Sweater Weather: A Few New Sweaters At JCrew

I stopped at my store yesterday to make a return and they were putting on the floor some of the new items that rolled out last week on the website. I am a bit shopped out but I am looking to replace a few sweaters that I threw away because too worn-in or too short. I haven't bought any winter sweater except for cashmere in a few years and all of a sudden I feel like wearing wool, so I had a look and took three sweaters with me in the fitting room.

Disclaimer: Dear JCrew I don't know how the following happened. It wasn't my intention to snap illegitimate pics in the fitting room but I must have inadvertently pressed the camera button of my phone. I must have been in a new arrivals-induced trance because I really don't remember doing so. Just to let you know, in the unfortunate case that you are taking legal action, I will plead temporary mental incapacitation (I think I won't have any problem to demonstrate that given my recent shopping spree during your 25% off promo). Now my sense of blogger duty tells me that I must post these pics, for the community's sake. I can't keep this information just for myself, I hope you will understand. I am very sorry for all the business and profit loss that my posting could potentially generate, but let's be honest, if that happens it's a bit of your fault too (on the other end, if you notice a sudden increase in orders for the items that I am going to enthusiastically review in this post, and you are finally willing to give me a bit of credit for that I will happily forward my bank account for you to deposit a small percentage of the sales generated by my otherwise unpaid advertisement)*.

So the first sweater that I tried because I had actually put it in my cart and thought about ordering it with the 25% off is the Colorblock wool turtleneck sweater. I LOVE the look of this sweater and the name of the sweater (WOOL sweater) and the description made me think that this was a 100% wool, cozy turtleneck. Exactly what I was looking for, right? Well, no. As soon as I picked up this sweater I knew that this couldn't be 100% wool. Just to be sure I looked at the fabric content that confirmed my suspicions:

Now how can a sweater described as 100% mercerized wool contain such a high acrylic percentage? I would have been mad had I ordered it.
I was even more bummed when I tried it on because the fit is good, thickness non-withstanding. This is the XS:

Ok, enough said, let's move on to the next one. I promise it's going to get better. I wasn't particularly interested in the Farmyard Fair Isle Sweater when I saw it on the website, but it is really cute IRL. It is a blend again but it isn't itchy and looks and feels good on (it feels almost sweatshirt-y). This is the XS, fits TTS but if you want to layer you can go up a size probably since the opening hasn't a lot of give (it closes with buttons in the back but personally I would want to be able to pull it over my head):

I think this one is going to sell out fast, especially if another promo comes around. It is reasonably priced and will make a really cute Xmas present (a bit too cute for me but really cute if you are into fair isle and little animals).

The third one was love at first sight. It's the Merino turtleneck in abstract diamond print. This one caught my eye when it came out but usually I am not a merino person for two reasons. First reason is that my merino sweaters in the typical 14-gauge of the JCrew sweaters don't last me very long. I don't know if it's because I need to wash them more often than my cashmere (they seem to retain odors more easily and I have to wash them after one wear) or because I still haven't figured out how to wash and take care of them in a proper way but they look ratty and develop holes pretty quickly (not to mention that they usually shrink). Second reason is that I prefer the feel of cashmere on my skin than merino. Bottom line: I am not a big fan of merino but the pattern and colors on this one are so special that I am ready to take a risk.
The color combo is just stunning (the background is navy and the pink is darker than in my pics, like a bright dahlia) and I like that it has a ski vibe to it and looks causal if worn with jeans but is elegant at the same time and can be worn under a jacket for the evening.
I went with my regular XS. It is a bit less fitted than on the model but I took shrinkage into account so I didn't size down (plus I don't like the look of too-fitted merino sweaters):

An outfit with the Lolli pants immediately came to mind. I took a few pics of the outfit this morning but my camera died right after so I cannot post them right now but I can tell you that the sweater is a perfect match in terms of color and also style and it is a great outfit.
If you like this print, it also comes in crazy pants. I reviewed these in the previous colorway (size down in these).

What do you think of the new crop of sweaters? Any that you are interested in?

* This is a joke