Review/OOTD/Made by Me File: Cashmere Nep and a Chunky Knit.

As promised in my last post (after the update), I have a few clearance Boden items that I would like to review for you all before the big "extra 20% off clearance" sale ends on Monday evening.  But because I am so flipping behind in my blog posting, I am putting my posts to hard work and turning them all into multi-taskers.  So today there will be an outfit of the day, a made by me file (knitting!), and a review.  :-)

Day: Thursday, January 1, 2015.

Where:  Dinner out with some friends.

Ease of Wear: (5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  It was so cold that night and I wanted to be cozy and comfortable and warm.  This outfit is exactly what I needed.  The Cashmere Nep Button Back sweater (here at Boden on clearance) is very warm and lightweight, the super chunky knitted infinity scarf easily blocks the cold wind, the J. Crew Turner pants (here at J. Crew) are easy to wear and interesting to look at, and as per usual, my loafers are my go-to whenever I want casual but without being *too* casual.

Cool Factor: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.)  The Turner pants are very unique.  They aren't for everyone, but even my most conservative friends really dug them.  They quite liked the silhouette of the pant and the unusual elastic hems.  I thought for sure that when buying them that I would be returning them, but the size 8 I chose (one size down from what I think I should wear at J. Crew) fits great, and the pockets with the exposed zip application meant they were keepers.

I know big chunky scarves are in (well, provided they aren't *that* big), and I was thrilled that after (not even kidding here, people) a YEAR of work on this one, I finally finished my first *people can look at this and not gasp at how shoddily it is made* project.

If you knit, you will no doubt notice that on my left side in this photo (your right side), there are a few stitches that are off.  I was distracted when knitting up a few rows and made that mistake.  Fortunately, it is easily hidden.  ;-)   For the rest of you, it may not even register that there are mistakes.  Regardless of the mistakes or not, I am so excited that my knitting worked and I have an actual wearable garment.

I have to say, if you want to give knitting a try, give the Knit Lab class over at Craftsy a go.  I had tried for years to use books to teach me how to knit and it never made any bleeping sense.  After spending an entire afternoon giving the process a go while watching this class, I finally got it.  Now, I was NOWHERE near good enough, but at least I could make the basic knit and purl stitches.  Problem with my knitting beforehand was that I was trying to learn continental style knitting and my hands like English style knitting more.  Thankfully the Knit Lab class covered the English style and that was when it all clicked.

It took a few months of working on my tension before I was able to get a good grasp on what properly knitted items look like while knitting, but confused me got there.

If you like to knit, I used this pattern for the above cowl.  She had a knit-a-long at her blog and it is full of very useful information.  I made mine a touch shorter than she did hers.  I used this Lion Brand Alpine Wool yarn for the scarf along with size 11 needles.

Cashmere Nep Button Back Sweater.  Size 6.  You have seen the front view above, but the back view is really what makes this sweater interesting.  I am a bit bummed that the placket at the top you see the facing bit on the underside, but at least it is in a great color to be showing through.  :-)

The buttons do stay very well secured, so there is no worry about that.  The color is very close to a baby pink, but the little bits of differently colored specks (the "nep") take it from being a juvenile color to something a bit more sophisticated.

That said, I like to wear this when I want to feel laid back and comfortable, it is a great weekend kind of top.  I mean, of course I will wear it at other times, but it just screams to me that kind of sweater you go to the farmer's market in.  Ha.

I couldn't have sized down in this, it would have been far too tight.  The size up would have been okay, since a little looser is more of the "look" Boden was probably going for.


Cashmere Nep Button Back Sweater.  The stocks are decent, but the blue sweater is all gone.  That one sold for something like $60 back around Christmas (when they had the extra 10% off) and it was a great deal if you liked that color.  I did like the blue, but have a lot of blue and green in my closet, so I knew I would be better served with this pink one.  The price for the pink version is decent, I think I paid a few dollars more back in December for it.

Okay, that's all for now.  Have a few other reviews coming your way over the next few days.