It isn't often that I use the blog for thoughts on the knitting world, but I hope you won't mind too much if I do so today.  A few days back, a question was raised on Twitter which got me thinking about one particular aspect. From time to time dyers get asked if they will offer "yarn support" to a particular designer or magazine or group. When a designer wants to create a new design they think about the weight of yarn they would like to use and then look around for suitable yarns that fit the bill. Sometimes they may see a yarn they love and work a design around that specific yarn. Either way they need the yarn to make up the garment in order to get photographs for the pattern. It is at this stage that they approach dyers or yarn companies for yarn support.

Now, for "yarn support" you sometimes need to read "free yarn", because at times a designer will ask for the yarn to be donated free of charge based on the quid pro quo that the pattern itself will sell more yarn for the dyer or company. The question that was asked on Twitter was "Dyers, in your experience, does Yarn Support actually sell yarn?". Now I'm not sure if Natalie of The Yarn Yard, who posed the question, got a straight yes or no answer from anybody, but it got me thinking. Very soon there was a bit of a discussion happening on Twitter and four tweeters, 2 designers/tech editors and 2 dyers, agreed to write posts on the subject and publish them on Friday 13th July.

And so my thought processes began.

I thought about the times I've been asked for, and have (and haven't!) given, yarn support and I realised that with a business head on, it doesn't make a lot of financial sense - it rarely sells yarn. There are exceptions. Recently Rosemary Hill published a pattern for a shawl using my silk/merino 4ply yarn, and that has been a huge success for me.  Rosemary didn't ask me for yarn - I have long admired her designs and so I sent it to her off my own cuff, and she loved it enough to design a shawl with it. I had the confidence in my product to feel sure that she would love it and that it would be worth my while sending it to her, and that self-confidence was shown to be right.  I have also had instances where somebody has bought yarn from me and then designed something with the yarn, as was the case when Melanie Edgar designed Bereliand socks and Polly Outhwaite designed both Alina and Maia.

So I started to think about this from a designer's point of view. I wondered why they would ask to be given yarn free of charge - surely they build the price of the yarn into the selling price of the pattern? Say, for example, a pattern requires one hank of my silk laceweight. That would cost them £19. So the cost to the designer of designing the pattern would include a one off fee for knitting up the sample.  Now I don't know enough about designing to know what other costs are involved but there will be technical editing, test knitting, and of course the designers time. So my query would be this, in amongst all the other costs is £19 that much? Is it really necessary to ask to be given yarn free of charge?   It may be that it is, but perhaps some other arrangement could be made that suits both designer and dyer.  Sometimes it is a magazine which approaches a dyer or yarn company for yarn. Again, assuming they wanted to use my pure silk for a scarf or a shawl, does £19 tip the budget for producing a pattern completely over the edge? Of course there are times when a larger garment is being designed and more yarn is required, but I still believe very firmly that dyers should receive payment for the work which they do and the positive impact that their yarn has on the overall success of a pattern or design.  Perhaps there could be some negotiation over price if a large quantity is required, but many indie dyers offer a wholesale service which could be helpful in these instances.

Now I don't think that it is the cost that is the problem. I think that it is just the way it has always been. Designers/magazines want to do a design and so they approach a dyer assuming that the payback for the dyer will be that lots of folk buy their yarn to make the pattern. But my experience shows that doesn't often happen. Knitters are canny folk. They know how to substitute yarns. Heavens, I do it myself all the time. I can't actually remember the last time I used the yarn specified in a pattern (except for patterns which use Ripples Crafts yarn, of course). The choice for knitters is huge - why should they restrict themselves to the yarn which the designer used for the pattern when there is a whole wealth of fibres and colours and yarns to choose from. And I applaud that creativity on the part of knitters.

Part of the change, I think, has come about because more and more designers are independent and self publishing - something which has been excellent for the world of knitting. Thinking back to the days when I learned to knit the designer never featured in a pattern. You bought a Patons or Coats or Elle pattern, but you had no idea who the individual designer was. The pattern design was driven by the yarn company, and so sourcing yarn to test a pattern was not an issue. With the growth of the internet and blogs designers became known in their own right, and they began to sell directly to knitters using sites such as Ravelry, or Twist Collective. Before either of these online sites were available Knitty was promoting the work of independent designers. As designers became detached from yarn companies, so they became detached from an endless supply of yarn and the search for yarn support grew.

But what does it say about the value of my own work when I am asked for yarn support? There is the actual cost in time and ingredients of producing a hand dyed hank of yarn but there is also, perhaps most importantly, my skill that produces a hank of yarn that a designer covets for a particular idea or design. Does it devalue what I do if I'm prepared to just hand it over and say "there you go, no charge"? It struck me that I was being unprofessional by allowing my skill to be mildly exploited. I am a small business, and I take care over every skein I dye as I can't afford to waste a single skein. Larger commercial mills may have a percentage of yarn which they look on as “wastage” - I don't have this luxury.

I know very well that having samples of knitted garments on a show stall sells yarn. Folk like to see and be given ideas of how to use hand dyed yarn. They want to see that if they knit a large garment with hand dyed it won't look blotchy and patchy because the yarn has been dyed in small batches. (Cue my photograph of Still Light which I love so much!):



Perhaps they want to see examples of a small project to inspire them to try a new yarn in the range to both see if they like it and if they want to make something larger with a yarn. But it is different when knitters see a pattern in print without physically seeing the finished product – this format rarely sells yarn.

Because of the discussion on Twitter I am now in conversation with a designer about how designers and dyers can work on a more equitable footing, and as colleagues which is really encouraging. I'm not coming over all arty and sitting with my hand on my forehead and dramatically declaring "I am an artist who suffers for her art", and I hope this post does not come across as whiny either, as that is certainly not my intention. I love what I do and I love the fact that designers see my work and say "wow, I could design something with that". I look forward to having a closer working relationship with designers which is more equitable. Designers and dyers are both specialists in their field, so co-working on projects should be possible.

My reply to Natalie's original Twitter question was “I look forward to the day when indie dyers receive pattern support. Turns things upside down a bit, but could be worthwhile”. I think that because of the discussions now taking place, that may, in some form, become a reality. I look forward, optimistically, to a long collaboration with designers.

Now that you have read my thoughts, make sure you read those of Natalie at The Yarn Yard, Rachel at My Life in Knitwear and Ruth at Rock and Purl. And please feel free to leave a comment giving your own thoughts on the matter.