If you remember from last Friday, I had decided to cast of (haha) the idea of making ruffle scarfs in an attempt to make money just for the sake of making it. I thought filling my Etsy store wall to wall with ruffle scarves might bring me a profit – but I was missing “real” knitting. So after a very rejuvenating weekend of knitting whatever I wanted – including another ruffle scarf for my grandmother, go figure – I was feeling like myself again.
Till Monday came around….
Monday morning I received a very excited phone call from my grandmother, she loved the scarf. Fantastic! I love giving presents that someone is going to use and love. Good times. She quickly handed the phone to my Mom, who was there visiting, and my Mom asked how much I would charge per scarf if she bought the yarn. I named a fair price and figured I was in for making two or three more scarves.
Holy crap Batman….I was wrong.
28 Skeins of Ruffle Yarn.
There are 28 (TWENTY-EIGHT) skeins of ruffle yarn in the bin that showed up this morning, along with my very enthusiastic mother. I am going to take this as a good thing – if I don’t I will be contemplating how to stab the yarn to death with my knitting needles. So here is a rundown of what I’ve learned about ruffle yarn so far.
- Patons Pirouette – This is my favorite. It is the easiest to work with and knits up the fastest. I also like the different types of layering (sequins, metallic floss, even roving yarn) that creates a great deal of depth.
- Premier Yarns Starbella – This is my second pick for ruffle yarn. It takes a bit longer with a little less effect and the yarn twists a great deal. I think I spend more time untwisting than I do knitting.
- Red Heart Boutique Sashay – Is my new least favorite yarn to work with in the world. It has a weird, super synthetic silky feel – but not in a good way. The yarn wants to splinter so badly that you really have to take your time. It twists far worse than the Starbella and the scarf, following the instructions, is too long. Frankly – it is like knitting with fish net stalkings that had a long night on a very busy hooker. I hope I have made my point.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
With that said I would never turn down the opportunity to bring some money into the house, even a little goes a long way with two people who know how to budget. So I am on a ruffle pilgrimage and so far have made four scarves in two and a half days. Wanna see some photos?
** Patons Pirouette **
** Premier Yarns Starbella **
** The Evil Red Heart Boutique Sashay **
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
So there you have it, four down and twenty-four more to go. I have a horrible feeling that there will be more ruffle yarn in my future but for now I am going to take it in stride. I am timing myself so that I don’t work with this yarn for more than 75 minutes a day, this seems like a good amount of time and I can still work on my other knitting and spinning endeavors.
So, friends and neighbors, what gets you through a project that makes you want to pull your hair out?
All Night Knits 
Not sure to be honest. I have great admiration for you. I really hope that your price is a true representation of your time and effort.
Ehh. It’s a little hard to do with your mom – she was so excited and I never imagined that there would be so much.
Beggars cannot be choosers – till Trevor finds a job I will do anything I can do to make life easier for him.
You are very kind. At least they kbit up quite quickly…What is your Mum going to do with them all?
She wants to give passing presents at a nursing reunion party – they do it every year and she’s hosting this year.
New news, she just came back from my grandmother’s house and there’s an order for two more.
Is it pretentious to wish people liked my actual knitting, the more advanced techniques? My niece could make these…
*PITY PARTY :(*
I love knitting but the thought of having to knit endless scarves in yarn I’m not fond of would not thrill me. I admire you for your determination, good luck!
Thank you – I think that I am going to need it! 😉
Your ruffled scarves are beautiful!
Wishing you the best…..
Thank you – I will need it 😉
You know, you can make evening clutches out of them. Or cushions. Or add them on to baby bonnets. Or children’s cardigans. You don’t have to make just scarves. The Katia Ondas and Rico CanCan are both beautiful to handle – much better than the ones you’re working with. Sorry!
Good luck….
Unfortunately mom wants scarves….and the Red Heart…it’s just awful! Call me a snob but wow!
You mean she is taking them all off your hands? Double wow!
If my hands don’t burn the yarn then yes, all of them 😉
On the bright side, you have a guaranteed customer who will pay what you’ve asked for and will appreciate your efforts, so I’m sure that will make some difference to your feat of endurance! Maybe next time she asks you’ll be prepared! Then you can ask just how many scarves she wants you to make exactly and ‘please can they not be in the Red Heart yarn?’
I find that I can only get motivated to finish something I hate knitting if I’m making something for someone I love very dearly or working to a tight deadline and getting paid at the end of it. Although sometimes a tight deadline makes me hate knitting something that I would otherwise enjoy!
Good luck, just think if you keep going at this rate you’ll be done in just over a week 😉
Oh here is hoping it’ll go that quickly! It could be so much worse, I know, but the Red Heart is just so….awful!
