Having finished the body of ze blue cardi, I’ve hit the inevitable fork in the road. To the Left: lord, there are two sleeves to go. To the Right: find a way to make it FUN!
Most fun for me? Doing other work on the piece that will incite me to finish the parts that annoy.
First up? The Left Button Band.
Now this is logical because it gives lots of information about both the final look of the piece and it gives a roadmap on where to put the buttonholes when the Right Band is worked.
And because I had a few spare moments this morning, I dug out the Button Basket!
It’s been in the mix for years now, and it seems it fills it self to bursting when I’m not looking. Inside, buttons sorted by color and type — on the left, there’s the Black Buttons in their place of honor: a now old Le Droguerie bag from Paris. I own more black buttons than any other type. What’s simply amazing is the variety of size, shape and materials one can find.
But, I’m thinking white buttons on this one and even though there’s some blue lovelies in there, this is chock full of cards of white, in a bag from my other favorite button palace, MJ Trims in NYC.
I like to staple all the same-type cards together so I can just pull them out en masse — here’s some shell buttons. And here’s some vintage cards of plastic fantasique that have flea-marketed their way into the basket over the years.
Will it be the smooth and shiny modern buttons or will the vintage disks hit the catwalk? Gives me something big to think about while I knit Sleeve #1.
I kinda like the round one with some texture — one of the “vintage” ones, I think. You want “simple, but interesting”, so as not to distract the eye from those gorgeous cables!
Did you ask for my opinion? Good! Then I’ll give it to you.
I’ve been sewing for years, and I think the Slimlines look cheap. I like the swirly ones.
Oh, I just finished the Eyelet Cardi. I love it and want ten of them!
I like the swirly ones. I think it is because it mimics the feeling of curves in the lace, but I could be fooling myself!
I like the swirls and I like the open square button. The swirls have movement and the square button is open, like the lace.
The swirly buttons complement the look of the sweater the best. And since I’ve come out of lurkdom, let me just say that I completely adore your designs and recently finished (in 7 days…..a new record for me) the Mondo Cable Shell using Jo Sharp Desert Aran. Beautifully written and well-suited to the yarn!
Vintage…they are perfect judging by the pic.
Just finishing up the first sleeve of my first Chic sweater – the scoop de jour. Love Love Love.
Cheers,
Laura
I like the swirly ones too – but am wary of saying so — I have a lot of buttons in MY button box that I bought mid-way through a sweater, and then changed my mind about when the sweater was finished.
Love this shade of blue — so cool.
I think shell would be lovely with this color.
I definitely like the middle swirly button the best!
I like the swirly one too, but I also think a shell button would be nice – the iridescence in the shell might reflect the aqua color of the sweater. Looking at your photo of the shell button, I see aqua tones in there …
Me, too! I like the one with the swirl
The shells!!
Wow! I think I’d use a variety of buttons. How cool would that be? You’ve given me an idea for the cardi I’m working on now….Heading toward sleeve island myself.
Of course, it leaves multiples of buttons without homes…..but, I, personally, can probably live with that.
Definitely the shells!
My vote is for the swirly buttons. They seem to contrast very nicely with the lace. All my buttons are stored in an old ceramic jar on my dresser. It is always fun to pull it out and imagine all the ways to use them up!
My vote is for either of the vintage buttons. I must agree with Maria that the Slimlines are cheap looking; they are unworthy of this gorgeous sweater.
I love to watch your process – I know I spend a lot of my cardigan knitting time wondering about the buttons too!
I love the combination of buttons in your photo!