January 21, 2012

My Dad Always Said...

My dad has a lot of sayings - some will crack you up and some ring true. One he used a lot while we were growing up was "If you are going to do a job half-assed, then don't do it at all". Sort of along the lines of "do it once, do it right".

When I knit my Noisette this summer I just sewed on the buttons willy-nilly with the yarn I used to knit the sweater. I knew that wasn't the right way to do it but I was lazy and just wanted to get it done.

Well, in the end my laziness ended up getting the better of me...the buttons started stretching and pulling and I stopped wearing the sweater. Then I got to thinking about how the Knitmore Girls are always talking about the grosgrain buttonband method they use on their sweaters so I checked out their tutorial and their other tutorial for sewing on buttons.

I recently discovered a website called The Ribbon Retreat and I ordered a bunch of different ribbons and settled on using a matching fun one with little squirrels which really surprises me as my dad always called them "tree rats" (yup, another on of his phrases - other ones are far more colorful).

We had a snowy day today and I got to work - here is the result. I'm SO happy with how it turned out. The buttons have more stability now and I know the stretching of the yarn sewn buttons won't happen.














Isn't this just the cutest ribbon? I even have a turtleneck that matches the fuschia colored squirrel. I know I will be wearing this a lot more and while not everyone will see my button band I know it is there and just the thought of it will make me smile.



















Thanks Dad for reminding me without realizing it that I shouldn't do a job "half-assed".

4 comments:

Jennifer said...

Sounds like some pretty good advice. I had a great uncle who said "Don't tell me what you're going to do... tell me what you've done!"

LOVE the ribbon and the overall effect. Looks fantastic. Can't wait to see it in person.

Millie said...

Where we live we have both gray squirrels (with beautiful bushy tails)and black squirrels (with not-so-pretty tails). People here say all of them are really just rats with fancy tails!

I'm gonna tell Mom! said...

That ribbon button band is fantastic! What a great idea.
Kim

UM said...

That is so cute! I love it. I'm just starting to knit and found your blog randomly - but I really want to get to the point that I can make a sweater with that ribbon band. I'm WellGrl on Ravelry...