A few months ago I was approached by A Good Yarn in Sarasota, Florida to see if I’d be interested in trying their new house yarn, Boca Chica.

I’ve worked with A Good Yarn before and enjoy that they theme their proprietary colors, and now their new yarn, around Florida’s treasures. Boca Chica is named for a small island in the Florida Keys, mostly covered by mangroves and salt marshes, but also home to the largest Naval Air Station in South Florida. A Good Yarn has tried to capture the bright and vibrant colors of Florida in its Boca Chica base.

Boca Chica is a fingering weight yarn with a chain construction. It comes in skeins that are 480 yards (430 meters)/115 grams. Colorways are a range of lovely semisolids and variegates. I was feeling wild the day I chose my colors, so I chose Duval Street (a neon bright pink) and Rainbow Reef (a white/gray/pink variegated skein).

I went back and forth for a while on what I wanted to knit. At first I thought I would attempt a 2 color shawl, but then I thought these colors might make a nice bright sweater for Roxy. After checking care instructions (recommended to handwash in cold water and lay flat to dry), I decided to make a summer top for myself. I selected Elfe by Astrid Schram, a simple cap-sleeved top that is designed for two colors to be striped.

After starting my stripes, I decided to depart from the stripes the pattern suggests however. Instead I read up on helical knitting and decided to give it a go. I immediately loved the results.

What I didn’t quite account for was some wild pooling, but I’m still super happy with the way this top came out.  The yarn was lovely to work with; soft and bouncy and fun to knit. The striping (and unpredictable pooling) kept me entertained throughout the project. I admit I held my breath a little hoping that the top wouldn’t be too wild, and that it would fit when I was done (swatches LIE!). And I was pretty pleased with the finished result.

The top is a bit brighter than I would normally wear, but reminds me of tropical beaches and summer fun! I still think my helical striping was the way to go on this one, though I’m sure you can see the faint diagonal line in the knitting where I kept moving the beginning of the round. I’ll need to work on tension and blocking if I try helical knitting again in the future.

The yarn did exhaust quite a bit when I washed it (bright saturated pink is likely to do that!) but I was pleased that it did not affect the white areas of the second color, so the top looks great and feels amazingly soft after a washing. I can’t wait to wear it!

A special thank you to the A Good Yarn Sarasota who sent me 2 skeins of Boca Chica (retail: $56.00) for free. I received no other compensation for this review. All opinions and photos are my own.