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MissMillie

(38,875 posts)
Fri Jan 31, 2014, 02:33 PM Jan 2014

"No, you cannot pay me to make you a blanket"

People always seem surprised when I turn down money to crochet them a blanket.

I'm flattered that they like my work.

I had more than 100 hour into the last blanket I made. Even if I thought my time were as worthless as $3/hr, I'd have to charge $300 or more for the blanket.

I have yet to find anyone willing to pay that kind of money.

I make blanket for people that I care about--and I give them as gifts.

14 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
"No, you cannot pay me to make you a blanket" (Original Post) MissMillie Jan 2014 OP
My dear MissMillie... CaliforniaPeggy Jan 2014 #1
Like you, I give most of my crocheted and knitted items away. Arkansas Granny Jan 2014 #2
You can always tell when someone has SheilaT Jan 2014 #3
same here miss mille! Howler Jan 2014 #4
Quilter here. I smile and bat my eyelashes, and sweetly say, kcass1954 Jan 2014 #5
me too,,,, KarenS Feb 2014 #8
I make bobbin lace. Ednahilda Jan 2014 #6
Same here KC Feb 2014 #7
You could direct them to Etsy My Good Babushka Feb 2014 #9
Or nursing homes Warpy Mar 2014 #11
What I have found is Manifestor_of_Light Jan 2016 #14
I add up the hours it takes and tell them what my hourly pay was at my last job Warpy Mar 2014 #10
I actually have a scarf I crochet SheilaT Mar 2014 #12
Same here, and... pipi_k Apr 2014 #13

Arkansas Granny

(31,741 posts)
2. Like you, I give most of my crocheted and knitted items away.
Fri Jan 31, 2014, 02:36 PM
Jan 2014

I've had people offer me money to make something, but they only consider the cost of the materials, not the time it takes to produce something unique. It truly is a labor of love.

 

SheilaT

(23,156 posts)
3. You can always tell when someone has
Fri Jan 31, 2014, 03:13 PM
Jan 2014

never done any of these crafts, because they simply have not a clue the amount of time involved.

They also do not understand how much the yarn might cost. I have a particular scarf I like to make with four skeins of Noro yarn, which runs about $15/skein. So that's sixty bucks right there, and then there's the many hours involved in the crocheting.

Which is exactly why most of us give away stuff.

kcass1954

(1,819 posts)
5. Quilter here. I smile and bat my eyelashes, and sweetly say,
Fri Jan 31, 2014, 04:21 PM
Jan 2014

Oh honey, you can't afford me!

Fabric and materials at least $75-100. Plus a minimum of 30-40 hours of my time. For a baby quilt.

I make and give away quilts to special people in my life.

KarenS

(4,529 posts)
8. me too,,,,
Sun Feb 2, 2014, 03:59 PM
Feb 2014

Quilter here.

Family, friends and charities receive my quilts.

If someone really wants to pay me ~ I just say go to the fabric store and buy me a yard or two of fabric ~ any color any theme =) I'm a scrap quilter so anything goes!!

Ednahilda

(195 posts)
6. I make bobbin lace.
Fri Jan 31, 2014, 04:49 PM
Jan 2014

Depending on the complexity of the pattern, it can take a half-hour or more to make an inch (I'm not exactly speeding, though.) Only somebody with deep pockets could afford to pay even minimum wage for a length of lace.

I make lace hankies as wedding day gifts to the brides in my family; very, very special people get pillowcase sets with handmade lace. Mostly I make lace to keep my mind sharp.

KC

(1,995 posts)
7. Same here
Sat Feb 1, 2014, 02:44 AM
Feb 2014

I've just given them as gifts for family
members or a few close friends.
They really have no clue what all goes into
crocheting, knitting or quilting.

Warpy

(112,925 posts)
11. Or nursing homes
Sat Mar 1, 2014, 07:27 PM
Mar 2014

A lot of women who are there for health issues and not mental issues knit full time to keep from going crazy from the boredom.

They favor pastel acrylic, OK for baby blankets but not much else.

 

Manifestor_of_Light

(21,046 posts)
14. What I have found is
Wed Jan 27, 2016, 08:53 AM
Jan 2016

from experience, people who gave my grandmother hand crocheted or hand knitted blankets might have been in a nursing home, or just elderly. The blankets are never really big enough for an adult in bed.

Rule 1: They throw all sorts of bright and dark colors together with no seeming thought to color theory. Have no idea if they have any idea about what colors go together or not.

Rule 2: They must be pretty fierce, because everything is knit tightly with no stretch. Serious tension.
Example: I had a couple of pair of those simple knitted booties with two sides(left and right) knit as trapezoids, then stitched together. Couldn't get them on my feet because they were knit so tightly. And I have bony little narrow feet that I inherited from dad. Dress shoes used to have to be Italian, because nobody else made triple As.

Warpy

(112,925 posts)
10. I add up the hours it takes and tell them what my hourly pay was at my last job
Sat Mar 1, 2014, 07:26 PM
Mar 2014

before I retired and that my time is worth at least that much. That shuts them up fast.

Most civilians don't have a clue what sort of hours go into even a simple scarf.

If they're teachable, I teach them how to knit or crochet. If they are full of excuses, I send them to Etsy.

Knitting is like sex, I only do it for people I love and nobody has ever come up with enough to tempt me to do it for money.

 

SheilaT

(23,156 posts)
12. I actually have a scarf I crochet
Sun Mar 2, 2014, 01:46 AM
Mar 2014

out of the Lion's Brand Homespun yarn. One skein makes a six foot long scarf which I either leave straight or crochet the ends together with the twist that makes it a Mobius scarf. I sell them for $20. It takes about two hours of uninterrupted crocheting to make one, and I actually make them at work sometimes. I never pay more than five dollars for the skein of yarn, so it's a reasonable return on my time. People who buy them often ask if I make hats to go with. Nope. The skein would make two hats (I think, I've never bothered to make one) and there would be unruly amounts of yarn leftover.

I have honestly considered crocheting a vast number of those scarves and getting a kiosk at the mall some Christmas season. However, if I did that I'd charge $25 to make up for the cost of renting the kiosk and to cover the sales tax amount.

pipi_k

(21,020 posts)
13. Same here, and...
Tue Apr 1, 2014, 11:13 AM
Apr 2014

like nearly everyone has pointed out, people who don't knit/crochet or do other crafts have no idea of the time factor involved.


The most I'll do is allow the person to buy the yarn (if s/he asks me specifically to make something), especially if it's expensive, since we're on fixed incomes here.


But as far as the time factor goes, I have a particularly unamusing (to me) tale of the Booties From Hell which is going to get its own thread in a bit.






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