KW Style It: Keswick by Kate Gagnon Osborn

I will freely admit: when I designed Keswick, it was a totally selfish endeavor. Scafell Pike, the undyed color of The Fibre Co. Cumbria, , is a perfect heathered grey, one I love and wear often. I waffle back and forth in the winter between wearing pullovers and layering on cardigans, but was in full-on cardigan mode after finishing the Amanda knitalong, and wanted another. The initial designing of Keswick happened right on the heels of finishing Amanda, so I knew I wanted to take the classic elements of the Aran-inspired garments I loved and turn them into a design that would translate well to the rustic-yet-modern nature of Cumbria.

Keswick is designed with a slightly oversized fit in the body, and slimmer fit sleeves. There are no buttonholes on the front bands (although you could easily make them if you desired), and while there are full fronts, it is meant to be worn loose and open. It is knit in pieces and seamed (hands down, my favorite way to make a sweater), and the band is picked up and worked once all seaming is complete. When designing the sweater, I knew I needed one for myself, and immediately commissioned a sample for promotion and trunk shows and kept the original.

Keswick is the perfect layering piece – I have worn it over dresses, collared shirts, and a simple t-shirt, and under jean jackets and a down vest. It has been a little bit since we have done a Style It post, so I thought this design would be a perfect venue to showcase the myriad of ways I am inspired to wear Keswick. Typically, with our Style It posts, I try to broaden my reach a little bit, and offer some options outside of what I would wear myself, but these three looks are very much my every-day style.

STYLE ONE: daily wardrobe
Save for the shoes (only because I don’t have those loafers Yet.), I am wearing this exact outfit today. In the fall and spring, I live in black jeans and a denim jacket I have painstakingly broken in over the last 10 years, and find they pair well with pretty much everything I own. This is most likely because most everything I own is a shade of grey, black, or navy, but still. They’re classic and I love them so much.

STYLE TWO: office casual
I’ve mentioned this previously, but our office dress code is beyond casual. While technically there is an traditional office area, there is also a warehouse filled with boxes and bags of yarn, and we rarely see anyone else besides our UPS driver and mail carrier. I managed to avoid a traditional office environment for any job I’be held (and plan on keeping it that way), so I don’t really have any “office” clothes. An outfit like this is something you would definitely see me in at the office, and wearing a dress/tunic would actually make me feel as if I was “dressed up”!

STYLE THREE: fall
Like anyone with a lick of sense, I love fall. Love. Love, love. It is beautiful, it smells wonderful, it is warm enough to be outside all day, but cool enough to wear cosy layering pieces. The vast temperature changes means you can go for a walk in the sun wearing a t-shirt during the afternoon, and then cosy up to a campfire at night. Keswick is great for layering, and is warm enough without being stifling on days with varying temperatures.

We’re headed up to Maine this weekend, and I guarantee my Keswick, and many of the same pieces you see above will be joining me. What wardrobe panning are you excited about this week?

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