Hark it's some Lark and other Quince Yarns

The planets and stars are aligning, or at least that's what it feels like in Plainville.  My LYS (In the Loop) recently became the first and only MA flagship store for Quince yarns. Quince yarn is great American wool.  They have a handful of wool bases, a few blends and they all come in a ton of beautiful colors.  Chickadee is a sport weight wool, and Lark is the worsted weight wool.  The colors are completely saturated.  The yarn has no hint of scratch and is super soft for being all wool.  The stitch definition is wonderful. The beautiful yarns, patterns and weather have me hooked and in the mood to get knitting.

Back in November, In the Loop held a Mabel's Closet trunk show. Baby clothes aren't really my thing but I did buy a great goodie bag.  It was a Quince tote bag (don't wash and dry these things they shrink, guess how I know) filled with Knitbot Essentials by Hannah Fettig, two skeins of yarn (Chickadee in Peacock and Lark in Honey), plus a button and sticker.  I have drooled over the patterns and the yarn since November but I haven't done anything with them until recently.

A few weeks ago I cast on the Featherwight Cardigan from Knitbot Essentials in Madelinetosh Lace.  Also, I tried out the 70 yard mitts with the Lark for my mom for Mother's Day / her birthday.  I'm just at the start of the raglan neckline for the cardigan but the mitts were a bust.  I made one and it was way too tight, so I ripped it out and tried again on a bigger needle.  But that was still too tight.  If you do try them, go up a needle size and throw a few more stitches in.  I decided to go with a free Braided Mitts pattern from Rav instead.  There are 134 yds in a skein of Lark, which is more then enough for these mitts.  They came out looking pretty good if I do say so myself. Hopefully my mom won't lose one of these like she did with one of the Jacoby mitts I made her.  

During a special sales event I picked up Knit with Me, by Gudrun Johnston, which is another book using Quince yarns.  This book is full of sweaters and a few accessories to be knit and worn by both mothers and daughters.  They are simple, classic designs that are flattering for an array of bodies.  I love the patterns but haven't quite found the time or yarn to cast one on.  Well I finally found my chance and inspirations.

The last week in April, In the Loop had their grand re-opening event for the arrival of all the Quince yarns.  Well there was just so much Quince love in the air I couldn't walk away.  I ended up searching through my favorites for a while and then realized I have two books using Quince yarns to pull from.  I thought Empire would be the perfect sweater to cast on right now.  Even though the weather is getting warmer, my office building is just going to get colder with the AC being turned on.  I think my knitting ability is at the point where I really will be able to make it fit well.  I'll have to "bust out" Little Red in the City when I get closer to the bust shaping.  But for now I'm working on the body and waist shaping.  I cast on as soon as I got the yarn (April 27th).  It's going pretty fast for being a sweater on size 4 needles.

Sunday, Jeremey and I went to go see Iron Man 3.  I brought along my sweater and was able to work on it during the movie.  I did decrease two rows early once but I don't think it will make that much of a difference.  When I took my measurements I have a 47" hip that decreases down to 39" at the waist with a 5" vertical difference.  The pattern only has a 3" difference for a 6" vertical.  So I might add a decrease repeat anyways but leave the length just to ensure I have it.