Zippers in knitwear, the no-sewing way

IMPORTANT UPDATE 2016: there's a new Dritz zipper which is DESIGNED for knitting into garments.  Somebody over at Dritz was really thinking smart!  As you read the below, realize that if you had one of these new zippers, the whole project would be SO much easier, as you could pick the stitches straight up through the band, ignoring the whole knit-picking process.  AMAZING!!!  One downside: it seems to only come in tan, and in two lengths, but wow, what a great start on a new product.

Ahem....now back to the original article, below...

* * *

This article about installing zippers was featured in the winter 2010 issue of Interweave Knits.  TECHknitting blog has had a few posts which refer to this technique, but the details have never been actually published to the internet. The copyright has now reverted to me, and TECHknitting blog is publishing all the details for the first time, complete with illustrations.  There is also an accompanying video in which Knits' editor, Eunny Jang, demo's the how-to.

* * *

Do you avoid making zippered knitwear because of the sewing involved? Here's a way to install zippers with no sewing at all. Instead, you literally KNIT the zipper in. To prep the zipper to perform this magic trick, we'll borrow a tool used in rug-making and machine knitting--the latch hook.

INTRO TO LATCH HOOKS (KNIT-PICKER)

Latch hooks come in many sizes, but the one for us is a miniature version called a "knit-picker" or "snag-fixer." Available in fabric stores for a couple of bucks, these are meant for pulling snags to the inner surface of industrial knits such as polyester polo shirts. We, however, are going to use this mini-latch hook for our own hand-knitting purposes: to pull yarn loops through the fabric tape of the zipper--perfectly spaced loops which can then be picked up and knitted (or bound off). 

In essence, a latch hook is nothing more than a foolproof crochet hook--foolproof because the little latch can swing open to catch the yarn, then swung shut, trapping the yarn under the hook.  Once the yarn is safely caught under the hook and the gate latched shut, the loaded hook can be drawn through even the tightest hole without any danger of the yarn fraying or splitting, because the latch locks the yarn in.

Close-up of knit-picker, with latch open (L) and shut (R)

Specifically, in our use, the latch is going to be swung open, then the hook is going to be poked through the zipper tape at a pre-marked spot, shown by red dots on the illustrations below. Next, the latch will be closed to lock the yarn onto the hook. The locked, loaded hook is then drawn through the zipper tape. Once drawn through, the latch opens and the hook is removed, depositing the yarn loop neatly on the front of the zipper tape.

KNIT-ABLE OBJECT

As you know, any two pieces of knitting COULD be attached by sewing, but there are also NON-SEWING ways of attaching knitting together. For example, if two pieces of knitting have open (live) loops, the three needle bind-off can be used to seam them together.  To seam together a line of open loops to a line of closed loops, or to seam together two lines of closed loops (closed loops=bind off edge, or cast-on edge, or side selvedge) you can use slip-stitching.

By using the knit-picker to insert loops (open OR closed) onto the surface of the zipper tape, you're turning the zipper tape into a knit-able object.  Once the zipper is knit-able, it can be seamed or attached to a piece of knitting just as easily as any other two pieces of knitting could be, with no sewing necessary.

INSERTING OPEN (LIVE) or CLOSED LOOPS via the KNIT PICKER

There are two basic methods for inserting loops into a zipper tape--open (live) loops or a chain of closed loops. For open loops, you can simply pick up loops as you draw them through to the top surface of the zipper tape, then deposit them onto a knitting needle, as shown below.

Creating open (live) loops

In order to get a line of closed loops (a chain of loops on the surface of the tape) you pull loops up, each through the previous loop, leaving a chain of slipped stitches on the top surface of the zipper tape. These chain stitches provide the anchor for further manipulation.  As indicated above, the open-loop method is analogous to a line of live loops, while the chain method is more like a bound-off or cast-on edge, or a side selvedge.  Choose the method of drawing through loops depending on what your planned method of attachment will be.

Creating closed (chained) loops

NOTE: In the illustrations above, the latch hook is not to scale: in real life the hook and latch assembly is FAR, FAR SMALLER than shown. The head of a real knit-picker is tiny!

In both the open-loop and the closed-loop illustrations above,

• "a" indicates the position of the latch hook--open to insert, closed to withdraw; 
• "b" indicates the loops pulled through: looped over a knitting needle for the live-loop method, or chained onto the face of the zipper tape for the closed-loop method; 
• "c" indicates the method of inserting the latch hook--directly through the zipper tape, then lifted onto a knitting needle for the live loop method; or through the previous loop and the zipper tape for the closed-loop chain method. 

In both illustrations, the green dotted line indicates the path of the yarn running under the zipper tape--both methods yield what looks like a neat row of running stitches on the back of the zipper tape

With the loops pulled through the zipper tape via the
live-loop method, this closed-bottom zipper is ready to be installed,
perhaps in the top of a purse, for example

SPACING

Once you determine the finished zipper length needed (more on zipper length below) you count the number of rows or stitches along the garment edge where you will install the zipper. Mark off dots, one for each loop wanted, evenly spaced. 

