Knitting For Profit

Archive for June, 2009

How Much Do I Charge For A Knitting Job?

Thursday, June 25th, 2009

In this post I wanted to share a question that was sent to me by Trina, who is about to do her very first knitting for profit contract work. Here is her original email and my reply:

"Hi,

I just wanted to ask your advice – my aunty wants me to knit a cardigan for her baby daughter – she's already got the pattern and the yarn – and wants to pay me for my time.  Where do I start thinking about how much to charge her? Would it work on a per-hour basis, or just a 'finger in the air' full amount?"

This is a great great question – and one of the trickiest to answer because every situation is different. In my Knitting For Profit book I go through the essentials for people who want to "contract knit" professionally, and many of these apply to you even though it is a family member you are knitting for. In my answer I am assuming you haven't been paid for your knitting before.

The main thing to remember is that you want to still be friends when the project is finished and paid for! This means the less surprises the better. Here are some questions to ask yourself:

Do you know how long the project will take? can you estimate reasonable accurately? Have you ever knitted that pattern before? And are you sure that your aunt has bought enough yarn? Is the yarn appropriate for the pattern, and is it all of the same dye lot? What sort of time frame does she have and can you get it done fairly easily in that time frame?

Ideally, you'll know the answer to these and be able to recognise if there are any issues on the horizon. Deciding what to charge depends on the answer to these questions, and also remember that many people underestimate the time and effort that goes into knitting a garment (especially family if they aren't knitters themselves!)

It will probably come down to you giving a price that you feel is fair for your time and effort, and seeing whether your aunt is happy to pay that price. Being something for a family member means you're probably not in it for a huge profit. Contract knitters tend to charge between $5-10 an hour depending on the project, but that's assuming professional speed (so what may take you 10 hours to knit may take them significantly less time and thus have a lower total dollar cost).

If you decide to contract knit for a living, there are many different types of project you may do. Yarn stores and manufacturers need knitters to use their yarns to knit up patterns and swatches, and many designers need knitters to test their patterns. There are also high-end designers who need the skills of top knitters to help them create uniques and original works.

Whichever path you choose, the main message here is that if you knit something for someone and are being paid for it, you should ideally have a written agreement with the answers to the questions I mentioned above. This saves having unpleasant surprises and means that you will enjoy your work, and your customers will keep coming back for more.

Many thanks to Trina for letting me share her question with you all, you can visit her blog and say hello at www.ballatrina.blogspot.com.

If you have a question you would like answered, just write a reply below or message me on the contact page – I'd love to hear from you!

Tags: contract knitting, knitted swatch, knitting designer, knitting hourly rate, knitting job, make money from knitting
Posted in Home Business Tips, Make Money Knitting | 6 Comments »

Machine Knitting Success Story From Linda

Thursday, June 18th, 2009

Linda's story is another great example of finding a niche and creating a successful knitting business that has grown and developed over her lifetime. In this interview, she gives some valuable tips and advice about knitting jobs and how to make your knitting and crochet business a success.

How long have you been knitting and crocheting?

I have been knitting and crocheting for over 40 years now. I started designing about 20 years ago but didn’t get serious until about 5 years ago and created a loom knitting pattern book. “Looney for Looms”

Can you give a brief description of your knitting business?

I have recently retired from my knitting business as far as producing products, but they included everything from slippers to afghans. Mostly though I made personalized knitwear for both individuals and schools and such. The meat and potatoes of the business were personalized knitted ski caps. These were made to order so it wasn’t something you could make up ahead of time and keep in stock. Now I am more into helping others learn the ropes so to speak. (Linda's website is www.knitting-n-crochet.com)

When did you decide to start your knitting business and what gave you the idea?

I have always enjoyed making and creating knitted items and sales is just a natural outlet. In my early 20s I first saw an ad for a knitting machine and couldn’t get it out of my head – I just had to have one! Before that everything was done by hand and very limited to how much I could produce. The knitting machine opened up a whole new world for me.

I also learned a lot from a neighbor, who had had a successful knitting business. She knitted all sorts of things including hats, sweaters and dog sweaters that she sold all over the world. They were beautiful items and were made in no time flat. There was no Internet back then so she sold through ads in magazines and a sales rep.

I had always dreamed of my own home based business but thought it was only for the rich. Then here was my neighbour running a successful knitting business, and she was an a stay-home-Mom, just like me.

She sold me her old Brother 260, she encouraged me and shared her knitting patterns. She was the one who showed me how to make a personalized ski cap. When she moved away I taught myself with books and a mad desire to open my own knitting business.

Since 1986 I have learned machine knitting, loom knitting and hand knitting along with the crocheting I already knew. You can make money and work at home with these crafts. It takes persistence, determination, a little imagination and a bit of guidance, but you can do it!

