Welcome to Stop 8 on The Boardwalk Collection blog tour! When Kettle Yarn Co. first contacted me about being a part of this endeavour to highlight the new DK version of her extremely popular Islington fingering weight yarn, I was thrilled with the inspiration and design spec - Linda asked for pieces with lots of negative space, highlighted with geometric lace designs. I was hooked!

*Bagatelle Cowl in Islington DK in "Peony", image copyright 2015 Juju Vail for Kettle Yarn Co.*

I've always loved the seaside, and spent vast amounts of time growing up on the beaches of New England, particularly Maine. Those rocky, somewhat barren shores have very little resemblance to the more cosmopolitan beaches of places like Brighton and Lyme Regis, but the salty breeze and calls of the seagulls are constant. With the Bagatelle Cowl, I wanted to capture the lines of piers emerging from the water's surface, ebbing and flowing as the tides go in and out.

Bagatelle is knit in the round, and the focal point is a strongly vertical lace pattern that biases across the face of the cowl. The edges are finished in simple seed stitch, evoking pebbly beaches. The pattern includes both written and charted instructions, but if you're new to knitting from charts, this pattern would be a good starting point, as the lace stitch itself is very simple. The pattern uses 2 skeins of Islington DK, and is plenty long enough to double up around the neck.

The Islington DK base is perfect for this type of accessory - hefty enough to give real warmth to the finished item (perfect for our somewhat inconsistent British summer weather or for the transition into autumn), but with beautiful drape and swing. The combination of 55% Bluefaced Leicester and 45% silk results in a yarn with plenty of elasticity and luxurious shiny softness. And the colours are perfection...

The Boardwalk Collection includes patterns from a phenomenal group of designers: Arcade by Isabell Kraemer, Pavilion by Renée Callahan, Promenade by Maria Magnusson, Seaward by Rachel Coopey and Jetty by Linda Lencovic. You can see all the designs on Issuu or (hopefully) in the preview below.

The next stop on the Boardwalk Collection tour will be Coopknits. And don't forget, there's a Boardwalk Collection KAL that's just started on the Kettle Yarn Co. Ravelry group. And don't forget to check out the rest of the blog tour:

You will find the rest of the blog tour here:

The Boardwalk Collection Blog Tour Part 1 – Kettle Yarn Co

The Boardwalk Collection Blog Tour Part 2 – A Playful Day

The Boardwalk Collection Blog Tour Part 3 – Isabell Kraemer

The Boardwalk Collection Blog Tour Part 4 – Curious Handmade

The Boardwalk Collection Blog Tour Stop 5 - Shinybees

The Boardwalk Collection Blog Tour Stop 6 - Renée Callahan

The Boardwalk Collection Blog Tour Part 7 – Maria Magnusson

The Boardwalk Collection Blog Tour Part 8 - Knitted Bliss