Friday, April 23, 2010

That Sweater Took 45 Years to Make

I'm at this show a few weeks ago.  Mostly targeted to knitters, so I had low expectations.  I should have made needle cases like I had planned, as I saw none of them for sale there.  This woman had walked the whole show, then had to come back to ask a question.  Her:  "What kind of yarn are you using, that you can justify that kind of price?"  Me:  "The price is mostly my labor.  Aren't you a knitter?"  Her:  "Yes, but these things are quick!"  Okay.  I wanted to scream, and maybe punch her in the face. 
Quick?  I don't posess any kind of knitting magic.  It doesn't just happen like, poof, it's a sweater.  I have done a lot of knitting not because I'm fast, but,  because I knit a lot.  Not all my projects are successful.  I had two cardigans both to completion this past month, and both so far look like a hot mess on me (but my actual knitting looks good).  I can knit a lovely dog sweater, small they may be, but there's a lot of labor in there.  There's also every knitting failure, every workshop and fiber festival I've attended, my publications, and any art or design class in there.  45 years is a long time to work on a sweater.

1 comment:

rita said...

The nerve! I knit things to give to people because I love to knit. I don't have the confidence to charge what they're worth, but I'm going to have to find it. I'm moving to the Florida Keys where I won't need ten new pairs of socks every winter or scarves and hats beyond what I already have, except for some pretty decorative lightweight scarves. I'm going to have to knit for other people if I'm going to keep knitting. But who's going to pay $25 plus yarn for a pair of socks? And that's a low, low price for the time that goes into a pair.