Are You Making Luxury Knits?

A while ago, I asked my Instagram community about how they think of their handmade yarn projects. Do they think of them as luxury knits? Or do they think of their knits in other ways?

The responses were pretty interesting. I’ll break them down here along with a discussion of how we define “luxury” generally, and then I’m going to spend some time exploring how I define “luxury” for myself. Finally, we’ll come back around and examine whether, with an expanded list of criteria, our knits might just be luxury knits after all.

What Makes Something a Luxury Item, Anyway?

“Luxury” is a funny word. Depending on who you are and your life experiences, it can have a positive or negative connotation. Some people think of luxuries as special treasures to be cherished and enjoyed. Others think of luxuries as wasteful, frivolous things. Some think of them as inaccessible and only available to the elite. Others think of them as things to actively seek out because they make life more pleasant.

And yet, after talking to a bunch of knitters about the concept of luxury, I think it’s pretty clear we’re working from a more complex, nuanced definition.

Let’s Explore the Survey Results

There were two factors that came up over and over when I asked my community about how they defined the concept of luxury.

Expense

The number one factor respondents said they considered when deciding whether something is a luxury item is how much it cost. Now, we knitters know that even the most basic knit item generally costs more than non-knitters would expect it to cost. When you factor in the other tools you might need, like needles and stitch markers and notions, things can add up quickly.

On the other hand, we also know that on a purely objective scale, we can make some knit things for not a ton of money. If I get a yarn on clearance and use needles I already have, I can make myself a sweater for about the cost of buying one (if I don’t factor in my time, which we’ll talk about in a moment).

Expense is definitely one factor, but I don’t think it should be the sole determinant of whether something is a luxury or not. In fact, I’m not sure it should be anywhere near as important as we make it out to be.

Quality of Materials

A few knitters also responded to my questions to say that, when a knit item is made with special fibers, that made it a luxury item for them. That’s one of the factors I consider, too! Items made with cashmere, angora, mohair, vicuña, silk, and other rare (usually very soft) fibers feel extra special.

But I’d argue that even handknits made from a cone of Sugar ‘n’ Cream cotton or acrylic sold in a one-pound skein are luxuries, too. We’ll come back to this in a bit.

Other Things I Consider When Deciding Whether Something is a Luxury

When I think about luxury, I think a lot about some of the concepts that are buried a little deeper in the dictionary definitions.

Exclusivity

When I think about luxury goods, I often think about how hard it is to get them. Sometimes, luxury retailers will use enforced scarcity to maintain the prestige of their brand. Other times, they’ll manufacture their items with materials that are rare, so nature imposes that scarcity.

In any case, a luxury good can sometimes be a thing that not everybody can get their hands on.

Rarity

Related to exclusivity, but not exactly the same, is rarity. When I get to use, do, or experience something very rarely, and that thing is pleasant, then it often feels luxurious to me.

This is where luxury really starts moving away from cost considerations. There are so many things I love and consider luxuries that cost nothing or very little. Here are some of them:

1. Sitting outside in my backyard with a mug of freshly brewed coffee on a sunny morning.
2. Taking a long nap on the weekend.
3. Extra hot baths with a good book.
4. Small treats friends bring back from visits to far-off places (if you go to Spain and bring me some turrón, I will love you forever).

When we look at the concept of luxury from this angle, it’s less about cost and more about (1) how a thing makes us feel and (2) how often we get to experience that thing. In this sense, it’s not about exclusivity, because they’re accessible to a wide variety of people, but they may be rare because we don’t often have time, good weather, friends bringing treats back from trips, and so on.

Time Investment

Another factor I might consider when deciding whether something is a luxury good is the time that went into making it.

So often we focus on the purpose of the knit item rather than the things that go into making them. A handknit dishcloth is still fancier than a cellulose cloth you can buy at the store. A handknit grocery bag is still fancier than the plastic ones.

But why is that?

Because of the time and skill that goes into making handmade items. This is not a knock on machine-made goods, many of which are excellent (and frankly, 98% of the stuff in my home is machine-made). There is just something special about items that you know took extra time and extra training and extra experience to make, and especially to make well.

Handmade and Heritage Techniques

Another thing I consider is how a thing is made. I always think of handmade items as being more luxurious than machine-made items. Handmade soaps will always catch my eye. Hand-tooled leather will get me to plunk down some cash every time.

