All the rage - for $100 bucks?!! I don't THINK so.

[queenoftroy]

$168 for a knit hat?

lets break it down

$5 (for needles)(first set, plastic from michaels(or hobby lobby, or ACMoore)
$10 for yarn for first project(acrylic for scarf)
 (+25 hours of time to learn how to knit)

$7 for more needles --bamboo from michaels (or hobby lobby, or ACMoore)
$20 for Real wool (paton's classic merino) for scarf
$15 for knitting book
 (+25 hours of time to learn how to knit ribbing--(including 2 hours of frogging to get it right!))
 

$22 for 2 Addis (from REAL Yarn store)
$20 for 2 skeins of Koigu (from REAL Yarn store)
$25 for Knitting sensational socks (from REAL Yarn store)
$125 for class on learning to knit socks (and to knit in round, and to make decreases, pick up stitches,)
(+ 3 hours of class time, and 6 additional hours to actually knit socks)

$60 for interchangeable needle kit (tired of having to buy new needles for each project!)

$30 for 2 great stitch dictionary book (i/2 price at Big Chain Book store! (now i can knit almost any stitch!)
(over $250 invested at this point!)

$25 for 2 balls of Cashmere bulky yarn (in clearance bin--original cost would have been $95! What a Steal!)

Used yarn to make a hat that retails for $168--Look at how much i saved.. ONLY $25 for this hat!

Sure the hat can be made $25--after you have invested $1000 or so dollars on your self, buying materials, taking classes, learning to knit, and so on...(since most new knitters would not be able to copy a hat after just 3 projects, 3 books, and 1 3-hour class!)

DON'T UNDERVALUE YOUR TIME OR EFFORTS.

the average person can't knit the hat for $168 --it takes a hundred hours or more of "learning time" (is your time free? yes? good come work for me!) + an investment in materials.. (needles, books, classes, yarns) to become skilled enough to look at a hat, to be able to identify
1--it is knit, not crocheted
2--what stitch it is knit from
3--the gauge/yarn/cast on number of stitches
and would know
What kind of yarn to use
Where to buy the yarn
and how long it would take to knit (no sense in knitting a hat now if it takes you 4 or 5 months to complete a project (the hat wouldn't be done till march!--the end of winter!)

All of that is need in  order to be able to 'copy'

The hat is cheap at $168.
YOUR SKILL is not cheaply come by.

don't undersell your self.. sure (maybe) any one CAN learn to knit.
but most people don't. they don't make the effort.the  don't spend the money, and they don't invest their 'free time'. (which isn't really free!)

[epsilon]

i agree knitters often undervalue their work, bur your math is slightly off. for the money you counted in your list, one's gotten much more than a hat. one also gets a scarf, socks, and whatnot. basically, the costs of knitting are not linear, at the beginning you spend a lot, but every product you make costs you less and less. besides, people normally pay to learn something new, so with your 25 hours of learning how to knit you saved money. you also own a few very valuable books, and for some people, money is more important than time. i suppose you have a house and a family to take care of, but imagine a teenager who would otherwise be drunk or high somewhere. you can't really say her time is as valuable as yours. i'm sorry, girls, don't be offended, but i think a mother and somebody working needs free time much more than somebody who only goes to school and has to help cleaning a table after lunch.

on my shelves i have all s&b books, and i payed around 60$ for them. i believe i returned that money already, even when i count my working hours, and i mean real knitting hours at home, because like i explain people when they ask me why i knit in public transport, i would waste that time anyway. you are not saving by knitting socks, that's sure. but hats? i make one in a week commute, for 1 or 2 $ worth of yarn (nice yarn, it's just cheaper here), so i would call that saving.

[queenoftroy]

There are many aspects to knitting, but to say a hat isn't worth $168 (because i can make the same for $25 worth of MATERIAL)

is like saying its not worth money to pay for childcare, cause i can change my own baby's diaper for free.

the hat might only require $25 of material, but there is VALUE ADDED by knitting it.  and the better a knitter you are the better value you can add.

(and getting to be a good knitter take a combo of time and money.. some spend more money/some spend more time.. but you have to SPEND to get the skills)

likewise there is value added to a child experience and life, if  he/she is cared for by some one who CARES. (and doesn't just perform perfunctory tasks) playing and talking and interacting with a child as the diaper is changed is as important as actual changing the diaper!)
Mother's  lover (and child care)  are FREE (we don't assign a cash value to mother love), but i think we all recognize is worth $$$$!)

