My $75 Pumpkin Spice Blanket Took Almost 200 Hours

Okay, you've heard me talk a lot lately about this fall pumpkin spice blanket. I officially completed it. Here is my picture as proof, and I absolutely am proud of this project.

The colors and pattern turned out so great, and I learned so many new stitches along the way!

Why I Bought a $75 Kit Instead of Loose Yarn

Buying the supplies for this project cost me about $75 for the yarn and the pattern, which can be kind of expensive. You probably could have bought the yarn by itself cheaper, but I just like to buy everything all together in a kit that was offered to me and get everything sent at the same time.

If I had to guess, I think it probably took me about eight to ten skeins to get this completely done. The pattern includes something like 10 or 12 different colors, but you don't use all the skeins of every color when you make the blanket. I paid full price for it, nothing was on sale, but I just wanted it to all come together, be in the same color scheme and the lot batches, and just have it ready to go.

Six Weeks of Nights to Reach Almost 200 Hours

I probably sat five nights a week for a little over six weeks to get this blanket done, especially because I was trying to get it done before fall started so I could display it. Each night I would probably spend an average of two and a half or three hours on this blanket.

I think when I calculated it, by the time I was done with everything, weaving in my ends, sewing on all the detail, and just getting it all finished up and go, I think it was probably almost 200 hours worth of work that I put into it.

Why a Craft Shop Could Charge $120 for This

Now, if a store were selling this, if you came across this in your local Costco or Walmart, any throw blanket you can find would probably be anywhere from $40 to $60. Even if you found this at a local craft shop, I bet someone could maybe charge $120 for it.

It's also really hard to calculate all the time and effort that goes into it, and to set a price someone would find appealing for something like this.

Quoting Custom Orders at $450 to $500

And the cost of your time absolutely gets lost in something like this when you're trying to price it out. People have come to me and asked me to make them throw blankets like this one. And I have to tell them that for it to be worth my time and effort, it would probably cost $450 or $500. And of course, they don't want to pay that.

It just takes a lot of time and skill and detail to sit down and finish something like this. So, obviously, you'll never be able to charge what you would need to make all the time worth it.

People Think Yarn Is Cheap So It Should Be Too

It's hard to explain that to people sometimes. Not everybody understands that your time is worth something. They just think yarn is cheap; you have this skill, and you should be able to throw something together. Some people now do value it, and they see the value in it, and they do enjoy it. And I do appreciate that.

But when you're just trying to sell to the general public, a lot of people don't understand how that one blanket or that one project could cost so much of your time and effort.

Why Big Projects Like This Stay in My House

And this is why this hobby has become something for myself. Now, don't get me wrong, I love making things for people when they ask me to, and I will absolutely take custom orders.

But big projects like this are just for me. They're just for me to enjoy, they're for me to learn new things, they're for me to stretch my skills and become better in my craft. Then I get to keep them in my house, display them, and enjoy them for myself. And I'm totally fine with that.