Finding the right buttons has got to be one of the biggest challenges when knitting a cardigan. Here’s what I came up with after two trips to fabric stores and one to a yarn store.

Most of the buttons at the fabric store are on little white cards with two to three buttons per card. What a stupid packaging idea. Of course I hadn’t knitted the buttonholes so slipping a button through a hole was out of the question.  Holding those white cards up to the sweater wasn’t very useful. If they really must put the buttons on cards couldn’t they use transparent ones?

Looking for buttons at the yarn store was a totally different
experience. All the buttons are stored in tubes that are easy to open. The clerk encouraged me to lay my sweater on a large table and try on buttons. It’s just too bad that they had nothing in stock that  worked well. Many of the tubes I initially pulled out only had three to five buttons. I was looking for 10.

So now I’ve arrived at the point where I can pick up stitches for the button bands. Of course before I can do that I need to figure out the number of stitches to pick up. This time I decide to use the bottom band as a starting point for the calculations .

Yes, here are more of my quirky math calculations.

1. Measure the front from collar to lower ribbing = 48cm
2. Place bottom ribbing along measuring stick and count how many 1×1 rib stitches in 48cm = 119
3. Count number of rounds in body (from bottom rib to collar) = 161
4. Find pick up rate through trial and error.
161/4 = 40.25
40.25 * 3 = 120.75 (Very close to 119 – so 3 sts out of every 4 rounds will work)

Finding the placement of the button holes was easy  thanks to the formula on page 13 in Sweaters from Camp which is attributed to Mary Rowe.

I followed PGR on the ribbing, “pick up one stitch at the end of each of two rows, skip one row, and repeat”.

Starting at center front and using alternating colors, knit the first six extra stitches (steeks stitches) and the next 17 from stitch holder. Pick up and knit 36 stitches (two sts out of three rounds) along left side, knit 34 stitches from holder along back, pick up and knit 37 stitches along right side, knit 17 stitches from holder and then the remaining 7 extra stitches. There is now a total of 154 stitches (141 + 13 extra stitches) on the needle. Work K1,P1 ribbing for 8 rounds but knit the steek stitches. Knit last round with one color and then firmly cast off knitwise with that color.

Initially I did have the same thought about ribbing that Deborah R. mentioned. I measured the gap along the side where I needed to pick up stitches and came up with 17cm. I then laid my ruler across the ribbing at the bottom of the sweater and counted 17cm worth of ribbing stitches. I came up with 43 stitches and then did some math.

17 + 43 + 34 + 43 + 17 = 154 + 13 stitch stitches = 167 stitches total.

Yikes! That seemed like too much. I then checked a few patterns with similar collars (taking into account differences in gauge) and decide on the previous route to avoid getting a floppy collar. Yes, it does look a little floppy in the front but that’s were the button band is going. and besides I tried on the sweater and it looks great.

Deborah, Mt Mom, I didn’t even think of picking up new steek stitches for the collar! Yes, I see how that would also work. Thanks for the suggestion.

Check out Ruth’s current design project – the 4 seasons.

The right arm  is almost finished despite not knitting for a few days while recovering from an awful cold.

I don’t get very many unsolicited comments about items in progress from my husband but yesterday he asked if the arms of this sweater are suppose to be so different. Befuddled and not sure how to respond, I think I answered, “Why does it look odd?” He responded, “One of the sleeves has more orange than the other.”

Unlike the body, I didn’t think much about how the colors combinations on the sleeves would turn out. I just started the left sleeve with yarn from where I left off with the shoulders. Of course his comment started to haunt me and I soon started jotting down possible color combinations with the yarn left after doing the body (assuming I hadn’t started the sleeves).

The follow questions and responses came to mind.

• Can I knit both the sleeves with the same color combos?
  Nope, there’s not enough yarn with those colors.
• Should I start with new color combos, like purple and yellow?
  Maybe, but I don’t think I want to take that route.
• Is there a way to either lessen the orange or balance each sleeve with a bit of orange?
  This could be possible.

So as I consider my options I’m finishing the right sleeve and will possibly reknitting the left one so that there will be less orange in that one.

Responses to questions

Karen asked about teaching my niece to knit and her reaction to the yarn/toy store.

Teaching her went quite well considering she’s six years old. Her mother and father were amazed to see her sit and concentrate on one thing for a couple of hours. I casted on the stitches, showed her the movements a few times and then gave her the needles. At first I guided her hands but it wasn’t long before she was knitting by herself. I don’t think this was the first time she had done this because she mentioned that her friend has knitted with her before.

I’m not sure whether she’ll keep it up because the next day she didn’t ask about doing it again. I think six might be a little young to start.

I also forgot to mention that we drove to the Frio in a different car so she wasn’t with me when I bought the yarn and needles. That’s probably a good thing. Not sure what would have happened if we took the two children into that shop. Actually it was lunch time and Grandpa was really hungry so it was a very quick stop. The guy ringing up my purchases suggested a great BBQ joint a few blocks down at the junction of highway 46 and 87. It’s a combo meat market, BBQ restaurant and Shell gas station called Riverside Supermarket! We ate our lunch at one of the tables between the produce and meat case and enjoyed watching the locals line up to place orders. The sliced beef sandwich was so excellent taht we stopped by again on the way back to Austin.

Deborah asked, “How would you compare the length of color change in Kauni with, say, Noro Kureyon or Silk Garden?”

Kauni color changes are much longer than Kureyon or Silk Garden. I don’t know how much longer because I haven’t yet attempted to measure one of the colors in my skein. I’d guess at the length but I don’t think I’d be very accurate. Since the colors gradually change from one to the next, it would be hard figure out where one colors begins and ends.

Last weekend was the family outing to the Frio river. The weather was mostly overcast with light rain. That’s OK because even though the sun wasn’t out, it was about 10 – 15 degrees warmer than the previous week back home. With the weather being a bit cooler than anticipated I was able to continue working on the cardigan and even finished the left arm.

Just as I arrived I found out that my niece was ready to try knitting and wanted me to teach her. On the way from Austin to the Frio we kept an eye out for a yarn store and were lucky to find Ewe & Eye along the way. It’s a nice little store that’s also has a rather large toy section.

While I was there to quickly grab some needles and yarn for a beginner I couldn’t help but take a quick look at all the yarn. This Jojoland Melody popped out at me. It’s a variegated yarn in rainbow colors similar to Kauni. While the colors are similar, I’m not sure how long the color changes are. Also this yarn is plied with three different colored strands that  form a noticeable barber pool affect. Not sure how it would look knitted up or if it would work as a replacement for Kauni.

So, here’s what I got done. Please ignore the wrinkles. It was rolled and stuffed into my carry on bag.

I’m not so sure I like all that orange and green towards the bottom half of the sleeve but I’ll leave it for now.

I wasn’t sure about the sleeve length so I cut the extra stitches on the front and back neck to make it easier to try on the cardigan.

As you can see I lined up all the yarn that’s left – 240 grams worth. That’s what’s left of the 520 grams I had when I started. Not sure if I mentioned this but I’m making the medium sized one with the body shortened a few centimeters. Should be plenty to finish the other sleeve and the rest of the ribbing.