The challenge of fairly pricing my work

Something has been weighing on my mind for a bit. It is really hard to figure out how much to charge for my handmade items.

An etsy seller handbook blog from 2012 says the formula for fairly pricing one's handmade work should be: Materials + Labor + Expenses + Profit = Wholesale x 2 = Retail.

Now, that's nice, but I honestly doubt anyone would ever buy anything at that price. For instance, I recently made a baby's hat in light blue and sparkly white cotton yarn.  The balls of yarn were $3.29 each before tax. It took me about 1.5 hours to make, and let's assume I pay myself $10 an hour. My expenses included $2.99 for the pattern on Ravelry, as well as gas to buy the yarn, and a crochet hook in the proper size. 
So going by this formula, my materials cost $6.58, $15 in labor, $2.99 plus $4 for the crochet hook is $6.99, and I'll eat the gas money since the store was in town. Expenses also includes packaging to send the item, business cards, invoices and notes, but I don't charge anything for this at this time. 
Profit is harder to pin down. The etsy blog I consulted said it's dependent upon the product in question. So let's lowball it and say $5 in profit - enough to buy almost two more balls of the same yarn. 

At this rate, that's $6.58 + $15 + $6.99 + $5 = $33.57 x 2 = $67.14.

No one I know would pay $67.14 for a baby hat. Not a single person. Is this truly a fair rate for my work? I charged about $28 dollars for the hat, because I looked at the other similar items on Etsy and figured out that seems to be what most people are charging. Does that mean we're all undervaluing our work? 

I feel deeply uncomfortable charging half of what this formula says my work is worth. But I do enjoy making handmade things people like, and I'd like to continue to do so. On the other hand, I cannot imagine anyone paying nearly $70 for a baby hat, handmade be damned. 

So I guess it's a matter of finding a middle ground between making a profit and making sales in a saturated market. 

I'm interested to know what others think about this. 

Why I'm not boycotting Hobby Lobby

I'm going to take a bit of a departure today from my usual post of mostly pictures and a few words to ruminate on something I've been thinking about for a while now.
After a good month of consideration, I've come to a conclusion concerning my feelings about the Hobby Lobby and Supreme Court issue.
Anyone with an Internet connection can avail themselves of in depth analysis and details from many viewpoints on what actually happened, but I will attempt to sum up. The Affordable Care Act provides contraception at no cost to its users. Hobby Lobby is a Christian-run corporation and they take issue with providing drugs that they believe cause abortion (even though they do not - Plan B prevents implantation, it doesn't abort a fertilized embryo that has already implanted into the uterine wall). In a Supreme Court case, it was decided that the craft store company doesn't have to facilitate birth control for its employees.
While I believe all women have a right to care for their bodies as they see fit, up to and including safe abortion, after consideration I have decided to continue shopping at our local Hobby Lobby. Does this make me a hypocrite? It's possible, but here's my reasoning.
Hobby Lobby just opened in our community, providing needed jobs to a community with an unemployment rate between 6 and 9 percent in 2014. I won't attempt to speak for the employees of our local store, but I would guess that they aren't put off by the corporation's conservative stance. I will continue to patronize our local businesses before Hobby Lobby when I can. I am lucky to live near two wonderful local fabric stores, but unless I want to drive to St. Louis, Hobby Lobby and Walmart are the only places to buy yarn. I prefer not to buy yarn on the Internet - I like to know what I'm buying for sure.
Also, the customer service at our Hobby Lobby is really dang good. The employees are helpful and kind. It's hard to project the corporation's agenda onto them.
Honestly, at this point in my life, I'm starting to feel a bit politically - not apathetic, but weary? I feel like no matter how long and loud people debate, no one's minds are changing. Our country is polarized and I don't see that changing any time soon.
I know my dollars are basically the only think speaking for me right now, and at this point, I choose to put them into my community.

