I have had some hand spun/hand dyed yarn in my Etsy shop for awhile now and I seem to be missing the mark with most buyers. Almost as soon as I knit my yarn into something (a hat or scarf or gloves) folks snatch it up, but for whatever reason it doesn't seem to have yarn appeal in-and-of-itself. For those reasons I am asking for you help.Below I listed five questions and if you are a hand spun or hand dyed yarn buyer please copy the question into the comment section and respond. I really would appreciate and look forward to hearing your opinions.
1. How often do you purchase hand spun/hand dyed yarn?
2. Do you have a preference of fiber content?
3. Do you base your purchase on how many yards or ounces a skein has? If so what is your basis?
4. Do you shop for your yarn by weight (ie: sport, worsted etc.)? If so what weight is preferred?
5. Do you prefer variegated or solid colors?
Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions and if you would like to do a further critique of my yarn here is where you can find my current hand spun listings (the yarn pictured above will be listed later this week). Thank you so much!
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I'll give you my gut reaction-I like the colors of your knitted items, but the yellows in your hand spuns are tough for me to wear. Are you possibly knitting up your favorites?
ReplyDeleteIs there a color trend in your preknits?
1. Very rarely. I'll likely buy more when I get my stash whittled down.
ReplyDelete2. I like alpaca a lot. Blends with alpaca are very nice.
3. I base my purchase on the useability of the yarn. I will likely get enough yarn to be able to make a project I have in mind.
4. I am most likely to buy DK or worsted weight. I might buy something lighter if it is something I can work double- or triple-stranded. I don't use little needles very often.
5. I prefer at least some variation in the color. It doesn't have to be variegated, but one flat color is boring to look at and to work with. If it's one color, I like kettle-dyed.
1. How often do you purchase hand spun/hand dyed yarn?
ReplyDeleteHand-spun? I don't think I've ever purchased hand-spun, only because I'm not sure what exactly to DO with it, as it tends to have a thin/thick quality to it. At least, all the hand-spun I've come across has. Hand-dyed, on the other hand, is just about all I buy. I pride myself on supporting small business.
2. Do you have a preference of fiber content?
Not really. Superwash is a plus, but isn't necessary. I like to work with a range of fibers. I like animal fibers best, and like a bit of nylon or something in my sock yarns, to give them better structure.
3. Do you base your purchase on how many yards or ounces a skein has? If so what is your basis?
I do. I tend to only buy socks yarns (the only worsted I buy really tends to be malabrigo), and so prefer to buy one skein per pair, so look for at least 400 yards.
4. Do you shop for your yarn by weight (ie: sport, worsted etc.)? If so what weight is preferred?
Yes, I definitely do. I'm sure you've noticed the trend in my post already, but sock weight has a lot of pull with me.
5. Do you prefer variegated or solid colors?
Lately I've been very attracted to semi-solids, because I want to knit all of Cookie A's patterns within the next year and a half or so. Her patterns look much better in solids or semi-solids.
1. How often do you purchase hand spun/hand dyed yarn?
ReplyDelete**Not really often because I spin my own.
2. Do you have a preference of fiber content?
** Wool, alpaca, angora
3. Do you base your purchase on how many yards or ounces a skein has? If so what is your basis?
** Nope.
4. Do you shop for your yarn by weight (ie: sport, worsted etc.)? If so what weight is preferred?
** Yes, usually I do when I buy it. Though mostly I go for color.
5. Do you prefer variegated or solid colors?
** Definitely variegated.
1. How often do you purchase hand spun/hand dyed yarn?
ReplyDeleteI have not purchased hand spun/hand dyed (yet), but only because I don't know enough about hand spun/hand dyed yarn. As I get more into knitting, I am sure I will.
2. Do you have a preference of fiber content?
Natural fibers especially wool and cotton.
3. Do you base your purchase on how many yards or ounces a skein has? If so what is your basis?
I do, I want enough to make a pair of socks.
4. Do you shop for your yarn by weight (ie: sport, worsted etc.)? If so what weight is preferred?
75 percent of my purchases have been fingering weight.
5. Do you prefer variegated or solid colors?
Variegated
ok as I spin and also hand dye I don't often buy either but what will tempt me is usually a well dyed luscious sock weight
ReplyDeleteI'd like there to be enough for a pair of average sized socks per skein without too much wastage
I'd be more likely to buy hand dyed fibre for my own spinning if you wanted to go that direction
Hi Emmy,
ReplyDeleteHere are my answers to your questions:
1. How often - several times a year. I like to see and feel handspun in person before buying. Depending on the spinner, it can vary a lot.
2. Fiber - I like wool/alpaca blends. A little silk in the blend can be nice, too.
3.Yardage/Ounces - Yardage, every time.
4. Weight - Worsted or sock weight
5. Variegated/Solid - I prefer a semi-solid or very subtle variegation. I hate it when you knit with a variegated yarn and you get the pooling. One thing I like in hand spun is tweed, for the plys to be different colors but in a subtle way.
I think it's very hard to buy hand spun yarn that one can't feel first. Sometimes, the twist is way too tight and sometimes too loose. Also, it is hard to buy hand spun yarn when it comes in such small amounts, there isn't enough for a sweater or a vest - only a hat or maybe mittens or something.
Sammie