Keeping the marks in a straight line is easy. Zipper tapes are usually woven with sewing guide lines right on them--a sometimes subtle, sometimes obvious pattern running lengthwise up the tape, shown as light gray dotted lines in the illustrations.

LOOP SIZE

In the open (live) loop method, each loop will necessarily be the same size because they are caught around the barrel of a knitting needle. In the closed loop (chain) method, however, it is a bit more difficult. Because the barrel of the latch hook is tiny, drawing up each loop snug around the hook's barrel would over-tighten the loops. You can proceed freehand--drawing up each loop just so, as shown in the illustration, or for a more sure thing, you can temporarily insert a dpn of appropriate size into each loop as you make it, then snug up the loop over the needle barrel, then remove the dpn.  This makes each loop the same size, as long as you're careful to not over-tighten the slack away as you draw up the next loop. 

ADJUSTING ZIPPER LENGTH

Zippers rarely come in the exact length wanted. To shorten a non-separating (closed bottom) zipper --the kind you'd install in a purse-top, for example--shorten it by working from the bottom, as shown:  First, sew a new stop.  Then, snip to length.  The snipped end is hidden inside the purse.

Sew a new stop (top picture) then cut 
(bottom picture) to shorten a closed-bottom
(non-separating) zipper

For a separating zipper--the kind you would use for a sweater front, for example--you can sew a new stop at each top in a similar manner, then snip away the excess zipper tape. Alternatively, if there's only an inch or so of excess at the top, simply fold the excess zipper out of the way at a 90 degree angle to the top of the garment, then sew the excess along the garment edge with the teeth pointing down. If you cut a nylon or polyester zipper tape, consider lightly heat-sealing the edge with a match: for safety, work over a sink with the water running, just in case the tape flares.

TROUBLESHOOTING and TIPS

*Latch hooks take some getting used to. To control the latch's tendency to poke and tangle, use your thumb to flip and hold it it down (open) for insertion and again for yarn-catching, then snap it shut once it's loaded with yarn and before withdrawing through the zipper tape.

*Because of its stiff and inflexible nature, nylon or polyester zipper tape will fold over on itself along the line of the pick-up. With use and wear, the tape will eventually soften.  Washing first might soften an excessively stiff zipper tape.

*Although tiny, the latch hook can pull along yarns up to and including most chunky-weights. However, the thicker the yarn pulled through the tape, the more zipper-buckling you will get. To reduce buckling, create the loops on the zipper tape using a thinner color-matched yarn: sock yarn is perfect because it is both thin and strong. Alternatively, you can catch one loop through the zipper tape for each TWO stitches wanted. This reduced buckling by halving the amount of yarn inserted into the zipper tape. With this two-for-one trick, you must double the stitch count in the next row, perhaps by inserting a backwards (or forward) loop increase alternate with each loop on the tape, or working each loop as a kfb. 

*Whether you are working with a closed-bottom (non-separating) zipper or a separating one, it's best to pick up stitches with the zipper opened or separated: makes the work go easier.

*Poking the latch hook through a tightly-woven zipper tape goes quicker if you've used a large sharp sewing needle or small awl to pre-poke the holes.

*An INGENUOUS method of poking holes and getting perfect spacing at the same time involves using a sewing machine--but not to sew the zipper in.  Instead, you run the sewing machine blank (no thread) adjusting the stitch length to the gauge you want, and thus punching a line of perfectly-spaced holes in a straight line down the tape.  Putting a huge (like for sewing leather) needle into the machine makes the punched hole bigger and easier to see.  Thanks to reader Valsew for this tip.

* * *

Coming up: Knit-pickers aren't just for adding zippers.  They can be used to work in ends, also.  The next post shows how. 

Until next time, TK

Stuffed Mittens

Today's post is just showing off a little: as promised last summer, TECHknitting has a new pattern published in a nationally distributed magazine. Specifically, Interweave Knits Holiday Issue contains a TECHknitting pattern for stuffed mittens, made a new way.

These stuffed mittens are loosely knit in the main color, using worsted weight yarn.  Once the mittens are finished being knit, they are turned inside out for stuffing.  Although these look like thrummed mittens (which have the tufts knitted in) adding the tufts afterwards makes it easier to add more of them: unlike when they're knit-in, tufts added afterwards don't interrupt the knit fabric's structure. Made extra large to accommodate all that stuffing, they are offered in sizes C,W,M (child's small and medium, as well as women's and men's).

inside and outside of the stuffed mittens
(inside out--at right--they look handy for dusting, don't they?)

The child's medium mittens featured here and in the magazine are knit from Brown Sheep yarns: the main color is Lamb's Pride worsted Mulberry M162, the contrast color tufts are Lamb's Pride bulky Prairie Goldenrod M240.

The fuzzy mitt to the right in the bottom picture is inside out, to show what the tufts look like once they've been fastened into place.  As you can see, stuffed mittens are massively insulated.  For kids, they would be perfect for a snowball fight.  For adults, these would be handy to keep in the car for when you have to scrape the windshield or touch the freezing metal of the gas pump--good for yourself and a great gift for anyone who drives in the cold.