Keep that light at the end of the tunnel in sight!
That sounds a little Poltergeist-y for me 😉
Oh! Did I mention my grandma wants some made for her friends? *SHAKING FOREHEAD* Damn my talent for cruddy yarn 😉
Only agree to it if there is ABSOLUTELY no more Red Heart!
Random British phrase of the week (I’m not sure if this is a phrase more local to the north west or not):
Let’s have a deco at that = let’s have a look at that
Don’t ask me the meaning behind it, it’s one of my Grandma’s sayings 😉
I love it! I am going to use this as much as possible! 🙂 Than you!!
I aim to please 😉
🙂
Hey – weird question. How the hell do I store this beautiful shawl? I’ve never made or owned one, I’m clueless!!
Erm…. Would you think me some sort of heathen if I said I just shove mine in the wardrobe?? 😉
I suppose technically, once you have wet blocked it (which makes such a difference you would not believe it) you should fold it in acid-free tissue paper and put some sort of moth deterrent in with it like lavender or cedar wood – but be careful not to get cedar oil on it as it stains (apparently moths go more for undisturbed things, so wear it!)
Disclaimer: I do not follow any of that advice myself (except for blocking and wearing it) though I know I should. All my shawls really are just shoved in the wardrobe, but worn frequently as scarves when it is cooler – this being Britain = approx 9 months of the year! Sometimes life is just too short to faff about like that 😛
It’s great advice you nerd! It’s been blocked wet and I am going to hang it in a garment bag (with moth all protector in the bottom) and wear it as much as possible – you should deco it….is that right? 😉
Hahaha! As someone who can name all six types of quark I cannot dent my nerdy-ness. But knowledge is power, so nerds have their uses 😛 Yes, I’ll have a deco at your shawl later 😉
Tehe! 🙂
I need to post! I’ve been working doubles all week and I am sooooo far behind. Stupid ruffle scarves and jobs are denting my knitting AND blogging mojo!
Well, time to go have a joint with my grandma, she makes a mean joint. ( still right? )
We wouldn’t describe anyone’s grandma as making a mean anything (not very British!) but I’m sure she makes a lovely roast joint 😉 enjoy it!
I’m very behind on blogging too (much more than you) I’ve been too busy making swatches and charts as well as working on a new design for a magazine. Hopefully I’ll have a chance for a quick post next week 🙂
At least you have awesome reasons for not posting – I would love to be published! Glad you can make time for the little people…we appreciate it! 😉
Don’t be daft! Your reason is just as valid, anyway you post much more than me, I wish I had enough ideas to post so well and so often. I need to be quicker at working out how best to translate the ideas into posts so I can write more often. As for ‘the little people’ when I stop being one of them I’ll let you know 😛
HA! I am stealing daft as well, my niece is loving the Britishisms, she’s even watching BBC to try to pick up on things!
You’re posts are great, I just have the gift of gab – I would trade it for the ability to knit like you can in an instant though. Then you would be the little people and I could tower over you – laughing my evil laugh 😉
Sorry – the mental image of that is cracking me up, I could keep going on and on describing what is going on in my head. Oh boy, time for more coffee because I am getting goofy!
You crack me up! At 5’3″ I will always be one of the little people!
Do you get much BBC stuff over there? I know Downton Abbey is big across the pond, but I have no idea what else you get in America.
Of course you can knit like me – I taught myself! Be fearless! 😉
Me, fearless? HA!
Yes, we (my husband, niece and I) watch a lot of BBC over here. Luther, Sherlock, Downton Abbey, Call the Midwife, The Office (it’s in reruns, as are all the rest I am about to mention) The IT Crowd, Spaced….ect.
Your programing seems to have more substance – quality over quantity unlike American television. Not that all American television is bad, but 22 episodes can usually be done better in far less.
Wow, diatribe!
I LOVE the IT Crowd! You should check out Father Ted (it’s written by the same person, about ten years before he did the IT Crowd, with the same surreal humour) maybe it’s on you tube or something 😉
Oh I’ll check it out, Moss is my personal hero! 😉
When I am bored or hate a project (like the endless purple scarf I just wrapped up!) I give my self assignments and rewards, kind of like you are doing – 75 minutes a day is PLENTY! (I was doing two rows a day at the end) And then you get to knit or read or whatever you WANT to do that you weren’t doingwhile you were knitting as a reward.
Is there any chance you can talk to your mother about the Red Heart? Maybe she can return it and get a better brand of a similar color? I agree with Lottie – next time, ask! And be prepared. If she likes them this much, and wears them in public, her friends will want some. Tell her the price you gave her is the FAMILY price, and if she starts getting you commissions, the price is higher and you get to choose the yarn. But I think it is great that she wants so many and is able to support you this way.
