What's In A Name

In August I stopped by Knit One in Squirrel Hill to find some yarn for Silver Belle. I was thinking of something bright and cheery since life has been dreary here, but I came away with some Cascade 220 in a lovely pewter shade. I saw it and fell in love! It's the loveliest color with the ugliest name "Gris". I told myself I had to finish at least one project before I could start Belle but now I can't wait to try it out. Thanks for letting me join! It's always more fun to knit with others.

Chart

OK, I don't know about anyone else but I was having a hard time following the charts. Now you have to remember that I have started this project so I can work on a plane with it, so I wont have a lot of space for laying out all sorts of papers in front of me. I've finally come up with a solution that works & thought I would share in case someone else was wanting to make their instructions a little easier to read.

First I printed out the pdf file, enlarging the whole thing. I pulled up each page on the screen to fit the width & chose "print current view". I now have my pattern on 2 landscape pages, each page of the pattern split over the front & back of one page. I printed it on cardstock paper.

I colour coded the Stitch Key. I then coloured in the Panels according to the Stitch Key. As I am not very familiar with reading charts like this, having never done it before, I found I was refering back to the Stitch Glossary way too much. So, I typed out the Stitch Glossary in a Word document, typing it into the footer. I colour coded it according to the stitch key & printed it out on the bottom of the page that has my charts on it. I now have my charts & my Stitch Glossary all on the same page.

I then laminated the pages so that they will stand up to the wear & tear of constantly being used!

Having done all that, I'm actually finding that the knitting of this is not as bad as I thought it would be. Parts of it I have gotten into a rythmn with. But I do need to constantly check back to the chart for the cable section.

Hope this helps someone. Certainly makes it a lot easier to read for me! :)

Just Starting

OK, I have decided that I want to give this a try. I have been a knitter since I was 5 but I have never made something with so much pattern. Time to expand the horizons. It is really nice to have a place like this where others are knitting the same thing. Helps when you have questions. Thank you to those that set this up.

I couldn't find the Debbie Bliss yarn so I'm using something similar. This has a different twist which I think will be interesting. I have never done a K1, P1, K1 in the same stitch before. Not sure if I'm doing it right but it seems to be looking ok.

Cindy

story of the making of a Silver Belle and more photos

I have already reported the making of Anne's Silver Belle, but now I have better pictures, courtesy of ace photographer Jennifer of Woolbaa, and a story to go with it. Please go to the news links at Woolbaa:

http://www.woolbaa.com.au/show_newsitem.php?item=60&PHPSESSID=6375fd98a6374f337297007df58eded5

to take a look.

another belle.......

Finished, worn, LOVE! I made my silver belle out of the debbie bliss cashmerino, color #205. I followed the pattern for the small, except in the length. I wanted it a little longer, so my peplum measures 12 inches. The only other modifications I made were three buttons instead of two, and I knit the collar for an inch longer. I actually wished I would have made the collar even longer, another inch at least. However, I will not be taking it apart to add more!

*more photos posted on my blog.

Silver Belle in French!!

We received this message today in our inbox about a Silver Belle KAL in French!

Check them out by clicking Here

This is wonderful to hear that an international KAL is going on as well!!

Here is the exactly e-mail message:

"just a little message to tell you that in french, we are starting a KAL around Siver belle

http://silverbelle.canalblog.com/

My english is so bad (and few of us dont speak english) so we cant join your blog.

Happy knitting and congratulations for all your Silver Belle.

Kokolat.(sorry for my english)

kokolat@wanadoo.fr"

Isn't that just wonderful !!I love it! :o)

Thanks so much for stopping by to leave us a message Kokolat!

You can actually Translate the Webpage by copying blog web address and Clicking Here and where it says "Translate a web page" page the web address.
"Select from French to English" language option. Then click on 'Translate'! Viola!! :o)

Hello there!

Thank you so much for the invitation to this KAL! I did not even realize that I had this magazine and thought I had to make a dash to the bookstore to get it! Just gotta peruse again and decide what to make after I start to knit again after a moritorium due to some charity knitting at this time. A gal can dream, can't she? What looks especially good?

