comments to make sure.
Casting off 2 uses three stitches, right? K2 pull one over, K1 pull one over – So is it possible that you have to have 9+3 = 12? Because you can’t start the ribbing with the left over stitch from the left over one in the casting off part?
Does that make sense?
I couldn’t tell from the pictures but did you include the neck band in the picking up? I just made a cardigan that had the top button hole in the picked up stitches on the neckband.
What is kitty’s name?
Do an applied I-Cord edge, then you can just not “apply” it where the buttonholes are wanted, or you can make loops with it for buttonholes (any Eliz. Zimmerman book has the applied I-cord, as does Joyce Williams’ Latvian Dreams)
A sybling for the snowdrop? Wheeee! Steph, you just made my day (and it was going pretty well already). Ooh, I can’t wait. x
You’re a dear. How did you know how much I need – at this very moment – a support group for knitting mistake makers?
You know… I once took up with a man who loved math. It was like being married to a snake charmer. Rat bastard math behaved beautifully whenever he was involved.
My latest mistake? I went to my lys to buy yarn to make a sweater for a 2-day-old. I came home with a pattern and yarn for a 1-year-old. It’s taking me so long to figure out how to use that yarn for a pattern for a 6-month-old that I may as well go ahead and make the sweater for the 1-year-old. By the time I get done, that’s how old she’ll be.
It wouldn’t be such a remarkable mistake, really, except that I told the saleswoman at my LYS what I wanted. She helped me every step of the way. In other words… we both made the mistake.
I’m off to meet with other knitters now. I’m hoping for great commiseration.
-Robin
I didn’t read all the comments, but…what Cat and Laura said!!!!! Do that! The sweater is lovely! All I can imagine is that some sweater directions are much better than others. Those who give such ill-working directions should be whipped with skeins of yarn.
Okay, I’ll admit it right off the bat – I like math. In fact, I do math pretty much all day at my job. It’s come in handy for figuring out the changes I have to make in sleeve decreases in order for the sleeves to actually be the correct length for my short arms.
That being said, my advice is: skip the math. The directions are a bit nebulous, so I say go ahead with your marking the buttonhole placement. As long as it looks even, don’t worry if it’s not exactly the same number of stitches between buttonholes. No one else will count.
Another suggestion: enjoy a glass of your favorite alcoholic beverage, then try the buttonholes. It may not solve the math dilemma, but you’ll care less!
Oh man. I feel for you. Math sucks. And it’s kinda creepy about your cat …… I’m glad mine never took an interest in my yarn!
Baby sweaters are rarely buttoned up anyway. Pick out one beautiful *big* button. Make one buttonhole somewhere near the middle, maybe just below where the stitch pattern changes at the yoke. (You could even do it with an I-cord loop attached to a hole-free band. Or, if the sweater blocks with a nice edge as it is, skip the band entirely and sew loop and button directly to the sweater.) Admire the beautiful haute couture styling. The parents will love a sweater that is so quick and easy to button. It’s all good.
I love the blue.
That cat looks very possessive of the alpaca!
too funny
The math does work. (Really) I saw the problem and came up with the solution right away. The reason that the evenly spaced buttons don’t work is because you haven’t picked up evenly. Measure the length you’re picking up on and mark it off in inches. Keep in mind that you are dealing with different patterns in the length of your sweater with different row gauges and therefore different numbers of rows per inch! There may NOT be the same number of rows per inch throughout your length! (In fact I’d be surprised if there was.) Pick up X stitches PER INCH and Bob’s yer uncle.
Anyone who has ever had a cat would recognize that look. Mine, it says, MINE!!!
SNargle’s Mom
Now, math and I have never been the best of buds, but what happens if you pick up a number of stitches that is a multiple of 11 + 9?
Doesn’t that give you the following:
rib 9, c/o 2, rib 9 c/o, 2 rib 9, c/o 2, rib 9
so that there’s a rib 9 at each end?
This from the lady who still hasn’t put in the zipper she opted for last fall…. on TWO sweaters.
Same lady who couldnt’ figure out that when you get smaller yarn you need more stitches for your socks.
Simple buttonhole placement. Take a lenght of narrow elastic about 18″ long more or less–with a felt tip pen mark at 1 1/2″ for children and 2″ for adults as many times as you can….Now hold the top mark where you want the first button hole and put a pin in the front band each place you want a buttonhole. No measuering. I do the band with out the buttonholes first. Easy?????
Picking up stitches. Pick up allthe stitches you can up the front then get out your tape…take the inches from top to bottom, multiply by your stitches per inch and subtract 18%. Hey the number of stitches to pick up. Just increase or decrease down to this number. Not much match with either of these…..
Enjoy
This I hope will make life easier.
I just don’t understand why these designers don’t include the button bans in the design. It is very easy that way. I would never do one any other way! 🙂
It was great to see you at Stitches Stephanie. You are a star!
My brain is filled up with boards review minutiae, otherwise I’d jump on the bandwagon to help you with all the math. (then again I don’t do anything with a pattern and instead just wing it and put things where *I* think they look right, so I might not be much help…)
looks like you have a very smart cat. good to know that some felines out there can appreciate a good yarn, instead of simply destroying it. I’m anxious to see what the little snowflake’s blanket will look like…
I say find a couple of good safety pins and you won’t have to worry about the button band at all.