She is being very supportive, which is odd…she’s never supported the knitting before.
I could ask her about the Red Heart but my guess is that she’s already lost the recite. Best case scenario I can tell her not to buy more of it and hope she listens – mom wants what mom wants though.
I have some ruffle yarn waiting in a box for me to make up as scarves for presents but I keep putting it off, maybe I will have to force myself to work up one a week lol. I love the look but the yarn is aggravating!
I know, right? Good luck with your scarves and remember – keep annoying yarn away from open flame 😉
I’m super happy for you that you’re able to make and sell your knits like you’ve been hoping to! But…I know how putting yourself on “production”, especially with a yarn or pattern you don’t care for, can kill some of your knitting pleasure. Here’s to finding a happy balance between ruffled scarves and the projects that you love!
Thank you! More than anything the number 28 is just so…daunting! I figure if I mix it up with other knitting I love it’ll go by very quickly.
I feel like I am in college again – study for an hour and you get to read whatever you want for a little bit and not feel guilt 😉
It’s awesome that you’ve managed to find both a supplier and buyer (all in the same person). And there are much worse jobs out there than knitting on commission, so whenever you start to get depressed just think “it’s better than cleaning vomit out of a fitting room” (which I’ve had to do before, lol). And then the yarn doesn’t look so bad 🙂 It’s like magic.
That does indeed make it sound like magic! I work in a hospital though…so maybe “it’s better than taking a body to the morgue” is what I will go with 😉
That one sounds pretty good too 🙂
they look amazing!!! when I work on something I hate or find just really dull/boring, I crank up the tunes or pop in a movie I have seen a million times.. it helps the time pass… if it is really bad I start something new then hop between the two. ..
There may be a lot of music, movies and hopping going around in this house! 😉 Thanks so much for the advice!
I hope it helps!! 🙂
Wow…I’ve done 5 of those in my life, all in sashay -I share your feelings on that yarn! I think I might just give up knitting and crochet entirely rather than ever makeanother one
I feel your pain, but who can say no to extra income AND word of mouth?
True…I never sell what I make, so that makes it a bit different 🙂
I wish I could just knit WHATEVER I wanted and give it all away as presents (or keep for myself). But with Trevor out of work and two sets of parents dependent on our income it has gotten scary. I sealed a driveway yesterday with concrete filler just so that I could afford my arthritis medication – the irony is not lost on me.
This is life I guess, and that’s all good too. I do wish I could afford yarn I could roll around in though 😉
Ouch 😦
Nah. The time will come when that is possible, I just have to suck it up and take it like a man for a little bit 🙂
Just think how much more that delicious yarn will be in the end!
🙂
But if my mom asked me to make something, i wouldn’t turn it down 🙂
🙂
Those scarves are beautiful!
Thank you 🙂
Oh man, I don’t have the stamina for that many ruffled scarves. (Or any, really.)
Best of luck!
Thank you – I’m gonna need it 😉
Congrats on making sales! Even if it’s a pain, haha. I usually watch TV or a movie when I’m doing a project that’s boring or I don’t like, especially if I’m making the same things over and over, like when I do mini top hats. Those scarves are gorgeous. I can tell just by looking at the yarn that it would be very frustrating to work with though, especially knitting.
Oh…I could just cry! Well, not really – I am getting a handle on the silly yarn. But….mom showed up with 10 more skeins today. *SIGH*
OH- I got your book recommendation and it’s in my library queue now 🙂
You are on fire! Awesome job with the sales. I know it’s rough working on something that you don’t like, but at least you’re getting paid for it! It can be very encouraging just to be able to sell your work, even if you don’t enjoy the process as much.
It’s getting better, I can get a handle on the blasted yarn now. Plus, I have gotten through two audiobooks I’ve been dying for – perfect for boring knitting! 😉
I think I know the feeling. I decided to help a charity that works as a day-centre for homeless people in north London. I made crochet bunny egg cosies with a bow tie or a ribbon on the ‘hair’ (ear?). A friend at work helped by getting people to buy the cosies and advertising them as good gifts for children (we put a chocolate egg and an egg cup to bulk up a bit). Nothing was ordered until 2 weeks before Easter, when suddenly I had 60 bunnies to make before Good Friday. I was so excited, so scared and so fed up of seeing bunnies in front of me, but it was all well worth the effort.
=)
I feel your pain! What a great cause though, that must have made it feel soo much more worth while.
I gave away all my knitted things two Decembers ago to raise money for a friend’s child’s funeral. It was utterly heartbreaking but doing so made me feel like I could at least to something – anything was better than nothing. The only regret I have is I didn’t take any pictures, I didn’t use to take pics – no need to.
Thanks for sharing and here is to no bunnies in your near future:)