Items made with heritage techniques will also catch my attention. Is the yarn dyed using natural dye methods that were passed down through centuries of craftspeople? Can I get glass that artisans made in the same workshop where they’ve made the glass for 800 years? Or maybe you’ve got some wool from a breed of sheep that has been brought back from the brink, and it’s a wool that weavers loved in the days before industrial farming and manufacturing.

Count me in. I’m sold.

Bespoke Elements

In a world where so many of the things in our life are mass manufactured, it’s rare to have something made specifically for our own measurements, tastes, and preferences. Even when we buy so-called luxury garments in stores, maybe made from thick cashmere and sporting a subtle but very recognizable tag inside, they’re generally sold in pre-determined sizes.

We can’t really adjust them for our proportions unless we’re willing to invest more money and time into having everything tailored. Sleeve lengths are what they are. Shoulders come in certain widths. A top is a specific length and no longer.

But when I knit something for myself, I can make that thing exactly how I want it. I can adjust the body length of a sweater for my longer torso. Sweater sleeves? I can shorten those to accommodate my preference for not having fabric around my wrists. If a neckline annoys me, I can change it from a deep V to a scoop or even a boatneck if I choose.

When I knit for myself, I can knit with the exact fibers I want, in the exact colors I want, from the exact dyers I want (and even the exact shepherds, sometimes).

So Are Your Knits Luxury Knits?

Let’s put this all together now and analyze whether our knits might be luxury knits after all. We can go through our list of criteria from above and check things off.

Expense:

This is probably one of the trickier criteria on our list, in part because “expensive” is so dependent on context. $100 on yarn for a sweater may be cost-prohibitive for some knitters, while others don’t blink at it. It’s also tricky because a significant factor in the cost of manufactured goods is the time a worker spends making it, which we often don’t factor into considering the cost of our knits (see more on that below). Still, I often ask myself whether I’m paying more to make the item than I’d pay to buy it at the store, and if I am, that’s a check for this criterion.

Materials:

I think this is actually the least important item on this list. While working with a magnificently lush yarn is a wonderful experience, I’ve made things from Red Heart Super Saver that I also thought were luxury items because they ticked all the other boxes on this list. Basically, I’d say that if it’s made with a really splendid yarn, you can probably check this box, but if it’s not made with a really splendid yarn, it’s probably still ticking the other boxes on this list.

Exclusivity:

Knitters are overall a welcoming crowd who love teaching our craft to newbies. Knitting still requires time, patience, and practice, though, and not everybody can (or wants to) give that to fiber arts. That’s okay. We all have our needs and priorities. It does mean, however, that not everybody will be able to make or get their hands on some handknit clothing.

Rarity:

This one requires a bit of perspective. Yes, there are millions of knitters in the world, making tens of millions of things each year. That’s true. But when you compare that to the scale of the global garment industry, our handknit output is minuscule. What’s more, while there may be millions of knitters in the world, there’s only one of you. When I am at my most productive, I make maybe 20 things a year (I count a pair of socks as one thing). A handknit item by me is extraordinarily rare. So is a handknit item by you.

Time Investment:

This is where handknits really knock the ball out of the park. Think about a pair of handknit socks. One pair takes me, on average, 15-20 hours. Let’s assume an hourly pay of $15 an hour for those socks, because we are skilled artisans and deserve a basic living wage. That puts those socks at $225-$300 a pair, just in labor costs.

Handmade and Heritage Techniques:

Handknits are, by definition, handmade, so they’re already ticking this box. They also often incorporate heritage techniques, though. They use stitch patterns and color motifs that have been loved by knitters for generations. Think about gansey sweaters, stranded colorwork, and Estonian lace. There is rich history in our stitches. We are the bearers of precious knowledge.

Bespoke Elements:

This is an element that surfaces more and more as knitters gain experience. My first knit items were pretty straightforward. I followed the pattern exactly as written, made no modifications, and hoped I got something that fit me well. The more I learned about knitting, though, the more I started to modify my projects. Now, after 18 years, I often do things completely from scratch based on what I want at the time.

You can do your own analysis for your own handknits, too. I’d be willing to bet that with this expanded list of criteria, you might be surprised by the conclusions you reach.

And that’s because I firmly believe luxury isn’t about millionaires dropping tons of money on fancy things. True luxury is about feelings, the things we cherish, and the love and care that goes into them.

For me, handknits fit squarely in that category, and that’s a good thing.

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