Taking My Own Advice

When my knitting students are debating what size sweater to knit, I share a little tip with them.  Take a sweater that you wear regularly, fits well and is comfortable.  Use the sweater as a template.  Lay it out and measure across the bust.  Based on this measurement you can pick the size for the new sweater.  This method is also helpful in determining how long to make sleeves and how long to make the body of a sweater.

I have a sweater in progress that's been stalled.  I wanted to modify it with a button but couldn't decide where to make the buttonhole, so I set it aside.  The sweater had taken up residence on the couch not too far from my desk.  Every day I would look at it, make a mental note to sort out the button issue and then promptly get distracted with something else. 

The other day it dawned on me that I could take a similar sweater with buttons and use it as a guide for the sweater under construction.

I decided I wanted one buttonhole that would fall between the two buttonholes on the brown sweater.  It would appear that I stopped at just the right spot.

Once I knew the buttonhole placement, I didn't waste any time.

I constructed the buttonhole, and this project is back in action. Jumping over one little hurdle can make all the difference.