Buttonhole in seed stitch help

#1

I’m knitting a baby sweater, in stocking stitch with a seed stitch trim. The trim along the front is supposed to have two vertical buttonholes near the top. I’ve stitched and ripped the buttonhole row and next row (rows 3 & 4) three times now, and can’t seem to manage to make the hole :??

Here’s how the pattern’s worded:
Knit 2 rows seed stitch.
Row 3 (buttonhole row), Patt 2 sts, YO, K2tog (or P2tog as appropriate). Patt 5 st, YO, K2tog (or P2tog as appropriate). Patt to end.
K another row in seed st, BO in patt.

If it matters, in orfer for the seed stitch to work, I’m starting row 3 with a knit stitch.

It just seems, that where it calls for me to YO, my yarn is already brought forward because I just completed a purl stitch. I’ve tried both leaving the yarn forward then k2tog, and moving the yarn back then k2tog… neither way leaves a buttonhole. Colour me confused :eyes:

#2

YO buttonholes [I]are[/I] pretty tiny. If you’re working
k1,p1,yo,p2tog, k1,p1,k1,p1,k1, yo,p2tog,k1,p1,etc.,
your yarn is in front from the purl. Bring the yarn up over the needle and back to the front again for your yo, then p2tog from there.
The hole will be tiny, and won’t really show up until you work the yo on the next row, and then maybe stick your finger in it.

If you want a bigger hole, you could bind off 2 stitches where you want the hole and then cast on 2 stitches above it on the next row. Or even one stitch, if you want a smaller hole.

#3

hmmm, so maybe the hole was there, but so small I didn’t notice it. The FO on the pattern shows fairly big buttons, which I’d like to use also. It certainly didn’t leave a hole big enough for the buttons I plan to use. I think I’ll try your bo/co idea. Thank you!

#4

I’m not a great fan of the YO buttonhole. As Chris Bylsma said at the finishing class I got to go to, “The best thing about the YO buttonhole is that it can stretch to fit any button. And the worst thing about the YO buttonhole is that it can stretch to fit any button.” In other words it has no stability. The BO and cast back on buttonhole that Ingird mentions is better. Another one that you might try out on a swatch to see if you like is the one row buttonhole Amy has in “Advanced Techniques”. It is kind of ‘advanced’ in that it is a bit fiddly and I still have to read the directions almost everytime I use it, but it makes a nice stable buttonhole that you don’t need to think about sewing around to finish it off nicer. Remember you don’t have to use the buttonhole they suggest in a pattern.

Another way to make a bigger hole with a YO buttonhole is to make a double yarn over, then you have to get rid of 2 stitches to keep the stitch count the same. So you would K1, P1, K2tog, YO twice, P2tog. On the row back, purl the first YO and knit the second one. You would probably want to do a sewn whip stitch or a buttonhole sewing stitch around such a buttonhole.

#5

Thanks so much for the advice. I’ll check out that video, too. I did the bo/co and it worked wonderfully! All I have left now is one sleeve to finish this up, woot!