Did you have any business experience when you started?

My mother was always selling something by party plan when I was growing up, but other than that I had to learn everything on my own. Books became your best friend back than but now you have the internet and so many more opportunities available.

Were there any challenges when you started out?

There were many challenges from finding supplies, to finding customers to finding time and lets not forget finding start up money. Yes you will have many bumps in the road, but if you are willing to do the research and put in the time, you can make it.

Is there anything you have learned that you wish you had known from the start?

Yes, I wish I had not tried every get rich scheme that came down the pike. I should have chosen my niche and learned all there was about it and stuck with it.

What are your hours like? Do you work from home?

When I first started I spent many more hours working than if I had a traditional job, but this is just what you do to get started. Than I gradually would work during the day when the kids were in school. With the internet it is even better because you can work a couple of hours here or there when ever you want. You can create knitwear and ship 24 hours a day now.

Do you still enjoy knitting now that it is your business as well as your hobby, and whats the best part of knitting for a living?

Yes I still enjoy it and always will. I love working with the yarns, patterns and colors. It is fun just to see it all come together into a beautiful article. The best part of knitting for a living is I can choose my own hours, it doesn’t matter if I am working at 12:00 noon or 12:00 midnight. My family was always first for me and this made it so much easier to have both family and income.

What's the hardest part?

I know this sounds contradictory but it is that you have times and seasons when the orders flood you and you HAVE to work long into the night. Especially with my product the holidays were extremely busy and the phone rang non-stop with more orders. When I choose to work at midnight I didn’t mind, but I hated to disappoint people and say “Sorry I just can’t get that done in the time you want it”

Do you have any tips for someone who is just starting out?

First you have to have a product people like and want – if you don’t have that than you need to find one. Than you have to get it out in the public’s eye, you need the product and you need the customers to buy it. And you need to take your knitting business seriously – give it 150% if you want to succeed. With all the sales avenues available now, you have a better chance of success today than I did 20 some years ago – you have the Internet and that is a tremendous advantage alone. If you want your own business and are willing to work at it, you can do it.

Read more about Linda and her knitting business on her website at www.knitting-n-crochet.com, where you'll also find her books, patterns and some great information about starting a machine knitting business.

Tags: knit ski cap, knitting and crochet, knitting business, knitting for a living, knitting jobs, knitting machine, loom knitting, machine knitting, Make Money Knitting
Posted in Success Stories & Interviews, machine knitting | No Comments »

Knitting Yarn Review – Possum Fur Yarn

Wednesday, June 17th, 2009

Using possum yarn is great way to make easy, fast to knit items like hats, scarves and mittens into something very unique and special. Possum fur is usually blended with high quality merino fibres to make a yarn that is light, soft and very warm.

Possum fur fibres are actually hollow, which makes it a natural heat exchanger. This means that garment made of possum-wool blends are very warm in cold weather, and also able to exchange heat when the wearer is active.

This makes possum-wool garments very comfortable and ideal for people who love outdoor activities in colder climates (a great niche to be in as these people are often prepared to spend a lot of money on getting the warmest, most comfortable clothing – think of the prices that high end outdoor and mountaineering brands fetch!)

Some example niche markets are walkers, hikers, mountaineers, golfers, fishermen, kayakers, cross-country and downhill skiiers, mountain bike and push bike riders as well as motorcyclists and vintage car drivers!

Possum wool blends are also very soft to the touch, which means they are an easy item to sell when you can get your customers to feel them and put them on. It is a very lightweight yarn and many times warmer than wool alone, and in knitwear possum fur resists pilling and is a lot fluffier. Possum fur has minimal skin irritation so is suitable for people with sensitive skin.

Possum fur is mostly harvested in New Zealand where the possum is a national pest that causes terrible damage to their world heritage forests. If you buy Supreme Possum Merino yarn they donate 5% of the sale to the preservation of New Zealand environment.

Possum fur yarn is not cheap, but using it will give you superior products that you will be able to charge more for, especially if you target one of the lucrative outdoor activity markets.

Tags: new zealand possum fur, opossum fur, possom fur gloves, possum fur, possum fur gloves, possum fur socks, possum fur yarn, possum wool
Posted in Yarn Reviews | 4 Comments »

Online Knitting Success Story – Emilda From Hectanooga

Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009

Emilda is a knitting designer with a difference, and you can’t help but be inspired by her positivity, generosity and joy of knitting! She is part of a growing group of designers who create with “knitterpreneurs” in mind, with fast easy to knit designs that she is happy for people to make a profit from knitting.

Find out why her products sell so well, and how this self-confessed technophobic now makes most of her sales online!

