Buttons, etc. - Dec. 2023

My mom knits. A lot. And very well. She helps others knit. She also likes pretty things, so I set about trying to make some knitting-related pretty things. Once, when we were on Cape Breton, she bought some very nice, locally made closures of wood and leather. So big cloak and shawl closures that would look at home in a trendy restaurant or a ren-faire were off the table. She had that covered. She is well stocked on knitting bags and pouches and such. And if she weren’t, she is a better sewist than I am.

Buttons.

Handmade, unique buttons were something that could be realized even with the restraints of both my skill set and my undersized abode. And, if she put them on something she made, she gets bonus “look what my kid made me” cred with her knitting gang. And, truth be told, I know she’ll like them, because I made some last year. So… buttons.

They are a bit of a pain in the ass for being so small, but the ass-pain decreases with the quantity produced. I also wanted to test some new coloring techniques. So… lotsa buttons.

My buddy Amy - she knits. So... Solstice buttons for Amy. Pam doesn’t knit so much, but she has said nice things about wooden things I’ve made, and she is dear to me, so… buttons for Pam.

I did consider that not everyone needs chunky wooden buttons, so I made a few of them into pretty little pieces of wood that hang on a string or strings, so that they can be worn or attached to a zipper or lamp chain.

Most of these are about an inch and a quarter across to about 2 1/2 inches across. Flat ones are about a 1/4 inch thick, roundy topped ones tend to be a bit thicker.

Most of them are from a London Plane tree that blew down in a helluva storm this past year. The ones with little stars are from last year and are Cherry.