Why do I not sell my sweaters?
My most frequently asked question is if I sell my sweaters. I get asked it many times daily in comments on my social media and in emails and social media private messages. I get constant requests to buy existing sweaters in my collection and to knit custom sweaters for others on commission for small and large amounts of money alike.
The truth is, I very much wish I could produce sweaters for others. But it is not possible, no matter how much money is offered to me for one.
I feel bad for others that it is not possible. There are many reasons why it is not possible. Here are some of those reasons:
1.) It takes me an average of at least a month to knit and assemble just one of the sweaters in my collection. It is impossible for me to be a human sweater mill!
2.) Not only would the cost for the time spent knitting be very high, out of the range of most people, but the yarn alone can be quiet costly. In reality, the sweaters are priceless!
3.) It is nearly impossible to reproduce a sweater exactly like before, no matter how hard I try, because yarn can vary from skein to skein and many yarns are no longer being produced.
4.) People wear different sizes of clothing. And getting another person’s size correct is very difficult. I have even made some of my own sweaters in the wrong size!
5.) I am constantly in demand to knit sweaters for places where I travel or others of importance and need all my knitting time to focus on those. Since it takes me a month or longer to make one, I have to be sure I have sweaters I am making for travels and other gigs done on time for them.
6.) My sweaters in my collection are my wardrobe. I wear them every day, all the time, inside and outside of my home.
So what do I do instead of selling my sweaters?
I offer T-shirt prints of them as a compromise. Most of them are $45 plus shipping, which is affordable to many people. They come in most adult and child sizes and even doll sizes and can be produced on demand for whoever wishes to have one.
At the present time, not all my sweaters are available as T-shirts because the process of converting a sweater into a print-on-demand template is complicated and time consuming for Picture This Clothing, the company that so graciously produces them. I am hoping to make around half my collection available as T-shirts someday, giving preference to those most requested by the public.
Here’s a good way to think of it: if you visit an art museum, you can buy prints of some of the artwork there. But you cannot buy an original painting that you find on display.
The truth is, I very much wish I could produce sweaters for others. But it is not possible, no matter how much money is offered to me for one.
I feel bad for others that it is not possible. There are many reasons why it is not possible. Here are some of those reasons:
1.) It takes me an average of at least a month to knit and assemble just one of the sweaters in my collection. It is impossible for me to be a human sweater mill!
2.) Not only would the cost for the time spent knitting be very high, out of the range of most people, but the yarn alone can be quiet costly. In reality, the sweaters are priceless!
3.) It is nearly impossible to reproduce a sweater exactly like before, no matter how hard I try, because yarn can vary from skein to skein and many yarns are no longer being produced.
4.) People wear different sizes of clothing. And getting another person’s size correct is very difficult. I have even made some of my own sweaters in the wrong size!
5.) I am constantly in demand to knit sweaters for places where I travel or others of importance and need all my knitting time to focus on those. Since it takes me a month or longer to make one, I have to be sure I have sweaters I am making for travels and other gigs done on time for them.
6.) My sweaters in my collection are my wardrobe. I wear them every day, all the time, inside and outside of my home.
So what do I do instead of selling my sweaters?
I offer T-shirt prints of them as a compromise. Most of them are $45 plus shipping, which is affordable to many people. They come in most adult and child sizes and even doll sizes and can be produced on demand for whoever wishes to have one.
At the present time, not all my sweaters are available as T-shirts because the process of converting a sweater into a print-on-demand template is complicated and time consuming for Picture This Clothing, the company that so graciously produces them. I am hoping to make around half my collection available as T-shirts someday, giving preference to those most requested by the public.
Here’s a good way to think of it: if you visit an art museum, you can buy prints of some of the artwork there. But you cannot buy an original painting that you find on display.
