Kathleen's KAL

Re: The Official Bella Blouse Knit-Along Forum

dcynthiad — Sun, 26 May 2013 18:56:55 GMT

Sorry, I forgot to provide you with my e-mail address: dianacdurham@yahoo.com.

Thank you!

Diana

Re: The Official Bella Blouse Knit-Along Forum

dcynthiad — Sun, 26 May 2013 18:56:14 GMT

I would love to have a copy of the chart you made for the Bella Blouse, if it's not too late!

Thank you,

Diana

Re: The Official Bella Blouse Knit-Along Forum

dcynthiad — Sun, 26 May 2013 18:56:07 GMT

I would love to have a copy of the chart you made for the Bella Blouse, if it's not too late!

Thank you,

Diana

Re: The Official Bella Blouse Knit-Along Forum

bessT — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 01:50:42 GMT

peet:

The KAL itself was a lot of fun even if the pattern was not.

Agree with you there, Mary! Your solution is brilliant.

Re: The Official Bella Blouse Knit-Along Forum

peet — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 01:31:42 GMT

Here at long long last is my finished version of the Bella Blouse. After much frustration I gave up on the lace neck and sleeve pieces. I could not get them to lie flat after trying to sew them on repeatedly. So I picked up around the neck and sleeves and stitched one repeat of the bottom edge leaf pattern side by side instead of going up the edge. It looks like a kind of fancy ribbing. Thanks to everyone for their tips, tricks, and encouragement. The KAL itself was a lot of fun even if the pattern was not.

Mary

Re: The Official Bella Blouse Knit-Along Forum

jjuliane — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 01:42:06 GMT

congrats on finishing! My Bella is hibernating until I ever feel inspired to pick it up again. Finished the waistband and the body and was not happy with it, I just needed to put it down for a long time. That is awesome about the first prize Bella, I would love to see it, and yours too.

Re: The Official Bella Blouse Knit-Along Forum

Katenh50 — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 23:00:09 GMT

I am happy to say my Bella is finished, but I could not have done it without the help of my knitting teacher. This was my first time doing a knit a long and probably my last. No help at all from the administrator. The sleeves and neck inserts were impossible to do (for me anyway) and she was generous enough to do it for me. By the Way, her Bella won first prize at the Fryberg Fair, in Maine this fall!!!

Re: The Official Bella Blouse Knit-Along Forum

debbiekc — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 12:22:35 GMT

Everyone's Bella looks great, but it just wasn't the right project for me. When will we be selecting the next Knit-A-Long to start? Keeping my fingers crossed it is something that will work for me!

Re: The Official Bella Blouse Knit-Along Forum

peet — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 23:49:06 GMT

bessT:

Mary and everyone, first off and quite frankly, I have to say this pattern has been maddening.

You've come so far! Yes the neck join is at a slant and it seems to ride high on some wearers. I decided I could live with it if I flopped it back, or on another attempt I had sewn it lower onto the sweater fabric, and it looked ok too. When I sewed the inserts in place, I gave up trying to make a match between insert edge and blouse edge. I sewed them to the edge or to the fabric, whichever would look best for the insert. In the final attempt that I liked best, the inserts were more 'on' the blouse part than set against, and at that point I didn't care as long as it looked ok on.

My free advice is to try one more time but don't fuss, just 'make it work' -

Good luck Mary.

peet:

Congrats to everyone on their completed Bellas!

I was hoping to add my picture before this but I am having a terrible time attaching the neck inserts. As I undo the seams yet again, I wonder if anyone has any tips for me. Especially at the back of the neck, which the pattern does not show. I sewed the two inserts together from the first of the bind off 3 stitches to the edge. So it is on a slant. Is that right? I find the neck sits very high in the back besides being very wonky in the front! Did you have to do a lot of steaming or blocking to get it to lie flat as it does in so many of your beautiful pictures?

Any tips gratefully accepted,

Mary

Bess,

Thanks very much for this suggestion. I will try putting the sweater on and having someone help me find the best position for the lace. I knew that someone out there could help me.

Mary

Re: The Official Bella Blouse Knit-Along Forum

bessT — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 16:57:20 GMT

Mary and everyone, first off and quite frankly, I have to say this pattern has been maddening.

You've come so far! Yes the neck join is at a slant and it seems to ride high on some wearers. I decided I could live with it if I flopped it back, or on another attempt I had sewn it lower onto the sweater fabric, and it looked ok too. When I sewed the inserts in place, I gave up trying to make a match between insert edge and blouse edge. I sewed them to the edge or to the fabric, whichever would look best for the insert. In the final attempt that I liked best, the inserts were more 'on' the blouse part than set against, and at that point I didn't care as long as it looked ok on.

My free advice is to try one more time but don't fuss, just 'make it work' -

Good luck Mary.

peet:

Congrats to everyone on their completed Bellas!

I was hoping to add my picture before this but I am having a terrible time attaching the neck inserts. As I undo the seams yet again, I wonder if anyone has any tips for me. Especially at the back of the neck, which the pattern does not show. I sewed the two inserts together from the first of the bind off 3 stitches to the edge. So it is on a slant. Is that right? I find the neck sits very high in the back besides being very wonky in the front! Did you have to do a lot of steaming or blocking to get it to lie flat as it does in so many of your beautiful pictures?

Any tips gratefully accepted,

Mary

Re: The Official Bella Blouse Knit-Along Forum

JKH44 — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 16:37:34 GMT

Erica,

I know that the knit a long is over but I am wondering if you had a chance to do the neck insert charts and if so would you send me a copy of them. I am just getting to that part, better late than never. Thank you for all your help in this knit a long and everyone else I have learned so much and have enjoyed seeing all the wonderful Bella's. mjherold@q.com

Also thank you to the knit in the round group what a great experience for me with all the wonderful help I did it!

Janet

Re: The Official Bella Blouse Knit-Along Forum

Kathleen Cubley — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 16:18:13 GMT

Here's the finished Bella, modeled by a dining room chair.

Re: The Official Bella Blouse Knit-Along Forum

peet — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 17:51:23 GMT

Congrats to everyone on their completed Bellas!

I was hoping to add my picture before this but I am having a terrible time attaching the neck inserts. As I undo the seams yet again, I wonder if anyone has any tips for me. Especially at the back of the neck, which the pattern does not show. I sewed the two inserts together from the first of the bind off 3 stitches to the edge. So it is on a slant. Is that right? I find the neck sits very high in the back besides being very wonky in the front! Did you have to do a lot of steaming or blocking to get it to lie flat as it does in so many of your beautiful pictures?

Any tips gratefully accepted,

Mary

Re: The Official Bella Blouse Knit-Along Forum

Kathleen Cubley — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 16:55:11 GMT

I'm done with my Bella! It turned out so great. The only issue I had was that the yarn I used from the body (Cascade Premier) is a lot stretchier than the yarn I used for the trim (Berroco Glint), so sewing in the neck inserts and sleeves was a challenge. I had to do one sleeve three times to get it right.

But the result is beautiful and the recipient, my sister, loves it.

The photo below is the Bella during blocking. Finished photo to come.

Re: The Official Bella Blouse Knit-Along Forum

moonquilter — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 17:33:56 GMT

Charmaine50,

Your Bella looks great! I agree it's so good to finish and make something that is "the hardest" ever. I'm brave enough now to try another "hard" pattern knowing that there are many resources online to help. I really like the youtube videos, and the Knitting Daily web pages.