The latest gameplan for the Rebecca cropped sweater (I need a name!) is to modify it to be something like this:

That's "Britannia" by Berroco.  So for my sweater, I'll cable all the way down to about the waist, while also extending the placket, and then have ribbing for about 4 inches at the hip.  I'm also planning on making the body slightly longer so that there's a bit of extra material before the border.  I've looked at the (free!) pattern for Britannia and they don't do any shaping along the body, it just relies on the placket opening up. My only concern is that Britannia uses a completely different yarn, one that Marisa has used before, and she tells me it's very "drapey".  The Cashsoft Aran isn't exactly drapey but I'm crossing my fingers that the end product will look as nice as I imagine it in my head.

In other news, the Gentleman's Lozenge sock is now an FO! They are on the bunny blockers right now so hopefully I'll get some pics this weekend (crossing my fingers the brief sunshine today lasts).