Knit Picks Swish DK Wool yarn Knit Picks Yarn: Wool of the Andes and Swish DK

Knit Picks Yarn: Wool of the Andes and Swish DK

A blog about budget yarns would be absolutely incomplete without a mention of Knit Picks yarns. Ask around on Ravelry or reddit about a good quality budget yarn and you will get plenty of mentions of Knit Picks.

Why I Don’t Shop Knit Picks

However, I have refrained from ordering at Knit Picks until now. Why?

  1. I never felt their acrylics offered anything special that I couldn’t find in store. Particularly since I’m partial to that S on S ply and Brava has a normal ply.
  2. I don’t get along with all wools. Buying wool online can be a bit of a gamble.
  3. I have to commit to purchasing $65 of yarn I’m not sure I’m going to like. I’ll order from other sites that have a $60 or $65 minimum, but those sites offer multiple brands and a wider variety.
  4. Most of their yarns are sold in 50g skeins. As someone used to buying 100g skeins, I have to remind myself to correctly compare prices.
  5. When Knit Pick’s does have sales on their yarns, the prices are quite variable. Sale prices can differ by $1 or more depending on the colorway. Saving “Up to 60%” usually means you only save 60% if you’re interested in odd colorways like highlighter yellow or avocado green.

These aren’t meant to be criticisms, but they are observations to make note of as a budget shopper. Even as a budget shopper, I had to give Knit Pick’s yarn a try, particularly as I’ve had my eye on their Harley pullover pattern….. and I’d love to make a pattern with the recommended yarn for once.

Buying Knit Pick’s Yarn

So what did I buy? In addition to a couple pattern books, I bought:

(1) 50g Skein Capretta Superwash in Meridian Heather for $3.00 (reg. $8.99) 

(1) 50g Skein of Stroll in Grizzly Heather for $2.99 (reg. $5.49)  

As a perfect example of how their sale prices are different by color:

(1) 50g Skein of Swish DK in Clementine for $3.49 (reg. $5.99)  

(1) 50g Skein of Swish DK in Dusk for $3.99 (reg. $5.99)  

(2) 50g Skeins of Wool of the Andes Superwash Bittersweet Heather for $4.00 (reg. $8.89)  

As you can see, I got some good prices, but I had to compromise on colors, getting browns and Denver Bronco’s skeins (Dusk & Clementine are good Denver Bronco’s colors, if you’re wondering).

Knit Picks Yarn Affordability

I’ve put together a comparison chart for the Knit Picks yarn in the title of this post as well as the Capretta Superwash, which I’m really excited about trying:

Wool of the Andes (110yd)PricePrice/Yd
1 Skein Regular Price$4.49$0.040/yard
1 Skein Sale Price$2.00$0.018/yard
Project Regular PriceSale Price 
A Hat (2 Skeins)$8.89$4.00
Small Sweater (8 skeins)$35.92$16.00
Large Sweater (11 skeins)$49.39$22.00
Swish DK (123yd)PricePrice/Yd
1 Skein Regular Price$5.99$0.048/yard
1 Skein Sale Price$3.99$0.032/yard
Project Regular PriceSale Price 
A Hat (2 Skeins)$11.98$7.98
Small Sweater (8 skeins)$47.92$31.92
Large Sweater (11 skeins)$65.89$43.89
Capretta Superwash (230yd)PricePrice/Yd
1 Skein Regular Price$8.99$0.039/yard
1 Skein Sale Price$3.00$0.013/yard
Project Regular PriceSale Price 
A Hat (1 Skeins)$8.99$6.00
Small Sweater (4 skeins)$35.96$12.00
Large Sweater (6 skeins)$53.94$18.00

Even at regular pricing, Knit Pick’s prices clearly make them a budget yarn – but watch for those sales to get a real steal. Sign up for their newsletter or follow them on Facebook to get notified when prices drop!

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