Hello from Jura

Hello ladies, and thank you for letting me take part. I joined a long time ago as I saw this knit-along announcement on Ravelry, but was agonizing about what yarn to get for my Belle all the way until last Friday, when I ordered Jaeger Extra Fine Merino Aran in “Persian” color from Cucumberpatch in UK. Thank you, Beverly, for I wouldn’t have known about this seller without you leaving a note on this blog! The yarn has arrived and I am very glad with trusting this choice. It is beautiful yarn.

My name is Jura, I am a Lithuanian currently living in Sweden (my blog is lacking anything crafty). I’ve been binge-knitting since the age of 5 (to illustrate, I had a 2 year long hiatus recently after I failed a similar to Silver Belle project – it made me so upset!). Yet the biggest needles I ever used before are 3mm. So, even if I cannot commit lots of time for it, I hope for a (relatively) Quick Belle! I am starting today in the evening.

Extras from LillySmuul.

Would like to show you little addition I made for sleeve:

More in my blog.

finished

Hi, fellow knitalongers. Just wanted to pop over, and let you know what I found out about my Silver Belle. I finished mine, and I really love it. The absolute one thing I did that I think made a big difference was in the collar. I knit for a probably 3 inches (instead of 2) and I bound off with a size 10 needle. You know, hold the size 10 in your right hand, knit the stitches onto the 10, from the 8, and bind off.
Also, instead of two buttons, I made buttonholes for three. That was something I got from others that have made it. The model appears to have NO chest. Therefore, it works on her. For those that have something there, I recommend three buttons.
I am leaving on a trip tomorrow and didn't have time for photos. However, I will post some when I return.
Have fun!

Just Joined

Hi, I have just joined the Silver Belle KAL - first KAL ever! I fell in love with Silver Belle the minute I saw it. Now I have an excuse to go do some buying!

Some cotton based yarn trials.

Tonight Anne has left my place with a sample ball of Rowan Calmer and Jaeger Trinity to try swatching. Since she thinks the smallest size is much too big for her maybe she will be able to stick with this size in the smaller gauge.

I am going to try Rowan All-Seasons cotton in the smallest size: the slightly larger gauge I'm going to guess will make it a perfect size for me.

More later!

Hi

I have joined this blog to take part in the Silver Belle KAL - i have just casted on for a black one.

Kind regards
Charlotte in Denmark

Pictures at last of Anne's finished Silver Belle!

Apologies for the pictures. I have no idea why they are so unbalanced...they only look like this once loaded. These are the first pictures I've taken, so I don't know what I'm doing!

Knitted in Rowan RYC Cashsoft Aran. Smallest size knitted, gauge of yarn 19 not 18, but still too big. The pictures show this...Anne made me try it on and as you can see, even though I am 36" bust and have a long sleeve top on underneath it is close to fitting me.

On Anne: Front:

Back:



On Cathy:
Front:

Back:


Trying this on was certainly an educational experience for me...I was thinking of knitting it in Rowan All-seasons cotton at the medium size thinking that at 17" instead of the called for 18" this would give me just the right size...now I'm thinking knit the smallest size and it should come out about perfect!

One more of Anne: she thinks it is way too big for her, but I think it is perfect:

One more finished belle!

One busy knitter from Estonian craft forum has finished her 'Blue Belle' .
She used 3mm needles and made size small.
But because her daughter stole (good way) her cardigan, she has to start other one soon... ;)


I also made few tutorials:
'How to knit cable without a cable needle' and 'How to do knitted cast on'

Maybe it's helpful for some knitters. ;)

Finished!

Ta da! *^v^*
I finished her last night!

Frankly speaking, sewing it together wasn't as difficult as I thought, when I got to know the technique, mattress stitch became my best friend! I put some links at the end of this post that show stitching methods.

I knitted the collar a bit wider than the patterns says, about 8 cm, because it didn't work well when it was thiner. I also recommend very loose bind-off of the collar.

I'm very happy with the length of the cardigan, although as you can see, I had to knit quite a long part of the single cable in the upper part of the peplum (and my torso is normal length) - I have no idea how the model in the photo can have such short peplum, she must be a child, not a grown up woman.

