Knitting For Profit
If you love knitting and have ever wished you could make money from it, then make sure you keep reading because I
Posts Tagged ‘knitting for profit’
Is Machine Knitting the Answer?
Wednesday, March 31st, 2010
When knitters begin knitting for profit, especially if they are profiting directly from their knitted items, it can be most beneficial to increase knitting production. One of the easiest ways to increase production is by doing machine knitting and automating as much of your work as possible. While there may be some knitters who prefer the hand-knitted label, some people just need the added little push that a knitting machine can give them to take their knitting work into the realm of a viable business opportunity and to actually start to make money knitting.
Machine knitting may not be the right answer for all knitters though. Some of the new knitting machines require computer interfaces and have more setup options than many new cars or the latest electronic gadgets ever will. If you are one of those people that thought resetting your VCR, VCD or DVD player was a difficult task, you have not seen anything yet. However, many of the more advanced knitting machines have so many options that despite the complexities of the learning curve, they can still be a great boon to anyone who has seriously thought about knitting strictly for profit.
Machine knitting can also be a great way to get your children or grandchildren involved in knitting. Some children do not have the necessary patience or attention span to learn how to properly use the knitting needles and will grow frustrated and quit long before they ever get a start knitting. Small, inexpensive plastic “spool” or “reel” type knitting machines can be the perfect answer. With these, machine knitting involves scarcely more than being able to wind the knitting yarn in the proper manner over the protrusions on the knitting machine. While special tools may be required to remove the finished, knitted products from these knitting machines, they still allow even the most inexperienced knitter to quickly (and easily) create some very beautiful knitted items.
Imagine the delight in a child’s eyes when they have begun machine knitting new and “cool” things … and then imagine how much more enthusiastic they will be when they learn that they too can actually begin knitting for profit as well as for fun. These small, hand-held or table-mounted knitting machines are ideally suited for making many small, knitted items that can be sold in yard sales, craft fairs and even at school (on at work in some cases) for a tidy little sum. If your child really wants to have fun or make money knitting, have them make a selection of small items in their school colors and sell them at school.
For most people under normal conditions, the addition of a flat knitting machine will generally be enough to help them supplement knitting production while still allowing them the freedom to create hand-knitted accessories and accoutrements while machine knitting the large, tedious and time consuming parts of large, hand knitted garments. One of the many beautiful things about machine knitting is that it really does increase your knitting options. Once you do get past the learning curve, machine knitting can be a great way to still have fun knitting while greatly increasing your knitting production when you are knitting for a profit.
Machine Knitting for Fun and Profit
Tuesday, March 30th, 2010
Knitting throughout the ages has enjoyed both peaks and ebbs in popularity but there have always been some people who had difficulty handling the knitting needles and thus, used to be unable to attempt knitting to see whether they enjoyed it or not. For the last few hundred years, knitting machines have made it possible for nearly everyone to at least try knitting. While machine knitting does make it possible for everyone to at least try their hand at knitting, you should not go out and order the most expensive knitting machine you can find just yet.
Machine knitting can be a great way to increase knitting production, help you to make even more profit from your knitting work and experience and even to replace those knitting needles if you are having a difficult time holding or controlling them. However, knitting machines, like knitting yarn, come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes and price-ranges. Before you go spending any money on your knitting machine, you need to figure out exactly what you hope to be able to knit, what kind of knitting production you want to be able to create and whether or not the knitting machine is going to be one that you can operate.
Machine knitting can be easy with many of the knitting machines on the market today but it can also be difficult, frustrating and not really what you expected. If all you want to work on with your machine knitting is small embellishments and decorations for your knitted garments, this can usually be done on very small, inexpensive, hand-held knitting machines that are easily found online. If you want to do something a bit more complex, your knitting machine needs may be a little more involved as well.
Some people prefer to use the large, flat knitting machines for their knitting work at home. Machine knitting large swaths of cloth or fabric is easily accomplished on these flat-knitting machines and those in turn are used to create other garments. These flat knitting machines run the full-range from the ability to create a small selection of simple knots all the way up to some knitting machines that are attached to your computer and are much more complex but will allow you to take your machine knitting projects to amazing new heights.
What kind of machine knitting you get involved in and what kind of knitting machine you will need really do depend on what you want to do with it. If you are just knitting for fun, you may actually have a wide selection of the smaller, manual knitting machines that are always handy, inexpensive and still make some great knitted products. If you are knitting for profit, you may still want numerous knitting machines eventually. The small hand-held knitting machines can help you to add that “final touch” while the large flat machines can be used to create swathes of cloth for capes, sweaters, scarves and other large knitted items.
