The Stockinette Market: April 1-April 30th

Helloooooooo, spring! Though today's been a bit on the rainy and windy side, there's no denying that the flowers are blooming full force, and the time for knitting out on the front porch with a tall glass of your favorite cold beverage is almost upon us.  Let's see what effect the approach of warm weather in the Northern hemisphere is having on the knitting world!

 We saw neck accessories skyrocket this month, due in part to Romi Hill's Easter Egg Hunt promo about two-thirds of the way through; shawls, stoles and scarves moved from 30% of the average percentage last month to 39%.  This is high in comparison to what we've seen for this category over the last few months, but it's still 11% shy of the 50% of the market we saw last year during the same promo and time period.  Garments also gained some ground this month, with cardigans moving from 14 to 16% and pullovers from 14 to 15%, partially due to the presence of the garment-heavy Wool People 7 from Brooklyn Tweed, Twist Collective Spring/Summer 2014, and Interweave Knits Summer 2014 and partially for organic reasons.  These gains caused vests, mitts, and men's garments to drop off the list, and all others maintained small percentages.

 The biggest spikes in April were in neck accessories, associated with Romi Hill's Easter Egg Hunt promo and organically near the end of the month.  These caused a mild upward movement in neck accessories over the month.  There was an impressive organic spike in cardigans at the beginning of the month, and garment spikes concurrent with the release of Twist Collective, Wool People 7, and Interweave Knits at the very end of the month; the release of the latter two brought pullovers up from a very low start at the beginning of the month.  All other items remained relatively steady at a low percentage, as we saw at this same time last year.

Yarn types were also relatively steady, with most spikes corresponding to publications/promos: semi-solids with Twist Collective, Romi's promo (say that ten times fast), and Interweave Knits, and tweeds with Wool People 7.  We did see an organic spike in semi-solids at the beginning of the month, and several small organic ones in solids throughout.  It was a quiet month for multi-color projects, variegated, and self-striping yarn, but they remained relatively steady across the month.

Model type this month also corresponded to publications, with spikes occurring for Twist Collective, Wool People 7, and Interweave Knits.  Flat garments had a small arc during the first half of the month and at the very end, and dressforms had a spike tied to Romi's promo.  All model types remained steady throughout the month.

Lace saw a major peak this month with Romi's promo, and smaller ones organically and with Twist Collective and Interweave Knits; it also climbed over the month.  Stockinette had an organic spike about a third of the way through, but dropped severely during Romi's promo.  Mid-month, both as a result of Twist Collective and organically, brought us a few less prominent spikes in colorwork and texture.  Each of these dropped slightly over the month as a result of lace gaining prominence.  Cables had a bit of a spike with Wool People 7, but remained otherwise very low. 

Cool colors continued to dominate this month, with blue the clear winner and spikes of white, grey, and purple.  Twist Collective brought us spikes in green and red, but it looks like all other spikes were completely organic.  Grey, black, and white dropped slightly over the month and blue rose, but everything was otherwise very steady.

So there you have it--a somewhat steady month across the board, but one where the percentages are creeping to a neck accessory and garment, semi-solid, cool-toned, lace majority.  I look forward to seeing what May brings!