Starting "Stitch-Cation"

I'm three squares into my afghan and feeling confident I'll be able to finish it by the Sept. 1 deadline.
I've been having a bit of trouble learning the stitches, but I'm not ripping up every single mistake, because I will never get done that way. So by the first half of the first square, I seem to be catching on.
If the squares I've finished are any indication, this is going to be a very thick, warm blanket, and I'm probably going to be sweating when I'm doing the border.
I have to learn 10 new stitches, and make 20 squares for a 4x5 afghan.
I believe this project will be an excellent stash buster. Before I went through and picked my yarn for the project, I had no idea I had so many skeins of red heart yarn. Some of them are quite vintage as well - at least two of the variegated skeins were given to me by my mom when I was just learning to knit in high school, and who knows how long she had them. It is kind of fun to think about that - how many little projects a ball of yarn went into over the years. I don't know, maybe I'm a nerd.

The final 15 flowers!

Once again, apologies for late posts. There was the 4th of July, social type things, and my child decided not to let me crochet ever again. Also, I traded in my iPhone for a different phone and I've been reloading all my apps and learning the ropes.
If you've ever switched from iPhone to android or otherwise, you know it takes some getting used to.
Also, I finished off the flower patterns this go-round! I did 15 this time, so it took a bit longer, even though I think I'm crocheting faster.

Since I did so many flowers this time, I think I will just give my thoughts generally about the batches of five. As Inigo Montoya says in "The Princess Bride," "There is too much. Let me sum up."

The Eight-Petal Flower, Large Cluster Flower, Button Gerbera, Hellebore and Traditional Crochet Rose

Favorite: The Hellebore. I like the big, fat petals. Second favorite is the large cluster flower because I get to exercise my cluster-making abilities.

Least favorite: the eight-petal flower. It's just homely. 

Thoughts in general: An easy batch. None were too time-consuming. 

The sunflower, Irish crochet leaf, four-leaf sprig, fern leaf and picot leaf

Favorite: the sunflower and the Irish crochet leaf

Least favorite: the four-leaf sprig. I did it wrong somehow and had to kind of just fake it and sew it together while I was finishing off. 

Thoughts in general: I don't like any of these leaves as well as the one I did way back in patterns 6-10, but the picot leaf turned out better than I thought it was going to. 

The puff stitch flower, simple loop flower, six-petal flower, carnation and chrysanthemum

Favorite: The puff stitch flower. I think it's cute as heck. And it's a new skill! Though I have done popcorn stitches before, i don't know if I have technically done that stitch.

Least favorite: the mum. Though it looks delightfully like the photo in the book, I really hate these flowers that involve long chains of... chains. 

Thoughts: What the hell would you use the carnation for? It's ENORMOUS, like a small cabbage, and unwieldy. It is nice and ruffly, but I can't imagine incorporating it into something wearable. 

So, with these 15 flowers, I have successfully completed one-fourth of the pattern book. The next section is trims, but I really want to take the Crochet Crowd's Stitch-cation challenge, which is to complete a 20-piece afghan by Sept. 1. I also am working on a very important and special secret project, which isn't really a secret as the person receiving it most likely doesn't read this, but just in case I'm going to stay mum. There's no time limit on that, I don't think. But it's going to be really special. I will take pictures of the process so I can write about it once it's done. 

The point is that I'm going to be a very busy little crafter this summer. I will keep you updated!

I have also been working on my Etsy shop a bit, the link for which is on the right side of this blog. I have labels, business cards, and products... all I need is for someone to buy something! I would love input on what I should do - do you like what I have in my shop so far? Do you think I should incorporate some of the patterns i've learned? I'm dying for feedback, folks. I want nothing more than to find a way to stay at home with my daughter during this important years, and if I could also find a way to monetize my passions, that would just be perfect. 

Finished market bag!

Last night around 10 p.m. I finally finished my market bag for the Crochet Crowd June Challenge. I am extremely pleased with it! 

I can't seem to get a picture that shows the sparkle in the red yarn, but it does have a sparkle to it. 

All in all, it did take me about 10 hours to complete, I believe. I think having the deadline helped me, though I would have been better off starting earlier.

I already had this bow finished before I decided to do the June challenge, so I stuck it on at the end. I think it goes well!

I didn't have trouble with this pattern once I figured out what they meant for the star stitch. 