The way the light hits your cats almost makes it look like there are TWO cats there, and you caught them in a compromising position…
Beautiful sweater, button band or not!
“The way the light hits your cats…”
I meant CAT, singular. sheesh.
What a beautiful cat!
The sweater is really cute. Good luck with the button bands.
Forgive me if I’ve missed this suggestion within these 105(!) comments, but why not this? Forget the picking up of stitches. You know you want to! Just knit two strips of proper length and width in a texture you feel suits the sweater. Put buttonholes on one of them, buttons on the other, and sew the darn bands on.
So you do a little sewing, but it sure beats tearing your lovely hair out!
Just my $.02
I’m curious. I didn’t read the pattern, but does the binding off allow for the two stitches you use up binding the two off? Perhaps I should read the pattern, but my brain is fried just reading about it.
Quite a few people have suggested eyeballing the buttonhole placement, which I think is a good idea. As far as figuring out how many stitches to pick up, why not just pick up three stitches for every four rows? That’s about what the stitch:row ratio is for most yarns.
Can’t help you with the math. It seems to add to 11 in my world too. I find that when I kept making mistakes it’s because I don’t have my glass of wine with me. Seriously! I spent most of the Atlanta Knitting Guild meeting time last night tinking out 4 mistakes that I’d made the night before when no wine was involved.
What a beautiful cat!! Maybe she/he wants to learn how to knit with your alpaca. Probably could whip out a kitty scarf quick with the claws.
This actually bothered me last night but I think I’ve solved your dilemma. First, decide how many stitches want to be picked up based on row and stitch guage. Then decide how many stitches from the top and bottom you want the first and last buttons.
Math is ( (stitches – top – bottom – 2) /(totalbuttons-1) ) – 2= the number of stitches between button holes (round up or down as needed).
The number of stitches to pickup is the ( (number of stitches between button holes + 2) * the number of buttons) + 2 + number of stitches on top and bottom.
Very samrt cat, wish I could train mine to transpose patterns, AND KNIT!
9+2 does equal 11, but you also have to allow for the number of stitches at top and bottom. You need to pick up:
number of sts before first buttonhole (say, 3)
+ 2 (for the first buttonhole)
+ multiple of 11 (9 and then another butttonhole)
+ number of sts after last buttonhole (say, 3)
So, for 5 buttonholes, that would be 52 sts
for 6 buttonholes, 63
for 7 buttonholes, 74
If you want more or fewer sts before/after the first/last buttonholes, adjust the _total_ number of sts by plus or minus 2.
If I get in a tangle with things like this, I draw it out on paper and then count the darned things:
xxx–xxxxxxxxx–xxxxxxxxx–xxxxxxxxx–xxx
That’s four buttonholes, evenly spaced, needing 41 sts.
Cheers!
hmmm no suggestions- you’re where i come for those— but-gotta admit—-i love it when you-the “great and mighty harlot”- make mistakes—-makes me feel sooooo much more adequate- and normal! thnx!
Having just made several major mistakes on my last project (too short overall, one skein of different dye lot knit into a sleeve, poor choice of trim, not enough buttons), I sympathize. Worked myself into quite a little tantrum over it and decided to do something completely different to shake things up. Hemmed a pair of pants. Too short and not at all the same length. Obviouly the sewing thing wasn’t different enough. I think I need to go rock climbing or cattle wrangling or something. Skydiving? Karaoke? Gotta get the mojo back.
wellllllll one suggestion—-
pick up and knit (with a circ for ease)- even on both sides- just a rib knit faux button band—- SKIP the button holes-
sew on buttons as desired- using ribs for placement—eyeball- it- sew “snaps” on behind button and on other side- and you’re good to go…
just plan on wearing it closed- or use funky colored snaps and work it sistah….
hate math btw- 😉
Of COURSE she went for the alpaca! I have a cat who absolutely can NOT be trusted around alpaca – I must shut it in the linen closet when I stop, even to go to the bathroom. Last time she got ahold of it, she ran it all over the room, around furniture legs, under, over – you get the picture (and it isn’t pretty).
Base Harlot maths–I love it!
I vote clasps (I never did terribly well at math in school).
The solution to this is so obvious, I’m surprised you didn’t see it right away. This is not an addtion problem, it’s a Gazinta problem. For example: I have 6 cute buttons I’m gonna use come hell or high water and a 12 inch button band no matter what anyone says. Thus, 6 Gazinta 12 every 2 inches even if I have to use power tools to make it happen.
This is called “thinking outside the pattern”.
me thinks the kitty has good taste.
Seriously: get Knitable for a Palm thingy (Pilot, Zire, whatever’s cheap at Overstock), if just for its buttonhole calculator.
I just did an emergency buttonhole band (was supposed to be for a zipper but somehow shrank), and I didn’t have to do anything but put in the numbers I had, how many buttons I wanted, and it came up with the pattern and exported it to the Memo pad for me.
Don’t get me started on how great the yardage calculator is. 🙂
Mistake #9, not visiting google, and entering “knitting calculator buttonhole” and then clicking on the first result which sends you here:
http://www.thedietdiary.com/blog/lucia/386
Then, examining the picture and seeing if that helps. And if you need them distributed differently, ask. 🙂
Thank you, thank you for making me laugh out loud after reading this blog and reaching the cat picture – I am unlucky enough (or lucky, depending how you look at it) to have Molly the cat who shows absolutely no interest whatsoever in yarn. Go figure.