New Posts  All Forums:
 

:o( - Page 2

post #21 of 184
6/30/04 at 4:15pm
Does anyone know her Website???

You may also like:

Read Mothering's Newest Articles and Blogs
There Is Not Always a "Fix" For the Difficult Child
10 Things You Don't Need For a New Baby
post #22 of 184
6/30/04 at 4:26pm
Those are awesome shorts - love the colors!!


Quote:
Originally Posted by TheGardenMama
It seems I have seen those before.....
You may be thinking of my custom KSS that I got a couple months ago: http://www.koolsheepsoakers.com/kool...php?id_gall=92
We lived in AZ for 10 years, and DH and I were married there. I worked with Karen to come up with a pattern to commemorate my : for the state!
post #23 of 184
6/30/04 at 5:12pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by carrietorgc
those are so cute! If you don't mind me asking, what was the $? And do you think she does custom longies (thinking ahead to winter).
Longies are 30 with US shipping--I ordered some.
post #24 of 184
6/30/04 at 6:25pm
Yeah, the cactus looks familiar. Maybe it was in the KSS gallery?

Cute shorts, I bet your boy will look so cute in them this summer.
post #25 of 184
6/30/04 at 6:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by twirlgirl
I keep re reading this post and wondering what this means...seen this wahms shorts before? seen the cactus embroidery?
I was thinking the same thing....I've seen that embroidery before....I remember someone making a comment about it looking like the desert/Arizona.

It's beautiful!!
post #26 of 184
6/30/04 at 6:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MiaPia
Those are awesome shorts - love the colors!!



You may be thinking of my custom KSS that I got a couple months ago: http://www.koolsheepsoakers.com/kool...php?id_gall=92
We lived in AZ for 10 years, and DH and I were married there. I worked with Karen to come up with a pattern to commemorate my : for the state!
Bingo! that's what I was remembering.
I love cactus/desert scenes.
post #27 of 184
6/30/04 at 6:40pm
I still can't believe you all would order this stuff from someone who *claims* that it is her 2 sisters living in China who are cranking out all these soakers out by hand. It plain doesn't compute, with the price tag on these things. I don't think many of you realize how long it takes to knit soakers & shorts & pants by hand - if you did, you'd feel guilty for paying so little.

Kinda neat how the BJM cactus looks EXACTLY like the KSS cactus, right down to the curve of the branches & the placement of the lazy-daisy white flowers What a coincidence.
post #28 of 184
6/30/04 at 8:52pm
Wow! Those are super cute!
post #29 of 184
6/30/04 at 8:57pm
Awww, how cute!
post #30 of 184
6/30/04 at 9:00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mehndi mama
I still can't believe you all would order this stuff from someone who *claims* that it is her 2 sisters living in China who are cranking out all these soakers out by hand. It plain doesn't compute, with the price tag on these things. I don't think many of you realize how long it takes to knit soakers & shorts & pants by hand - if you did, you'd feel guilty for paying so little.

Kinda neat how the BJM cactus looks EXACTLY like the KSS cactus, right down to the curve of the branches & the placement of the lazy-daisy white flowers What a coincidence.
I agree that it looks a lot like the KSS cactus.

But do you have info that her claims are false? Because it makes sense to me. The wage is cheaper in China because everything is cheaper in China - living expenses, etc. I have knit soakers and it takes me a while but I am pretty new to it. I am sure if I was a very good knitter, I would be able to do it a lot faster. I have bought 2 soakers from her and I guess quite frankly I don't feel badly about it. When you consider a lot of the big name soakers - BBB, MM, for example aren't THAT much more (~$22 for a BJM and ~36 for a BBB) it just that they are in higher demand with a lower supply.

I guess the question is, is it wrong for us to pay a woman in China less, if that is what she asks for, when her living expenses are less - should we insist on paying more - i.e. what you'd pay someone in the US? Quite frankly, the prices for the BBB and MM are way less than a good wage - i.e. if it takes say 6 hours (just a guess, it takes me MUCH longer) to knit a soaker, and you ask for $36, that's only $6 an hour. SHould we be paying more for US-made soakers on principle too? I guess I am just not sure what the problem is, unless we know that this is some sort of sweat-shop. The fact that she takes custom orders makes me feel like it isn't but I guess I could be wrong. What if these are WAHM's in China, and the $22 they get for a soaker is actually quite a bit of money for them?