I'm going to return to my 200cfet challenge, but I think I'm also going to do the next Crochet Crowd challenge, which is an afghan. I started an afghan once, and never finished it, so it would be exciting to accomplish that. 

I'm starting on the next batch of flowers today, so I will update again soon! 

Crochet Crowd market bag challenge progress

I'm about halfway done and I have two days to finish this. Honestly, it's just like me to start a project a few days before the deadline. Next month, if there's a challenge, I'll have to give myself more than 7 days. 

The base was a cinch. I was worried about row 10, because Michael, one of the people who runs the Crochet Crowd, said it was hard and he had to modify it. I should have been worried about row 9.

It's a star stitch, but Red Heart doesn't seem to do diagrams with its patterns, so I didn't know what they meant. I had to rip it out and try again, and here's what I have so far. 

I'm going to try to finish this on time. Wish me luck! 

Flowers 31-35

Hello and happy Monday! Here are the next five flowers, pictured on my DIY blocking board from yesterday's post.

I think this was the batch where I finally figured out my issues with bunching, which is that I was using a too-small crochet hook with most yarns (I'm inordinately fond of my G6 hook, I'm sorry, it makes me feel fancy) and the result is two of these flowers were made with too-big hooks while I figured things out. 

#31: Long Star Flower

Oh, this one irritated me so. I think it's pretty, but it didn't want to do as it was told. The tutorial for blocking I looked at mentioned that non-natural fibers may not respond well to blocking, and that seemed to be the case with this. As soon as I removed the pins from my board, the flower started to curl up again. C'est la vie. 

Love it, like it, loathe it: Like it. 

Looks like photo: Except for the curling issue, which I'm now positive they solved by working with cotton and blocking the flower

What kind of project would it complement: I don't know, it would look cute sewed onto a denim bag or something, I suppose

Would I make it again: Yes, but not in acrylic yarn

#32: Blossom

Love it, like it, loathe it: like it

Looks like photo: more or less, except for the gap between the first and last petals that really annoys me.

Project it would complement: In this color scheme, it would be lovely as a motif on a baby blanket

Would I make it again: yes

#33: Simple picot flower

Love it, like it, loathe it: Like-like it, but not love it

Looks like photo: Yes, except this is one of the ones I used a too-big crochet hook for - it's a little bit gangly. 

Project it would complement: I honestly don't know. 

Would I make it again: Yes, but not with that yarn. It's a beautiful wool yarn, but I don't think it lends itself to crochet objects. It's better as a scarf or gloves. 

#34: Four-petal flower

Love it, like it, loathe it: Like it. I feel like I'm not loving enough of these, but I really like the rose-shaped ones more than the very, very simple ones like this. 

Looks like photo: Yep, except it's gangly

Project it would complement: I think it would make a darling hair barrette or an accent to a bigger hair bow

Would I make it again: Yes, I likely will

#35: Five-petal flower

Love it, like it, loathe it: Like it

Looks like photo: More than most of my renditions do!

Project it would complement: Any ol' thing. I don't know, guys, I'm not on my imagination A-game right now. 

Would I make it again: Yes.

Programming notice: For the next week, I'm going to be attempting the Market Bag Challenge over at The Crochet Crowd. It was this whole month, but I just decided I was actually going to try to do it. I couldn't find the precise yarn I'm supposed to use, which is Red Heart Luster Sheen, so I'm going to use another Red Heart yarn (I think it's called shimmer, it's sparkly!) and make do. I will be blogging about my efforts, so hopefully no one will be too brokenhearted. 

I'll see you tomorrow! Keep on hookin'. 

Quick DIY blocking board

That well-worn adage, "Necessity is the mother of invention," came into play today as I was finishing up my challenge flowers. 

The first one, called the long star flower, has long, thin petals that were hopelessly twisted up on my finished piece. I've been doing a bit of reading over on The Crochet Crowd (Facebook.com/crochetcrowd) where thousands of Internet hookers converge to discuss their projects and challenge each other to improve. I learned about blocking while I was there, and then I found a page where someone demonstrated the process on her blocking board. One problem - I don't have a blocking board, and funds don't abound at the moment. 

