The Knitters Bible9

Buttonholes

A knitting pattem will tell you to work the button band before the buttonhole band.This is because you can use the button band to work out how many buttons you need and how they will be spaced. Lie the piece fiat and place a pin at the position of the top and bottom buttons.These should be 'A\n (l.5cm) from the ends. Using a tape measure. place pins to mark the positions of the remaming buttons. Make surę they are spaced evenly by counting the rows or stitches between the pins. To decide on the size of buttonhole to use. work a few samples of different buttonholes on a sample of the border stitch. Smali garments like lacy cardigans or summer tops will look better with several smali buttons than a few large ones. while a heavy cabled garment is better with fewer. larger buttons.

For smali buttons

Make the buttonhole using a yam over with a corresponding decrease. On a band worked in rib or moss stitch. try to space the buttonholes so that the yam over is worked m place of the purl stitch and the decrease is worked with the knit stitch on top. For example. opposite the button marker, on a nght stde row. work a kl. yo. k2tog.This will give a neater fmish.

For large buttons Work the buttonhole by bindmg (casting) off two or three stitches on a right side row and then casting them back on in the next row.

For example. on a band picked up and worked honzontalły along the edge of a cardigan. you would work to one stitch before the marker, bind (cast) off three stitches. work to one stitch before the next marker and work another buttonhole and so on to the end of the row. The marker marks the centre of the buttonhole. so by working to one stitch before the marker, the centre of the buttonhole will be in the right position. On the next row. work to the bound (cast) off stitches. tum the work and cast on three stitches using the cable cast on method (see page 24). Before placing the fmal stitch on the left-hand needle. bring the yam to the front between the needles; this stops a loop being formed which makes the buttonhole look untidy. Dont cast on too tightły. the stitches need to be as elastic and as wide as those on the bound (cast) off edge. Tum the work back and continue across the row to the next buttonhole. It looks neater if you plan to work the buttonholes in the same place in the rib. For examp!e. bind (cast) off three stitches over k I. p I. k I each time.

To sew on buttons. either use the same yam. if it is thin enough to go through the button. or use a strong sewing thread in a matching colour.

Knit Perfect

/ If the knitting pattem does not tell you how many stitches to pick up. measure the length of the edge and mułtiply it by the stitch gauge (tension) of the border to be knitted.You can get this from measuring the border if it has already been used on the gamnent or by knitting a piece of the border as though it were for a gauge (tension) sample. Place markers every I in (2.5cm) along the edge and pick up the number of stitches in I in (2.5cm) of the border.

Practise by picking up stitches along the edge of the gauge (tension) square worked for the main fabric.

For example. if the edge measures I Oin (25cm) and the stitch gauge (tension) of the border is 4 stitches to I in (2.5cm). you would place markers every I in (2.5cm) and pick up 4 stitches between them for a total of 40 stitches.

/ If you pick up too few stitches for a neckband. button band or border. it will puli or gather up the main fabric. If you have too many stitches. the neckband. button band or border will be fluted and will not lie fiat Work out your stitches carefully before you begin and always unravel and start again if it does not look ńght

A badly knitted border will spoił a well-knitted garment