How to Knit an Easy Two Row Buttonhole

There are a lot of ways to knit buttonholes. From a simple yarn over to complicated maneuvers with a lot of steps.

I like this simple buttonhole when you bind off stitches and then make yarn overs at the next row. It’s a little more work than just the yarn over, but it’s easy to adjust to get the right size and still uncomplicated to make.

Buttonhole for baby cardigans

I use this buttonhole when for knitted baby cardigans. I like to use buttons that are a bit on the larger side to make it easier to button and unbutton them fast when needed.

Nowadays my kids are 9 and 10 years old, but it’s so fun to knit baby clothing that I keep going and give it away to charity. It’s a win-win 🙂

Of course, this buttonhole is useful for kids and adult size cardigans as well!

For more buttonholes, read this article!

Instructions for an easy two row buttonhole

It’s easy to make and I think it holds its shape rather well. This is how I usually make a two-row buttonhole, instructions for how to adjust the size are found below the video.

Row 1: Bind off two stitches
Row 2: Make a double yarn over

Knit the yarnovers through the back loop on the next row.

Knitting Video: Easy two row buttonhole

How to make the buttonhole smaller

Bind of 1 stitch on row 1 and make 1 yarn over on row 2.

How to make the buttonhole larger

Bind of three (or more) stitches on the first row. You could add the same amount of yarn overs on the second row. However, this can be a bit flimsy and hard to work.

If you need to add more than two new stitches I would recommend casting on new stitches instead of doing yarn overs.

Learn how to cast on in the middle of a row in this post!

Your next read:
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––> 10 Adorable baby blanket knitting kits
––> Understanding yarn weights + free printable!