There is VALUE (not easily measured by money) in Caring for a child.
There is VALUE in knowing how to knit.

A knitter  might look at a hat, and say, hey, i can make the for $25 (and do it) and we might, as a result, begin to "live above our means" with out going into debt.. but we really haven't save money..

We've invest MONEY in ourselves, and as a result of this investment, we can save money else where. some of the money we've invested is the VALUE OF TIME -- we could have been earning $$ with that time.--(if we weren't SPENDING TIME learning to knit) 

Now, it might be, (and i think it is) the money we invest in ourself "pays better" (give us better return) but we've still invested money!

To say a hat isn't worth $X or $XX or $XXX (because we can make the same hat for the cost of the materials), is a way of saying. "I'm NOT worth it"

It's saying "The time and money i have invested in learning a skill are not worth much"--when in reality, if the store is successful in selling the hats for $168, --and we can duplicate for $23, then our skill is worth the difference --$168(retail cost)-$23(cost of material) =$125 The BULK of the cost of the hat is the  VALUE added from turning Raw material (wool) into a finished object (in this case a hat!)
(OK so there is Markup and other costs..)

I want KNITTER to VALUE their skills.. I think Knitting is Worthwhile!

and if MOST knitters keep saying, Nah, Knitting is not worth while.. Hand knit goods in retail establishments are WAY, WAY overpriced, because the EFFORT TO TURN WOOL INTO OBJECTS is not worth much --then that is the way Knitting  will be thought of. (and friend, and neighbors, and coworkers will ask us to knit things for them (for free, or just for the cost of the yarn) because they will agree--KNITTERS TIME (and time knitting) is not worth anything..

When in reality, i think the hat, hand knit by me, or by someone else, is worth $168 and maybe even more!--cause I ADD VALUE to yarn when i knit it! (LOTS OF VALUE!)

[woohag]

As the original poster, I'd like to say that this debate was NOT my intention at all. I was simply noting...and sharing with my fellow knitters...how easy THAT PARTICULAR HAT (the first link) would be to make for someone who knits, b/c it's made with chunky yarn and is an easy stitch to duplicate.  As in, it would go quickly and isn't it amazing how much they can charge for that.  My intent had nothing to do with valuing one's knitting skills, etc.  I think this has gotten out of hand and has been way overreacted to for the intended purpose of my original post.  It was a lighthearted observation and commentary, that's all.

[The Muffin]

Free People stuff is always crazy expensive (and pretty in some cases). The hat isn't even that nice looking IMO...

I don't think there is any way to justify paying that much for a hat that really CAN be easily made by oneself. A few books from the library and an online forum, and you're well on your way to learn how to knit. Taking classes isn't needed; I've learned how to knit in the round, on DPN's, just by reading some books and looking online.

*shrugs* It's a ripoff in the end to pay that much for one hat. Even if you do manage to spend that much on learning how to knit, you'll know enough to be able to keep knitting more and more items. I think the cost of that hat is just the name brand.

[badass knitter]

I started a topic bout this awhile back, where I saw a garter scarf for l$100 it was ridiculous!!  And as for patterns I would have to say check on line- sorry i'm not more of a help with this.

[woohag]

I started a topic bout this awhile back, where I saw a garter scarf for l$100 it was ridiculous!!  And as for patterns I would have to say check on line- sorry i'm not more of a help with this.

Thanks for the support!
Also, love your user name.

[woohag]

Free People stuff is always crazy expensive (and pretty in some cases). The hat isn't even that nice looking IMO...

I don't think there is any way to justify paying that much for a hat that really CAN be easily made by oneself. A few books from the library and an online forum, and you're well on your way to learn how to knit. Taking classes isn't needed; I've learned how to knit in the round, on DPN's, just by reading some books and looking online.

*shrugs* It's a ripoff in the end to pay that much for one hat. Even if you do manage to spend that much on learning how to knit, you'll know enough to be able to keep knitting more and more items. I think the cost of that hat is just the name brand.

Totally agree, and it's definitely the name brand that jacks the price way (WAY!) up.