The Most Important Material is Time

In the total of two markets I’ve done so far, the most common question that’s come up as visitors stop by my table and take a look at the baskets and knits is “how long does it take you to make [insert item here]?”

It’s come up enough that I’ve now started actually keeping a timer running when I’m crafting so that I can more accurately answer that question… as well as decide how to price my wares. Pricing is a hot-button issue across the crafting industry, as I’m discovering the more time I spend researching and idea-sharing online and on social media. I’ll spoil it for you right now: selling crafts is not a route to early retirement. I do this because I enjoy it and the money I earn allows me to invest in more supplies!

But as far as understanding the human value in a handcrafted item, knowing the time invested can help make an item more dear — not just in dollars and cents, but in the amount of care and devotion to the craft that a person has put into it. When you’re shopping a handmade item, you’re literally handling a piece of that crafter’s life in terms of the time they put into it. Again, we do this because we love the process.

So without further burying the lede: the Two Pines Youth Cowl (Big Sky Version) took me two minutes shy of seven hours to complete from cast on to bind off. (It’s listed for $35 right now.)

The Wild Vines Blackberry shawl that I just finished over the weekend (be on the lookout for this at an August market with a September 1 website drop!) took me 13 hours and 25 minutes of active hands-on time. I didn’t include the time I spent thinking about this pattern before I started, as I was working on some new skills in lace crafting that took a bit of pre-planning.

And for additional reference, I’ve started another shawl, and this is how far along I’ve gotten in one hour and 18 minutes; fingers for scale.

“Worth” and “value” can be tricky words, because they’re concepts that will mean different things to different people. Our immediate reaction is always to measure these things in dollars, but try thinking about worth and value in terms of time. I guarantee you’ll start looking at the world around you a little bit differently!