What’s the longest secret that you’ve ever kept?
In all honesty, I don’t know that I can answer this for certain, but one of them may very well be the secret that I’ve been keeping now since April 2018!
It’s been ten whole months of suspense, excitement, collaborating, planning, designing, yarn squishing, and a whole lot of little happy dances around the house thinking of what I would be able to share with you!
As you may have already guessed from the title of the post, my secret has to do with KnitCrate! And today I want to tell you all about it!
In a bit of a hurry at the moment?
Pin it to your Pinterest boards to read later HERE!
Jump to the pattern information?
Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, meaning at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. Please see the disclosure page if you would like further details.
Why am I so excited?
I had the opportunity to design the crochet pattern for the February 2019 Knitcrate Membership! It’s a shawl pattern called, Belle Askew.
I’ll give you all the fun details below (so you can scroll on down if you’re familiar with KnitCrate), but if you’ve been riding in the same boat as me (up until about 10.5 months ago that is), then you may be wondering what in the world is KnitCrate?
What is KnitCrate?
KnitCrate is a monthly yarn subscription for knitting and crochet makers and crafters! If you love beautiful and unique yarns then you’re in for a real treat! You’re gonna feel spoiled.
Each month KnitCrate partners with both independent and well-known dyers and designers to curate beautiful yarn subscriptions based on a monthly theme. This month’s theme was “Good Vibes Only” and the inspiration card for February is pictured below. So much fun, right?!!
What’s included in a subscription?
There are several subscriptions (or Crates as they call them) to choose from.
Pricing varies some between the various crates, as does what is specifically included, but all of them offer gorgeous, premium yarns, well written and tech edited patterns, and discount codes to use in the shops. Amazingly, the cost of your crate(s) includes free shipping worldwide!
The crate that I had the opportunity to share a part in designing for this month is the KnitCrate Membership! This crate includes 2 hanks of their in-house premium yarn (and having already had the yarn in hand and designed with it, I think you’re going to love it!). It also includes both a knit and a crochet pattern and 25% off all products in the Member Central shop (just in case you need more yarn goodies!) This is a $63 value for only $24.99 (and remember that includes shipping!).
You can see specific details about all the crates on the KnitCrate website.
Now before this starts to sound like a sales pitch (because it might already) let me just say that I wasn’t asked by KnitCrate to write this post or to promote the product in any way beyond what I personally chose to do. Based upon my experience I thought this may be something that you might enjoy and I’m obviously excited to share the pattern I designed with you too!
Want gorgeous yarn at a discount!
Update (2.15.2019): I’m all about saving money and getting gorgeous yarn at a discount, so I organized with KnitCrate to be able to offer a discount just for you! Receive 20% off your first crate when you use the coupon code HAYES20 at checkout!
I should probably also mention that….
There are ways that you earn credits (Stash Points) to use towards your purchases! You earn KnitCrate Stash Points in various ways, some of them requiring very little effort and one of them includes that for revery dollar spent you earn points to use towards your future subscriptions or items in their shop! Definitely a win-win!
If you have yarn loving friends that would love something like this, right now you can spread the word by referring friends too. They’ll get $10 off their first crate order and you’ll get $10 in Stash Points that can be used toward future payments! Refer three friends and get one month FREE! (Check out the website for more details.)
Is what I’m receiving always a mystery?
In some ways, this is up to you. If you’re on auto-renew and you don’t want to know at all then just wait for the package to arrive and be surprised. If, on the other hand, you want a sneak peek you can check Instagram, Facebook, the KnitCrate website, and the KnitCrate forum on Ravelry around reveal times to see what the next crate will bring.
My story behind this design opportunity!
Back in April, I was contacted via email by a member of the KnitCrate staff asking if I was familiar with their company and if I might be interested in collaborating with them on a crochet piece.