The fact of the matter is that really, no matter what type of machine knitting you want to do, you can do it these days. Simply figure out which knitting machine best fits your current needs before you go investing large sums of money. As you progress, no matter whether you are just knitting for fun or even if you are knitting for profit, you can always add more knitting machines later.
Knitting Business Success Story – Sue from TasmanianFibre.com.au
Friday, January 15th, 2010
How does a single mum go from the backyard blues to running an International Fibre House that is now Tasmania's largest spinning supplier?
It all began with a rather unusual wedding present from her new husband Barry – 2 Alpacas! But what was she to do with them?
Two years on, the "Mount Roland Alpaca Stud" in the Highlands of Tasmania produces the finest of Alpaca fleeces and supplies to an international market. Sue is now the proud owner of 18 Alpacas, 14 Angora Rabbits (including a pair of German Angoras which are rare in Australia) and 8 Tasmanian Cormo coloured sheep for fine fleece production. She even buys fine fleeces from other Tasmanian growers to help with the demand of a worldwide market for her hand spun yarns!
Sue has now given up her fulltime day job to concentrate on this business, which was launched in October 2009 and very quickly attracted local and international interest with orders flowing in daily. The Tasmanian House of Fibre (www.tasmaniafibre.com.au) supplies high quality, specialised yarns, the lastest of which are the beautiful, fine, luxurious, hand spun lace weight yarns – Mount Roland Silk ’n’ paca, Silk ’n’ Suri and Silk ’n’ Bunny.
Mount Roland Silk ’n’ paca is a fine lace weight hand spun yarn that is plied with natural silk. The Alpaca used is mainly from Sue’s own Alpaca Stud with some fleeces from other finely bred Tasmanian Alpacas. The yarn features natural colours but may also be enhanced with hand painted silk colourways.
Alpaca is light and very warm due to hollow fibres, the yarn is suited to lace weight scarves and wraps knitted on large needles or baby garments, this yarn is lovely to wear.
Mount Roland Silk ’n’ Suri is a very special and unique yarn. The Suri is also an Alpaca but instead of a fluffy coat the Suri has long silky lustrous locks. The yarn Silk ’n’ Suri is again plied with silk featuring natural colours and hand painted silk colourways.
Suri is a completely different fibre to work with, it has a long staple of 8 – 15 cm. When the Suri yarn is spun and plied with silk it is very good for garments that require drape, Suri is a heavy fibre compared to Alpaca and Angora rabbit. Suggested uses (I’m sure the fibre Artists out there will find many more) are, scarves, wraps, anything lacy, would be nice as an open lace over dress for a very spectacular wedding gown. Silk ‘n’ Suri should adapt well to cotton patterns.
Mount Roland Silk ’n’ Bunny – a real labour of love!
The rabbits are grown happily on the property, they have special five star accommodation that has been built just for them (by her loving Husband!), they are fed twice daily plus hay and water on demand. All cages are cleaned every 3 days and disinfected, floors are swept every day and washed.
The bunnies have special outdoor runs that they use to munch their way around the yard, so most days except when raining or high winds they are all taken out to their day runs and returned in the evening, grooming, chatting and clipping add to the hours of care.
Silk ’n’ Bunny is a beautiful, delicate, soft, luxury blend of hand spun lace weight English or German Angora and silk. It comes in natural colours of white, chocolate, smoke, gold/cream and some hand painted colourways of limited quantities. Angora rabbit fleece is extremely soft and warm and cuddly being a very low micron of 10 and under, again a hollow fibre, not a lot is needed for warmth.
Silk ’n’ Bunny makes a very soft, warm lacy scarf or wrap, is lovely used as a feature or trim on garments, e.g. cuffs, edging on hoods, baby booties to keep those little toes warm or mittens. The yarn as it is knitted produces a beautiful halo of soft fluffiness.
So with all the animal care, spinning, dyeing, website management and orders, managing a small band of spinners – her mum included, developing new lines and sourcing new supplies Sue has found she is now busier running her home based business than working 5 days a week – but she enjoys every minute of it and she loves chatting to her customers!
If you would like to know more or ask Sue a question, or just have a chat, you can contact her through her website at www.tasmanianfibre.com.au
$140,000 A Year From Knitting??
Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009
Yes! You CAN make money knitting, and I am very excited to show you this article from the New York Times…
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/17/fashion/17etsy.html?_r=1
It's an etsy success story of a woman who threw in her job to knit full-time and is now earning more that $140,000 a year working from home.
