Inspiration Saturday: LC's cables and lace sweater

It's funny the way things turn out, isn't it?  'Laguna Beach' was a high school guilty pleasure of mine, following privileged teenagers socially scamper in ways which were totally foreign to me.  I couldn't really relate to most of their drama, but part of what drew me in was the fact that these kids were going to prom and graduating and going through all of these basic steps at the same time I was.  I distinctly remember watching a marathon one weekend my senior year, and thinking, 'Wow, that's going to be me in just a few months.'  And then they made teary goodbyes to their family and friends at the end of the summer as they went away to college a few episodes later and my heart raced again.

Who could have guessed that many years later, I would be buying clothes designed by one of those 'kids'?  Lauren Conrad (or 'LC' as she's been known since the Laguna days) went on to have her own spin-off reality show, but now she's pretty successfully transitioned into fashion design.  She has also written some novels, which aren't really on my short-list of books to read, but I find myself consistently being drawn to her pieces for Kohl's.  The tend to be on the delicate feminine side with some nice details.

So this week, my inspiration is based on one piece in particular from her latest October collection:

The giant teddy bear might be a bit distracting, but what I'm looking at here is the sweater.  A simpler shot in another color:

Image from Polyvore

The interesting part about this sweater to me is the use of lace around the neck to back the cables.  You can get really up close and personal on this detail on the Kohl's product page.  I saw it in the store this afternoon and instantly wondered if I could do something like this myself.  Not necessarily the entire sweater, but the concept of using lace as a background to open knit work.  Or for that matter, a printed fabric.  It shouldn't be too difficult, my mom assures me.  I think it would be really interesting to try, and bring some interesting texture and depth to whatever you made.  And I like the idea of mixing and matching various crafts like this.

I'm not sure where I'll be taking this inspiration exactly, but I wanted to share this random find with you all.  For more inspiration, visit Alicia at Woolen Diversions.