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August 17, 2007

From Sally — Do Not Ask for Whom the Belle Tolls . . .

Filed under: Silver Belle — surly @ 1:58 pm

Having finished one sleeve of Mermaid, I’ve now gone back to the Silver Belle cardigan designed by Debbie Bliss. I finished the peplum yesterday. I am making a size Medium, which is supposed to be 36″ around when buttoned. I was tempted by the Small, but at 32″ buttoned I decided I just couldn’t. Well, even though the top of my peplum measures the same as the schematic, it seems huge when I put it on. I suspect I could have knit the size Small and had it fit, even though I have a 34″ bust. Oh, well.

Here it is. Doesn’t it look huge?

I’ve also started on the first sleeve/yoke. It also seems “big.” Part of that is because I have very small wrists. This sleeve starts out fairly wide in order to accommodate the two drunken cables. I started the sleeve with the number of stitches for the Small, but that only reduces the circumference by about half an inch or so. At 11″ around, it’s big. It occurred to me later that I could have reduced the number of stitches in the center Trinity portion and then tried to adjust for that at the top of the sleeve, but it’s not worth it to go back.

One change I did make was to start the second cable on row ten of the chart, so that the cables mirror each other. She didn’t write the pattern that way, but I didn’t want the cables to be moving in unison. I think it looks better if they “reflect” each other.

11 Comments »

  1. From Susan — I think the peplum will fit once it is sewn to the bodice.  As far as the sleeves are concerned — they are what they are. If the Trinity stitch portion was narrower, it might cause a problem later with the neckline/shoulder. Who knows?  It’s all a crapshoot anyway, n’est-ce pas?   And I agree about flipping the cable to make it symmetrical — looks much better.

    Comment by lv2knit — August 17, 2007 @ 2:26 pm

  2. First of all, I just discovered your site ~1 month ago – I love it! I love the focus/inclusion of
    technical knitting, your sense of style, etc. – it really resonates with me. Second, I find it interesting
    that the “Belle” pattern seems to be oversized. If you look again at the model wearing
    this sweater on Vogue’s cover, she’s absolutely swimming in the garment. If (hopefully when)
    I knit this item, I’m going to re-do the math and sizing as I believe I will have the same
    issues with a 32 being too large. Finally, nice job on the cable “reflection”.

    Comment by Lisa — August 17, 2007 @ 4:30 pm

  3. The puns just keep coming! They almost write themselves, don’t they? Belle looks great. Hopefully not too big. The mirror cables are much better.

    Comment by Carrie K — August 17, 2007 @ 5:23 pm

  4. I totally agree with the mirror cables. This is something I frequently do with patterns that don’t take the trouble to mirror, especially with cables.

    Comment by Astrid — August 17, 2007 @ 7:17 pm

  5. Sally- I think I learned about mirror-imaging from Meg Swansen’s video, ” A Shawl-Collared Vest”.
    Her instructions are invaluable, because she points these things out.

    The peplum probably looks big, out of context, as it were, but I think it’ll be
    fine in the end. It does, as Lisa pointed out, appear to have a generous fit.

    Comment by Lorraine — August 17, 2007 @ 8:19 pm

  6. I’m planning to knit Silver belle and will follow your every step to get some help! Your pieces look allready stunning! What yarn you are using?

    Comment by lillysmuul — August 18, 2007 @ 12:35 pm

  7. It still looks gorgeous! Maybe you should go on a diet of cookies and cakes and just grow into it! That would more fun. 😉 I love the idea of mirrored cables!

    Comment by Carol — August 18, 2007 @ 6:37 pm

  8. I also agree that the mirrored cables look better. 🙂

    Comment by Lisa — August 18, 2007 @ 10:11 pm

  9. It seems I’m the only one knitting Silver Belle in other colour than silver or similar light shade… Mine’s purple! ^^

    Comment by Joanna Kostrzewa — August 19, 2007 @ 3:20 pm

  10. Wow! Your site is great. You may all think I am crazy, but this is the FIRST sweater I chose to do. I have only been knitting for a little over a year and before starting this project, I did not even know how to cable.

    So – I started with the sleeves first (well…ok… ONE sleeve….) I am only as far as you have in your picture. Guess that means I figured out the first set of charts ok! Just out of curiosity, I wanted to know how long it took you to knit the peplum? As I mentioned I am relatively new (ok… total newbie) to knitting. I am guessing this is going to take me FOREVER. Anyway, I decreased the needles by 2 sizes to get the gauge. I am using cotton and its pretty thick. But hey, so far my sleeve looks like yours (except mine is white)! And even with smaller needles, it is generous! Its actually why I chose cotton, I can always *shrink* it …

    Glad to see people knitting this. Hopefully I you wont begrudge me some questions as I go through!

    Oh – it see that most people dye their yarns BEFORE knitting….. Would it be completely horrendous for me to dye the Silver Belle AFTER I knit it?

    Thanks!

    Hannah

    Comment by Hannah — August 22, 2007 @ 7:09 pm

  11. I’ve been following your progress on this with great interest. I’m big enough that the generous sizing is a bit of a relief. The cover model was so skinny, I was afraid none of the sizes would fit me.

    I ordered some Debbie Bliss alpaca/silk aran in a really nice pale mustard color from Little Knits, so I’ll be making a “warmer” version of this sweater.

    Comment by Sarah-Hope — September 3, 2007 @ 1:11 am

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