Lion Brand Announces Partnership with Quince & Co.

Here’s a bit of breaking yarn industry news for you that’s pretty short on details, but I will update you as I have more information.

Lion Brand Yarn announced on its Facebook page a partnership with indie yarn maker Quince & Co. The post welcomes the yarn maker “to the pride” and goes on to say:

With the elevated expertise and passion of our combined teams, we look to create an even better experience for our valued customers.

Our consumers should expect the same great quality of products, patterns, accessories, and services – plus so much more. We are excited to see where our newfound engagement takes us next!

Unfortunately that’s about all there is to the statement, and when someone asked for more details the reply from the company was to stay connected and they will share updates.

I’m not seeing any information on the Lion Brand or Quince & Co. websites about the news, nor on the Quince & Co. social media pages, but I will continue to look and provide more details as I have them.

Lion Brand Yarn was founded in 1878 and is the oldest producer of craft yarn in the United States. It has been run by members of the Blumenthal family for five generations, and is celebrating its 145th anniversary this year.

Quince & Co. was launched in 2010 by designer Pam Allen in partnership with a historic mill in Maine. The company’s about us page says Allen wanted to start a yarn company because, after working for a major yarn company, she “wanted to work with mills to design yarns from the ground up” and to be able to produce yarn made in the United States.

It will be interesting to see if Quince & Co. yarn is still produced in the same way and this partnership just gives them wider distribution channels (such as the ability to be sold in big-box craft stores). It also gives Lion Brand a much wider selection of natural fiber yarns that it can introduce to its consumers.

Update: This was first posted on June 21. On the 22nd, Quince & Co. shared the news on its Instagram page, with some of the same wording as the Lion Brand announcement, but a little more for its customers: “As our beloved customer, you should expect the same great quality of our bespoke products, patterns, accessoreis, and services that you have come to know and love from Quince & Co. and Twig & Horn.
[Photo via Lion Brand Facebook page]

Next Pattern:

Sometimes I feel like knitters get intimidated to try new things because they think they need to start with a big project. Your first time working in the round doesn’t need to be a sock, and your first colorwork doesn’t need to be a sweater, for example. You can find little projects that use the skills you want to learn to build your confidence before you move on to something that requires more time commitment.

This adorable knit bunny, for example.

The colorwork bunny from Knit Picks was designed by Amy Munson and is a kind of bowling pin shaped bunny complete with a knit hat, contrasting inner ears and a little stranded colorwork on its body. Note that the ears are attached the the hat not the bunny, but you could stitch them to the bunny if you’d rather.

It’s worked from the bottom up and also has a tiny pompom tail you can’t see in the picture but it’s a really cute touch. There are a variety of little fair isle patterns to choose from to make the best bunny for you.

The bunny comes out about 8 inches tall (or just over 20 cm) and use several colors to complete the colorwork, depending on the design you choose.

You can purchase the pattern by itself from Knit Picks, or make a kit that includes sport weight yarn in all the colors you need for your creation. There are gray and brown options for the main body of the bunny, but of course if you’re using your own yarn you can make it whatever color you like.

Once you’ve tried colorwork (maybe also working in the round and shaping if those are skills you haven’t used before) in a little project like this you’ll be ready to take on something bigger in no time.

Check out the pattern on Knit Picks.

[Photo: Knit Picks]

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