Monetizing My Crochet (will it be a mistake? Probably…)
Why I’m Monetizing My Crochet (And Why I Will Never Take Commissions)
Let’s get this out of the way right now: I will never crochet on demand for someone else. I do not want your color opinions, your size opinions, your creative feedback, or your “could you just change this one little thing” energy. I disagree with most people’s creative opinions, and I refuse to subject myself to them for money.
Also, I am not bartering. I’ve been crocheting for 40 years. My skill demands a price no one wants to pay, and that’s fine. I have an accurate sense of my worth. You can find something machine made in a decent price range I’m sure.
Another thing: crochet is handmade. Not “factory-consistent,” not “machine-perfect,” not “every stitch identical under a microscope.” Handmade. If you’re expecting CNC-level precision from a human holding a hook and yarn, we are already incompatible.
And while we’re discussing incompatibilities—let me introduce my household.
I live with three huskies and four cats. Everything I make is generously infused with animal hair. This is not an accident. This is not temporary. This is HUSKYBERRY. And I have zero intention of painstakingly de-furring a shawl for someone else. If that bothers you, this is not the artisan for you.
Now, maybe—and that’s a very large, suspicious maybe—I’ll sell a finished object here or there. Things I made just because I wanted to make them. But even then… husky hair. And also, it turns out it’s emotionally difficult to spend weeks on something and then just… sell it. Even at eye-watering, Prada-pin-level prices. (That is absolutely a different blog.)
So what am I selling then, you snobby crafter?
Patterns.
Patterns are for other crafters—people who like my style and want to recreate something I’ve made, in their own yarn, in their own homes, with their own pet hair situation. Patterns also take real work: proofreading, stitch counting, rewriting, photographing, diagramming, testing, fixing mistakes I swore weren’t mistakes.
But once a pattern is done, it can sell again...And again…And again. Potentially forever. Or at least until the LLC shuts down or the internet collapses—whichever comes first.
Sometimes people ask, “It sounds like you don’t even want to sell anything—so why are you doing this?”
Because I’ve spent my entire life working for other people. Some of those jobs were great—my last one especially—but it still wasn’t mine. I want something of my own out in the world. Even if it only sells a handful of times, it existed. I made it. I released it.
Will this let me retire early? Absolutely not. The golden handcuffs are tight. But maybe—just maybe—it’ll fund my yarn addiction someday.
So let this stand as the official record of before I sold anything.
Check back in a year.
We’ll see how big of a mistake this was.
🧶