All I want for Christmas is my new knitting needle set, honey...

OK, so I'm jumping the gun a little. But if I ever went back to work, I'd love to be working for Knit Picks. They got started up a few years ago--local outfit, based right here in Vancouver, Washington--offering premium quality yarn at pretty much rock-bottom prices. This is because the owner, Kelley Petkun, goes wherever the animals are and buys direct. They must keep their overhead pretty low, because the office I saw today was small and tucked into the back of a larger building...but you'd never know it from their catalogue, web site, and product line.

Part of what makes this company unique is that they're not just a middleman--selling a plethora of yarns, needles, and supplies culled from all over and taking their cut. I would call them the "Trader Joe's" of knitting. Kelley searches out the yarns herself and specifies how each is to be made up. Then they get the Knit Picks name.

The most exciting product they've come out with in the last year is a set of interchangeable needles. But unlike the interchangeable sets out on the market, Knit Picks' set is quality stuff. These needles aren't plastic--they're the smooth metallic nickel needles that you see AddiTurbo selling for $12 a pair. And they come with 2 different lengths of cable, complete with end caps (meaning that you can use them circular or straight). AND they give you, like, nine sizes. And a case. Get out your calculator and start multiplying and you get dozens of variations of needles, all in one set. What would you expect to pay for this set in a retail knitting store? $100? $120? HA!! Thanks to their low overhead and direct-to-the-buyer concept, this set comes in for the very housewife-friendly price of SIXTY BUCKS. Those other interchangeable (plastic) sets sell for at least fifty. And they don't have the quality, or utility, of Knit Picks Options needles.

Oh, great, now I sound like an ad. I'm sure Tina Birch, the VP that I talked to today, was fortified by my enthusiasm. I couldn't stop praising their product. We sat in her office (with the kids in their double stroller parked alongside) and she asked me questions about the current Options set and some design changes they were considering. Seeing as how I don't actually own the set, I was working off the memory of the set that I sent to my mother last Christmas (that I couldn't help, um, peeking at). They are going to improve it (like that was possible) and keep it AT THE SAME PRICE.

Then she showed me some of the new products. O-ooh. I won't tell you exactly...but for a little higher price, they are taking the Options set way upscale. I am totally hanging on to my gift certificate until this new set comes out next fall! Then she showed me some double-pointed needles that had been given the same treatment. This is the perfect example of what sets this company apart from the rest. They are selling these double-points in SETS OF SIX so the customer isn't TOTALLY SCREWED if one of the needles gets sat upon or chewed by the cat. They might be a couple bucks more, but compared with the plain jane bamboo needles in the store (where you only get four), this shows quality, innovation, and care for the customer that you just don't see in the knitting world.

She did ask me if I read any knitting blogs. It occurred to me that I had not, so here's my bleg--those of you knitters charitable enough to take the time to read me, please leave your favorite knitting blogs and books in the combox so I know where to get started.

In conclusion, I just have to say that in a knitting industry that is become more boutique-y and out of reach of the "average" knitter, Knit Picks saves the day, offering you quality AND quantity--and excellent customer relations, I might add.