Looking for Income to Supplement Retirement – Start a Knitting Business

My husband and I are getting ready to retire and we’re working on ways to supplement our income. However, we don’t really want another “job,” we want to earn some

This slouch hat and scarf were easy knitted projects

money doing things we love. For me that includes knitting for profit. When you’re retired, you have more time for hobbies, volunteering and spending time on activities that bring you pleasure and fulfillment -  It’s a real plus if you can also make some supplemental income along the way.

So, assuming you love to knit and want to start a business to supplement retirement, what are the basics of knitting for profit?

One short answer is, it depends on how hard you want to work. You can start your knitting store at a website like Etsy.com, teach knitting classes at a local yarn store or Hobby Lobby or you can make a good knitting income doing craft fairs – plus you’ll have the free time in retirement to spend your weekends manning a booth.

Here are some suggestions for selling your knitting at craft fairs:

1. Selling knitted items at a craft fair means you have to have a good stock of items which can be knitted up quickly and easily, made from inexpensive yarn. Using  specialty yarn might be flashier but you’ll never make a profit if you spend too much on yarn. If you want to use specialty yarn, put on some fancy edging but don’t use it throughout the project.

2.  Items which sell most quickly at craft fairs are usually priced under $5 or under $10. You can also throw in some pricier options to show off your talents and get people to stop at your booth. Some may even buy that $60 scarf made of hand dyed alpaca yarn.

3.  Select about 5 patterns and then make each item in many different colors. Have at least 10 items made of each pattern. You could knit 50 entirely different items but then people have trouble choosing and often just move along. If they want a baby hat and you have several in different sizes and colors, then they just need to choose from the stock you have.

Easy Baby Hat made of Sugar and Cream Yarn

4.  Sugar and Creme yarn offers great advantages for craft fair knitted projects. You can usually get this yarn on sale and make several dishcloths or baby hats from one skein. Knitting Pattern Central offers dozens of free knitted dishcloth patterns. Some dishcloth patterns are also suitable for baby washcloths. Other quick knit ideas might be belts, bookmarks, tea cozies or knitted hair accessories, or hats made on the knifty knitter loom.

5.  Add pom poms or other unique, handmade embellishments to your hats and other patterns so people can’t resist them! Here’s an article explaining how.

6.  Always figure the cost of your yarn and the amount of time you have invested in knitting items for sale. You probably won’t make even $7 an hour but if you get very fast at knitting dishcloths, you can make a good amount of them in a few hours time.

7.  Do some One Skein Wonders patterns. These are usually quick and easy. If the pattern calls for a more expensive specialty yarn, substitute yarn you got with a discount coupon at Joanns.

7. Make some hats on the knifty knitter loom. These are very quick and easy.

If you’d like more ideas on Knitting for Profit, check out this Knitting for Profit ebook, available for instant download.

In the opening of this article, I mentioned volunteering. Volunteering brings fulfillment to your life like nothing else can gives you a chance to share your love of knitting with others. Give some knitting classes at the local nursing home, to kids at the YMCA or at a woman’s shelter near you. Let people get to know you as the “Knitting Lady” and they’ll turn out to support your efforts when you have knitting for sale too. Maybe you can even turn a student into a future business partner, who knows?

Even though we have a couple years until we retire, when I have time, I’m already working on my stock pile of baby hats, knitted dishcloths, hair accessories and a couple other things to sell at my first craft fair. Working on it now helps bring retirement that much closer!

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