King Cole Ambassador

I have a wee bit of exciting news to share! For the next year, I am officially an Ambassador. I know, be jealous. I’m fancy. Heehee. So what this means is, I’ll be sharing with you, dear friends, my truthful thoughts and opinions on various King Cole Brand yarns. They are not paying me but they are gifting the yarn for my reviewing purposes. So let’s jump in and talk about this new-to-me yarn, Merino Blend 4 ply Superwash Wool.

King Cole Merino blend Yarn Review

Friends, can we just start with the obvious here?

These skeins are positively crying out to become something “Granny”, right? It is taking all of my self-control to not rip off the ball bands and square my day away.
Just look at them! All delicate and beautiful with their matching color depth so perfectly. Mmm, so good ya’ll, so good.

Too long, don’t wanna read- just take me to the yarn! I got you, friend: LoveCrafts (psst, if this is your first time ordering from them, they currently have a 15% off your order deal going, it’ll pop up on screen.)

If you are from the US, the weight of “4 ply” likely doesn’t immediately register as to what size the yarn is.

As you can see {above}, with a light wrap and gently placing the strands next to each other, I am getting a WPI of 16. Psst, thats Wraps Per Inch ;-P
Now, technically that would categorize this yarn as #2 Fine/sport weight.
But (I know you knew that was coming!) as with all things yarny, this is highly subjective. You see, *I* wrapped it lightly and *I* was careful to place the strands as uniformly as *I* possibly could. Yep, see all those “*I*”s…… that means someone else doing the exact same task could, and are likely to, have different results.

Holding this yarn in my hand, I would definitely not call this sport weight. Without hesitation, I would use the Merino Blend 4ply as a fingering weight yarn. With a recommended needle size of 3.25mm, that is equivalent to a D hook, so you see? Solidly a fingering weight yarn in my opinion.

Why 4ply? King Cole is based in the UK and they have a different weighting system for yarn.

The details

King Cole’s Merino Blend 4Ply yarn is 100% Superwash Wool, 1.7 oz [50g] 204 yd [180 m], per skein

Pricepoint: Currently, $4.99 (I know, I blinked on that, too. But I’ve checked and double checked. 5 bucks for a decently sized skein of wool yarn. Lol, I went ahead and made that a direct link for ya, I’m a good ~~enabler~~ uhh friend, like that.)

Superwash is a term that means the wool has been through a process that allows this typically agitation sensitive fiber to be machine washable.
Personally, I still recommend a handwash and lay flat to dry. I mean, even if the yarn is okay to go through the wild west of the washing machine, do you really want your handmades to endure that? Yikes.

Speaking of washing your handmades (oh no, here it comes….yep, I’m gonna say it again), block your projects, my friends! If you are new here (Welcome! and really, I have very few soapboxes, but this is one of them), I’ve written a little post on the fundamentals of blocking. It’s more about blocking swatches, but the principle is the same for your full pieces. I know, I really need to document the entire process of blocking. I promise, I will get that done, soon. Until then, read up on the basics at Blocking Swatches, it’s magic, really.

But is it itchy?

100% Superwash Wool. “Is it itchy?” is a valid question. Okay, promise not to laugh and I’ll tell you what I did…
So, knowing I was going to be chatting about this, I tucked that lovely pink skein into the neckline of my dress and it’s been sitting there for quite a bit, because I’m a slow writer and also, I’ve gotten up and down and wandered the house and fed the dogs and rotated the laundry… how the world goes when you work from home, right?
I’m going to say no. Now, does it have that dreamy, smoosh against your face softness of a cashmere silk blend? No. But it also wasn’t irritating or, well… itchy.
Would I make a sweater with it? Absolutely.

Making it’s debut, is this stunning shade: Rose Gold.

Also new today is Steel and Terracotta {see below}. There are 20 shades to choose from (at the time of this writing). Some deeply saturated jewel tones and several gorgeous delicate shades, with multiple neutral tones to round it out and give you beautiful options for foundational colors… A little bit of something for everyone.

Now to answer the big question of where to get this yarn. It is my understanding that more and more (US) Local Yarn Stores are beginning to carry the King Cole brand. It is widely available in the UK. My LYS does not yet have any, so I will be shopping online at:

Love Crafts King Cole direct link

Love Crafts

When I clicked over there a few minutes ago, a little window offering 15% off your first order popped up, so with yarn that is already only $5 skein (at the time of this post), that’s a bit of a deal!

Oh, and those grannies?
Definitely gonna happen. I think I’m going to choose the Pale Gray (maybe Biscuit?) as the border│unifying color and I’ll order some of the Vine Leaf and Petrol to add a little weight and saturation— I think the combination will be nice.
Do you think I should choose differently? What would you add?