Knit Picks is an online yarn and knitting supply company that specializes in providing high-quality materials at a reasonable price. They recently launched a line of monthly subscription boxes featuring their products!
The options for boxes are as follows:
- Skill Builder: $48.00 per month, for yarn, knitting needles, instructional materials, and other knitting supplies. This box focuses on teaching you something new each month!
- Sock Yarn: $48.00 per month, for 2 skeins of sock-weight yarn, a sock pattern book, a shawl or accessory pattern, and knitting goodies (needles, accessories, stitch markers, pins, etc.)
- Fan Favorites: $48.00 per month, for a surprise assortment of yarn, needles, and tools that are either brand-new to the shop or products that are best sellers.
- Crochet Lover: $27.00 per month, for at least 150g of yarn, a crochet pattern or book, and crochet goodies (hooks, tools, etc.)
- Sock Labs: $27.00 per month, for 2 limited-edition hand painted skeins of yarn and one pattern
This review is of the Skill Builder box, $48.00 per month. This is the box that won your vote last month! Vote in the comments for which box you’d like us to review next!
My Subscription Addiction paid for this box. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)
About Knit Picks
The Subscription Box: Knit Picks Skill Builder Box
The Cost: $48.00 per month (other plans available starting from $27.00, and save with longer subscription plans)
The Products: a surprise assortment of yarn, patterns, knitting needles and tools, and fun extras
Ships to: the US and Worldwide
Knit Picks Skill Builder March 2019 Review
Knit Picks is a fantastic online store for knitters and crocheters, and it’s always been one of my favorite places to shop for yarn and tools! They recently launched a line of subscription boxes that feature different products, and the Skill Builder box showcases a different knitting technique or skill that you get to try out each month.
The box includes a small card detailing the contents of the March 2019 Skill Builder box. The theme this month is “slipped stitches,” and the box contains yarn and patterns to make two different projects that feature a slipped stitch texture. Slipped stitches are a great alternative to traditional stranded colorwork, and I was excited to improve my skills with this technique!
There was a second card in the box that goes into more details on each of the different boxes available. MSA plans to review a different box type from Knit Picks each month, and we are leaving the choice up to you! Let us know in the comments below which box type you’d like to see reviewed for April!
KnitPicks Chroma Worsted Yarn, in colors Natural and Pegasus - Total Retail Value $19.98 ($9.99 per skein)
The first project in the box uses two contrasting colors of worsted weight yarn. The two skeins included are from the Chroma yarn line, where the colors of the yarn transition throughout the skein. I think pairing this fun rainbow-inspired hue with a white natural color is very pretty, and the natural color will allow the different hues of the Pegasus skein to really shine through.
The yarn is 70% Superwash wool and 30% nylon, and each skein contains 198 yards in 100 grams.
Flight of Birds Shawlette Pattern - Retail Value $4.99
The first pattern to use with these two colors of Chroma yarn is a fun shawlette that was actually designed with this particular yarn in mind. It’s a very small triangle-shaped shawl that can be worn around the shoulders or wrapped around your neck. I love the patterning of this shawlette and think that the variations in the Chroma yarn would look amazing worked up in this pattern, but I personally have a hard time wearing shawls of this size. I feel like unless you pin them in place, they are too small to stay on properly and I don’t ever know what to do with the two ends. I tend to prefer to make either a traditional circular cowl or make a larger-sized shawl. If anyone has any suggestions for me, let me know in the comments!
KnitPicks Wool of the Andes Worsted Weight Yarn, in colors Mink Heather and Red - Total Retail Value $8.37 ($2.97 per skein)
The next project features one of KnitPicks’ flagship yarn lines with their worsted weight Wool of the Andes. This yarn line is easily one of the most affordable pure-wool yarns on the market, and it’s a classic for a reason - the items you make with it will last forever, and it comes in a great variety of different shades to work with. I have seen a lot of people use this wool for traditional colorwork sweaters and blankets and it always looks great!
We received three skeins - two in the color Mink Heather and one in classic Red. Each skein is 100% Peruvian Highland Wool (warning - it is NOT superwash, so this wool must be hand washed or it will felt) and contains 110 yards in 50 grams.
Secret Heart Pattern - Retail Value $4.99
The pattern included to go along with the Wool of the Andes yarn is for a pair of fingerless mitts. I think these are just adorable! I have been wanting to make a pair of fingerless mitts for a while now, as they are perfect for allowing you to knit (or text, or scroll Instagram, etc) while still having warm hands. The perpendicular stripes remind me of a tartan pattern, and the intarsia heart on the palms of these mitts is such a cute detail. I also like that you can change up this pattern to suit your style - you can add more stripes, change the heart design, or leave off the patterning all together. This was the pattern I was most excited about when opening this box - see below for more of my thoughts on it!
