Monday, February 18, 2013

Lauren!

On Friday morning I finally had a bit of time to sew the buttons onto my Lauren sweater - finished at last!  I wore it to a dinner party on Friday evening :-)  Of course, we were rushing out the door and I didn't have time to snap any photos, and when we got to our friend's house it was very warm, so I ended up taking it off anyway!

So this morning I decided to put it on again, this time with a slightly different outfit, largely so I could put on one of my favorite pairs of shoes:

Frye Matilda Oxfords.  Gosh I love these shoes.

Problem is, the sweater is so dark that it really didn't photograph all that well, even on a sunny day like today!  You really can't see the texture in the modeled pix.  Please trust me when I say this sweater is 200% better in real life.  And it's so soft and comfy.  I'm really in love with it.  So here's a bunch of spam - me trying to get a good pose:




And trying to show you the extreme dolman-ness of the sweater:


No, I couldn't be bothered to fix my hair today.  I have too much to do!

The photo that showed the texture and shape the best was the over-exposed one, which is kind of fun in an artsy way:

I'm positively glowing!  That's how much I love my sweater!

Here's a shot of my vintage Vera Neumann scarf, in case you're into that kind of thing.  I'm into it so much I have the same design in pink.


You may notice from the photos that the ribbing extends down below the waist, so this sweater really isn't as cropped as it appears to be.  Which is a good thing!  The ribbing also has lovely shaping:


Here are my sparkly buttons, in situ:


One of the great things about this "ridge pattern" on the button bands is that it enables the knitter to easily space the buttonholes!  The lower buttons are on every 6th ridge and the upper buttons are on every 10th.

Here's a better look at the completed sweater:


And what the heck - one more, just because I took it and I love my new sweater!


So there you have it.  This sweater turned out even better than I'd hoped it would, but I'm afraid it may not be obvious in photos.  Now, on to the next (Kim Hargreaves) sweater . . .

37 comments:

  1. Gorgeous! Dark colours are always hard to photograph well, but you've done a pretty good job. I love the ribbing detail, it makes the cardigan look really smart. Love the way you've styled it too, the shoes and scarf are both lovely.

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    1. Thanks, Sam! I did try it with the pencil skirt too and it looks very nice. The skirt works really well with this scarf too :-)

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  2. This is such a great cardigan...and it makes a fantastic outfit the way you've styled it!

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  3. I love it, the buttons are perfect and you look so elegant in it, with the vintage scarf and the beautiful shoes. As for your knitting - a fine piece of workmanship, as always - so neat, so even, absolutely admirable!

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  4. Gail, your new sweater is AWESOME. The sleeves, the sticth pattern, the waistband, the buttons, all of it. If I make it back to Chicago you better keep me out of yor house because I may just steal it ;) And those shoes are so super cool! Next fall I want to try my hand at another Kim Hargreaves sweater only next time I will try to pick the right size, ha, ha.

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    1. Hehehe - I'll distract you by taking you to fabric stores! Yes, now that you know about the ease, things should go better! I already ripped back my new project because I started with a size too big!

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  5. oh i love it! it looks like it'll get tons of use. the dotted texture is very cool!

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  6. Wow Gail, what a wonderfull sweater! You look great in it, it really flatter you. Thee shoes are pretty cute too, I can totally imagine why you knitted a sweater to match their awesomeness ;)

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    1. Thank you very much, Inge! I didn't really intend the sweater for these shoes (I had this yarn in my stash!) but it did work out well!

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  7. Wow wow wow. Congratulations on your cardi. It is beautiful! Perfectly styled as well - you can't go wrong with those shoes.

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    1. Thanks, Kirsty! I wore it the other night with tan check wide-legged cuffed trousers and it looked great with those too.

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  8. Fabulous! Wonderful shape, color, texture, buttons, everything! Thanks for including the overexposed pic -- it was really the best for getting the "truth" of this one... :) And luuuurve those shoes!

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    1. Yes, that one had the best "arms halfway down dolman effect" view, LOL! Plus I think it looked like an altered photo!

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  9. Beautiful sweater. I love the shape, but will admire from afar. That style does no favors to my figure. :)

    LOVE those shoes! Are you familiar with Fluevog shoes? Very unique shoes. Some very sexy shoes. They have a store in Chicago. If you like those fabulous shoes, you should check them out.

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    1. Thanks, Pam! I do know about Fluevog (a little - don't have any). I'm very partial to Fryes though for some reason! And I'm still trying to be more conservative with my shoe purchases even though my Seamless commitment is over ;-)

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  10. Your cardi looks fantastic - great work! I'm glad that with all the effort you've put into it, it's turned out so well and that you love it so much. Good result!

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    1. Thanks, Lauren! Maybe you should make one, hehehe!

      I wasn't really sure I had picked the right size for me (I always straddle XS and S) but I think in this case, going smaller was a good decision.

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  11. I die over your shoes. I love the scarf you look so elegant. Whenever I put on a scarf I feel like a major dork, can't pull it off like you. And of course your sweater is gorgeous, you are the Queen of knitting.

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    1. I know there are some other shoe mavens out there - that's why I put up the picture! I love it when I see the details and accessories highlighted on other blogs :-)

      I used to feel that way about scarves too but I think the secret is just to go for it, and everybody else will think you look cool!

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  12. Ooh, pretty! I didn't know you could decrease in ribbing, I thought it messed it up, but this actually looks kind of neat! What kind of decrease pattern does it use? :)

    It's just lovely and the way you've styled it rocks too :D

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    1. Thank you!

      The decrease is a double decrease, for instance: slip one, knit 2 together, pass the slipped stitch over (that would be for the right side. That keeps the continuity of the 1x1 rib. Pretty nice, eh?

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  13. Ok, I can't properly appreciate the cardigan, because OMG those shoes! I so incredibly want them!

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    1. Can't really say I'm sorry for the distraction ;-) I do wish I had bought the grey/navy combo of these shoes too while they were available. (I've had these about 4 years.)

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  14. The sweater...the shoes!!! So nice.

    Congrats on another successful project.

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  15. Hey, Gail - send me an email at poldapop[at]gmail.com. I've got a couple more bloggers up for a Chicago meetup and I want to keep you in the loop!

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  16. Oh, and I LOVE the buttons on this cardigan (as well as the cardigan itself, of course)!

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  17. oh I LOVE it!!! I love the deep ribbing, i love the batwings and I bet in real life the colour is rich. But... those shoes!!!! FANTASTIC :)

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    1. Thanks, Libby! It's not the most exciting color in the world, and I was well and truly sick of knitting with it after 2.5 months, but it sure does go with a lot of things in my wardrobe!

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  18. This is beautiful! I love the shape and stitch pattern!

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