Questions for WAHM Knitting Soakers / Longies

[Namiko]

My mom started knitting several years back and I'm trying to get her started with knitting and selling some wool soakers and longies.

For those mamas who already do this . . .

- do you buy your yarn locally or online?
- what did you do for a pattern? make your own? what's involved with licensing a pattern? Is it feasible if you are starting off with making only a few items yearly?
- for an advanced, adventurous beginner, how long on average does it take to finish knitting a soaker?

[MamaButtercup]

My sister-in-law is pretty successful. You could ask her some of these questions, and I'm sure she'd answer! She makes hers out of roving that she buys online from my mother, who has had a yarn shop for almost 20 years now. My sister-in-law's Facebook page is A Lamb's Tail. You could send her a message. I know she won't mind!

[MamaDawn]

I'm just starting making them but I know some of the answers to your questions...

Many patterns state that you can't make items from that pattern for sale w/o buying a cottage license but this actually isn't true, copyright laws don't cover items you make from that pattern. That being said I wouldn't use those patterns anyway because it's not worth the hassel that can come with it.

There are some that allow you to make them and some are even free. Here are the ones I'm using:
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/cheeky-soaker
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/dakine-longies
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/libr...-flirty-skirty
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/libr...keiki-overalls
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/norway-romper
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/libr...pdragon-soaker

How long it take to do a soaker really varies from person to person and will also depend on the size and such, but I can usually get it done in a day or 2 and that's knitting when I can with homeschooling 3 of my 4 kids.

I dye my own yarn so that's where I get it. I've found the most popular yarns are MMW, BBR, AT, single and 3 ply PW, and Gaia... Most knitters I know though do more yymn (your yarn, my needles) customs than anything else. But for doing rtg items I think most people that are willing and able to pay for hand knit items want higher quality yarns that what you get at craft stores so if she's going to look locally I'd look at LYS.

Also if she's interested in doing a collab where I do a custom hand dye and she does a custom knit tell her to contact me on FB . I have a link in sig line.

[Namiko]

Wow thanks so much for this info! I did discovery ravelry the other day coincidentally and really like the snapdragon soaker pattern so I'm having my mom start with that one and do a test/sample version for me to try on my DD. We decided to use pattons wool yarn since it was on sale and I wanted to get something cheap as a starter. (My mother is a bit of a perfectionist so I figured her learning the pattern using a cheaper wool would make her less inclined to redo everything multiple times over )

I have a couple questions, so I'm going to PM you . . .

[Namiko]

Originally Posted by MamaButtercup My sister-in-law is pretty successful. You could ask her some of these questions, and I'm sure she'd answer! She makes hers out of roving that she buys online from my mother, who has had a yarn shop for almost 20 years now. My sister-in-law's Facebook page is A Lamb's Tail. You could send her a message. I know she won't mind!

Thanks! I'll take a look at her Facebook page

[MamaDawn]

Yes using Paton's wool for trying patterns out is a good idea... I like it and love Cascade 220 (not much more expensive but not sold in craft stores)