Saturday, September 08, 2007

Purple Belle assembled!

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

11 comments:

  1. Beautiful! It looks wonderful on you. That was fast knitting.

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  2. In my book that looks pretty close to perfect!! Congrats on a job well done :)

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  3. WOW! your Belle turned out fantastic!
    And you look great in it!!
    Bravo!!!!

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  4. Belle looks great on you - what a super job you did - and quickly too.

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  5. those cardis are all the rage here too in Oz, for winter with long sleeves and for our summer the short sleeve ones are coming intothe shops. Also crochet tops are all the fashion here too for summer!

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  6. that looks so good, and the colour suits you:)

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  7. How beautiful! I love your knittings. This is such a lovely vibrant colour too!

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  8. your Purple Belle turned out beautifully! congrats!

    I'm not sure if it will work, given the weight of the garment, but one trick that often works for me is to put hidden snaps in the space between the buttons.

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  9. Such a stylish sweater, and it looks great on you! Love that purple color.

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  10. Gorgeous!! And you look great in it!

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