Buttulhu from the see of sorrow - or how to choose buttons for a knitted item

Something different this #needleworkmonday … I am at a loss how to proceede. The eternal question of which buttons to use has risen from the deep see. It is grabbing with its tentacles of endless pain after my tender brain: should I use something funny, complementary, or muted and understated, should I choose a colour already in the knitted item, should I go for nerdy or sensible?

This is not the first time I have problems choosing buttons for a handmade cardigan. When I am browsing other crafters finished cardigans I am always in awe how beautiful and sometimes daring button combinations they use. But me…? If I choose something daring, I afterwards love the photos of the cardigan, but in reality, often have nothing to wear it with, because the buttons are too “loud”. If I choose simple wooden buttons the cardigan is more wearable, but often I feel it gets a touch of earth muffin (in German there is the phrase ‘ökig’ which means: sustainable but bland and unstylish looking). Besides I hate don’t like to sew, so I prefer to use bigger but less buttons.

Although I have approx. 34 some unfinished pieces lying around, I started another cardigan. (The soft pink carding is still not finished….sewing….. perhaps you remind it from two weeks ago) I found some bright green wool in my stash and wanted to make a spring-welcoming jacket. Sadly, I did not have enough wool and (sigh 😜) had to buy some new to complement the green one.



In the end I made a cropped top-down sweater with a garter stitch yoke and a stockinette body in self striping yarn. Now I am finished and started to crochet the button band – I prefer crochet button bands because I think they are sturdier and faster to make – and noticed that again the wool will not suffice. I compromised and made the left band with the rest of the green wool and the right band with the variegated yarn. But before I can make the actual button holes I have to decide which buttons I should use….

HELPPPPPPP PLEASEEEEEE



Currently the small green ones are my favourites, but they are small. Really small. The smallest button hole I can crochet will be one chain wide, I am not sure if this will be to big for this tiny button.
My next choice would be the brown button with the carved flower – I simply like these buttons so much. But this is the combination I think is not very stylish.
The dark ones fit also very well, but it’s such a dark combination… (I want spring)
The buttons with the stars I think are cool and a bit nerdy, but I am unsure, if the cardigan with the star buttons will fit anything in my wardrobe (besides a black skirt)





You are all so fit in choosing wonderful colour combinations for your projects, so I would heartily appreciate your opinion 💕 💕