Whose Got the Button?

When I cannot find the Perfect Buttons, I remember with delight that I can make my own. The webpage instructions I use long ago faded into the Archive, which makes me nervous (what if the Wayback Machine disappears?), so I thought I'd explain a bit here.

Dorset Buttons

Step 1. You need plastic rings of a size slightly smaller than you want the finished button to be. Also, leftover project yarn. This is Aran weight, so I'm using 48" of yarn per button. Lace or fingering weight can take up to 100" per button.

Step 2. Cover 3/4 of the ring with blanket stitches. Pull the beginning yarn tail against the ring and catch it in the last 1/4 of stiches, completely covering the ring. Not shown: pull snug and snip off the tail.

Step 3. Align the bottom of the blanket stitches around the outside of the ring, then carefully push them all to the inside of the ring. Wrap the yarn 4 times evenly around.

Step 4. On the backside, the wraps do not cross in the center. Insert the needle where the crosses are closest to the ring, and tug towards the center, then run the needle back to the backside to secure.

Step 5. Wrap the 8 spokes, stitching from left to right but moving one spoke to the left each time.

Step 6. Repeat step 5 at least once. With this yarn, all I could manage were 2 rows. 

There are lots of pretty variations, including ones incorporating two colors. But I'm always so pleased with these that I haven't tried any of the others yet.