silver lining...

So glad I made that mis took the time to knit that prototype of the collar! It was way too big! I had the cardigan all put together, shoulders and side seams joined and sleeves on – so I put that on and then held the collar around my neck and I could better judge the actual size needed. Took 10 stitches off each side, reknit the whole thing, (placing the N1 correctly ;-)) and it’s perfect! Added bonus, I could use the longer edging from the outside of the first collar to judge how many stitches needed for the front bands.
OMG! You’re not going to believe this, but I re-purposed that band. I kept holding it up to the front and measuring and it seemed like the exact length that I would need for the button band. I pulled off the lace part until there were 2 rows of stockinette left above the ribbed edge that I had before beginning the lace patterning. I rehung into the row below which worked perfectly because everything was well steamed, and stitches set, leaving one full row of stockinette across the entire piece. I removed the last row, did an RTR and knit a row so I had that nice garter stitch ridge, took it off on the garter bar, hung the left front, turned the band and rehung it and presto! my button band! I did do a swatch of the buttonhole and I went with the 15mm (smaller), 2-stitch hole rather than the 20 mm, 3-stitch hole. I thought it suited the size/width of the band better than the larger one.
 BTW, you know how I like to name my projects, this one is called ‘Pocket Change’.
P.S. I'm watching 'Ozark' on Netflix - I'm really liking it and I'm becoming obsessed with a long cardigan that the Laura Linney character is wearing in the 7th episode - watch this space!