Easter Button Eggs

There might be just time, if you can find thread and buttons, to make one or more of these eggs before tomorrow!  I have had so much fun making them and giving them away.  The six eggs below were made using HWT (hand wound thread). The pattern instructions are loosely based on the buttons and thread sizes given but stitch count can be altered if they do not lie correctly, especially on the first and last chain.  Buttons are not all uniform sizes and so for that matter nor is thread!  Many thanks for the encouraging comments on my last blog post and I hope you enjoy making them as much as I have.

The larger version with beads 

And some were turned into Easter Cards

I hope you all have an egg-citing time making them!

BUTTON EGG PATTERN © Sally Kerson 2012

Materials required:- 1 four holed button slightly under ½” for size 40 thread or slightly over ½” for size 20 thread.

Abbreviations:

R ring Ch Chain Cl close

p picot LBP long bead picot vsp very small picot

RW reverse work + join Cl close

SS SwitCh shuttle Btnh button hole SCMR self closing mock ring

tc tie and cut

Starting at bottom

R1: 6 vsp 6 + (1st Btnh) 6 vsp 6 RW

Ch : 2 p 2 p 2 p 2 p 2 RW

R2: 6 + (vsp R1) 6 + (1^st 1Btnh) 6 vsp 6 RW

Ch: 2 p 2 p 2 p 2 RW

R3: 4 + (vsp R2) 6 + (2^nd Btnh) 6 vsp 4 RW

Ch: 2 p 2 p 2 p 2 RW

R4: 4 + (vsp R3) 6 + (2^nd Btnh) 6 vsp 4 RW

Ch: 2 p 2 RW

R5: 2 + (vsp R4) 4 vsp 4 vsp 2 RW

Ch: 2 p 2 RW SS

SCMR6: 2 + (3rd vsp R5) 4 + (2nd vsp R5) SS

R: 4 + (3^rd Btnh) 4 SS

SCMR6: 4 vsp 4 Cl RW SS

Ch: 6 p (3 graduated p with 2 in-between) 6 RW SS

SCMR7: 4 + (SCMR6) 4 SS

R: 4 + (3^rd Btnh) 4 SS

SCMR7: 4 vsp 2 Cl RW SS

Ch: 2 p 2 RW

R8: 2 + (SMCR7) 4 + (middle of SCMR7) 4 vsp 2 RW

Ch: 2 p 2 RW

R9: 2 + (vsp R8) 6 + (4^th Btnh) 6 vsp 4 RW

Ch: 2 p 2 p 2 p 2 RW

R10: 4 + (vsp R9) 6 + (4^th Btnh) 6 vsp 4 RW

Ch: 2 p 2 p 2 p 2 RW

R11: 6 + (vsp R10) 6 + (1^st Btnh) 6 + (vsp R1) 6 RW

Ch: 2 p 2 p 2 p 2 p 2 tc to base of first R

For the beaded version add 1 bead to shuttle 1 and 31 beads to shuttle 2

Instead of the vsps make them large enough to attach a bead except for the 2nd vsp on R5

At the top of the egg replace the ch after SCMR 6 with 2 bead 2 bead 3 (3 beads and the one bead from shuttle 1) 3 bead 2 bead 2 bead.