Interweave Holiday Gifts magazine is currently on sale nationally until December 10, 2012, and is also available in a digital version. The copyright will revert to me by next year, at which time TECHknitting will publish the pattern (all four sizes).  However, if you don't want to wait that long, you might like to check your local newsstand or library for the instructions.

Here is the Ravelry link to see other photos of these mittens.

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Coming up next post, more in an Interweave Knits theme.  In the winter of 2010, Interweave Knits published an TECHknitting article on installing zippers in knitwear, a new non-sewing way. Although this blog has referenced that article and the accompanying video, the full text has not been reprinted until now.  The copyright has reverted to me, and the very next post will have the full text and illustrations of that method.  Free on the web at last.

Until next time, happy knitting! --TK

A museum of knitting and crocheting

Welcome to the 7th season of TECHknitting blog!  Summer's over, the garden has been put to bed and the knitting season has begun. This year's installment of the blog begins with an important public service announcement about a possible museum in the works.  Read on...

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If you could wave a magic wand and set up a museum of knitting and crocheting, what would you include?  Fair Isle or yarn bombing? Bohus or math knitting? Irish lace or hyperbolic crochet? How would you organize it--profit-based or non-profit?  Would it include a conference center? Classrooms? A yarn shop?  Or would it be part of another museum, a historical museum, say?

Or how about something new? What would you think of an on-line museum?  A searchable digitized data base of knitting and crocheting through the ages? How about a K/C swat team of experts trolling through garment collections languishing in museums all over the world, sorting through, then putting knit and crocheted garments on-line with high resolution images of the front and back?

A flight of fancy, yes, but it might not be...someday.

The idea of a knitting museum, real or virtual, is the brainchild of a knitter named (in a delightful bit of nominative determinism) Karen Kendrick-Hands.

Karen is thinking about these issues and more, and she's put together a symposium, taking place in Madison WI November 8-10, 2012, and open to anyone who has an opinion or an interest (and can come up with the registration fee, or is willing to volunteer in lieu of fee).  Karen's ideas have been found worthy of support by TNNA, which gave her a grant to run this symposium and by the Wisconsin Historical Society, which is a co-host and site-provider.  Some VIPs from the world of knitting and textiles have also been attracted to the idea--Trisha Malcolm (Vogue Knitting) as well as Jack Blumenthal (Lion Brand Yarn) will be part of the panel discussion, along with with museum and textile experts.  A keynote speaker will be Susan Strawn (author, Knitting America).

Are you interested?  Here's the link for further info, and thanks to Karen for taking the lead on this exciting project.  Maybe one day knitting and crocheting will have their own museum.  And maybe it's not so fanciful after all: if the quilters can do it, why can't we?

PS:  If interested, hurry.  Registration closes soon.

Resuming October 15, 2012

To those who have asked when TECHknitting will resume with the promised new material,  the answer is October 15.  See you then!

-TK

Summer vacation, SEE YOU IN THE FALL

SUMMER VACATION

It's summer vacation time around chezTECH. As has been usual for the past few summers, the blog remains on line, complete with indexes, but no new posts are put up for a couple of months.

The garden calls and I must answer.

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PREVIEW: FALL 2012

Summer flits by so very fast, and before you know it, TECHknitting blog will be posting new material!  For fall 2012, I've planned:

• a pattern for sale--men's socks featuring dyeing, a chart-chart adapted for color knitting and a wicked undercover alter-ego;
• a new technique booklet for sale: a fabric on the border between knitting and weaving (amazing color combinations are possible, fabulous scarves are within easy reach) and 
• a pair of mittens coming out in a nationally distributed print magazine: uber-warm and lined a whole new way.  

As for the blog, we'll start with a unit on picking up stitches: new tricks to avoid puckers and jagged edges, as well as other tricks to make picked-up stitches lie smooth and professional-looking, whether along a horizontal or sloped or curved edge. Cables and further information about smoothly installing zippers are also on the horizon, so stay tuned.

* * *

Take care until next fall! Enjoy the summer weather!  --TK

V-necks--that loose stitch at the bottom and how to get rid of it

On a community knitting board recently, a member wrote that she can never divide for a V-neck without getting a loose stitch at the division point.

Here are several cures to avoid the problem, plus a couple of after-the-fact corrections if you already have this problem.

First trick: TECHknitting blog has already shown one trick for getting rid of that loose stitch by crossing stitches from one side of the division to the other. This works splendidly, but has the minor drawback of leaving a little pucker.

Second trick: try to avoid adding a new yarn at the center neck. Instead, on the division row, work across the ENTIRE garment, then work half-way BACK for the division--thus making the R front first.  To create the L front, add the yarn at the armhole edge, rather than at the inside bottom edge of the v-neck. This hides any possible loose stitches in the sleeve seam, rather than having them front and center. This trick is illustrated below. (Click illustration to enlarge.)

Try not to add yarn at neck.  Instead, work across the entire row, PAST
the division point, then work back to create the division, making the
R front first. To begin L front, add yarn (red dot) at the armhole, as shown.
This prevents loose stitches at the division point of the "V."

