Hello, I have a question about buttonholes in a 2x2 rib band. I have finished the band but it doesn’t look neat. A small gap has appeared beside the buttonhole. On the first row I kept to the 2x2 rib when casting off, ie one stitch was K and one was P. When I cast on the two stitches for the buttonhole on the second row should I cast on purl wise if it is a purl stitch? I knitted both stitches and I wrapped the second cast on stitch to secure it, would this have caused the hole? Thank you.
There’s sometimes a hole with this kind of buttonhole. The one row buttonhole may be a better choice. I need to pull out the directions every time I use it but it’s worth the extra effort.
If you’d like, you can try casting on purlwise and also knitwise with the 2 row buttonhole that you’re now using. I’ve never tried that. Let us know how it worked out if you do try.
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I don’t know, I’m sorry to say. This video might help…
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Thank you Salmonmac, I do like the look of this buttonhole. My pattern says to cast off 2 Sts and cast on two Sts for the buttonhole, in this tutorial they say to cast on one more than the cast off, so four in this case. If my pattern says cast on 2 should I cast on 3? On the wrong side of my work the buttonholes look ok, but not on the right side unfortunately. The video GrumpyGramma sent below also says one more cast on than cast off.
Thank you GrumpyGramma, that’s a handy tutorial, Suzanne’s knitting technique is good to watch, it makes me think I need to change the way I knit! My finished buttonhole band looks ok on the wrong side but not on the right side, unfortunately for me. I will be redoing it.
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If you have a 2 stitch buttonhole, cast on 3sts. You’ll decrease the extra stitch when you turn and knit the extra stitch together with the border stitch.
I find the written directions helpful once you’ve seen the video.
It may help to practice on a swatch just to make sure you’ve got it. The buttonhole should look good from both sides. If you’d like, post a photo a maybe we can figure out what’s going wrong.
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You’re welcome. If the way you knit is working for you and you get good results, why would you need to change?
I like the way Suzanne knits, is it continental? She hardly moves her hands, my technique is more throwing the yarn over the needle. I doubt if I’ll change now though.
I’m always adjusting tension around buttonholes. I don’t know if they’d be the right size but I recently started doing k2tog, double yo, ssk, then knitting into both loops of the double yo on the next row. It was in a pattern I test knit and they were the nicest buttonholes I ever used. You might try that way and find out if you think it’s good for you.
The buttonhole is stretched from use but it still looks pretty good to me.
There are many ways to knit Continental. I pick and use Norwegian purls. I have less finger movement. Since I don’t and never have had a lot of finger dexterity I had to figure out what works for me. Not only is there no one right way to knit, there’s no right way within a subcategory of knitting styles. I think that’s marvelous. I’m right handed but can’t manage to knit English style; my right hand refuses to tension the yarn for me. I keep trying, I hate to think I just can’t ever do it.
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You might try putting the buttonholes on the 2 purl sts. Of course you’ll have to include a knit stitch to complete the bind off of 2sts but as long as all the buttonholes are the same it should look ok.
Hi, I’m about to do a swatch using the various methods mentioned. Will let you know how it goes.
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I’m going to have a trial run using this technique will report back.
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Sorry just to reiterate, you mean knit or purl the cast ons and cast offs rather than work to the rib pattern and cast on an extra stitch to be knitted together with the border stitch on the next row?
Work the cast off on the 2 purl sts of the rib plus the next knit stitch. I work the cable cast on as knit sts including the extra stitch which is passed over the next stitch on the left. Pretty much following the video. There’s no need to work these sts in pattern since knitting them produces a neater buttonhole.
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Hi I did the buttonholes as per your advice and have just finished the project, just need to find some buttons. There’s still a bit of a gap at the side of the buttonhole, and as before it looks ok on the WS. I had to go with it in the end as I was taking too long trying to get the perfect buttonhole. In the new year I’ll spend some time practicing.
Finished project, sorry I forgot to take a picture of the buttonhole band. It was ok though not perfect so I will need to practice. This was my first attempt at cable knitting.
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So many firsts! Good for you for working on new skills. They will always come in handy. Sorry to miss seeing this first project.
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I tried to download a photo of the finished project (drag and drop) but it won’t work.
You could try copy and paste if you’d like to give it another go? Anyway, congrats on finishing the project. That’s always good news.