Knitting Subscription Boxes: A Knitter's Guide to Picking the Right One

If you knit, a subscription box has a specific job: put yarn in your hands that you'd never have picked, with a pattern that makes it easy to cast on. Done well, it's the most fun mail you get all month. Done badly, it's a drawer of orphan skeins.

Here's how knitters in particular should think about it.

The two kinds of knitting subscription box

Yarn-first boxes send two to four skeins and a pattern written for them. You bring your own needles. These suit anyone past the first few months of knitting, because the yarn is the point and you already own the tools.

Kit boxes send a complete project: yarn, needles, notions, pattern. Wonderful for a beginner's first year. By month eight you'll have four pairs of US 8 needles and start wishing the money had gone to yarn.

Decide which you want first. It matters more than brand.

What a month of yarn actually buys you

Knitters use more yardage than crocheters for the same project, so skein count matters. As a rough guide:

• One skein of fingering (about 400 yards): a pair of socks or a small shawl.
• Two skeins of DK (about 500 yards): a hat and mitts, or a generous cowl.
• Three skeins of worsted (about 600 yards): a shawl, a bag, a scarf — or a baby sweater.

If a box doesn't tell you yardage, ask before you subscribe. "Three skeins" of a mini-skein set is a very different month from three full skeins.

Boxes knitters mention most

Yarn of the Month® Club — Darn Good Yarn

Our own box, so you know where we stand. $29 a month plus shipping. Three skeins of small-batch recycled silk yarn, hand-dyed by artisans in India, around a new theme each month — about $54 of yarn. A surprise notion or tool. A pattern written in both knit and crochet for that month's yarn. And the artisan booklet with the names and workshops of the people who dyed it.

Two things knitters should know. First, weights vary: lace one month, DK the next, worsted after that. If you like a predictable gauge, that's a consideration; if you like being nudged into new territory, it's the feature. Second, recycled silk knits differently from wool — more drape, less bounce, a sheen that catches the light. The monthly pattern is written with that in mind, so your first project in it is a good one.

See what's in Yarn of the Month this month →

Indie dyer yarn clubs

SweetGeorgia's Secret Stash Club, Frabjous Fibers' clubs and dozens of smaller dyers run yarn-only subscriptions, usually in sock and fingering weights. No pattern, no notion, just beautiful yarn in rounds that fill fast. Best when you already have a favorite dyer.

Kit boxes

Hooks & Needles and similar boxes send a full project each month. Right for new knitters; most people graduate to a yarn-first box within a year.

Signs you'll keep the box

From years of member feedback, three predictors:

1. You cast on within two weeks. The pattern-in-the-box is what makes this happen. Without one, the skeins wait for "the right project" and the right project never arrives.
2. You like surprise more than control. If you need a specific color for a specific project, buy that yarn. A subscription is for the other kind of making.
3. The delivered price is comfortable. Compare box price plus shipping against the yarn's retail value. Yarn of the Month is $29 for about $54 of yarn; the pattern and notion are on top.

What to knit from a single month's box

Three skeins in mixed weights is a shawl, a bag and a hat, or one larger project if the weights match. Our Party Time Pouch and Winter's Edge Scarf are both single-skein knits that work with what a typical box sends. And if you're new to silk, this guide to natural vs. acrylic fibers covers how it behaves on the needles.

Join Yarn of the Month — $29/month, cancel anytime →

Knitting subscription box FAQ

Do knitting subscription boxes include needles?
Kit-style boxes usually do. Yarn-first boxes like Yarn of the Month don't include needles every month, but do include a surprise tool or notion, and the pattern lists the needle size you'll need.

Can I choose the yarn weight in a knitting box?
Most boxes don't let you choose; the surprise is part of the design. Dyer clubs are the exception, since they're usually a single weight (often sock or fingering).

Is a knitting subscription a good gift?
Yes, especially for a knitter who has all the tools. Pick a box with a clear "what's inside" page so they know what to expect, and check whether it can be bought as a fixed number of months.