Third trick: Patterns often call for you to place, not only the sts for the second front on a holder to work afterwards, but also to include on the holder, the center stitch(es).  Once the second front has been transferred off the holder in order to knit it, these center sts remain on their holder.  Finally, when both fronts have been worked, these center sts form the base for the center column(s) around which the neck ribbing is decreased.  The problem is, as these center sts hang on their holder and get pushed around, they tend to accumulate whatever slack is around them.  By the time you finally come to knit these center st(s), so long neglected on the holder, they have often grown larger, and sometimes much larger.  So here is a little trick to prevent growing.

The idea behind this trick is to put less yarn into that location in the first place.  See, when you make an ordinary knitted stitch, its size is determined by the diameter of the knitting needle around which the st has been formed.  What if we could make a st without wrapping it around the knitting needle?  That st would be smaller and tighter than the others around it. Here's how.

When you come to these center sts in the row in which you're going to make the division, knit the first (blue) then skip knitting the second (black).  If there is only one center st, skip that one.  Instead, bring the running yarn (red) to the back, slip the skipped st (black) and then continue knitting.  When the time comes to put the center st(s) on the holder (shown as a safety pin in the illustration below), the holder goes through the blue and the black stitch, while the red length of yarn remains loose, behind the black st.

When you finally come to knit these two center stitches (usually, as part of the neck ribbing) you would first take a crochet hook and draw the slipped red yarn though the black stitch, thus making a knit stitch without having wrapped it around a knitting needle.

In other words, by drawing the red strand through the black stitch, you are, in effect, knitting the black stitch with the short length of slipped red yarn, and this stitch is therefore formed out of a shorter length of yarn than would have been possible had the st been formed around a needle. Because this stitch is created with less yarn than a normal stitch, the new red stitch pulls excess yarn from its neighbors.  This forces the center stitches to be nice and tight, and reduces the possibility of loose loops at the center bottom of the v-neck division.

Have you seen this slipping trick before?  It is a variation of a trick for avoiding loose yarn where a purl column and a knit column come together, solution 4 (scroll). 

* * *

If you already HAVE a loose stitch at division of your v-neck then, with your knitting needle, pick away the slack, losing it in the neighboring stitches on both sides (actually, this is a wonderful trick for tightening any loose stitches, however formed and wherever located).

If there is SO much slack that it is not possible to lose it in the neighboring stitches, pull the slack up into a loop.  If the loops is truly ginormous, you can actually just thread the doubled yarn at the top part of loop itself through the eye of a sharp needle  (use this trick to thread such a short length) and skim in the upper end of the loop, thus stretching it out and permanently removing the excess slack yarn.  If the loop is too small to skim in the top of the actual loop itself, then thread the sharp needle with a length of matching yarn and tack (tack=sew lightly) the top of the loop down to the inside of the fabric in a stretched position--this tightens up the loose stitch permanently and will not show from the outside.


Good knitting, TK

"Oops! I forgot a buttonhole!" (part 6 of a TECHknitting buttonhole series)

Forgetting a buttonhole
In this post, the sixth* in a TECHknitting series about buttonholes, we turn to correcting errors--what to do when you forget to make a button hole, but the buttonholes were supposed to be made "as you go."

Typical instructions for as-you-go buttonholes might look like this:

• "...continue to decrease every 6th row at armhole edge, also remembering to work buttonholes as previously directed, and remembering also to work the six front edge stitches in garter stitch."

The trouble is, you might be so busy remembering about the armhole shaping and the garter stitch for the edge that the buttonhole might escape your notice.  Suppose you finish the whole front before you realize the error:  replacing the missed buttonhole now means a whole lot of unraveling followed by a whole lot of re-knitting. Discouragements like this are one reason why projects get abandoned, I think.

"I missed a buttonhole!"

Well, take heart! There are pretty good ways to fix this problem.  In this post we'll look at four variations on a trick for solving the missed-buttonhole problem without having to unravel anything. 

The heart of the trick
Underlying all four variations in this post is the same simple trick: sew a button down over each of the buttonholes already made, as well as over the spot where you missed making the buttonhole.*

The result will look just as if you had never made a mistake in the first place.  The buttonholes you did remember to make will be completely closed and completely covered up, so they'll become invisible, while the missed buttonhole is also covered up with a button, just like all the others.

Sew a button over the buttonholes you remembered
to make, as well as over the spot where you forgot to make one

However, as neat as this trick is, it leads to an obvious problem, namely, how to make buttonholes--or their functional equivalents--on the other side.

Variation 1: Decoration buttons with snaps beneath.
In this variation, the buttons you sew on are non-functional (decoration) buttons.  Best to use shank-less buttons (the kind with the holes through them, rather than the kind with a little stem or "shank" on the back).  Sew these decoration buttons on flat. Next, sew snaps UNDER these buttons.  Finally, sew the matching part of the snap on the OTHER front. Voilà--problem solved!

