The Hidden Math of Crochet Commissions: Lessons Learned the Hard Way

    Or When Hobby Meets Commission: A Crochet Tale of Math, Monograms, and Madness...

    So remember how I brought up doing a tapestry for a friend? Because she asked for a commission? And I decided to be nice and just do it at cost because I didn't want to sit there and figure out commission stuff and I don't want to do crochet as anything more than a hobby... (Well I ended up figuring out a bunch of stuff anyways. Wanna read about it? See end of article.) 

    Yeah, sigh. Now I'm regretting doing it at cost. Well partially. I'm still looking at it as an investment in a new friendship between moms. Anyways, the part that I regret. Something I've learned that might be a common problem in the fiber arts community especially for new small business hookers. (Crocheter's doesn't roll very well visually does it?) Is when a prospective client, customer, or friend requests changes to said thing.

    Good God, at least were still in the planning phase. But still! So like if you ever decide to commission crochet from someone, please, please don't do this! 

    Before we started this project. I did a mock up so I could get an estimate on yardage usage for the tapestry in the colors needed. Stitch Fiddle is good for getting an idea of yardage amount, if you look in the settings. I don't want to get into the math, but essentially long story short, stitch amounts in each color, gauge, and hook size are factored in, as well as techniques and stitch type like single crochet for example. There are estimated yardage calculations per stitch online you can use to factor stuff in.

    That said, I gave her the estimate for the supplies, and we went shopping like 3 weeks later when she could afford it. Now since there's this thing called dye lots in yarn. Sighing because this is a problem in sewing as well. Always buy enough plus surplus for projects because things might not be exact from bolt to bolt. The same goes for yarn too. 

    The problem I immediately encountered was right after we bought it and we were long gone from the store. She asked if we can monogram the bottom. And I was already factoring in fringe. 

    Yeah, I'm dying too if you know what this means. IYKYK Send help lol.

    Ahem... Anyhoodles, yeah, so the budget factored in yardage already with surplus. Of course she's like if you can make it happen. Last minute changes are sometimes bad for designers guys. Depends on the field. If this was a digital art piece, I'd be like yeah, sure whatever. Shrugs. But this. Oh god, I had to redo all my math and refactor everything in stitch fiddle I had to redesign it in hopes that my estimates would still keep me in my estimated yardage counts. If a change is big enough, more yarn needs to be bought because more yarn is consumed. And when that happens. There can be serious problems, depending on how trafficked your store is!

    Dye lot problems are the worst. They always tell you to buy enough in your dye lot for a reason. If you don't you run the risk of things not matching up quite right. And this happens to a lot of crocheters both hobbyists and professionals. Albeit not as much with the pros. 

    So tonight I spent a butt load of time tweaking. I'm tired. The redoing of the math part and everything and it turns out even with the changes I'm still in a safe window. Sigh of relief anyone? Holy hell. So yeah, that's the part I regret. Lesson learned. Next time someone asks me for anything. I need to make sure I bring this specific issue up, and ask ahead of time if they are sure on their design! Because once I give that estimate and materials are bought. The potential of not being able to go back without returning items and re-forwarding a budget is a huge deal and a waste of everyone's time. Not to mention a pain in the ass for the artist or artisan to explain why costs go up, because a lot of folks seem to think original quoting should stay the same. No, just. No! 

    So please, please if you are a prospective client for someone. Don't do this! And if you do be willing to pay more for their time because this is a lot of work and time, and definitely expect delays!

If you want to read more this specific side jaunt... (Tapestry)

Part 1: https://artofladyseshiiria.blogspot.com/2026/01/crochet-pattern-testing-ugh.html

Part 2: https://artofladyseshiiria.blogspot.com/2026/01/crochet-pattern-testing-success.html

Part 3: Chart Only https://artofladyseshiiria.blogspot.com/2026/02/skyrim-dark-brotherhood-we-know.html