I can't tell you how much I love my new Soho shrug and these pictures!  My model and I had so much fun styling her outfit and creating the poses.  I'm sure you recognize Jessica as my across-the-street neighbor, and as busy as she is, she always finds time to come over and play dress-up.  So here's the story with the sweater:  Soho is from Martin Storey's beautiful Easy DK Knits that came out last year and is a pattern book I would call an essential classic--there are so many timeless, wearable sweaters. The pattern called for Rowan Pure Wool Superwash DK but I saw it more as evening wear so I knit it with Kidsilk Haze Eclipse doubled. Eclipse is KSH with a bit of a sparkle thread running through it.  It's gorgeous and I love it, but sadly the yarn is retired. The savvy shopper can still find it on Ravelry, eBay and some shops. That, and making tapered, set-in, top-down sleeves instead of bell sleeves with sleeves sewn in the traditional way were my only modifications.  I intended this to be a little evening sweater, but I found myself popping it on when I was heading to the grocery store and meeting my friend for lunch, etc., so decided to make another, more casual one in the recommended Rowan Superwash DK in a pale gray-blue.  That one is still in the works.

Do you like the tulle skirt?  Here's the skirt story:  Last year I found myself shopping in San Francisco at Neiman Marcus with none other than my husband.  (I almost never step into a NM and never with my husband.  His eyes fairly popped out of his head at the prices and he still talks about the dress shirt with a $1000 price tag that he almost tried on.)  On that day I saw a black ballerina length tulle skirt that I wanted so much, but the price tag that was so much out of my league that I didn't dare even touch it. Once home, my mission was clear: find a look-alike skirt for one-tenth the price or less. While I gave my local shops a chance, this was clearly a job for the internet. There were dozens of choices and I finally settled on this beauty that cost something like $50.  I wore it a half-dozen times last Christmas season. Jessica styled it with her own puppy dog shirt and my shrug and she just looked darling in it!