Decoration buttons sewn on over the already-made
buttonholes, as well as over the spot where the buttonhole
was missed.  Snaps then sewn under each button with
the corresponding snap-half sewn onto opposite front

On the upside, this is a very easy fix.  On the downside, snaps aren't usually very pretty, and can be seen when sweater is worn open. However, you can minimize this problem by using clear plastic snaps. (The snaps at the link are jumbo snaps, better suited to knitwear than the smaller snaps more commonly available.) Or, if you're feeling crafty, you might want to consider making cloth-covered snaps, which also look very well.

Variation 2: Functional buttons, switch sides for buttonholes
If you have not yet knit the opposite front, you can sew buttons on over the messed-up side, then knit the buttonholes when you do knit the other side, hopefully remembering all of this this time!  Remember that in this variation, the buttons are actual, working buttons, so don't sew them on flat.   Instead, use a shanked button, or a flat button sewn on with a thread shank.

If you haven't yet knit the other side of the garment
you can go ahead and sew the buttons onto the
messed-up side, then simply make the buttonholes
on the other side, instead

On the upside, this is an easy fix.  On the downside, switching sides changes the convention of button-placement-by-gender (men's garments traditionally have the buttons on the right band, women's on the left). This might be an issue for some, so heads up (!) on this potential problem.

Variation 3: Anchor buttons, hidden buttonholes
This variation is used under the same circumstances as variation 2:  when the opposite front has not yet been worked.  Like variation 2, the buttonholes are made in the as-yet-unworked front.  The difference between this variation and the one before it is that, when you sew each decoration button onto the messed-up side, you sew another button on underneath it.  Stated otherwise, each decoration button has a functional "anchor button" sewn onto the back of its band, shown in red on the illustration below.

It is this red hidden anchor button which does the actual buttoning through the buttonholes on the opposite band.  When the sweater is buttoned, the buttonholes are completely hidden.

 Each decoration button (green) is sewn
with an anchor button (red) underneath as shown
in the inset. It is this anchor button which is to
be pushed through the buttonholes made
on the other front of the garment.

On the upside, this preserves the gender orientation of the button placement. It also lends a mysterious couture sort of look to the garment: the button band appears to float because the method of closure is not obvious.

On the downside, it's awkward to button a hidden button into a buttonhole which lies under it.  You have to put your hand inside the garment to insert or release the anchor button from the hidden buttonhole.  Another downside is the bulk caused by stacking together the decoration button, the fabric of the buttonband itself and the anchor button.  Using very slim buttons, such as mother-of-pearl shell buttons can minimize this problem.

Variation 4:  Loop buttonholes
If variation 1 does not appeal to you because you don't like the idea of snaps, and if it's too late to use variations 2 or 3 because the other front has already been knit, a last variation remains available. In this variation, you again begin the cure by sewing buttons over the messed-up band.  Then, you make loop buttonholes along the edge of the other front.

There are two ways to make such loops buttonholes (shown in red below). You can either slip stitch a "chain" or use an I-cord attached along the edge.

Loop buttonholes (red) added along the opposite edge

The idea behind both kinds of loop buttonholes is the same: when you get to a position opposite where a button is sewn on, you detach the chain or cord to form a loose loop big enough to fit over the button--one loop per button.

Real life example of slip stitched chain loop-buttonhole
To see how to work a slipped stitch edge, have a look at this illustrated post (the post shows slip stitching along a garter-stitch edge, but the technique is the same regardless of whether the fabric edge is garter stitch or any other stitch). Remember to make a loose loop in order to create the buttonholes, whenever you get to the matching position opposite a button.

Below is a photo of a chain buttonhole in action, looped over a pretty little glass-rose button, on a lacy cotton jacket.

Slip stitched chain-loop buttonhole in action

As you see, the looped buttonhole was slip stitched onto a garter stitch band. (For a fuller view and description of this entire garment, you can go to its project page on Ravelry.)

Real life example of I-cord loop-buttonhole
Below is a photo of an I-cord looped buttonhole in action,  This particular I-cord was slip stitched on (same idea as the slip stitched edging, but the slip stitch was worked through both the I-cord AND the garment edge, from the front).  However, if the idea of combining I cord with slip stitch makes your head want to explode, you can attach the I-cord any way you like--sewing would be one simple way.

I-cord looped buttonhole in action

 Just remember to leave the I-cord loose of the edge, wherever the loop-buttonhole should go.

_______

*Does the trick of sewing a button over a buttonhole look familiar to you?  It's actually a variation on a trick for baby sweaters, where you make buttonholes on both sides of a baby sweater, then sew the buttons down over the unneeded buttonholes once you know whether the new arrival is a girl or boy (scroll to third paragraph at link).

Good knitting! --TK

__________________

*
(Posts in this series)
.Buttonholes in hand knitting, part 1: lore and tradition plus some nifty tricks 

.Buttonholes in hand knitting, part 2: Button lore 

.Buttonholes in Hand knitting, part 3: Sheepseye aka yarn-over buttonholes.

.Buttonholes in hand kniting, part 4: Vertical buttonholes

.Buttonholes in Hand knitting, part 5: Horizontal and Tulips buttonhole, with diagrams

.Buttonholes in Hand knitting, part 6: "Oops! I forgot a buttonhole!" 