I'm glad I added some rows to the sleeves, because they fit just fine, if I sticked to the recommended length they'd be 3/4 which is no good in the sweater.
On the other hand, I wanted the sweater to be snug around the bust, which resulted in the ugly front part of the button band, opening itself. I definitely must change it, I've been thinking about two solutions: 1. several clasps or press-studs instead of 2 buttons, or 2. turning the cardi into a pullover, sewing it up at the front. I'll check if I can buy some nice clasps and then decided what to do.

Details:
pattern: Vogue Knitting Anniversary edition - online free pattern
yarn: "Zorza" by Anilux, wool/acrylic blend
needles: 4 mm circulars, 60 cm long
started: 3rd August
finished: 7th September

I absolutely was able to knit this quicker, I just got distracted by other things, well... But it turned out that knitting a sweater doesn't take as long as I thought (= ages!...). And it wasn't some stockinette mindless job, it was looking-at-the-charts-all-the-time project, but it was relatively easy and intuitive.
My Belle is not perfect but I love her anyway! *^v^*

Here is me wearing my Belle this morning:

Here are the sewing techniques:
mattress stitch
several techniques (grafting, mattress, ect)
mattress stitch on stockinette pieces and garter pieces by Theresa from Bagatell::Knitting in Norway

The back

I didn't know how to post a photograph in a comment, so instead of commenting on cathyc's post I'm writing this. I'm in the middle of sewing in the yoke on my Silver Belle. So far, I don't think it's going to pull up in the middle but I could be surprised when I finish putting in the left side. Here is how it looks with just one side sewn in.



I should have the other side finished after I drink my coffee!

possible problem with the back panel.

I hope when I can produce some photos of Anne's finished Silver Belle that my description will benefit from an actual view of it, but here goes: the back panel is sewn in. Therefore inelastic and therefore tends to pull the rest of the back up a little, so that the horizontal cable around the middle will come up in a slight arrowhead shape with consequent pulling of the part below it, of course - this is not unattractive in the opinions of those who have so far seen it, but if you don't want that to happen, maybe there is a way around it...maybe that panel can be made slightly longer to make up for its inelastic finish.

I don't have a clue as to whether this will work...an expert knitter who was with us when the finished garment was formally unveiled suggested something like that could be done.

Anyway, perhaps it is food for thought.

progress

Hello all, just checking in to give you my progress shot and let you know what I have learned.

I have both sleeves finished, and thought that I had the peplum finished. However, when I held all of the pieces up to me, I thought the peplum was too short. Therefore, the peplum went back onto the needles and I will add a couple of inches.

Also, from this point, I have used all 14 balls (recommended amount) of the cashmerino aran. I don't know what has happened, but it has been eating yarn like crazy. My gauge is correct, but for some reason I have been flying through this yarn. Thank goodness my sister was nice enough to give me hers and I have enough to finish. Therefore, I recommend buying a couple of extra balls, if you decide to use the cashmerino aran, just in case.

Have a wonderful weekend........and could some one PLEASE show us a finished photo! :)

Major league yarn substitution being considered.

Hi. My friend Anne (who doesn't have a computer and so we have joined forces) has already knitted one of these. Photo coming soon, I promise. Meanwhile, she wants to go straight onto another and it seemed like a good time to jump on board and get all the benefit of her experience.

But it is summer coming up here, so I like the idea of a non-wool base and Anne wants something lighter than the RYC Cashsoft Aran she used for the first one.

So, firstly

(1) Thinking cotton mix and Rowan All-seasons seems the obvious choice: does anybody approve or disapprove? It's the right gauge and nice stitch definition. The other option is straight pure cotton: but maybe it'll be harder to knit and have serious stretch issues. This is more based on my theory of cotton than my experience...I haven't knitted much with it.

and secondly:

(2) For something lighter: I've only come up with Rowan Kid Classic at the moment, same gauge and 150m compared with 100 for the Cashmerino Aran, so it has got to end up being lighter. But I've never knitted with it, so maybe somebody else has a different idea...

