Knit for Profit

new2locs

Anyone on here knit for profit? Have your own business knitting? If so how did you get started & what did you find was most profitable for you to knit?

pugmomma1951

I don't knit for profit, but belong to several knitting lists where knitting for profit has been discussed. Unless you are a super speedy knitter and know people who will pay close to what it is worth, you will be knitting for pennies on the hour. I like to knit socks. I skein of luxury sock yarn, can sometimes run $20 or more, sometimes less. It take me about a month of knitting only socks to finish an adult pair. How do you charge for your time? Or would you just double or triple the price of your materials? How many people do you know who would pay $40 -60 for a pair of socks. And some sweaters, depending on the yarn can cost more than $100 for the yarn.

I offer to teach people to know, or if nothing else works, tell people that I only knit for those I love. I know on ETSY you can find people selling socks, but I believe the majority of those are done on sock knitting machines.

BodeciaArietty

I have knit for profit for about the past 5 years. It isn't enough to support me but it is more than enough to feed my knitting habit with a little extra on the side. I sell mostly toys, hats, and cowls. I used to sell on Etsy but it turned into to much of a hassle. Now I mostly sell at craft shows. I stock up on projects all year and then do about 5 craft shows during the Christmas season. I usually make about $1,500 profit. You can make money selling your hobby, you will never get paid what it is worth but it is a hobby after all and I enjoy getting a little money and recognition for doing what I love.

cheekylemur

I do run a fiber arts business on the side, but knitting for profit - in the vast majority of cases - really comes down to paying yourself obscenely far below minimum wage.

The only finished projects I sell I won't price that low, so they are few and far between, and are knit on huge needles out of big handspun yarns. Some of the novelty yarns can turn into scarves or something quick and do well at some shows I've seen them at - if you're a knitter who enjoys working with them.

If you can get connected with luxury boutiques, and have the right aesthetic, it would certainly be possible to get more compensation for your labor, but that would require some serious research into developing a reputation to pull that off.

There are strong opinions on both sides about pricing handcrafts. One point says that you should not sell so low your labor isn't paid - because that reinforces the idea that textile craftsmanship has no value and makes it very difficult for anyone to commit to it as profession. Other people just enjoy the process of knitting, and just want a little extra money to feed their hobby.

SabrinaJL

It would be awesome to be able to do that. I have a friend that profits off her knitting, but she profits more from selling her patterns than actual knitting. One of her designs was on the cover of the knitpicks catalog (last month, I think).