 (Related posts)

.Buttonhole alternatives

.How to sew on a button without the spacer sandwich

.Tulips buttonhole: the video (and an interview on Knitting Daily)

Horizontal buttonholes, including diagrams for the new "TULIPS" buttonhole (part 5 in a series)

This is the fifth in a TECHknittng series about buttonholes for hand knitters.* The first half of the post shows a traditional horizontal buttonhole; the second half shows an improved horizontal buttonhole called the "tulips" buttonhole, and includes, not just illustrations, but also a link to a video how-to. 


Simple Horizontal

• Row 1: Cast off several stitches using the chain bind-off (in the below diagram, 3 sts are cast off, shown in red). Slip last chain to L needle. Next, use the running yarn to cast that same number onto the R needle, using a backwards loop cast-on (shown in gray). After cast on, knit sts on L needle, then turn work. 
• Row 2: On the next row, every stitch is knit, including the looped cast ons, and voilà: the buttonhole is made. 

As you can see, the simple horizontal buttonhole is neither sturdy nor beautiful.  The lower right corner is particularly prone to stretching out and the buttonhole itself is asymmetrical top-to-bottom as well as side-to-side. 

To combat these deficiencies, traditional knitters added reinforcement via the buttonhole stitch (as shown on the simple vertical buttonhole, previous post in this series).  This strengthens the edges, and hides them, too. Yet, sewing is something of a pain in the neck.  It also looks clunky. So, here's TECHknitting's improved "tulips" horizontal buttonhole introduced last year. Tulips is self-reinforcing and symmetrical, requiring no touch-up with the sewing needle.

The editor of Interweave Knits, Eunny Jang, made a video about the tulips buttonhole, and you might want to follow along with the video as well as the diagrams--tulips is a bit difficult to work the first few times, because it uses techniques not usually found in knitting. You can click the link above to view via you-tube, or there is a direct link at the bottom of this post. 

Oh, and before we get to the nitty gritty, the name "Tulips" came about because in stockinette, the buttonhole looks like TWO LIPS.  However, in garter stitch or other textured stitches, this buttonhole looks quite refined, as Eunny's video shows. 

I've written these instructions as though you were going to make an 8-stitch-wide practice swatch.  Once you get the process, you'll see that a minimum of 7 stitches is required (three for the buttonhole itself, and two on each side) but there is no maximum number. 

* * *

CO 8.  The buttonhole is made on center 4 sts (pink), worked in 6 steps. (Although tulips can be worked in garter st, the drawings and instructions below are for stockinette, so you can tell for sure which side things are done on.)

Step1: set up to bind off. 

Using dpn’s, knit several rows in stockinette, end purl row, turn work. Next row: Knit 1. Wrap running yarn (red) clockwise around next st (green) as follows * Bring yarn to front. Slip st to R needle, bring yarn to back, return st to L needle, bring yarn to front again. Return st to R needle. * Per illustration Tulips-A, the green st at the working tip of the R needle now has the running yarn wrapped clockwise around its neck but it has not been knit. Drop the running yarn, it will not be used again until step 3.

You don't actually cut the red (running yarn).  I just illustrated
if short to give the idea of simply letting it hang there without
using it. The red represents the yarn running back to the skein
so in reality, it's quite long

Step 2: bind off bottom edge. With L needle, snag the loop you just made, draw it up, untwisted then slip it onto R needle. Next, slip a stitch from L to R needle. As shown on illustration B, counting the drawn-up loop, there are now 4 sts on R needle.

*With tip of L needle, draw the second stitch (red) over the stitch (pink) on the tip of the right needle—this is an ordinary chain bind off. Repeat from * until 1 st remains on the L needle. Slip the last st on R needle onto L needle to make two sets of 2 sts. As shown on illustration C, there are 2 sts on R needle, 2 sts on left needle, and a stretch of bound off stitches between the two groups.

Step 3: set up to cast on. “Park” the L needle by shoving it upright anywhere through the left side of the fabric—now it’s out of the way and those stitches won’t slide. Slip the 2 sts on the R needle onto a dpn (light blue) at least 3 sizes smaller than the main needles. Now, unwrap the top leg of the red running yarn from the green st at the R needle tip, then re-wrap counterclockwise as follows: slip green st onto L needle. Slip the running yarn to the back and return the green st to the R needle. Draw the running yarn up firmly, but not so tight as to remove all slack. * Bring the yarn to the front. Return the green st to the L needle. This has re-oriented the red running yarn in front of the green stitch instead of behind. Now make the additional loop shown in gray as follows: bring the running yarn (now shown in dark gray) to the back, return the green st to the R needle, bring the yarn to the front again. One more time, slip the green stitch to the left needle, then bring the yarn to the back, then slip the green stitch to the right needle where it will finally remain, as shown in illustration D.

