Does Yarn Cost Too Much?
Why do we expect yarn to be cheap?
A recent Yarn Review article prompted a comment from a reader noting that yarn prices seemed to be getting out of hand. In responding to the comment, I realized I had some Strong Opinions on this topic. Today, I'll air those opinions and invite you to share your own.
What Does it Take to Produce a Skein of Yarn?
Let's use a basic skein of 100% wool yarn as our example. Let's assume this yarn is produced entirely within the United States, since that is the production system with which I am most familiar, and this assumption eliminates the cost of multiple rounds of global transportation from our scenario.
Wool yarn starts on the back of sheep, who live on a farm or ranch. The shepherd must, at the very least, cover the cost of grazing land, barn maintenance, supplemental feed, veterinary care, replacement breeding stock, help in the form of humans and/or dogs, and shearing. With any luck, the shepherd can sell the wool (and eventually the meat) for enough money to cover these costs and provide enough profit to support their family.
After shearing, the wool is transported to a mill where it is washed, carded, and combed in preparation for spinning. Spinning might happen in the same place, or it might involve transportation to another mill. These mills must cover the cost of land and buildings, machinery maintenance, utilities, waste disposal, and skilled labor. In addition, someone must design the yarn, making decisions about how thick, how much twist, how many plies, and all the rest. Each of the people working at the mill needs to make a decent living, and there needs to be some profit to reward those who own and invest in the mills.
Adding color can happen either before or after spinning, usually at a separate dyehouse. The dyehouse must cover the costs of land and buildings, machinery maintenance, utilities, waste disposal, dye and associated chemicals, and more highly skilled labor. Again, each of the people working at the dyehouse needs to make a decent living, and there needs to be enough profit to keep the business viable.
How Does This Yarn Make Its Way to the Knitter?
We're not done yet. This yarn needs to find its way into the hands of you, the knitter.
A distributor must warehouse and ship the yarn, with the attendant costs of facilities and labor. A sales rep must present the yarn to the yarn store owners, or the distributor must incur the costs of displaying their yarn at a wholesale trade show. Someone must make samples to show you what the yarn can do and inspire you to buy. Someone must photograph the yarn and write the descriptions that accompany those photographs on the retailer's website. Someone must build and maintain that website.
A local yarn store will, of course, need to cover all the costs associated with any brick-and-mortar store.
All these someones are people with bills to pay, just like you. For each of them, this is work for which they, of course, expect to be paid.
That $16 skein of yarn seems like a bargain when you acknowledge all the people who had a hand in producing it.
Why Do We Expect Things to be Inexpensive?
Globalization has pushed the production of many of the things we use in our daily lives to parts of the world where labor is cheap. At the same time, fewer people in North America and Europe are directly involved in making things.
When we don’t understand or appreciate what goes into making the things we buy, we tend to undervalue them. Our perception of their value becomes skewed. We feel entitled to have what we want at a low cost. And we fail to consider the impact of this entitlement on the people who make our things.
Because we expect things to be cheap, big retailers put pressure on their suppliers to bring costs down. They buy in huge volume, forcing factories (mostly in Asia) to meet their price demands to keep the business. Wages, working conditions, and quality suffer.
Somehow, developed societies have decided it's OK to treat less-developed societies like our sweatshops. We've collectively decided it's fine with us to have workers earning pennies a day working in deplorable conditions if that means we can easily satisfy our never-ending appetite for stuff we don't need.
Yarn is a Luxury Purchase
Let's be clear: nobody needs to buy handknitting yarn. It isn't food, or housing, or health care. Society has no obligation to make yarn accessible to everyone. Hand knitting is not a necessary or cost-effective means of clothing yourself. It is a privilege to be able to indulge in knitting, either as a hobby or as a vocation.
Those of us who've been at this a while may be tempted by to say, "I remember when I could buy a sweater's worth of yarn for $50." But nothing costs what it used to.
Hopefully, your income is higher now than it was 10 or 20 years ago. All the people involved in making your yarn are subject to the same inflationary pressures you are. Their costs for food, housing, transportation, etc. have increased, just as yours have. Their incomes need to rise, just like yours, to keep up. And that means yarn prices need to rise.
High-Quality Yarn is Expensive…
As It Should Be
Of course, you can buy inexpensive yarn. It is likely to be made from petrochemicals, manufactured in China or Turkey under working conditions to which you would never subject yourself or your children.
Or you can buy high-quality yarn made from natural fibers by companies that treat people, land, and animals with respect. This yarn will not be inexpensive. And that’s as it should be.