I have a craft room filled with yarn and other stuff, so I figured I could throw something together to get the job done. I have documented the process for your reading pleasure! 

For this project, you will need: 

- a piece of cardboard big enough for the crochet item you need to block

- two sheets of craft foam cut to the same size as the cardboard

- a piece of cotton fabric big enough to cover the cardboard and craft foam

- a stapler

-scissors

- a flat surface

Here's my piece of cardboard: 

Nothing fancy. I cut the flap of a box off and trimmed it down a bit. 

Next, I traced the cardboard on the craft foam pieces and cut them both at the same time. 

Thrills a minute, no? Then I cut a piece of fabric big enough to wrap over the edges like wrapping a present.

I used a basic office stapler (opened up flat) to staple the fabric down. I ain't got time for glue to dry, I was working on this while the kid was napping so I wanted to get it done. 

If you're less impatient than me, you might want to iron your fabric before stapling it! Again, ain't nobody got time for that around here. 

Here's the long star flower before blocking:

Infuriating. 

And here it is in the process of being spray blocked:

I hope it helps because I think it will be pretty!

I will post my results tomorrow! See you then. 

Flowers 26-30

Hello and welcome to this installment of the "200 Crochet Flowers, Embellishments and Trims" challenge! This batch taught me a new skill and gave me my new favorite flower. It also gave me no small amount of consternation, as I can't seem to get some flowers to keep from bunching up no matter what kind of yarn or hook I use.

For the most part, however, I did find moving up to an H or I hook with the yarns I've been using helped out with the squish factor. On the others, I don't know what I'm doing wrong.

Here are my impressions of each flower pattern!

#26: Periwinkle

Love it, like it, loathe it: like it. It works up very quickly. 

Looks like photo: yes

What kind of project would it complement: a jewelry piece, or any kind of trim on a cute blanket or baby item. Ooh, imagine it atop a little baby shoe! Dead of the cute, I am.

Would I make it again: yes'm!

#27: Cluster Flower

NEW SKILL ALERT! 

The skill: tr3tog, or three treble crochets finished together. I did it wrong at first, but this book has a great section on how to create the stitches. My only gripe is there are no left-handed photos (that's right, I'm a southpaw) but I'm used to reading things backwards. 

Love it, like it, loathe it: like it! 

Looks like photo: yes it does.

What kind of project would it complement: an afghan, bag or scarf would be nice with these as an accent

Would I make it again: sure!

#28: Picot Daisy

Love it, like it, loathe it: this one gave me trouble. It wanted to squish up, and I think maybe I need to do the picots tighter.

Looks like photo: mine looks shaggier and squished. 

What kind of project would it complement: for some reason I envision it on a jean skirt.

Would I make it again: yeah, to see if I can do it right.

#29: Large Gerbera

Love it, like it, loathe it: Like it, but again with the squish.

Looks like photo: More or less

What kind of project would it complement: a girls hair bow, perhaps. It's another that's very frilly.

Would I make it again: yes

#30: Damask Rose

Love it, like it, loathe it: I am in love. This is my new favorite and I want to pin it in my hair and feel pretty forever.

Looks like photo: I think mine looks BETTER. 

What kind of project would it complement: it would make a gorgeous hair ornament.

Would I make it again: yaaaas!

Hopefully I will see you again sooner than later! 

Flowers 21-25

So here's the next five! I'm back in the swing of things, and I feel a bit of improvement. I think I may go back and try a few of my failures again once I finish all the flowers, just to see if I can improve my efforts.

Just a note:  I got a few of the names wrong on the last post, and I've gone back to correct them. 

#21: Gerbera

Love it, like it, loathe it: LOATHE. It's so many chains (read: snoozeville) and it's not worth it because it doesn't look good. 

Looks like photo: Not a bit! Mine is all wonky and stupid-looking.

What kind of project would it complement: Done properly, it would be cute on the end of a pen or something. 

Would I make it again: At gunpoint.

#22: Button Daisy: 

Love it, like it, loathe it: like it! My husband thinks it looks like a squid - with 8 legs I think it would make an adorable finger puppet. 

