21/02/2026
Don’t let anyone tell you that handmade is cheap… 🤣
Hand-dyed yarn, spun from quality yarn, ethically kept and shorn sheep, family farm, so keeping a small business trading. £12 for 100g of DK yarn is pretty reasonable. Not all yarn is equal, and yes, I know I could buy 100g of acrylic yarn for around £2. But I rarely enjoy knitting with it, and real wool is sustainable.
Knitting a hat in a stitch that will accommodate a range of head sizes, because rib is stretchy, and there will probably be enough for wrist warmers too.
The problem then is pricing to sell. I struggled to sell beanie hats for £3 to £5 (depending on size/yarn) at the last fundraiser, and that didn’t cover the cost of the yarn, let alone any of my time.
So, as folks are telling me they want unique, handmade items, made with quality yarn, what is the reason they delight in telling me that they can get the ‘same’ (which they cannot) in Primark or other stores, for less. And then don’t buy the items that they tell me are lovely and just what they need but… Have tried fairs where I have paid £££ for a stall, and found the same, so it is not just the myth that sellers in church will be cheap, and I am clearly not ripping anyone off. I dare not calculate how much I would charge if I added the number of knitting hours even at minimum wage, for a hat!
At least I enjoy the process of knitting. And this yarn is pretty, right?! 😊
