Not that I’ve gotten any further from the 2″ band I made last night, but I’ve been thinking a lot about knitting.
For one, value vs monetary value. As soon as I started knitting again, there was one wee voice in my head saying “Gee, this could be some good part-time income….set up an etsy account and let the floodgates of wealth begin”. Of course, as soon as the moment I crunched the numbers in the most basic fashion, I was quickly aware that making a profit on knitting would require either super speed, or charging a designer like fee, or getting the wool for 80% off. In other words, thinking of it like a business. Or, work.
I asked my instructor how those Etsy girls manage to have their prices so cheap, and she said they’re mainly using really cheap wool. The price difference between Zeller’s or Walmart’s cotton and the uber fancy shop I’m taking the course is on average $12 per skein. Quite a difference. And that’s per skein. The scarf I made cost about $18 in wool (blend alpaca wool/silk), $6 in buttons. So $24 for materials. It took me six hours to make.
So, if I took off 3 hours for the learning curve factor, I might pump one out in 3 hours. Even at 2 hours, it would be 2 hours labour and $24. Charging a very modest $20 (when running a business that would be suicide, but just for the sake of argument) it would be a minimum of $64 for the scarf, assuming I would be able to knit it in 2 hours alone.
There flew away my Etsy dreams. But while walking the neighbours dog today in the most delirious sunshine, I thought “Well, maybe I could think of it from a different angle…” So, if I could think of it as a hobby, and make $5 /hour, I could charge $35 for the scarf, which I think folks would buy…Clearly, if $20 / hr is ludicrous, then $5 is just plain insane. But a girl can dream.
Any moves towards taking this seriously is all a long ways off, but during this “economic downturn”, I’m content that my brain continues to scheme and think about ways to make money that don’t include being married to the box, which in case I haven’t mentioned, is slowly killing me. That should be a category “Get off the box plans“.
Cheers,
Mzd