Silver Belle Almost Finished

I'm knitting Silver Belle out of Debbi Bliss Cashmerino Aran. I had enough in my stash, which was a nice surprise. I've made a lot of progress on the sweater in the last few days. I finally finished the left yoke this afternoon. I've basted the entire sweater together to see how it looks.

This is a view of the back -- you can see the gap where the middle cable panel will be continued. You can also see how I reversed the direction of the twist on the four-stitch cross cables so that the two halves of the back would mirror each other.



A couple of views of the front. Again, I changed the twist of the cable on the left yoke.





There is a lot of finishing on this sweater. I still need to seam the sleeves, knit the back cable panel, sew in the yokes, knit the front bands, sew on the buttons, and pick up and knit the collar. I think I'll work on something else tonight and save the finishing for tomorrow (not that I will have it finished in one day. I won't.)

If you want to see all of my posts on Silver Belle so far, and how I've modified the pattern, you can visit my blog.

Yarn arrived

I am very excited and can't wait to start Silver Belle. I am making it in Jaeger Extra Fine Merino Aran in a lovely shade of blue. This has now been discontinued and was available from http://www.cucumberpatch.co.uk/extra_fine_merino_aran.htm at £1.95 per ball which is very good value.
I will get started as soon as I have finished the cardigan I am making in Sirdar Peru Naturals but it is knitting up quickly so I should be starting Silver Belle at the weekend.
I am Beverly and I live in London UK. I have two children, a girl aged 19 and a bay of 17 and my eldest is going away to university on Sunday which I'm not looking forward to, I'll miss her terribly.

Hi!

I'm Ille, estonian living in Ireland, highly addicted knitter,just can't stop anymore...;)
I'm using Debbie Bliss Cashmerino aran yarn for Silver belle.Yes,it is expensive but luxurious yarn. So soft and beautiful!
I'm knitting size small.

Yesterday finished right sleeve and left one is half made .

Started with sleeves because then can see how big peplum to knit.

I also made some changes:

read more from my blog .

Hello!

Hello, everyone!
I'm so glad people keep joining this KAL, because Silver Belle is a great pattern and should be made and worn all over the world! *^v^*
My name is Joanna, I am a knitter from Poland, my blog is here: FriendSheep, and Silver Belle is my second ever sweater. ^^

Let me write a few words as an encouragement for those of you who just started this design or still hesitate to do this - it's a great piece!
How do I know?
Because I've almost finished mine! *^v^*

Here is the peplum - and here is the colour I've used, deep violet/purple, it depends on the light and it's rather difficult to take a good photo of.

I used Polish yarn called "Zorza" which is a wool/acrylic blend, and 4 mm circular needles (60 cm long). I knitted the peplum in size M and the sleeves in size S (I didn't want them to be too wide), but I added some repeats of the pattern because I'm tall and I have long hands. Btw, I was knitting both sleeves at the same time, because I wanted to avoid the "second sleeve syndrome", in this way it took me longer to finish them but I have both of them ready at the same time! ^^

Both sleeves and the peplum are blocking as we speak. No photos, because my camera does some strange things with the colour of my Belle, and pieces blocked are not that interesting after all - what's more interesting is the final result! ^^ I even bought the buttons today.
All what's left is to sew them into the sleeve form, sew them with the peplum, knit the missing parts of the peplum and the collar. Sounds like not much, right? But the sewing knitted pieces together is my biggest fear...
Can you recommend to me any good tutorial on-line, please?

And good luck with your Belles, I cannot wait to see all your colour choices! *^v^*

Hello Hello!

We are SO happy and excited about each and every person that wants to join the KAL!! *squeal* <------ Literally we squeal! :o) It is our first time hosting a KAL, so anyone that is interested in joining just gets us all happy! LOL

There are many of us who will not be able to get started this month and that is perfectly fine. You can start whenever it is best for you! We are just glad you are here!
But in the meantime, we would love to know who you are, as I am sure others that joined would like to know too! :o)

Please say "Hiya" and introduce yourself!

If you would so kindly reply in the *comment section* with your name, blog site (if you have one - no matter how often you update! :op), and if you have casted on yet for SB - if not when you hope to cast on!

See! Easy Peasy! 1-2-3 GO!!