Now admittedly, this is no walk in the park – it's hard work doing that much knitting! But it shows what's possible, and it's really inspiring. Imagine if you were making only half or even a quarter of that amount from working at home and knitting…
So I hope this inspires you, and gives you a good boost in motivation to stay on your knitting for profit journey!
Last Chance To Hear The Knitting For Profit Teleseminar!
Friday, September 25th, 2009
I’ve just finished the new Knitting For Profit Teleseminar about making money from knitting and crochet online – we had a great time on the call today, thanks to you all for taking part!
We covered lots of info about getting started online and the many ways you can make money from your blog or website or etsy store – and we even came up with a couple of new online knitting business ideas!
It’s not too late to register to listen to the call, just click here and you’ll get special access to the recording when it becomes available later today.
Thanks again to everyone on the call, and I’ll look forward to our next one!
A Real Knitting Income Story!
Friday, September 11th, 2009
Following on from my previous posts about how to start making money online from your knitting or crochet, yesterday I had the very good fortune to speak to JJ Vazquez, from www.begintoknit.com.
JJ’s story is really motivational, and her excitement and passion are very infectious! With the economic times being pretty tough in the US, her husband found himself out of a job and JJ realised that she and her family couldn’t always rely on employment to bring in the money. So she made the decision to take control of her own destiny and get into business – a knitting business!
After the sales of their knitting replaced her husbands income for the time he was not working, they decided to broaden their vision and market, and get online. It’s great to hear her experiences, and she gave some fantastic advice for anyone who wants to start making some extra income using the internet.
I’m really looking forward to sharing her story – you’ll be able to hear the full recording right here on the blog so make sure you check back next week!
We’ll also be having another "Knitting For Profit Teleseminar" on Friday about how to promote and sell your knitting or crochet online, and other creative ways you can make an income from your passion.
So whether you are just starting out, or you would like some great new ways to get sales and traffic to your site, join us on Friday for some inspiration, ideas and more!
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
A Quick Lesson In Speed Knitting
Wednesday, April 29th, 2009
If you want to make money knitting, then being able to knit faster not only means you can get more done in a shorter space of time, it also means you are being paid more per hour of work – so it’s worth taking some tips from the worlds fastest knitter!
Miriam Tegels is in the Guiness Book of World Records for completing an amazing 118 stitches in one minute!
KnitPicks has released this video with tips from Miriam for increasing the speed of your knitting, and it’s really fascinating to watch her in action. Miriam knits in the continental style for competition, but her tips are still useful even if you knit in other styles.
To really get your needles burning, Miriam suggests:
• Don’t tense up – make sure you shoulders are relaxed
• Keep all your movements small, your hands should move as little as possible
• Keep your left index finger low, almost in line with the needle
• Drape yarn over your left index finger and down through the middle and ring fingers of your left hand. Keep tension by clamping down on the yarn with these fingers
• If you want to compete, practice continental style on size 8 needles with DK weight yarn, once you can knit more than 200 stitches in 3 minutes you’re ready!
If you’re not interested in competing, stick to your preferred style and just keep practicing! When you are knitting for profit it’s well worth the effort to increase your speed and productivity.
Another way to speed up your knitting is to choose projects that are simple and fast to knit. There are some good books available that specialise in fast projects, and remember to have a look at Ruth’s projects which are designed to be fast and easy too.
Knitting Business Success Story – Jill and Susan from Y2Knit
Thursday, March 26th, 2009
Susan and Jill have brought together their love of knitting and yarn, their skills, life passions and experiences to create www.Y2Knit.net, a knitting business with a difference!
They are a wonderful example of the many paths that a life in knitting can take you down, and how being creative with your approach can set you apart and make your knitting business a success.
Both Susan and Jill have been knitting since they were young children, and both have been teaching knitting for many years now. Their knitting business, Y2Knit, has evolved over the last few years to include not only the yarn store, but also knitting workshops (online and live), an extensive pattern collection, two published knitting books, two more books on the way, and of course their famous knitting retreats!
“Jill and I both loved the idea of combining a relaxing experience with knitting workshops, good food, yoga, massage and fun conversation. Our most recent knitting getaway was in Tuscany” says Susan.
This is a great example of finding a niche and doing something that really sets you apart.
Both Susan and Jill attribute their success to determination and hard work, as well as flexibility and being able to capitalise on each others skills. “We tend to have different strengths, so we can balance each other, and we are also able to bounce ideas off one another” says Jill.
