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 currently 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
The Products: One skein of premium sock yarn plus an exclusive pattern
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 "Entomology” April 2019 Review
KnitCrate Sock 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 Booklet, April 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 six bonus patterns! Two are new patterns that are designed to go with this month’s Artisan pop up shop, and four are new bonus patterns.
The theme this month is “Entomology,” which is the study of insects. Each yarn colorway featured this month was inspired by the colors of a different bug. At first, I was a little bit unsure of this theme, but I am impressed by the beautiful colors that came out of this inspiration! Yet again, I appreciate KnitCrate’s ability to think of fun and interesting new theme ideas each month.
Everyone got the same color this month -- it’s a two-toned yarn named “Shield Bug.” The base is KnitCrate’s Heels and Toes, which is dyed so that the yarn transitions from one color to the second color, and then back to the first again. The two colors are a rich burgundy and a purplish deep blue.
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.
The back of the booklet shows a sneak peek of the theme for May - it will be “Farmer’s Market” and I am loving these bright, citrusy colors!
The booklet also contains a pattern for the Membership Crate box. See our review of the Membership Crate for more details on this one.
Now, onto the good stuff - the yarn!
Uru.Yarn by KnitCrate in color Shield Bug - 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.
This skein of yarn is a combination of burgundy and royal blue, and at first, I was a little bit unsure of the color combination. I think they absolutely nailed the representation of a Shield Bug, and I give them credit for that, but I wasn’t completely sold on these two colors together in a project. However, the more I looked at the yarn, the more I liked these two together. They remind me of blackberry and raspberry jam for some reason!
This yarn is 80% Superwash Merino and 20% nylon, and it contains 400 yards in 100 grams. You can see in this photo that the blue and burgundy areas are dyed in a color block way -- you have a whole section of blue, then it transitions to the burgundy, and then back to blue again.
I think this is such a cool idea, and you can use this yarn in so many different ways. You can start knitting from both ends of the skein so that you would have two identical socks, or you can wind off each color into separate mini-skeins and do a colorwork project.
Simply Solid Stitch Markers - Retail Value $3.38
The KnitCrate boxes don’t always include an extra, but I absolutely love when they include one! This is a set of stitch markers from Rebecca’s Room, and they are shaped like little stars. The stitch markers fit up to size 8 knitting needles, and there are 16 of them in this set.
I think these are just adorable. However, I started using them on my project from my KnitCrate Membership box, and I found the points difficult to work with. I was using size 7 needles, and I felt like the markers weren’t sliding along as well I would have liked them to. I had to use the pad of my finger to slip them from one needle to the next, and the point was a little bit sharp! I then tried these on smaller needles and found them to be much easier to use, so I think I’ll stick to using these for lighter-weight projects. They are perfect for sock knitters in this way, so I think this was an excellent addition to the box! The maker of these stitch markers also has tons of other cute designs that I am definitely checking out.
I have been getting a lot of comments on past Sock Membership reviews of people who are interested in this box but don’t consider themselves sock knitters or people who aren’t interested in knitting socks, so I thought I would take the chance to show you a different type of project you can make with this box! Fingering weight (or sock weight) yarn is my personal favorite weight of yarn, just because it’s so versatile in what you can make with it. It also has such fantastic yardage (400 yards in a skein, vs. about 275 in a DK weight skein) that I feel like you get a great bang for your buck when working with this type of yarn.
This month, I decided to make the Glacier Park Cowl by Boyland Knitworks. It’s a colorwork cowl that uses two colors and the yardage was perfect for this skein!
Here’s the progress on my cowl! I’ll update the review with a photo when I finish the project. So far this yarn has been great to work with. It’s very soft and bouncy, and I feel like it’s showing off the colorwork pattern really well. Even though I wasn’t super into the colors when I opened the box, I’m really excited about them now that my cowl is underway. My husband is a big hockey fan, and we love going to Colorado Avalanche games together -- as I was knitting this, he noticed that these two colors are the Avalanche team colors! I can’t wait to wear this to games next season.
Verdict: I thought this was a great box from KnitCrate Sock Crate. The idea of dyeing a skein of yarn in a colorblock fashion is very unique and can be used in many different ways. I love that KnitCrate is always thinking outside the box for fun ideas like this. I also love that they included the super cute stitch markers this month. Overall, if you are a knitter or crocheter who likes to try new yarns, I think this is a fantastic subscription box! I love getting surprise yarn in the mail each month, and I think the quality of the materials they include is top notch.
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. Otherwise, you won’t know what the theme, yarn, or patterns will be before they renew your subscription for the month. (But if you sign up during the month of May you’ll see the May yarns and patterns before you join, so you WILL know what your first box will be).
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? No, this box is currently sold out. Check back here to be added to the waitlist or sign up for June.
Value Breakdown: For $19.99, we received one skein of yarn, three knitting and crochet patterns, and a set of stitch markers, with a total retail value estimated at $67.38. 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.
At $19.99, here’s approximately what you are paying for each item:
- Uru.Yarn Heels and Toes - $7.12
- Stitch Markers - $1.00
- Pattern Booklet - $11.87
Check out all of our KnitCrate reviews and top-rated craft subscription boxes for 2019!
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What did you think of the April 2019 KnitCrate Sock Crate? Let us know in the comments!
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