PostStitch Subscription Box Review – March 2016

Post Stitch delivers a new knitting project to subscribers each month. With each box, you receive a knitting project assembled with you in mind. It also includes a printed pattern from a prominent knitwear designer, a premium yarn to complete the pattern, and notions “to make you smile.”

Post Stitch has different subscriptions to suit your interest. There is the Big Stitch box (starting at $60/month), Sock Stitch box (starting at $40/month), and Big Stitch Lite box (starting at $40/month). The Big Stitch box will be a woman’s accessory (e.g., shawl, scarf, hat, mitts, etc.), complete with needles and fun notions. The Big Stitch Lite box will also be a woman’s accessory, but does not include needles and only includes special notions when applicable. The Sock Stitch box is… well, all about socks!

Here’s what I saw when I opened the box – such a soothing picture. Knitting is totally a mini-vacation for me!

Post Stitch sent me the Big Stitch box from March to review. Let me tell you up front, I’m thrilled to get a chance to review this box – I’ve been eyeing PostStitch boxes for a while… so I was super excited when the box arrived!

Here’s a look at everything included in the box. So much fun stuff!

The information card lists the items included in the box and also shows a nice full-color photo of the project. This month’s project is a pretty, lacy cowl.

Pattern: PostStitch includes printed instructions – in this case, a full-page sized booklet. The front of the booklet also provides a nice picture of the completed project.

Inside the booklet, in addition to the lace diagram chart and knitting pattern, there are instructions for blocking and finishing the project.

Post Stitch indicates that their projects are beginner-intermediate skill level and “fun for veteran knitters and curious new knitters.”

“No matter if you have been casting on for years, or are picking up a new hobby, our knitting box subscription will introduce you to new fibers and designers, challenge you to learn a new skill and/or add variety to your current project queue.”

The instruction booklet indicates the difficulty level of this project – 2/5. It also states that it is a great project for beginning lace knitters (or relaxing for experienced lace knitters). I’ve never worked with lace knitting before – I’m more comfortable with thick blanket and sweater knitting, so this was a lot of fun for me to learn something totally new!

Yarn: The box included 2 skeins of wool fingering weight yarn in this gorgeous blue color. The pattern required only one skein, so I have extra yarn to make another cowl or to tackle the alternate project that PostStitch provides on its Pinterest page each month.

I loved the blue color myself. As PostStitch says, though: “PostStitch is all about discovering new yarns, designers, and skills, and color is no exception. Each month we choose several colorways that we feel best compliments the pattern and that (hopefully) everyone will love. If you don’t care for the colorway you receive, we can typically swap it out with another colorway we featured that month.” You just need to contact them via email. That’s pretty cool.

Chiaogoo Circular Needles: To complete the lace pattern of this project, I needed size 5-6 circular needles. Helpfully, PostStitch included this nice set of circulars in the box. These needles are awesome – the cable is super flexible and the points are very easy to work with. Now, I want to find more projects using these needles!

Stitch Markers: I was glad PostStitch included these stitch markers. Since I usually work on projects of larger scale, my personal markers are way too large for this delicate project. Plus the bead marker is just fun.

Needle Keeper: OK. When PostStitch said it includes notions to “make you smile,” I was a little skeptical. I mean – knitting, in general, makes me smile. But how is a notion going to make me smile? Well, this item is that thing you never knew you were missing until you started using it and then you’re like… what? How did I live without this thing? I had never heard of a Needle Keeper before I got this PostStitch box. It is a metal tube with a silicone top that holds your needles while you’re in the middle of a project. It keeps your project from sliding off the needles, prevents your delicate needles from breaking, and is just brilliant. Brilliant, I say!

Stitchers GPS: Another fun notion and brilliant innovation! The Stitchers GPS is a set of reusable stickers to mark your place on a knitting pattern. The sticker with measurements is great for checking the gauge. I also used one of the long bar stickers to keep my place on the detailed lace diagram and the check marks to indicate where I was in the pattern. Since they’re reusable,  I plan on using them for all of my more complicated patterns.

So, how did the project turn out? I was pretty pleased given that it was my first attempt at a lace pattern. The lace may not have ended up quite as distinct as that in the photos – it could be because I did a pretty minimal job of blocking the finished scarf, as I wanted to get this review up as soon as I finished knitting. (The project did take me a couple weeks to knit – I liked that it was a more complicated, time-consuming project. I felt like this subscription box could keep me entertained for a whole month between boxes!) Any errors are definitely my fault – the pattern and lace diagram were very clear and straightforward.

And here’s a look at my daughter modeling the cowl. It’s a great length and an attractive thickness.  While it may not be quite as lovely as the one on the model on the instruction booklet, it clearly resembles the pictured example, so I’ll take it as a win for my first lacy project! And again, if I had taken the time to block it a little more carefully, it would have looked a little more crisp.

I really enjoyed this project. It was just the right difficulty for me and I learned a new skill – lace work! Plus, as I mentioned above, I liked that the project was “complicated” enough to keep me busy for a few weeks! Especially with winter coming, I love to have knitting projects to keep me busy every night.

Bottom line – I loved my first experience with Post Stitch! The project was right up my alley, the notions really did make me smile (as promised), and I created a really nice cowl. I think most knitters would find this a lot of fun.

Visit Post Stitch to subscribe or find out more!