They both had some experience in business when they started out, and now have a knitting business plan which helps keep them moving in the direction they want to go. “We are constantly looking at how we can excel and succeed in our knitting business” says Susan.
And they have some great advice for anyone wanting to start teaching knitting:
“I think the first step is to identify if you are a good teacher. Try teaching your friends and see what it’s like. If you find that you can’t stifle your impatience, then teaching knitting isn’t for you!
Jill and I both love to teach knitting, and I think that our enthusiasm shows through. To start, develop some lesson plans, find a venue, and work at getting people to sign up. To be an entrepreneur, you must be able to do your own marketing.”
They freely admit that their hours are long, and it can be challenging to embrace the rapid changes that have occurred in this industry over the last few years, but both Jill and Susan show a wonderful passion for knitting and teaching knitting, and live life surrounded by the people and things that are most enjoyable for them, a dream come true for many of us!
If you have found Jill and Susan’s story helpful and inspirational, or would like to know more about how to start teaching knitting, please leave a comment!
The Knitters Guide To Business Cards
Tuesday, March 10th, 2009
Business cards are absolutely essential for knitting for profit, so how do you make sure they help you sell more of your knitting, and where's the best place to get them?
When you are knitting for profit, one of the most important things you'll need to do is get your name and knitting product range known to your customers. If you have been smart and chosen a niche market, you will have a very clear idea of who your customers are, where they are shopping, and what they are looking to buy.
Now you just need to find them and let them know that you have the solution to their needs and desires! One of the ways to do this is to make sure you have professional looking business cards that immediately tell people who you are, what you sell and who the knitted products are meant for.
Many knitters make the mistake of only putting their name and address on their knitting business cards – but that tells your customers nothing about how you can help them! When you design your card, you must make sure you include a clear description of your knitting product range or service, and how it will benefit your customer. For example:
If someone with sensitive skin sees Jane's card, they are much more likely to (a) keep the card, (b) call Jane for more information about her knitting range or (c) pass the card on to someone else they know who has sensitive skin or allergy problems.
Now this is just a quick mock-up I did on my computer…and realised afterwards that I left out Jane's last-name…we all make mistakes 
, but the point is, even with seemingly important details like that missing, people would still be more likely to call Jane's knitting business from this card, than if she just had a plain old boring card with only her name and contact details on it.
Business cards are so important for getting free publicity for your knitting business. If you display at craft shows or markets they give customers (and potential customers) a way to contact you later. Every knitted item you sell should have a swing tag or business card attached, because people who have already bought from you are the people most likely to buy again, and they need to be able to find you.
So where do you get knitting business cards?
There are lots of online business card providers, but always remember – you get what you pay for! If the deal seems cheap, its probably because they are using cheap or thin card and low quality printing inks and processes. I have been burned by this – ordering what was described as “premium” business cards and getting undersized cards on thin paper that looked like I'd printed them myself on a home inkjet printer!
So if you use an online provider, check the SIZE of the cards (standard business cards are 89 x 51mm or 3.5 x 2 inches), the WEIGHT of the card they are printed on (should be at least 80lb stock, 350g/m2 or 12pt thickness or they will look and feel cheap) and the FINISH of the surface (the best, most popular finishes now are low-sheen or semi-gloss.
Some people still like high-gloss and matte finishes, but be aware that many people think these finishes make their cards look cheap). Also check postage costs as they can make seemingly cheap cards very expensive!
I have used ClickBusinessCards.com and been happy with the results. I live in Australia, so use the Australian branch, but they also have sites for the USA, UK and New Zealand. Like most card companies online, they have standard templates that you can modify yourself.
Try typing 'business cards' into your local google search and you'll find plenty of different sites. The other site I like is zazzle.com, which has some beautiful templates you can use for swing-tags.
The other option is to go to your local printer or graphic designer. This means you'll get much more personalised service, and is a good way to go if you are not confident designing yourself, or would like some advice about layouts and colours for a knitting business card. Just remember, on your knitting business cards you should include:
►Your Business name (if you have one)
►Your name (and title if you want, eg director, creator or owner)
►Your postal address
►Your phone number(s)
►Your email address
►Your web site or craft-mall address
►A description of your knitting products or services
►Their unique features
►How they will benefit your customer
This will help you get more customers, and make sure that your existing customers can buy from you again and again, helping you to make more money from your knitting!
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About Liz
Welcome! My name is Liz and I am a work at home mother of two. I am also the author of the new book “Knitting for Profit”. I have created this blog to give you more great information, ideas and resources for making money from your knitting passion! [more]
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