The stars must have been aligning because just a few days prior to this I had come across their websites in a Google search that I’d done while looking at what yarn subscriptions are available. Previous to this search, I had been oblivious to the majority of the subscription options out there. On a
Well, guess what? I was mistaken. Even on my $30 a month fun money budget, I could have afforded to get a KnitCrate subscription, even every month if I’d wanted to, and still have a little left over! Well, lesson learned. Gorgeous, premium yarns don’t always have to be out of reach.
In my search for the various options out there now, KnitCrate was one of the services that I was most intrigued by and was considering subscribing to, so you can see why this email asking to collaborate especially caught my attention.
I didn’t say yes right away though. I asked for further details on the collaboration and once I received them I spent about five days researching the company, looking at reviews, thinking about it, and ultimately deciding if this was an opportunity that was right for me or not at this time.
Remember, this was in early April and I had only been blogging for about two months! You read that right, only two months, a total newbie still trying to figure A LOT of things out when it came to the technical stuff. And, I’d only been on Instagram and Facebook for about a month, so yeah, totally newbie across the board.
Well, at least when it comes to technical things. I’ve crocheted and designed patterns for years but making items for yourself, family, and friends
You get the idea. Total newbie. How did they find me? In fact, I don’t know. Perhaps I should ask them this question. Maybe I was too nervous to ask at the time? Would they realize how new I was to the process and wonder hey, why are we giving her a shot? I don’t know, but you better believe that I was too excited by the opportunity to worry about bothering with all the questions. I had work to do!
Since then I’ve learned even more about KnitCrate. It’s not uncommon for them to use both designers that are well known and those that are newer (even a lot newer) like myself. To me, this says a lot about them.
Now, adding in every single detail about my design process for the Belle Askew shawl would make this post even longer than it already is, so suffice it to say that the opportunity to design with this gorgeous yarn (you’re so gonna love it) and to work with the KnitCrate staff over the past several months was definitely an opportunity worth taking!
Want to get your hands on the Belle Askew shawl pattern?
There are two ways:
- Head on over to the KnitCrate website now and snag the February Knitcrate Membership crate before they run out if you haven’t already done so. Obviously, this will get you all the goodies in the crate this month! While you’re there, go ahead take a look at all the other crates because hello, they’re gorgeous too! (Rember to use the coupon code HAYES20 at checkout to receive 20% off your first crate!)
- If you’re only interested in the pattern then you can find it in my Ravelry Shop.
- Please Note: This pattern unlike other patterns on the blog will only be available in my Ravelry Shop since it was part of a collaboration. Should you choose to purchase it, know that I appreciate your support. Thank you!
Should We Have a Giveaway?!!!
Ironically, I didn’t put it all together until recently that my one year mark of blogging (January 30, 2019) would coincide so well with the announcement of this pattern, but as I was trying to think of how to celebrate a year of blogging with all of you, and how to thank you for your support and encouragement over the past year I decided that it just made sense to do a giveaway!
And what better way to celebrate than to grab an extra KnitCrate Membership to share with one lucky winner for the month of February?!!! It’ll be shipped from me once it arrives at my home, so a bit later than it would otherwise arrive, but it’ll be fun all the same! I’m so excited to share!
Heads up! The giveaway will be taking place over on my Instagram page and will run from February 5th until February 12th after which I’ll pick a winner and get it sent off. The specific details for the giveaway can be found on my Instagram account (@jenhayescreations – look for the post with the belle askew shawl). Thank you and good luck!
Update: The giveaway has now ended. Thanks to all those who entered and congratulations to the winner. They have been contacted and the prize will be sent off soon! Remember, you can still receive your first crate at a 20% discount by using the coupon code HAYES20 at checkout!
Such an exciting opportunity!
It really was. I’m really glad that I decided to take it. I learned a lot from the experience and got to play with beautiful yarn. Definitely a win-win in my book. 😉
Congratulations! Knit crate has been in the back of mind for awhile. I didnt realize there were different price options.
Thank you! There are several price options which is nice. They just announced several changes for their crates starting in March, so some of the options will be changing.