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Monday, September 29, 2008

More Holiday Textile Work

As I finished unpacking and washing clothing from the trip to Montana, I found more textile-related items - three (well, actually two and two-thirds) knit scarves, which I worked on mostly in the car while driving from California to Montana and back.

There's ample knitting time on that trip. It's too far to drive comfortably in two days - it can be done, but it's two 10-or-11-hour days, which is more than my body can stand in one stretch. Broken into three shorter days, it's much more bearable.



The fuzzy scarf on the right is a yarn similar to Lion Brand "Fun Fur" but with a different brand name (and a much lower price tag of $1.99/ball; two are required for each scarf). The middle and left scarves are nylon "ladder" yarns, also from a much less expensive supplier than the typical LYS products; $3 or $4/ball, and it only takes one ball per scarf.

With a materials cost of $4 per scarf, the profit margin is pretty good, because I sell them for up to $40 each, depending on the venue. This is one of the typical products in my budget range of goods. Customers like to be able to take home something from my booth, even if they can't afford (or can't justify) the price of the handwoven scarves, which run from $175 to $400. So bookmarks, knit scarves, and quick-and-easy hand-dyed scarf blanks are always popular.

I'm hoping to get back to the loom tomorrow, to finish off the faux-seersucker scarf warp that's on the loom now. Still haven't got a next warp in mind - gotta get going on some new designs!

2 comments:

Dianne said...

I was reading about silk throwsters this morning and got to wondering if you have ever tried spinning the silk loom waste from your scarves and wraps. Apparently it spins up like an imitation boucle. Tighten the tension on the break band and work quickly without care so the book says. Needs to be plied firmly with something a little rough like a silk noil. Sounded like fun.

Dianne said...

I should have also said chomp it into 2 - 5 inch lengths.