Isn’t it fun to try out new yarns? I had an opportunity to try out Kettle Yarn Co. Islington DK recently, and really enjoyed it- it had been a while since I had knit with a wool/silk blend. Kettle Yarn Co. is a UK-base independent yarn company that has put together a great collection of patterns all featuring their Islington DK, which is 55% superwash Bluefaced Leicester and 45% silk, making it a wonderfully soft and easy to work with yarn.  The Boardwalk Collection features 6 patterns:

Top row, from left to right: Arcade, Pavilion, Jetty. 

Bottom Row, from left to right: Bagatelle Cowl, Seward, Promenade. 

You can check out the lookbook here:

The Kettle Yarn Co is also going to he participating in the pop up market for Yarn in the City, the London UK yarn crawl (link is over there on the right, with the big red ball of yarn!) So if you are in the area, you can squish some of these super soft skeins in person.

I got to sample the yarn, and made the Seward hat, in Islington DK ‘ Marigold’. The hat knits up very quickly, and comes with option for a beanie style (like in the pattern photo, top) or slouchy style, which is what I opted for, since slouchy hats tend to look better on me. Did I mention how quickly? I cast on for this hat while on my flight to San Francisco, and finished it within a couple of days. And that was with intense sight-seeing!

Plus I love a good one-skein project, don’t you? It’s so satisfying. And considering how chilly it was when I was there, I was glad to have a hat to put on!

Since it’s so much fun to try new yarns, I have one skein  to give away! Just leave a comment here that tells me why you totally need to try this yarn, and you could win this luscious skein of Kettle Yarn Co. Islington DK in ‘Verdigris’.

Contest closes Sunday night, August 2nd at 10 p.m. – good luck, my fellow knitters!