KnitPicks View Sizer - Retail Value $2.99
This is such a handy little tool! It functions not only as a needle sizer, but also has a transparent ruler portion that allows you to check your stitch gauge or measure your progress as you knit. The tool sizes needles from size 0 to size 17, and the ruler measures at 6 inches long. The clear part actually magnifies your stitches, making them easier to count! Also, I love the price point on this tool - it’s a great add-on to your purchase from the KnitPicks shop.
Try it Needle Set, Foursquare Majestic and Nickel - Retail Value $14.99
How smart is this little set of interchangeable needles? The “try it” kit contains two sets of interchangeable knitting needles from the KnitPicks line - one is a size 7 from the Foursquare majestic wood needle tips, and one is a size 6 from the Nickel plated needle tips. It also includes a 24” cable and a 40” cable, plus four end caps and one tightening key. I love the idea of these kits, as they allow you to try out the different needle tip lines before committing to an entire interchangeable set.
The Nickel plated interchangeable line from KnitPicks has been one of my personal favorites, and I use my set in most of my knitting projects, so I am quite familiar with how those tips feel. I love that they have smooth joins to the cables, and the metal plating has never worn down even with all the use mine get! I have never tried their wooden needle tips before and was excited to try these out. I have to admit that I have always been firmly in the metal knitting needle camp, but after using these wooden ones I may have to start changing my mind! They are much smoother than other wooden knitting needles that I’ve used, and the yarn glides over them almost as well as it does with metal knitting needles. They seem to have a glossy varnish as a finish, and I feel like that helped quite a bit. I love the pretty colors in the wood, too, and they felt very comfortable in my hands.
Blocking Pins - Retail Value $4.99
This is another excellent inclusion in this box! Blocking pins are a must for any knitter or crocheter, and these are of great quality at a very affordable price. I’ve never used the U-shaped pins before (the set I had previously was classic T pins), and I am a total convert to the U shape after using these! They hold the fabric down without pulling and are great for stretching out areas of your knitting. The case is great, as well, and I love that it locks closed so that your pins won’t fall out of it.
Here’s a photo of the blocking pins in action. They worked so much better than what I was using that they are my favorite find from this box!
Here’s my finished mitt! I found the pattern very easy to follow, and I liked how it went into a little bit of detail on the slipped stitches, which was the focus of this box. My only issue with the pattern is that I struggled with the intarsia heart in the palm of the mitt. I’ve never done intarsia in the round before, and I wasn’t sure how to bring my yarn back to the beginning of the round and still twist it around the other color of yarn without it looking a little funky. I ended up kind of fudging the sides of the heart and used my yarn ends to close any gaps when I wove in my ends. It ended up looking okay in the finished project, but in the future, I think I would use duplicate stitch to create the heart, instead of knitting it in.
Verdict: I thought this was a great Skill Builder box! I like that the skill focused on was a fun technique and I really liked the inclusion of two projects - you were able to learn how to do slipped stitches with the mitts (where they are only a small portion of the project), and then take that new skill into a larger project with the shawl pattern, where slipped stitches make up the majority of the pattern. The inclusions this month were what really won me over, and I think this is where the KnitPicks box really shines. The view sizer, try it needle set, and blocking pins were all very useful knitting extras, and I appreciate the thought that went into that part of the box.
For $48.00, we received 5 skeins of yarn (350 grams total), two patterns, two interchangeable knitting needles, a view sizer, and blocking pins, for a total retail value of $61.30. KnitPicks advertises the boxes as having a $60 value, so this is spot on with what they promise. If you know you are a fan of Knit Picks products, or you want to try new yarn and knitting items at a great discounted price, I think this box has a great value!
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? If you sign up before May 15th, you will get the April 2019 box.
Value Breakdown: At $48.00, here’s approximately what you are paying for each item:
- Chroma Worsted Yarn - $15.64 (or $7.82 per skein)
- Wool of the Andes Yarn - $6.55 (or $2.18 per skein)
- Flight of Birds Shawlette Pattern - $3.90
- Secret Heart Pattern - $3.90
- View Sizer - $2.34
- Try It Needle Set - $11.74
- Blocking Pins - $3.90
Check out all of our Knit Picks reviews and the best arts & crafts subscription boxes of 2019!
Keep track of your subscriptions: Add this box to your subscription list or wishlist!
What did you think of the March 2019 Knit Picks Skill Builder box?
My Subscription Addiction is planning to review each of the box types on a rotating basis, and we are letting YOU choose which one we review next. Leave a comment below on which box you would like to see reviewed next month: the Fan Favorites box, the Skill Builder box, the Sock Yarn box, the Crochet Lovers box, or the Sock Labs box! Thank you!
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