# Knitting buttonholes **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 9, 2008, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/knitting-buttonholes/432884 "2008-01-09T18:43:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2008, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/knitting-buttonholes/432884/1 "2008-01-09T18:43:10Z")
I am currently making my first-ever sweater – an ambitious project for someone who’s basically a beginner. (I’d done some knitting as a kid, and just picked it up again after a 40-year hiatus.) The sweater is a boxy cardigan, and I’ve finished the back and am almost done (if Netflix comes through, I’ll finish tonight) the front panel that the buttons will be on. Looking ahead at the instructions, it’s not really clear to me how I’m making the buttonholes on the other front panel – do I just bind off X stitches for each, then cast on X stitches in the row immediately above? TIA. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2008, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/knitting-buttonholes/432884/2 "2008-01-09T19:01:13Z")
button holes usually involve a yarn over. in the instructions is there a part that says “yo”? (and yes that could be confusing for a philly person.) the yarn over creates a bit of a hole in the row. ---
**Author:** ![jacquilynne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/67e7ee/32.png) [@jacquilynne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jacquilynne)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2008, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/knitting-buttonholes/432884/3 "2008-01-09T19:08:36Z")
There are two basic types of buttonholes – small ones are made with a Yarn Over, larger ones are made exactly as you describe, by binding off stitches on one row and then casting them back on in the next. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2008, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/knitting-buttonholes/432884/4 "2008-01-09T19:09:17Z")
> [@directions](#): > > RIGHT FRONT: Work as for left front, reversing shaping. Work buttonholes to correspond with marked button placements as foll: On RS row, k 1, p 1, k 1, yo, k2tog, work in pat to end of row. . I couldn’t figure out how knitting two together would give a hole. 😕 So what exactly does “yarn over” mean? ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2008, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/knitting-buttonholes/432884/5 "2008-01-09T19:10:47Z")
Misread this as knitting buttholes, moving on. ---
**Author:** ![stargazer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb8c5e/32.png) [@stargazer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stargazer)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2008, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/knitting-buttonholes/432884/6 "2008-01-09T19:27:00Z")
[QUOTE=twickster] . I couldn’t figure out how knitting two together would give a hole. 😕 So what exactly does “yarn over” mean? [/QUOTE] A yarn over creates a little hole – if you’re on a knit row, you bring your working yarn in front of the needles (as if you were going to purl) and then knit. If you scroll down to the bottom of [this](http://www.knittinghelp.com/videos/increases) page, there’s a video (it’s a great site in general – I think every knitter should know about it!). ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2008, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/knitting-buttonholes/432884/7 "2008-01-09T19:31:27Z")
[QUOTE=twickster] . I couldn’t figure out how knitting two together would give a hole. 😕 So what exactly does “yarn over” mean? [/QUOTE] Yarn over (or YO) means that you loop the yarn around the right needle before you make the next stitch. The reason there’s a K2Tog in that row is that the YO is an increase and adds a whole new stitch to the row, and if you didn’t decrease with the K2Tog you’d have too many stitches from that point on. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2008, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/knitting-buttonholes/432884/8 "2008-01-09T19:35:28Z")
[QUOTE=stargazer] A yarn over creates a little hole – if you’re on a knit row, you bring your working yarn in front of the needles (as if you were going to purl) and then knit. If you scroll down to the bottom of [this](http://www.knittinghelp.com/videos/increases) page, there’s a video (it’s a great site in general – I think every knitter should know about it!). [/QUOTE] That site is just what I needed! thanks! ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2008, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/knitting-buttonholes/432884/9 "2008-01-09T19:37:45Z")
As the question has already been answered by **stargazer** and **jayjay** - what sweater are you making? ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2008, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/knitting-buttonholes/432884/10 "2008-01-09T19:42:49Z")
[This one](http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/khs-crop.html), but in “Coral Gables.” ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2008, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/knitting-buttonholes/432884/11 "2008-01-09T19:53:30Z")
[QUOTE=twickster] [This one](http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/khs-crop.html), but in “Coral Gables.” [/QUOTE] Good luck. I hate knitting Homespun. I did a scarf and hat for my mom in “Colonial” two years ago and I was cursing Lion Brand with my mouth and both hands by the time I was done… ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2008, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/knitting-buttonholes/432884/12 "2008-01-09T20:00:37Z")