Do you wonder where the dark gray yarn came from?  It is
actually just part of the red (running) yarn, now colored dark gray so you
can tell it is the part you work the top wrap with

Step 4: cast on upper edge. Insert a small crochet hook (light green) upwards into the gray loop created by the last full wrap. * Wrap the running yarn around the small dpn counterclockwise. Catch this yarn on the crochet hook, and draw it through the gray loop, as shown in Illustration E. *

Do you see what you’ve done? You have actually crocheted a single crochet stitch (sc) with the upper leg of the sc wrapped around the needle. (You may have seen this before: this the same manuver as the provisional crocheted cast on, when that is worked around a knitting needle.) Repeat within the stars 3 times more for a total of 4 stitches cast on—6 stitches on your right needle and one loop on the crochet hook.

Step 5: join cast on with bind off. Bring running yarn to front. Slide loop from the crochet hook onto R needle (7 loops on R needle). Put the crochet hook down and retrieve your left needle from parked position. Now slip the next st from the working tip of the L needle onto the R needle, 8 loops on R needle. Using tip of L needle, draw the second stitch from the R needle tip over the stitch on working R needle tip (chain bind off—7 loops on R needle, 1 loop on L needle). Illustration F.

Step 6: finish up and work back. Work the last st and turn the work. The buttonhole is finished (it is a 1-row buttonhole) but how you work back depends on what fabric you are creating. If you are making the buttonhole in stockinette fabric, you simply purl this entire next row. If, however, you are working in garter stitch, the next row is worked k2, p4, k2. If you are working any other patterned fabric (seed st, for example) you should swatch this both ways and see which you prefer. This improved horizontal buttonhole can be worked over more or fewer stitches, and the surrounding fabric can be (should be, actually) made wider because illustrations show only the minimum possible surrounding stitches—two on each side.

Good knitting, TK

PS #1: There is a new (September 2013) YO (eyelet) buttonhole which is reinforced using tricks similar to those used in Tulips. Have a look!   Thanks to Ellen at at Pile of Sheep Blog for this new trick.

PS#2:  Remember, there is a video of Tulips available.  Here is a direct link

__________________

*(Posts in this series)
.Buttonholes in hand knitting, part 1: lore and tradition plus some nifty tricks 

.Buttonholes in hand knitting, part 2: Button lore 

.Buttonholes in Hand knitting, part 3: Sheepseye aka yarn-over buttonholes.

.Buttonholes in hand kniting, part 4: Vertical buttonholes

.Buttonholes in Hand knitting, part 5: Horizontal and Tulips buttonhole, with diagrams

.Buttonholes in Hand knitting, part 6: "Oops! I forgot a buttonhole!" 

 (Related posts)

.Buttonhole alternatives

.How to sew on a button without the spacer sandwich

.Tulips buttonhole: the video (and an interview on Knitting Daily)

Vertical buttonholes--part 4 in a series

In this post--the fourth in a TECHknitting series about buttonholes*--we're going to look at vertical buttonholes. The first half of the post covers traditional (simple) vertical buttonholes, as well as the traditional sewn reinforcement: the buttonhole stitch.  The second half of the post introduces two new kinds of vertical buttonholes: intarsia and sewn strip.  

Some of this material was previously published in Interweave Knits magazine, some of it is new.

Traditional simple vertical

Traditional simple vertical buttonholes are made in two stages:

• part 1: The side adjoining the garment is knitted with the running yarn, shown in lighter gray. 
• part 2: The outer side is made with a scrap length of yarn shown in darker gray

The two parts are then united above the buttonhole, the resulting vertical slit is as shown below. (Of course, in a real garment the two sides of the slit are made with the same color yarn.)

These vertical buttonholes are somewhat fragile. You can see that a single strand of yarn has to take the strain in various places: at the top and the bottom of the slit, and also along the side edges. In addition to being fragile, these buttonholes are also messy: two loose ends (shown in pink and in red) have to be worked in for each buttonhole made.

Reinforcing the slit with stitches top and bottom, as well as the buttonhole stitch
Traditional knitters learned to solve the messy-problem while at the same time solving the fragile-problem with a real lemons-to-lemonade solution. The trick developed was to leave the two ends rather long.  At finishing time, one end would be threaded onto a dull needle, then used to add a sewn reinforcement to one half the buttonhole--a couple of stitches sewn at the end of the slit, then a "buttonhole stitch" reinforcement up the side, as shown below. The other end was then threaded and used to reinforce the other half of the buttonhole. At the end of all the sewing, the ends were skimmed in, using a sharp needle. (For more about dull vs. sharp needles, see here and here.)

Intarsia improved vertical

By using two balls of yarn, it is possible to make vertical buttonholes with no sewing at all, and no pesky ends to work in at each buttonhole. The idea here is to create the buttonholes via intarsia, by actually knitting two separate strips of fabric, interlocking them via the knitting process.

Intarsia is the trick of knitting two side-by-side columns of fabric at the same time, interlocking them as-you-go. Intarsia has you cast on several stitches across the bottom of fabric with one ball of yarn, then cast on the next several stitches using yarn from a different ball.  As you knit across the fabric on the first row, you'll come to where the different yarn was cast on.  Dropping the original yarn, you pick up the strand of the neighboring yarn from underneath and knit the rest of the row with the second yarn.  Picking up from underneath in this manner twists the new yarn over the old yarn.  By continuing to interlock the yarns on every row at the point where you switch from one yarn to the other, you get interlocked fabric columns made from two different balls of yarn.  