BTW, I have seen other soakers sell for around the same price or less on EBay - mostly crocheted, not knitted, but still. And they definately look hand-made to me.
post #31 of 184
6/30/04 at 9:12pm
Those are very cute.
post #32 of 184
6/30/04 at 9:49pm
ITA with Stel. The sheer talent that it takes to do some of their more complex designs are worth far more. Yes, you can get them cheap because she has someone in a lower cost area making them for her. I think it has broader further reaching effects. What if all jobs moved to lesser wage areas. Computer jobs have gone to India. Toys to Thailand. Vehicles to Mexico. Garment making to Asia, Mexico and India. Why not soakers? I have no facts to back up my suspicions, but the sheer number of soakers that are being sold on Ebay by BJM seem like far far more than 2 ladies can churn out. I am suspect, have been suspect for a while, and unless things are answered in a clearer fashion, will not give my business to them.

ETA. They are really cute shorts. I love Karen's design.
post #33 of 184
6/30/04 at 9:57pm
I went back through the items they have listed from June 17th to today. 70 soakers and shorts. And that doesn't include the customs that have been done to date. And those are the ones with all the designs in them. Hello Kitty. The dogs. The stripes. Everything.

Humanly impossible for 2 women. Those are facts.

Meredith
post #34 of 184
6/30/04 at 10:01pm
Meredith~Don't forget they do wholesale in addition to ebay listings.
post #35 of 184
6/30/04 at 10:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by scrappinmomof3
I went back through the items they have listed from June 17th to today. 70 soakers and shorts. And that doesn't include the customs that have been done to date. And those are the ones with all the designs in them. Hello Kitty. The dogs. The stripes. Everything.

Humanly impossible for 2 women. Those are facts.

Meredith
Is the suspicion that they are machine-knit, or that they are knit in a sweat-shop?

I have no reason nor knowledge to defend or not to defend her. I am just interested in what the objection is - and I think if it's the worry that it's a sweatshop, I agree! But if it's just an objection to supporting non-american made products (even if they are made in a fine environment, such as a Chinese WAHM), I am not sure I do.
post #36 of 184
6/30/04 at 10:05pm
Quote:
Is the suspicion that they are machine-knit, or that they are knit in a sweat-shop?
Either of these constitute lying IMO. So either one would bother me. Advertise as machine knit if they are, not hand knit. It would explain the cheaper price. Sweatshop work is abhorrent to me.
post #37 of 184
6/30/04 at 11:19pm
I figured that she must have offered knitting work to other women, aside from her relatives, once business picked up and she knew there was a market for it.
post #38 of 184
6/30/04 at 11:29pm
I agree with the posters that there is something more to it. There are too many soakers for 2 women to be knitting. And something that isn't being taken into acct when figuring the price, is that Karen is making a profit on it, plus there is the cost of wool. That will leave very little for the actual knitter to be making per soaker if they're selling so cheaply to begin with. I'm curious just how much she is paying the knitters for the work and if they have to supply their own wool and needles.

The poster that calculated that if you take 6 hours to knit a soaker and charge $36 for it, you're making $6 an hour is forgetting the cost of yarn and other materials.
post #39 of 184
6/30/04 at 11:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mina
I agree with the posters that there is something more to it. There are too many soakers for 2 women to be knitting. And something that isn't being taken into acct when figuring the price, is that Karen is making a profit on it, plus there is the cost of wool. That will leave very little for the actual knitter to be making per soaker if they're selling so cheaply to begin with. I'm curious just how much she is paying the knitters for the work and if they have to supply their own wool and needles.

The poster that calculated that if you take 6 hours to knit a soaker and charge $36 for it, you're making $6 an hour is forgetting the cost of yarn and other materials.
Very true! But isn't the same thing true of U.S. WAHM's knitting soakers? And plus so many of the WAHM's here hand-dye their own yarn, reducing their per hour pay even further since that takes a while too. I am not arguing that there isn;t something fishy going on here. It does seem hard to understand, yet I guess I gave her the benefit of the doubt and as someone above said assumed that she gave out the work to more people as business picked up. But I am also saying that hand-knitting soakers is generally a tough way to recoup your time monetarily, unless you are charging a couple hundred of dallers per soaker!
post #40 of 184
6/30/04 at 11:53pm
But isn't a US WAHM there for the love of the craft (and to make a little money, too of course)? And she is the only one knitting her wares. Therein lies the difference.

You may also like:

Read Mothering's Newest Articles and Blogs
There Is Not Always a "Fix" For the Difficult Child
10 Things You Don't Need For a New Baby