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 four different subscription options:
- Membership Crate: $24.99 per month, for two skeins of their in-house premium yarn, exclusive knit and crochet patterns in a booklet, and an extra
- Sock Crate: $19.95 per month, for one skein of their in-house premium fingering weight yarn, exclusive knit and crochet patterns in a booklet, and an extra
- Malabrigo Partner Crate: $45.00 per quarter, for a box curated by Malabrigo and KnitCrate that includes delectable yarns, notions, and exclusive knitting patterns
- Mrs. Crosby Travels Partner Crate: $69.99 per quarter, for a box curated by Mrs. Crosby Travels that features three skeins of yarn, notions, and exclusive knitting patterns inspired by different parts of the world
This review is of the KnitCrate Membership Crate for $24.99 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 Membership Crate
The Subscription Box: KnitCrate
The Cost: $24.99 per month (other plans available from $19.95 per month)
The Products: Two skeins of premium yarn, a pattern booklet (contains 3+ patterns!), and an extra
Ships to: The 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 Membership May 2020 Review
KnitCrate Membership is the flagship box from the KnitCrate brand. In my opinion, it’s the best box to start with if you’re looking to expand your knitting knowledge or expand your yarn stash! The yarn they send is from one of their in-house brands, and it’s always very high quality.
A note on shipping: this month, our crates arrived in a poly mailer, rather than a cardboard box like they usually do. KnitCrate said in an email regarding shipping:
We are shipping the contents of your crate inside of a soft mailer bag instead of the usual cardboard crate. This is allowing our team to build your packages faster to account for the lack of staff and it is facilitating zero contact delivery since these fit better into mailboxes.
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KnitCrate Inspirations Booklet, May 2020 - Retail Value $40.00
Due to COVID-19, we did not receive a printed booklet as we typically do. Instead, we got this card that contains a message from the company as well as a code to download the booklet (you must have an active KnitCrate subscription to get access).
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.
I have to give KnitCrate props for tackling the challenges they faced in putting the box together this month. Due to closures and shutdowns throughout the world, they were unable to receive the previously planned yarn from the mill in Peru in time for shipping. What they came up with as a replacement is brilliant - the theme is "Blank Canvas," and we are getting to dye our own yarn!
And the best part? There are no hazardous chemicals to worry about! We are going to dye our yarn with simple Kool-Aid packets! I can't wait to try this.
Also, this box continues the influencer-curated boxes for 2020. May's influencer is ChemKnits, who is a YouTube star in the world of indie dyeing. She has hundreds of videos showing how she dyes her yarn and different techniques to use!
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KnitCrate has "Color Vibe" options, where you get to choose which color family you would like to receive. Coordinating with those three color options are three colorway combinations available this month: Ember (Energize Me), which includes red and orange packets; Spritzer (Chill Out), which includes red and purple packets; or Husk (All Natural), which includes orange and purple packets.
Instead of patterns in the booklet this month, KnitCrate released a ton of their older patterns for download via their website (for current subscribers only) that can be used with fingering weight yarn. They also partnered with several knit and crochet designers to provide coupon codes for free patterns or discounted patterns. On my perusal of the patterns available, I found about five that I was excited about, and I ended up saving almost $30 from the coupon codes. If you used every single coupon code offered and downloaded every free pattern, there is about $100 in value total.
The back of the booklet shows a sneak peek of the theme for June - it will be “Getaway” and I can’t wait to see what this will entail!
The booklet also contains information for the Sock Membership Crate box. You can find out more information about this box by reading our previous reviews and visiting the KnitCrate website.
Now, onto the good stuff - the yarn!
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2-Ply Superwash Merino Yarn from Dyer Supplier - Estimated Value $13.32 (Buy a pack of 5 skeins for $33.31)
There were four different options of bare yarns we could have received this month - 75/25 Superwash Merino and Nylon, Nice & Round Superwash Merino, Merino Singles, or the one I received, which is 2-Ply Superwash Merino.
The 2-ply is airy and has a subtle texture to it. I love using 2-ply yarns for garments and shawls where I want a looser gauge and lots of drape!
Each skein contains 399 yards in 100 grams and is 100% Superwash Merino.