Looks like photo: yep

What kind of project would it complement: a wall hanging or blanket

Would I make it again: sure

#23: Open Flower

Love it, like it, loathe it: love it. This is nice and simple

Looks like photo: yes

What kind of project would it complement: jewelry or a flower crown, or even a bookmark

Would I make it again: absolutely

#24: Small Orchid

Love it, like it, loathe it: like it

Looks like photo: for some reason, my back loop petals don't line up with the front loop petals.

What kind of project would it complement: I think it would look pretty on a scarf, a brooch or even as a crochet bouquet.

Would I make it again: yes

#25: Orchid

Love it, like it, loathe it: like it

Looks like photo: yes, very much so 

What kind of project would it complement: same as the previous

Would I make it again: yes

I would love some feedback about this challenge I'm doing! If you're reading this, please leave a comment and let me know! 

Flowers 16-20

Sorry for the lack of posts! We've been traveling, and then we were cleaning like crazy because we had family here for Father's Day. Not sure if anyone is really reading this or missed the posts, but if you did, I'm sorry! 

I've decided to compose a form addressing my opinion of each pattern, because I feel like I wasn't being very helpful in terms of describing the pattern. If I just say I liked it, that isn't very useful information to you, is it? 

#16: Frilly Rosette 

Love it, like it, loathe it: like it. It is a loooot of chains, but the finished product is worth the toil.

Looks like book photo: yeah! 

What kind of project would it complement: it would make a nice barrette for a kiddo.

Would I make it again: yep.

#17: Quick Flower

Love it, like it, loathe it: love it! The name is accurate.

Looks like photo: yes, except for my fluffy yarn

What kind of project would it complement: it would make a nice trim on an afghan or baby blanket

Would I make it again: yes.

#18: Button Carnation:

Love it, like it, loathe it: love it. The photo doesn't do it justice

Looks like photo: not perfectly, but not a total disaster.

What kind of project would it complement: I imagine these on the straps of a little girls dress.

Would I make it again: yes!

#19: Pointed Daisy:

Love it, like it, loathe it: like it. I used one cotton yarn and one bulkier acrylic yarn, and I would not recommend that - use the same yarn and weight for best results.

Looks like photo: more or less. I suspect they did some shaping, and why wouldn't they? 

What kind of project would it complement: I'm not sure. Maybe an iPad cover or a handbag.

Would I make it again: sure

#20: Traditional Crochet Flower

Love it, like it, loathe it: like it, but not very much

Looks like photo: no. I made it twice and I couldn't keep it from bunching up either time. 

What kind of project would it complement: a chair doily? 

Would I make it again: probably not. 

Let me know what you think about the new rating system! See you soon.

Murphy's Law and flowers 11-15

I had one of those weekends where nearly everything that could possibly go wrong, did, but it was worth it. 

My friend's wedding was Saturday in Chicago, a half-hour drive and four-hour train ride from my home. 

Things started going wrong the morning of the wedding. We were running late and had to drive with some alacrity (consider this just a *bit* of understatement) in order to arrive at the station before our train departed. Thankfully, we made it - but things continued to go wrong when we got on the train. We were caught behind several freight trains and at one point we had to stop and go backwards to allow a passing freight train access to its needed track. We arrived at Union Station an hour later than planned and rushed to our hotel with visions of relaxing showers and air conditioning dancing in our heads, only to discover we couldn't check in until 4 p.m. - which is when the wedding began. We checked our bags into a closet in the hotel lobby and changed clothes in a filthy bathroom behind the hotel restaurant, and then carted our sweating carcasses to the hotel where child care was being kindly provided by family of the wedding party. I put my makeup on in that room and then we headed across the street to the wedding. Thankfully, our daughter had a blast with the other kids and didn't miss us at all. 

My friend's wedding was by far one of the most distinctive and beautiful weddings I've ever been to. It was held in downtown Chicago at a former surgeon's college with soaring ceilings, stained glass windows and gilded molding. The families being joined were a melting pot of cultures, resulting in a beautiful swirl of saris, traditions, dances and oh my god the best food I've ever had at a wedding. 