How it all started…

Emilda grew up in a small country village at a time when skills like knitting, crocheting, quilting and sewing were part of everyday life. “Women could do everything, and it was all of necessity, not a leisure activity as it is today. As a young girl, the clickety-click music of my mothers knitting needles, and the rhythmic movement of her hands dancing above her knitting needles was a mesmerizing and almost hypnotic nightly occurrence in our kitchen as we sat around the big wood stove by the light of a kerosene lamp!”

“We had no access to patterns back then, so I became adept at finding a way to make what was in my mind, and bring it into reality. I have always sewn without patterns, and knitted and crocheted without patterns.”

From knitting by lamp-light to online retailer!

Over the following years, Emilda built up a wide and wonderful range of knitted items, which sold well at countless craft shows and markets. But she wanted to go the next step, and start selling online.

The only problem was that she believed she didn’t have the knowledge or skills to be able to run her own website. “At my age, I probably just have a limited expectation that it is just too complicated for me to comprehend” – but this wasn’t going to stop her!

She decided to list her knitted pieces on a couple of crafting sites, but was disappointed with the results. Then one day she happened to find a discussion on a blog about Etsy.com, and after reading their positive comments she decided to find out more.

“When I saw how little the costs were, and realised that they do all the maintenance of the site, I was determined to join up!

“I had sales the first day I placed listings on the site! After that, I shifted my compulsive urges to listing, and making new items, and listing and listing and listing. My first sales were for wooden buttons which I make from tree branches, and in the beginning that was the main attraction to my site” she says.

Why are her products so popular?

Emilda started her Etsy.com store in November 2008, and in only 7 months she has made over 400 sales!

“When I joined Etsy, I was only selling the finished products. But I received emails from people who had visited my shop, asking if they were they my own designs, and if they could they buy the patterns. And so, being entrepreneurial in spirit, I saw that there was a need for that type of thing. I began the task of having a clipboard handy, and writing the instructions as I was knitting.

I think what makes my items unique, is the mere fact that I have not followed a pattern. When I was selling at craft shows, which was the main outlet for my creative endeavors for a great deal of the past 30 or so years, people would buy the finished hats, scarves, ornaments, and they were attracted to my booth because my items didn’t look like others.

Now my pattern range consists of over 100 hats, cowls, neck warmers, scarves, crocheted jewelry, knitted fashion accessories, mittens, shrugs and shawls. And I find that people keep coming back for more because once they have used one of my patterns, they realize how simple and easy they are. My biggest focus is on how to make an item with the least possible increases, decreases, or complicated patterns – without losing the cuteness factor!

And my tutorials include pictures of the progression, which is very helpful. When you have the visuals, it really leaves nothing to figure out.. you read the directions, and look at the picture, you pretty much know what is being explained!”

And you don’t mind people using your patterns to “knit for profit”?

“I want people to love knitting and crochet as  much as I do, so my patterns aim to be simple, easy, quick, and made for people to be able to make a profit from them.” 

I have lots of people coming back for more patterns, simply because they are free to sell and profit from the finished items they make. And I love that they will be giving birth to something that was in my imagination, because I just don’t have the time anymore to mass produce. My mind is full of patterns, so I think my purpose is to supply the whole world with wonderful patterns!”

Emilda is now retired, but loves that her hobby provides extra income and keeps her busy. “The best part of making money from knitting is being able to work whenever I want to. If I have a sleepless night, I just get up and let the creative juices flow – for me, the hardest part is actually shutting my imagination off!”

A great tip for using Etsy…

I wish I had known that I could have started on Etsy with just one item. I thought I had to have a store full, so I was pressuring myself to hurry up and make lots of things, and then go through the photography and listings all at once. It is actually better to list slowly, because it keeps you at the top of Etsy’s search engines.

And her advice for someone who wants to make money knitting?

“Make one or two things you love to make, then open a store on Etsy!

You know, I don’t have any shares in Etsy… but as far as I am concerned its a great deal. Anyone, anywhere can try out their products on a well maintained, and well managed site…. and all for just 20 cents, because that’s all it costs to list an item. There are no registration fees, no start up costs, just set yourself up, and list an item! What have you got to lose?”

If you are interested in starting an Etsy store, you can click here to get started (and I don’t own shares in Etsy either, but maybe I should!!)

And have a look at the new Knitting Patterns pages right here on the Knitting For Profit Blog to see some of Emilda’s beautiful designs that you can buy through her Etsy store at www.hectanooga.etsy.com

 

Tags: crochet patterns, etsy, knitted jewellery, knitting for profit, knitting pattern designer, Knitting Patterns, knitting website, sell knitting patterns
Posted in Knitting Resources, Success Stories & Interviews | No Comments »