The Best Knitting Projects to Sell
Selling your knitted products is a really good way to make a little extra money from home, but it’s also an amazing creative outlet. There are so many knitting projects to sell, and I’m going to walk you through the best options that will be the most worth your time and money!
Why should moms open an Etsy shop?
- Contribute to family spending: Growing up the youngest of four, I always knew I wanted a big family. I dreamed of being a stay-at-home mom. But getting married at 24 without a college degree, I didn’t think we’d be able to afford me staying home. Bringing income from Etsy, I could contribute to our Christmas gift budget, summer pool passes, and extra trips to the ice cream shop in town.
- Identity outside of being Mom: When I started selling on Etsy, I felt like I had a purpose other than some of the mundane stay-at-home mom tasks. As much as I love it, staying home with littles isn’t always easy or mentally stimulating, and starting a handmade business can be so good for the soul.
- Be your own boss: Selling your own knitwear online means you can choose your own hours around family time or maternity leave. You’re the boss!
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You’re in good company
If you’re like me when I first started, you’re probably thinking, “Oh my gosh, there are so many people out there knitting projects to sell online or at craft fairs,” and you’re absolutely right.
Go to any craft fair and you’re not going to be the only one selling your knit or crochet projects.
Heck, even at a small town mom’s group vendor fair I went to, I wasn’t the only knitter there. There were at least two others. And that’s okay, because we’re all different from each other!
We all have different styles and personalities that we bring!
You have a different style, and even if you’re knitting the same hat in the same yarn as somebody else, your whole personality contributes to your business.
I’ve had someone walk right by a knitter selling a lot of the same hats as me, to my table and want to buy a hat, and vice versa. For no other reason then they just connect with you better. Maybe they already know you, or maybe they just like your vibe better.
There are so many different ways that you are different, and you stand out.
And so, I really encourage you to embrace your fellow knitters, and to practice community over competition.
Starting up without a lot of money
Sometimes, it can be hard to imagine taking the leap and investing in your knitting projects to sell.
If you don’t have a lot of money to put into buying materials upfront (I sure didn’t!) it’s most important to choose projects that don’t require a lot of yarn or time to knit.
The first key to starting up when you don’t have money is to buy inexpensive materials (there’s no shame in coupons!).
I like this example from Craftsy:
“Knitter A buys a skein of yarn for $10, knits a scarf that sells for $20, and profits $10.
Knitter B buys the same skein of yarn with a coupon for $6, knits a scarf that sells for $20, and profits $14.”
Craftsy.com
Which means, the less you can spend on yarn, the more you can keep in the bank!
The second thing that will save you money is to knit projects that don’t take long. When you’re pricing your knitwear you’re not only taking into account your materials, but also your time.
You have to pay yourself!
So let’s pretend that you bought yarn and plan to make a blanket that’s going take you 10 hours to knit. If you follow this formula, you’re looking at a one hundred dollar blanket at the very least.
And that’s paying yourself the bare minimum.
You need to decide what’s actually worth your time to knit and sell, and if somebody out there is willing to buy it.
For example, handknit socks take a long time to knit. They’re done with much thinner yarn, and the yarn can be expensive. As much as I love knitting socks, I decided not to sell the finished pair to non-knitters. It would be way too expensive and I wouldn’t have many takers, if any!
But bulky or super bulky weight projects knit up quicker because you’re using bigger needles.
If you can knit quicker, you’re not paying yourself for 10 hours of work and including that in the retail price.
Stocking up
Whether you have an online business, like an Etsy or Shopify store, or you sell at markets, you’ll need to have something ready as soon as you make a sale.
If you’re knitting as the sales come in, it’s not sustainable.
- Most knit and crochet goods are bought in the cold weather months, meaning if you didn’t spend spring and summer stocking up for the fall you missed out on tons of potential sales!
- You can only knit as fast as you can knit. Deep, I know! But seriously, you could have six people wanting to buy a hat from you, but you can only knit one in a day. That’s five people you’ve turned away because you weren’t stocked up.
Get your materials on sale, choose quick projects, and you’ll see the benefits in your first season selling.
