Agnes!

Hi Knitters,

First off, the winner of The Knitter's Life List is sauceyjill (rav id)! Jill is one amazing knitter so please go check her out on Ravelry and on her blog. I've known Jill for some time and she inspires me on a regular basis. Everything she knits I want to knit, too. 

Thanks to everyone for entering. I still have that same big stack of books waiting for reviews and giveaways so I will keep working away on that. There are so many wonderful knitting books out there and I love to share them with you. 

In the meantime, I have finished my beautiful Agnes pullover. 

The yarn is Quince & Co. Puffin in the Bark colorway, the pocket is Osprey in the Bird's Egg colorway.

The pattern for Agnes is from Quince & Co. and is written by Melissa LaBarre.

I blocked it with a heavy steam from my iron and a damp cloth and the stitches evenly sprung into place with ease. Puffin is a single ply bulky yarn that I knit on US size 11 needles. I thoroughly enjoyed working with Puffin. The sweater came together so fast, maybe a week of off and on knitting at most.

I have also just finished a fantastic pattern for my upcoming book in Quince & Co. Lark and, I have to say, the project may be my favorite in the entire collection. It is my tiny masterpiece. The yarn is gorgeous and has a sweetness to it, sort of a beautiful simplicity. You should try Quince & Co. yarns if you haven't yet. It is American sourced wool which I like, too.

Click here for the Quince & Co. website.

I only made a couple of minor modifications. I added length to the body. I think the sweater is slightly cropped as written in the pattern, which is adorable, but not for me. All I did was add a couple of inches under the pockets and before the ribbing. In the pattern the ribbing starts immediately below the pocket opening.

If you look at the lovely Gudrun Johnston's blog post about the Agnes sweater that she made along with her daughter you will see that her version is a little shorter than mine. It looks great and perfect on her but I need a little more length to my sweaters. Gudrun is one of my favorite designers, too, so be sure to check out her blog and patterns if you have a chance.

Click here to see Gudrun and her cute daughter, both wearing Agnes.

The only other thing I changed slightly is that I made the sleeves about an inch longer than in the pattern. They measure 19 1/2 inches from the underarm. I think the 2x2 ribbing number didn't work out either on the body or the arm, can't remember, so I decreased by 2 to make it work. Other than that I followed the pattern exactly. I did make the 40 inch size so it is quite roomy on me. I usually make the 36 inch size but I wanted it big and comfy so I could layer underneath. The pattern is clear and simple to follow. One more thing, I only used 6 out of the 7 hanks of the yarn so I have an extra hank that I'll whip into a hat or something at some point soon.

Isn't is just a perfect cozy winter sweater? The pockets are dreamy, the yarn is squishy and fun, and I will get tons of wear out of this one. I love a simple sweater for so many reasons. Simple sweaters are fun and fast to knit and even more fun and practical to wear. That's all I ask of my knitting and this project  has everything I look for in a sweater pattern.

It's a good day when you have a brand new handknit sweater to throw on! 

best, susie