It’s not causing problems for me … I tend to knit rather loosely, though, so that and the big gauge has it looking just kind of funky. I’m happy with it so far. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2008, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/knitting-buttonholes/432884/13 "2008-01-09T20:13:30Z")
[QUOTE=twickster] It’s not causing problems for me … I tend to knit rather loosely, though, so that and the big gauge has it looking just kind of funky. I’m happy with it so far. [/QUOTE] I’ll admit it was right when I started knitting so I wasn’t terribly good at it then, and I don’t know how many times I broke the wrap yarn by mistake and ended up watching all the fluff yarn that was left going seven ways to Sunday… ---
**Author:** ![CateAyo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@CateAyo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CateAyo)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2008, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/knitting-buttonholes/432884/14 "2008-01-10T01:52:52Z")
Don’t trouble yourself, dear. I’ll be very happy in a pullover, especially in that splendid color! ---
**Author:** ![BoBettie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@BoBettie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoBettie)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2008, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/knitting-buttonholes/432884/15 "2008-01-10T03:44:09Z")
You could also skip the button holes and put on toggle buttons or something like this: [http://knittingboardchat.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/02/tooglecl.JPG](http://knittingboardchat.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/02/tooglecl.JPG) ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2008, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/knitting-buttonholes/432884/16 "2008-01-10T04:33:31Z")
I tend to use large buttons. Usually, that is, I use zippers, but sometimes I find a button I have to design a sweater around. Those tend to be large. So I use the cast off/ cast on method. I tend to halve it though: if the button is an inch wide, I cast on/off half an inch’s worth of stitches, and let elasticity do the rest. Depending on the yarn, that works 90% of the time. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2008, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/knitting-buttonholes/432884/17 "2008-01-10T11:48:44Z")
[QUOTE=CateAyo] Don’t trouble yourself, dear. I’ll be very happy in a pullover, especially in that splendid color! [/QUOTE] I’ll put you on the list, right after Ed’s Iggles scarf. ---
**Author:** ![Sprockets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/35a633/32.png) [@Sprockets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sprockets)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2008, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/knitting-buttonholes/432884/18 "2008-01-10T12:30:29Z")
[QUOTE=twickster] . I couldn’t figure out how knitting two together would give a hole. 😕 So what exactly does “yarn over” mean? [/QUOTE] YO literally means to put the yarn over the needle, but anything more is beyond my ability to explain in this medium. There are many types of YOs and many reasons for them, but in this case the YO is going to create a hole in the next row. It sounds like you really want to know how to knit, so I’m going to suggest what I consider to be THE perfect knitting instruction book of all time - it’s “Knitting in Plain English” by Maggie Righetti. She is a remarkable woman who knows how to explain things. This book will tell you all about the different kinds of buttonholes, which one to choose for which purpose, etc. She is also a joy to read. The book is probably at your local library. She also wrote “Sweater Design in Plain English,” which has been my bible for doing it myself. As an aside, after trying all the various ways of making buttonholes, I’m back to the “cast off on one row, cast on on the next” school of buttonhole making. I cannot suggest strongly enough that you practice making buttonholes on a test piece, not on the sweater itself. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2008, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/knitting-buttonholes/432884/19 "2008-01-10T13:29:56Z")
I haven’t attempted my first sweater yet. I’ve been knitting three years. I definately won’t be doing anything with buttonholes, either. ---
**Author:** ![Sprockets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/35a633/32.png) [@Sprockets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sprockets)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2008, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/knitting-buttonholes/432884/20 "2008-01-10T13:33:53Z")
[QUOTE=Shirley Ujest] I haven’t attempted my first sweater yet. I’ve been knitting three years. I definately won’t be doing anything with buttonholes, either. [/QUOTE] Knitting really isn’t difficult. Think of all the illiterate peasant women of the past who knitted fabulous garments. I think knitting seems complicated because people try to follow patterns. I never had luck with patterns. Also, not checking knitting tension on the needles you want to use with the yarn you’re going to use in the pattern you’re going to use is a big mistake. (It took me years to learn this.) The thing I like about the book(s) I mentioned below is the common sense of the author. She is just so pleasant and reasonable that she’s a pleasure to read, and it’s like having a grandmother sitting next to you all the time, showing you how to knit. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/knitting-buttonholes/432884.md?page=2)