Buttons, buttons and more buttons....

Serious knitters will, sooner or later, have to put down the wool and pick up the buttons.  I love buttons.  I grew up in a home where buttons were never thrown away.  They were snipped from worn out clothes and saved in "the button box".  Even well cared for clothes eventually wear out; but buttons are almost indestructible.  I would often take this box to the dining table and spread out its contents.  There was something comforting about finding that the old favourites were still there.  I still remember my favourites....a big set of chunky red coat buttons.

When I grew up, I started my own button collection.  It helps that there are 3 of us in my family.   Hubby in particular is terrible for ruining shirts which explains why I have so many shirt buttons.  I have been a bit more choosy about which buttons I will save but have still amassed a collection of two or three hundred.  These were thrown haphazardly into one compartment of my lovely old wooden sewing box.  Whenever I needed matching buttons it would take me ages to sift through them.

Recently, I decided to sort them into a more useful order.  I bought some little clear storage bags from Ebay and made a start.  I'm not rushing the job, partly because I still enjoy fishing through buttons to find lost treasures and partly because good daylight is a necessity for distinguishing various shades of white......how many shades of white can there be?.... and this time of year is not known for its long days!

The photo shows that I have nearly finished.  There are just fifty or so loose buttons to match up and put into bags.  They are mainly black, brown or dark blue and definitely call for good daylight before I can confidently sort them.

Almost all the buttons in the photo have come from family clothes.  There are a small number of exceptions, namely the lovely little anchor buttons I found in a charity shop and some pretty flower buttons I found on Ebay.  So far I have resisted the many joblots of buttons that are listed on Ebay.  But I feel an onset of cardigan knitting coming on and, if I ever use up all my buttons, I know where I can buy some more!