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Kool-Aid Unsweetened Packets in Cherry and Orange - Buy a pack of 48 envelopes for $14.98
I received the Energize Me colorway for my Kool-Aid dye colors, which were cherry red and orange. I learned from ChemKnits' video tutorials that it's better to use unsweetened Kool-Aid for yarn dyeing because the coloring is stronger. She said that the sweetened kind will still dye your yarn, but you would have to use quite a bit more powder to get the same concentrated color results.
Also, the great thing about dyeing with Kool-Aid is that you don't need an additional mordant to bind the dye to the yarn. Kool-Aid already contains citric acid, which will act as that mordant for your dye.
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KnitCrate Sticky Notes and Zip Ties
We also received a booklet of KnitCrate branded sticky notes in two sizes and two zip ties to use when dyeing.
Now, let's get going on those dye pots!
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The first step is to soak the yarn in room temperature water for a couple of hours. I used my big pasta pot to do this, but you could also use a large bowl.
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While the yarn soaked I started playing around with the two colors of Kool-Aid that I received. In the video tutorials, Rebecca showed us how to make a few variations of colors, but I wasn't wild about any of them. I really wanted to try to create a light blush pink or cantaloupe color. I mixed small amounts of the Kool-Aid powder in plastic cups, stirred them well, and then dipped a paper towel in them to see what color the yarn would soak up. The first one I tried was too orange, then the second one was too baby pink, and then the third was too bright altogether. Finally my fourth try I felt good about - I used just a tiny bit of both the orange and the red to create it.
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Next, I dumped my small cup of dye water into the larger dye pot. I added a little bit more Kool-Aid powder, and the water looked so saturated! However, when I did my paper towel test I didn't pick up hardly any color. I added a little bit more of both the red and orange and got the color shown in the last photo above - exactly what I was going for.
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I then added my yarn to the pot and stirred it around until all of the yarn looked completely soaked. I then turned the heat on to medium-high and waited for it to get to a near boil, then turned the heat down to simmer for about half an hour. I kept checking on the yarn every few minutes to see if the color was soaking up. My husband was watching me dye, and said "hey, that looks fun!" and he wanted to try to do some. Before I knew what was happening, he had dumped a ton of orange powder into my pot! I tried to mix the water around quickly to spread the color around, but the orange had already stuck to the yarn in several places - you can see the orange spots in the last photo above. I don't hate the end result, but the orange speckles definitely weren't in my original plan!
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I let my water cool overnight, and in the morning I rinsed the yarn in cool water and then rolled the skeins up in towels to press the excess water out of them. Then I hung them in my guest room bathroom to air dry!
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Here's my finished yarn! I'm so happy with how it turned out - if I received this colorway in a regular KnitCrate box, I would be excited! I have to admit that although I might prefer the yarn without the orange spots, the little bits of extra orange (courtesy of my husband's artistic impluses) does lend itself to some extra interest and pizzazz in the color. The yarn is also slightly brighter than I originally was going for, but that's also the beauty of hand dyeing your own yarn - it's always a fun surprise what gets created!
Overall, the process of dyeing with Kool-Aid was much easier than I thought it would be, and I can see myself experimenting with different flavors of packets in the future.
Verdict: I thought this was such a fun KnitCrate box! I loved the pivot of dyeing our own yarn this month, and I think this was the perfect activity for those of us staying at home more often now. I also love that Kool-Aid dyeing was so easy! I really like the result I ended up with with my yarn, and can't wait to cast on a pretty summer shawl with my own hand-dyed yarn. 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 $24.99, we received two skeins of yarn, two Kool-Aid packets, a sticky note pad, and several free or discounted knitting and crochet patterns for an estimated retail value of around $55.00. 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 15th) before the subscription renews on the first. They then release all the details on the yarns and patterns on the 1st of the month. June's reveal post is here. 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.
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? No, you'll likely receive the June box (while supplies last).
Value Breakdown: At $24.99, here’s approximately what you are paying for each item:
- Pattern Booklet with coupons - $18.17
- Bare Yarn - $6.05 ($3.02 per skein)
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What did you think of the May 2020 KnitCrate Membership Crate? Let us know in the comments!
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