a photo tutorial from the First Ziggurat Book
This is a 3-row buttonhole.
You bind off 2 stitches.
Then cast on 3 stitches.
On the 3rd row, you decrease one and make another manoeuvre to snug up the hole.
Incidentally, it is the same decrease and manoeuvre I make for all underarm and front cast ons.
It's just a part of gap-minding
Photos show FIRST buttonhole that you make as a part of creating the front overlap.
1.
BR1 (RS): sl1wyf, k1, bind off 2 sts, ksk.
2a.
BR2 (WS): (sl1wyf, k1) twice....
2b. (BR2 continued)... turn work over to RS to cast on stitches. Borrow the last knitted stitch (pink arrow) to start the crochet cast on (see Crochet Cast On Tutorial)...
2c. (BR2 continued)...crochet cast on 3 sts, replace the borrowed loop onto LN (make a final chain stitch but not around the needle, then replace the loop).
2d. (BR2 continued)...turn work back to WS to work the last 2 sts: k1, sl1wyf. 9 sts
3. On this row, the buttonhole is secured (in the same way as for Centre Front and Underarm Cast Ons) as follows:
BR 3 (RS): sl1wyf, sl1 knitwise, pick up a twisted loop in bar before cast on, pass 2 sts back to LN (twisted loop and sl st), ssk, sl1wyf, k2, k2tog, sl1wyf, k1. 8 sts
After the FIRST BUTTONHOLE that you make in the extension:
4. Work 2 more butttonband rows (WS & RS), then bind off from WS as follows:
p2tog, p1, pass stitch over to bind off, bind off 3 sts purlwise, p2tog tbl, pass st over to bind off.
1 st remains (see Buttonband Tutorial Part Two).
Summary of the 3-row buttonhole:
BR1 (RS): sl1wyf, k1, bind off 2 sts, ksk.
BR2 (WS): (sl1wyf, k1) twice (turn work over so RS is facint), borrow last st for cast-on loop, crochet cast on 3 sts, replace loop onto LN (making a final chain st but not around the needle), turn work back to WS, sl1wyf, k1. 9 sts
BR 3 (RS): sl1wyf, sl1 knitwise, pick up a twisted loop in bar before cast on, pass 2 sts back to LN (twisted loop and sl st), ssk, sl1wyf, k2, k2tog, sl1wyf, k1. 8 sts
Additional buttonholes in the vertical buttonband are made over three rows in the same manner. The buttonholes are placed slightly off-centre on purpose. It minimises gapping and the buttons remain nicely centred when the cardigan is buttoned up.