So what are the best knitting projects to sell?
There’s a reason you see a lot of the same things sold at craft fairs and online.
Most people creating knitting projects to sell aren’t reinventing the wheel.
They’ve done their market research to find out what sells, and they’ve narrowed it down to quick knits that can be easily replicated.
One important thing to remember is that just because you’re selling knitwear doesn’t mean to you have to design your own patterns!
There are so many patterns out there, free and paid, that let you know whether or not products can be resold from it.
I definitely wish I’d known that, because I jumped in and made my own designs, which took much longer to get into the groove of.
Hats
Hats knit with bulky or super bulky weight yarn and a US size 10 or bigger needle take one ball of yarn and an hour or two to make. Start to finish!
There are a ton of knit hat patterns out there that designers let you resell finished products from. Check out my Ren, Highland Frost, Inverness Snow, Mountain Haze, and Chunky Hat patterns for something easy and quick! (All of the products knit from my patterns, by the way, can be resold with credit! Just don’t resell the pattern or use my photos, please).
Headbands
Just like hats, headbands are quick and easy to replicate over and over again.
Once you have your basic template for each size you plan on selling, you can design anything! You won’t even need to spend money on patterns, you can design your own and make it over and over again.
This way, you’re not starting everything from scratch again trying to figure out how many stitches to cast on, because you’ve done your math and testing once.
Women, and moms in particular, love headbands because it covers up those greasy hair days! Which means women will buy headbands for themselves and as gifts.
Scarves
Chunky knit scarves take just a couple of skeins.
You can even knit them up, but wait to add pom poms or tassels until those orders come in. That way you don’t have four tassel scarves already knit, but are finding that pom poms are really in that season.
Boot cuffs
When I first opened my Etsy shop as Sparkly Twig in 2015, I was only open for a month when I had a pair of St. Patrick Day boot cuffs go viral on Pinterest.
I had to close orders by lunchtime some days because I knew I had reached my max of how many I could knit in a day. I’d reopen the next morning when the new orders would have new ship-by dates!
The cool thing is that boot cuffs only take about two hours to knit a pair.
My pattern uses just one skein of yarn! Again, you can sell what you make from that pattern!
Similar to scarves, you can wait to add any embellishments for when those sales come in. Over the next few years, I learned to stock up on boot cuffs all year long, but waited until I knew for sure if shamrocks or clovers were going to be the most popular that year.
Home decor
I love selling finished home decor pieces because there are no size differences, which make them easy to stock!
- Pillows- Knit pillow covers are also easy: you knit for a 16″ x 16″ pillow insert, or whatever size you choose, and you can have a ton on hand in September that you made in just a couple of weeks throughout the year.
- Baskets and planters- There’s a whole world of adorable home knitting projects to sell if you can knit in the round, like this basket from Peony Knits.
- Dish cloth– A square dish cloth is literally knitting a tiny square. You don’t have to stock a ton of sizes like knitting garment sellers. Choose a style or two in a cohesive color palette. The package them up together, and you have an adorable dish cloth set!
Baby Items
New moms and Grandmas-to-be are willing to spend on something well made and cute for their babies. More so than themselves!
I wrote a whole post about what to knit for babies here.
Knitting stands the test of time
There’s a reason that knitters tend to sell similar things. That’s what people are buying. You just need to find a way to put your own style into it.
You might find a few fringe customers who are looking for something totally different. But overall, stick with classic items that knit up quickly, in a small amount of colors available. Then stock up!
Knitting is a classic hobby, but there are also definite trends that come and go.
Right now, you’re going to find people looking for hats, messy bun hats, and scarves. It’s what’s in style and likely costs under $50. Perfect for a gift for someone else or for themself!
If you’re ready to move on to earning an income through knitting without product sales, think about starting a knitting podcast on YouTube, photographing someone else’s knitwear, or designing your own patterns!
Pin it for Later
Knitting has been around for a long time.
The need to stay warm and cozy isn’t going anywhere, which means you have a pretty stable profession in an ever-changing online world.
Good news for us moms looking for a creative outlet that contributes to the family!