It was a lovely, heartfelt ceremony that you could tell the bride and groom put a lot of thought and love into. I loved seeing how truly radiant and happy my friend was, and finally meeting the groom, whom I had heard so much about. My husband and I reunited with old college friends and made new friends, and then we got to show off our daughter for a little while before departing for our hotel to check in.

This is where the problems began again. Our suite was diminutive in size, clearly painted over multiple times and poorly cleaned. However, the bed was comfortable and had nice coverings, and the three of us slept extremely well. 

We woke up and repacked, then I looked up a breakfast restaurant a half mile away with good reviews and we headed out. Have you ever tried to walk half a mile with two rolling carry-on suitcases, a diaper bag and a toddler? Pre-breakfast? At least the kid was happy. 

We arrived at the restaurant, and to our dismay, there were scores of people outside waiting to eat. 

Thankfully, we had snacks and drinks from the train trip, and kept ourselves from being utterly consumed by the hanger (the hunger anger). We walked around the area with our daughter, including nearby Millenium Park, and fed baby Cheetos to grasshopper sparrows. 

The food was insanely good. Like, the kind of good where you have foodgasm aftershocks, where hours later you remember how good it was and rejoice at the gustatory experience you were given the privilege of experiencing. 

The joy of seeing my friend married to someone she clearly loves and the delicious food we got to eat all weekend outweighed the annoyances, for sure, but it seemed like quite the shitshow while it was going on. 

So that's what I've had going on. I had these flowers done Friday, but I didn't get the ends woven in until today. 

These were a mixed bag of results. I didn't find them exceedingly difficult. I looked at the trims coming up and that is where I'm going to have trouble, I believe. 

#11: Star flower

I liked it, it wasn't confusing and it worked up quickly. 

#12: Pansy

This is one of my favorites so far. I just like purple and yellow together. 

#13: dahlia

This one was really easy, and similar in design to the loop daisy in the first batch. I prefer this to that one, however. If you squint it kinda looks like a real dahlia. 

#14: four-layer flower

I messed this one up somehow, and I'm not sure how. It's a bit crooked, no? 

#15: trumpet flower

Round these parts, we call this a daffodil. These signs of spring are one of my favorite flowers, and this works up very easy. 

Up next: flowers 16-20. IIRC, there are 40 flower patterns, so we are about halfway through that section. See you soon!

Patterns 6-10

It's '200cfet' time! That's what I'm calling Claire Crompton's compendium of crochet patterns, "200 Crochet Flowers, Embellishments & Trims," because I am far too lazy to write that out every time. 

So here are the next five! 

These seemed easier, and I'm not sure if it's because I'm getting used to the swing of things or what. That's not to say there weren't mess ups, because there were assuredly mess ups, which I will detail below. 

#6: Small Rose

I liked it so much, I made it twice. That had nothing to do with the fact that the yarn nubbin I made the first rose with ran out before I could finish it. 🎶 Stash buster! 🎶

I'm fond of roses, in real life and in yarn. I can see myself using this in the future. 

#7: Rose Bud

This is just a smaller version of the earlier pattern. Easy peasy. 

#8: Leaf

I've been using a more complicated and less attractive pattern for leaves. No more, says I. I really like how this one kind of folds up along the center vein like a real leaf. 

#9: Irish Crochet Rose

This is the first pattern I've gone along with the color suggestions. I love pink and orange together. 

This bad boy is also a tale of misfortune. You'll note there are seven petals on the front layer of this flower - there are only supposed to be six and I have no idea what I did. As I was staring at the mystery in my hands and cursing, my husband says, "You're going to write about your wacky screw ups too, right?" So, yes. 

I think the fact that my child absconded with my g6 hook and I had to use a cheapy plastic one until I could locate my preferred hook (aluminum with a bamboo handle) had something to do with my distraction, but that still doesn't really explain how I got 7 flower petals into 12 stitches. 

#10: Large Simple Flower

This one pretty much looks exactly like it's supposed to. 

I am making a display for all these patterns - I got a huge 24x96 in. roll of cork that I'm tacking these all onto. I will make a post about the display as soon as I'm happy with it. In the meantime, I'll keep, um... Hooking.