Although this trick is traditionally used to create neighboring vertical stripes of different colors on a garment, you can make buttonholes using this trick, too. Specifically, when you come to where you want the buttonhole, you simply work each side with its own skein of yarn for a certain distance without interlocking. When the buttonhole is as long as you want, you close the top of the slit by going back to intarsia,  until you reach where you want to put the next buttonhole. 

On the upside, intarsia buttonholes are a pretty slick trick because they eliminate all the ends you otherwise have to work in.  On the downside, not having those ends to buttonhole-stitch with means you're back to a somewhat fragile buttonhole. 

However, here are a couple of tricks to improve the situation:

• consider crossing the stitches above and below the opening to add strength at these strain points
• consider strengthening the edges by slipping each edge stitch every other row, which neatens and straightens the edges by keeping the yarn there under tension

Improved vertical: Sewn-strip method

With this trick, vertical buttonholes are made by sewing on a strip of knitted fabric, leaving slits for buttonholes. The major advantage of this trick is that you can try on the finished garment, then place the buttonholes EXACTLY where they ought to go based on your custom-fit.

The easiest and quickest way to proceed would be to make the inner portion of the buttonhole band as a self edge.  In the below diagrams, this means that the inner part of the two-part band (medium gray) is knit at the same time as the fabric of the sweater itself (light gray).  The outer strip (dark gray) is then attached afterwards. By this method, there is only one strip sewn on: the outer strip.

Another variation has you knit BOTH halves of the buttonhole band after the sweater is done, then sew the inner (medium gray) to the sweater fabric (light gray) and then the outer (dark gray) to the inner (medium gray).  By knitting both halves of the band afterwards, the total width of the sweater can be adjusted after the main part of the sweater has been knit and assembled.  If the finished garment seems a bit snug, a surprising amount of fabric can be added with these afterthought bands.

To attach the strip(s), swatch to see which the method which best suits your work. The overcast stitch (shown on both diagrams below) works well when the stitches will be hidden: on a fuzzy mohair, for example. (The link shows the overcast stitch used to attach woven fabric to knitting, but the exact same stitch, made the exact same way, can be used to attach the strips of knitting here.)

Note: do you wonder how to sew up both sides
of the buttonhole slit?  
See comment #3, in the comment 
section below, for details

The simple overcast is not the only way to attach: a slip stitch works well with ribbing in a smooth yarn. (The slip-stitch at the link is shown worked on a garter stitch background as an edging, but the identical procedure is used to attach two pieces of fabric--the hook is simply inserted through both pieces, then the same slip-stitch is performed.)  Or, use any sewing or attachment method you, personally, prefer. 

To sum up, there are three real advantages to the sewn-strip method.  

• A very reinforced buttonhole is possible, because you can easily strengthen the edges and tack the slits top and bottom as you are going by with the sewing needle, as shown in the second diagram above.
• Flexibility in creating the total width of the band  you can want to wait until you're done to knit the buttonband in two (long skinny) halves, and then attach them--the inner one to the sweater, then the outer one to the inner one. You would then knit the opposite band the same width, and attach it to the other garment front. Quite a lot of fabric can be added by this trick, yet the bands will never look like an afterthought. 
• Flexibility in placing the buttonholes Not only can you control the total width, but, perhaps even more important, you can also choose the button spacing which best suits the finished garment.  Stated otherwise, you can try on the sweater and experiment with different button placements until you like the result, then sew on the strip(s), leaving slits for buttonholes as required. 

On the downside, the sewn-strip method can take a LOT of messing around.  Whether the advantages outweigh this disadvantage depends on the degree to which you are driven by perfectionism (or anxiety?) 

For a real-life look at this trick in action, have a look at this beautiful gray lace sweater which had the buttonholes made in exactly this way. The fourth photo down is a close-up of the band. The seam from the sewing-on created the furrow down the middle of this ribbed band: it is located where the button is inserted.
* * *

Good knitting--TK

__________________

*(Posts in this series)
.Buttonholes in hand knitting, part 1: lore and tradition plus some nifty tricks 

.Buttonholes in hand knitting, part 2: Button lore 

.Buttonholes in Hand knitting, part 3: Sheepseye aka yarn-over buttonholes.

.Buttonholes in hand kniting, part 4: Vertical buttonholes

.Buttonholes in Hand knitting, part 5: Horizontal and Tulips buttonhole, with diagrams

.Buttonholes in Hand knitting, part 6: "Oops! I forgot a buttonhole!" 

 (Related posts)

.Buttonhole alternatives

.How to sew on a button without the spacer sandwich

.Tulips buttonhole: the video (and an interview on Knitting Daily)You have been reading techknitting blog about vertical buttonholes, the buttonhole stitch for hand knitters, the intarsia vertical buttonhole and the sewn-strip vertical button hole.