KnitCrate is a monthly yarn subscription box for knitters and crocheters! Each box includes a new exclusive yarn and corresponding patterns for knit and crochet projects.
They offer two different subscription options:
- Membership Crate: $24.99 per month, for two skeins of their in-house premium yarn plus exclusive knit and crochet patterns in a booklet
- Sock Crate: $19.99 per month, for one skein of their in-house premium fingering weight yarn and exclusive knit and crochet patterns in a booklet
This review is of the KnitCrate Sock Crate, for $19.99 a month.
This box was sent to us at no cost for review. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes).
About KnitCrate Sock Crate
The Subscription Box: KnitCrate
The Cost: $19.99 per month (other plans available from $19.99 to $24.99 per month)
The Products: One skein of premium sock yarn plus a pattern booklet (contains 3+ patterns!)
Ships to: US and worldwide for free!
Good to Know: All members receive 25% off shop purchases, and earn points for every dollar you spend on your subscription and any orders from their shop. You also can earn points for reviewing the yarn on their website! Points can be redeemed for cash off of shop purchases or can be used towards your regular subscription.
KnitCrate Sock Crate May 2019 Review
KnitCrate Sock Crate is a great yarn subscription if you love working with sock weight (also called fingering weight) yarn! I love the flexibility of working with this type of yarn because you get so much yardage in just one skein. It’s great for shawls, scarves, baby garments, other accessories (and of course socks!).
KnitCrate Inspirations, May 2019 - Retail Value $40.00
The pattern booklet included a download code so that you could add the PDF version to your Ravelry library. When I used the code it listed the booklet as having a value of $40, but at the time of our review, the booklet is not currently for sale as a separate item.
This month, when you go to retrieve the online download code, you get an extra three bonus patterns! The patterns are designed to go with this month’s Artisan pop up shop.
The theme this month is “Farmer’s Market,” and I think this is just so dang cute. KnitCrate always excels at coming up with unique and fun themes for their boxes, and this month is no exception. I love the idea of finding yarn inspiration in the colorful farmer’s market stalls full of fruits and vegetables.
There was only one colorway sent out for Sock Membership this month, and it’s called “Strawberries.” It’s a fun tonal of deep pink colors that looks exactly like the inspiration fruit.
The pattern designed to go along with this yarn utilizes these color changes to make a unique sock design. I love that this sock design looks like the back of a shield bug and seems to go along perfectly with the theme this month! It looks like such an interesting and unique construction for a sock -- the ankles are made by a series of short rows that result in a neat chevron pattern.
The booklets always include a bio page on the designers behind the patterns, and I always love reading these. You can also see a glimpse at the pop-up shop yarns and patterns on the opposite page.
The back of the booklet shows a sneak peek of the theme for June - it will be “Calico,” and I can’t wait to see what they come up with from this color palette!
The booklet also contains two patterns for the Membership Crate box. See our review on the May Membership Crate for more details on this one.
Now, onto the good stuff - the yarn!
Vidalana by KnitCrate Delight Sport Yarn, in color Strawberries - Retail Value $24.00
Note: This yarn is currently not listed for sale on KnitCrate’s website. Usually, all of their yarn goes up for sale on the website after the crates are sent out each month, but this particular sock yarn is not up for sale. KnitCrate reports that the box sold out on the first of the month, and no additional yarn was available to post.
I love this bright pink color! It feels so perfect for the beginning of summertime. I also like that the skein is not all one shade of pink - you can see the variations between lighter blush pink all the way into deep red-toned pink.
This is a new yarn blend from KnitCrate, and it’s a sport weight 100% Superwash Merino. There are 340 yards in 100 grams, and it’s spun as a bouncy 2-ply. I like that KnitCrate continues to send us new blends that are outside the box of typical sock yarn, but my personal preference when knitting socks is to stick to a fingering weight yarn that has some percentage of nylon. There are a lot of opinions on what makes a good sock yarn, so I love the idea of getting to try out different options through this subscription!
Erasable Pen in Orange - Estimated Retail Value $3.00
KnitCrate included an extra this month, and it’s an erasable pen in a bright orange color. This is such a handy tool for a knitter because you can mark up which size you are knitting on a pattern and then erase it when you’re done! Or you can use it to tally stitch counts, etc.
Here’s the pen in action:
The pen writes very smoothly and glides well, and the bright orange color is a fun pop on the page. I found that the pen didn’t erase very neatly, however, and left smudges where the color used to be. This was less noticeable on regular printer paper (as opposed to the glossy KnitCrate booklet paper shown above) but still did not erase completely.
As I mentioned above, I personally don’t favor socks in sport weight or without some nylon content. I wanted to show you an alternative idea for a pattern if you fall into that category as well, so I used the advanced search feature on Ravelry to search one-skein sport weight patterns. I found this adorable baby dress from Purl Soho and thought it fit exactly what I was looking for - plus it’s a free pattern!
I love how this yarn is working up, especially in the linen stitch that this pattern features. The tonal variegation keeps the look interesting and unique, and the bright pink color is so fun!
Verdict: I thought this was a great KnitCrate box! I love getting to try new yarn bases, and I thought the theme was so fun this month. I also really appreciated the extra item with the erasable pen. If you are a knitter or crocheter who is open to trying new types of yarn, this would be a great subscription box to check out! For $19.99, we received one skein of yarn, three knitting and crochet patterns, and an erasable pen, with a total retail value estimated at $67.00. I think this is an amazing value for what you receive, since high-end, premium yarn is usually around $25-35 per skein in a local yarn store, and most patterns on Ravelry are $5-10 each.
A few other things that are good to know: If you follow KnitCrate on Instagram or join their Ravelry group, they reveal spoilers at the end of each month (usually around the 20th) before the subscription renews on the first. If you are pickier about what fibers you like to use or want to avoid certain colors, these would be great to check out. (The June early preview can be found here.) Otherwise, you won’t know what the theme, yarn, or patterns will be before they renew your subscription for the month.
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? Unfortunately, no. The June box has also sold out, but you can join the waitlist for upcoming availability.
Value Breakdown: at $19.99, here’s approximately what you are paying for each item:
- Vidalana Delight Sport Yarn - $7.16
- Pattern Booklet - $11.93
- Erasable Pen - $0.90
Check out the Craft Subscription Box Directory for more great knitting, craft supply, and DIY project boxes!
Keep track of your subscriptions: Add this box to your subscription list or wishlist!
What did you think of the May 2019 KnitCrate Sock Crate? Let us know in the comments!
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