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| Tuesday, November 01, 2011 |
| WSJ: Knitting for a living? |
 The Wall Street Journal Article: As Jobs Vanish, Sticking to Knitting profiles recent University of California Berkley graduate Shelby Stofle (24 years old) of Suisun City, California who has been unable to find steady work (let alone something that utilizes her degree). "It wasn't what everybody tells you is going to happen when you graduate," said Ms. Stofle, who studied abroad in Ghana while in college, raises chickens in her backyard and dyes wool as a hobby.
Discouraged, she shifted gears and signed up in January for a free state-run training program near Suisun City. Over several months, she learned how to install solar panels and other skills, but nothing translated into a job.
In March, Ms. Stofle was hired to tend and sell plants for a nursery. But her hours have been cut and she now works part-time, taking home about $1,200 a month after taxes.
"You hear you're going to get into a career, and it's going to start paying a lot—that's why you go to school," she said. "But I make as much now as my 17-year-old co-worker. I took the time and spent the money to go to school. Did it mean anything?"
Her husband, Greg King, a 29-year-old student at California State University at Sacramento, brings in $700 after taxes each month as a part-time food clerk and bookkeeper at grocery chain Safeway.
That leaves the couple scraping to pay their monthly bills, including $525 in rent, a $300 car payment, and Ms. Stofle's student-loan payment of $110. Their expenses will increase when Mr. King graduates in December with $30,000 in student loans. Her plan at this point? "With many employment options exhausted, she said she feels her best shot is to set up her own business, selling her hand-made scarves at craft fairs and farmers' markets."http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
My advice? For what it is worth - explore all of your entrepreneurial options with knitting, but focus on where the best profit potential lies. Is spending your time knitting scarfs and then manning fair booths selling them the best way to profit or is setting up a web site or Etsy store and bulk selling your hand dyed wool? Maybe it is spinning raw wool and selling that to others who want to hand dye but don't live in a rural area with access to farms. Perhaps it is a combination of all of the above. The important thing is to try to figure out how to produce enough income throughout the year to consider this a viable career.
- Berkley article about ShelbyLabels: Money Stories |
| posted by Boston Gal @ 8:37 AM *
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| 5 Comments: |
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Interesting article. Knitting is expensive though, and many people who buy knitted things don't know that.
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"In Ghana, I lived and studied at the University in Legon, just outside the capital, Accra. I stayed in the International Students Hostel, a dorm on campus. I took classes in the Geography department, a Ghanaian dance class, and a class in Twi, the local language. There were so many experiences in Ghana that I learned from! It’s hard for me to boil down five months to a couple of experiences that exemplify my time there, but I can say I discovered incredible warmth and kindness from people I'd just met."
Sounds like at least some of the student loans were for an extended vacation. Does she deserve sympathy?
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"Shelby Stofle
Senior, Conservation and Resource Studies"
I have no idea what that major is even supposed to be, let alone how one would find a job with such a degree.
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Great school, but poor major. Shows that once again it's the major that is chosen, not the name brand of the school
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Well my advice for the little mister (mr) is to get a better job - even when I worked in tech support as a phone ho - I brought home $1400 a month - that would double your income -
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Interesting article. Knitting is expensive though, and many people who buy knitted things don't know that.