Petrol Cardigan Complete and a Buttohole Tutorial

Guess what?  My sweater is finished and I'm happy to report that I've already worn it yesterday.  Oh my, I have to say that I will probably make a third sweater like this one, from Ann Budd's Knitter's Handy book of Top Down Sweaters.  She is a mathematical genius!

For the edging of the body and sleeves, I chose garter stitch and then an Icord bind off.  This technique gives the cardigan a polished look.

Of course, Quince and Company Tern wool is heavenly to knit with.  I love how crisp the stitches look and the way the wool silk blend takes the dye differently.  Such depth!!

I thought you'd all like to see an outtake photo...I thought it was funny.  I take all of the photos with the camera timer or with a very very very long arm reach :)

Ah much better!  Ravelry notes are here

Buttonhole Tutorial:

Just a quick note, Andrea from This Knitted Life blog commented on a previous post about the dreaded button holes and bands.  I thought I'd share how I do my button placement.

First off, when the cardigan is finished I place stitch marchers on the button side approximately one inch from the top and the bottom.  Then I place stitch markers in between those beginning and end markers 2 - 2 1/2 inches apart.  If you go 3+ inches you will have gaps when the cardigan is buttoned.

If you have a repeating lace pattern, like I do above, then the stitch markers can be placed exactly after so many lace repeats.  Mine was five repeats, place a marker.

Okay, now I pick up stitches - three stitches are picked up for every four rows all across the edge. For this sweater, I knit three garter ridges and then started the buttonhole row.

I knit to the stitch marker then -yo, knit 2 tog - and tried to have about 12-14 knitted stitches between the buttonholes.  A stitch here and there between 12-14 stitches will not be noticed in fingering weight yarn.