My First Experience Knitting with We Are Knitters

I'm from the Midwest, so in general, I love practical. Practical things last, and they get the job done. I worked at Saks Fifth Avenue during a winter break in college, and it only served to further cement my belief that expensive just for the sake of expensive is wasteful. It reassured me that some things are just overpriced. Sometimes you're just paying for the name, logo, or status symbol.

That was how I felt when I first came across We Are Knitters on Instagram. I loved the beautiful creations everyone posted, but my Midwestern upbringing with grandparents that were shaped by the Great Depression had my mind boggled.

I knew We Are Knitters was based in the UK, so I thought..."are these prices really American money?" "Do Europeans just spend this much on yarn?" "What do they do for a living that they can afford this?" (It's not teaching!)

I was so boggled that when given the opportunity, I asked a European. A fellow knitter had posed the question about yarn cost, so I asked her, "is this the norm?" Her answer was a resounding, "no." Not everyone can afford to knit with these luxury fibers.

I added item after item to my cart, but never purchased. One kit in particular, the Detroit Cardigan, is so unique in terms of the fiber used that it can't be replicated from any less expensive yarns that I've found. But at $138, it would be more than I've ever spent on an article of clothing.

Through knitting and crochet groups, I learned that there are some serious advantages to all natural fibers like wool and cotton. Most of the yarn I use includes at least some percentage of natural fibers, but I wondered if it was worth the $24 to try a skein of 100% The Wool.

When We Are Knitters held a 30% off sale, I finally clicked "buy".

Included were two skeins of The Wool - We Are Knitters's signature fiber. The Wool is super bulky. If you're a knitter or crocheter, you know that super bulky isn't just my description, it's a category. The Wool is bulkier than other level 6 yarns, and I don't know that I could ever comfortably wear a sweater that bulky.

I bought black and mauve. I'm not usually a fan of super dark colors in yarn because the stitches often blend in so much than you can't appreciate the pattern. However, the black worked perfectly to compliment a neon pom-pom my daughter wanted for a beanie.

I didn't like knitting with The Wool as much as Lion Brand's super bulky Wool Ease Thick and Quick. The Wool is a single ply construction making it more prone to breakage, where Wool Ease T&Q's two-ply construction gives it more strength. However, they're both equally soft and squishy.

Fair Isle Beanie | Wool Blend Beanie

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Also included in my order were a few skeins of The Wave, a textured yarn with sections that are as light as a worsted weight yarn and sections that are super bulky. The Wave is made of the same 100 percent Peruvian wool as The Wool, but it creates such an amazing texture that I didn't need anything more complicated than a classic stockinette stitch.

I used The Wave to create a twist ear warmer with two layers of stockinette fabric to make it squishy, warm, and so luxurious.

Wool Twist Headband in We Are Knitters The Wave in Skylovers.

The skeins are pretty big, so they were perfect for creating a few small accessories to sample the yarn. With the 30 percent discount and their WAK Friends program, accessing natural, luxury fibers was a little more practical. You can use my code MGMU92V8V to get $12 off your first purchase.

So, is WAK worth it?

Maybe, in moderation. Really nice luxury fibers like We Are Knitters are just that, a luxury. Maybe they aren't for giant projects like blankets or for crafting on a regular basis, but having an accessory or two in this luxurious yarn is a good compromise. Natural fibers also provide an ethical, sustainable manufacturing process that some acrylic yarns can't offer.

The first time my daughter and I wore our new hats, we both agreed they were itchy and uncomfortable. With a track record of sensitive skin, I decided maybe 100 percent wool just isn't for us. The wool blend hats we'd been wearing had been comfortable for both of us, and a lot more affordable.

The first draft of this beanie was a classic stockinette beanie knit with a tighter tension.

Then I came across a beanie pattern by Smeeny Beanie Knits using super bulky yarn. We had worn our hats one time before letting them just sit unworn. Like I had done with other projects, I unraveled the beanies and reknit them using the Nohku beanie pattern.

The finished Nohku beanies in the much stretchier rib pattern knit loosely on the same needles.

I've long known I'm a tight knitter, it becomes obvious every time I do a gauge swatch, but I had underestimated the impact. I reknit the beanies loosely and even though the fiber was exactly the same, the new pattern, worked loosely and in a 1x1 stretch rib, made all the difference. The soft, squishy yarn I had loved the feel of in a skein now felt the same way worked up as a beanie.

When I first wrote this post I was set to be done with We Are Knitters. My takeaways now: tension matters - a lot, you need the right pattern for the yarn, and yarn is forgiving. Unravel it and try again.

Have you tried WAK? Share your makes in the comments or tag #stitchsowscribe to share your WAK projects.

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