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Recently I had a conversation with my mother about my knitting raffles. In short, my mother was stunned that I was giving away my knitting for free and thought I should be charging at least $5-$10. So here& #39;s the personal justification thread no one asked for. (1/x)
First: I am proud of my knitting skillz as I& #39;m not naturally gifted at hand crafts. I learned about 13 years ago and really had to put in my 10,000 hours to get where I am. This is to say, I honestly value my work and consider it my art form. (2/x)
Second: knitting and other fiber arts are routinely devalued. This is partially due to it being a "lady thing," and it& #39;s partially due to fast fashion. You can go get a sweater at a big box store for $20-30. If I were to make it, the yarn alone would cost me btwn $50-$250. (3/x)
Then, of course, there is the labor that goes into making the items. Let& #39;s take my cardigan. It took me about 2.5 months to make. Obviously I& #39;m not knitting 24 hours a day, so let& #39;s average it at 30 min a day. 37.5 hours at federal minimum ($7.25/hr) puts my labor at ~$270. (4/x)
A lot of folks who sell on Etsy and other places routinely under price their items. A good knitted hat or scarf should go for at least $50-$75. Almost no one would pay for that, so they wind up knocking it down to $20 and lose money. It& #39;s half of why I don& #39;t sell. (5/x)
(The other is because I don& #39;t want to keep up with orders or with keeping a store stocked. I like knitting on my own terms and to keep it a fun hobby, thanks.) (6/x)
In other words, saying I should charge $5-$10 horribly devalues the art form and could be interpreted as insulting. I& #39;m not going to put forth the notion that my knitting and so many other people& #39;s hard, beautiful work is equal to the cost of a fast-food meal. (7/x)
So, okay. Wouldn& #39;t charging nothing put forth the same notion, if not worse? Well, in my eyes, no. (8/x)
If it& #39;s free, I consider it a gift at that point. I& #39;m using up stash yarn (I& #39;m not buying new yarn to make things I raffle off) and to be perfectly blunt, I& #39;m rarely making things that take a lot of effort. (9/x)
And you know what? The world is burning. In some places, it& #39;s literally burning. I make these things to make me happy, to make a small bit of beauty. The work is for me. (10/x)
And I can only keep so many things. And full disclosure, I actually LIKE knitting in colors I wouldn& #39;t normally wear. But if I kept it, it would sit in a bin. And knitting is meant to be worn. (11/x)
So I want to give others the pretty things. It might be narcissistic and it projects my class privilege that I don& #39;t have to sell my work. But I want others to have the pretty things as it makes me happy that someone else will appreciate it and wear it. (12/x)
Anyway. That& #39;s my essay on the economics and joys of knitting, as well as depression. Thanks for reading. (fin)