I completely understand that not everyone has the means to buy many of the yarns I use. There are lots of things I'd like to buy that I can't afford. We all get to choose how we spend what money we have, based on our values, our priorities, and our resources.
Some things that caught my eye
This segment from CBS Sunday Morning is lovely. I always love seeing the media shine a light on people using a traditional yarn craft (in this case, crochet) to have a positive impact on their communities.
I spent the past weekend obsessed with a podcast: Rachel Maddow presents Ultra. This podcast illuminates an episode in American history of which I was completely ignorant. Maddow is a gifted storyteller, and undoubtedly the smartest person in any room she enters. I appreciate her celebration of the journalists and historians who dig for the truth and assemble the threads which create the fabric of history. If you'll be voting in the American presidential election this fall, please listen to this podcast first.
I wrote an article about superwash wool which was published in Farm & Fiber Knits. Read it here.
Thank you, as always, for inviting me to your inbox and giving me your attention. I know I got a little soapbox-y this week. I’d love to hear what you think. Leave a comment and tell me what you think about yarn prices. Feel free to (respectfully) disagree with my opinions. I’m looking forward to reading the discussion!
I am the blog reader and posed the question about yarn. I know that no one is getting rich working in the yarn business. Not a one. In fact I see people having to do other things in order to maintain their yarn store. They can add additional complimentary products, weaving, spinning, dyeing. Or in one owners experience do her old job two days a week. I guess I am remembering back to the late 1980s when skeins of worsted weight could go for $8.50 and you could easily get a sweater for under $100. I can still do that today, but it takes a lot of time. Up until 7 years ago I was employed, I lived on the east-coast and there were a fair amount of yarn stores. Now I am retired, don't live on the east-coast, and given the current economy very aware of the cost of things. Groceries have gone up tremendously, car repairs, house repairs, and other life experiences all cost a great deal now. I could grocery shop for $150 biweekly, that is gone now. Just this past week I crashed over the $250 mark and was buying necessities only and on sale items. No extra income for yarn. I know there are many people in the supply line and from sheep to lys it is continually increasing in price. I am now recognizing that there will be no yarn crawls this year, or trips to far away lands to see yarn in its natural habitat. I hoped then when I retired that there would be more time to knit and buy yarn. I think there is an old saying "You make plans and God laughs" is where I am now. I also realize that I am better off in many respects, I stashed seriously when I was employed. I had magazines I could buy Vogue Knitting, Knitters, interweave knits and the fall always meant a couple of new books. That has drastically changed, While I love the internet because we can have these conversations, I miss print magazines. See, it is that vixen change! I can still and do knit for myself and others. I use more acrylics than I have ever used because the recipients are busy and can't take care of a wool hat. I also donate to orphanages, American Indian warm clothes drives and knit the occasional pair of thick socks.
I have also noticed a lot of yarn stores closing and I really mourn these oasis of texture and possibilities. I know that yarn goes in and out as a trend. I know I can still buy a great pattern. You made a remark that hopefully our salaries have increased over the years. My personal experience is that my salary did not increase nor did the income of a lot of people. IT is just that reality for a lot of people. I also think that when a newbie knitter comes into a store everything is beautiful and wonderful until they see the price tag. Knitting is now expensive. Once you get "into the life" you find resources that help you along. The kind knitter that sits next to you at your yarn store mentions she has extra yarn and would you like it? We knitters, I have found, once we get to know you offer lots of yarn, patterns, needles to the newbies.
So while $15 is a lot for a skein of yarn, the reality is, that no one is getting rich knitting. That $15 employs a wide range of experts at various phases of yarn production. I can get hours of fun and possibly make a patchwork quilt, hand-warmers, socks or sew up all my swatches and make a blanket!
thanks so much for the article.
Patty
Thank you so much for this detailed article, Sandi. While the price of some yarns might put me off, I could never begrudge a company trying to stay afloat. I think I mentioned once (or twice) that years ago I tried to have a little business selling hand spun, hand dyed cotton yarn. Since it was just me, I burned out quickly. My brief experience with that business made me aware of all the things that go into a business, things—like labor—that have a cost. I have deep respect for anyone who makes and sells yarn. As it is, I have so much yarn stashed in my cedar chest (and some of that yarn was added after I started reading your newsletter 😉) that I really don’t need to buy any more. I just love yarn and, like you, I look for the sales and discounts that fit with my fixed income. By the way, I read your Superwash article. I’ve knitted a lot of Superwash, mainly kid stuff since I knew the parents would hate me to give them something that had to be hand washed, plus I don’t like handwashing either. After reading your article, I don’t plan to buy Superwash anymore.