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:

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!