Stuck at home because of Secret Reasons today, so I’m hauling a bunch of random finished things out from behind the couch to post pictures. Everything is for sale in the usual Make Me An Offer kind of way - as much as possible I’ll try so rough out how much time was probably spent making each thing and what it would cost if I was asking full price…but I’m not asking full price. As always, partial payments and trades of neato keen things are also totally valid for consideration.
First! A blue and white market bag/beach m/tote bag. I made this early in the pandemic when stores were not offering regular paper/plastic bags any more. It’s a two handle design for security and weight distribution. The net/mesh pattern makes it very stretchy.
The bottom is…I honestly don’t recall where I got it. I think it’s the center part of a video rage doily pattern, upsized. I like how it looks like hearts
It’s acrylic yarn for the sake of being totally washable.
I have no clue how much time I spent on this. Upward of five hours, probably, but five is a good math number so let’s use that to estimate time costs at various price points!
Federal minimum wage is $7.25/hr
7.25 x 5 = $36.25
Massachusetts minimum wage is $14.25
$14.25 x 5 = $71.25
And for the capper, an “expert wage” - I’ve been doing crochet for 36 years, so let’s just say a buck per year (don’t come at me, I know this is actually still a very low hourly expectation for a real expert, but we’re just mathing here)
$36.00 x 5 = $180.00
Do I want someone to pay me $180 for this bag? Fuck no! (I mean if you want to, feel free, but I’m only doing that part of the math to continue showing the various values of handmade fiber arts versus the price is mass manufactured fast fashion)
What I DO want is for this bag to go get used in the world and stop lurking behind my couch. Want it? Make me an offer!
A Dragonfly Scarf!
It is dragonfly both in design and in colorway - the yarn is a Red Heart Unforgettable in the dragonfly colorway. 100% acrylic, excellently soft for wearing against the neck (I can NOT with scratchy yarns, so this yarn was a great find).
The pattern is based off someone else’s design for…I think it was for a blanket, and it had the dragonfly motifs evenly spaced. I staggered them to somewhat mimic how dragonflies zigzag in their flight, added an eyelet edge to keep the whole scarf from rolling/help it lay flat.
It is not a long scarf, but it is long enough to bring the middle around and tuck the ends through or to wind all the way around once and tuck the ends inside the neckline of your jacket/sweater/hoodie to foil drafts.
How long did this take to make? Fuck if I know! Possibly five hours, maybe as many as seven, so mathing it out like above would be:
FedMin $36.25/$50.75
MAMin $71.25/$99.75
ExpWage $180/$252
Totally wild. Make me an offer that suits you instead, you deserve nice things and I need to vacuum behind my couch.
