Hey you all! I need some ideas. I am a part of a sorority that does a spring craft auction to fund a scholarship. I would like to do knitted or crocheted items this year. Any ideas on what might bring in some good money but not to be too difficult to pull off?
Need some Ideas for a spring auction
Depends on how well the people who wll be buying know knitting. Socks are always popular. My aunt recently knit a baby surprise jacket for a craft sale. Maybe other baby items? People always seem to like dishcloths too.
There is a always scarves, headbands,mittens.
Perhaps a simple afghan, people seem to “get it” a little more when it’s something they can throw on the back of the couch and use on a regular basis. Depending on your climate I would also suggest mittens, again, regularly used, people have to own them anyway. If you’re into fair isle that tends to impress people a lot and might bring in more than a single color item.
bath mitts and soaps
Who’s the craft auction geared toward? College age, the surrounding community (meaning all ages - little kids through adults), other groups? If you’ve geared it toward the whole community, if you can find some knit animal patterns, kids always LOVE stuffed animals…and then you can do little sweaters and stuff to go on them. I know I’ve beat this horse to death, but I’m doing little bags (“Knitted Pouch” by Janelle Schlossman) for goodie bags for my upcoming class reunion. There’re pretty small - just enough for some little items - but do them up in the school colors, find a little knick-knack (you can find all kinds of little things like little charms, inexpensive chains, etc.) to put in them, put them for sale as a “grab bag” type thing.
Also, there’s always the dishcloths, hair scrunchies, scarves, etc.
I also saw somewhere soap sacks. I can’t find the link I was looking for, but did find others. The one I originally saw used wool and felted as you used it and the soap inside dissolved. The ones I found by googling were reusable.
Thanks so much you all for the ideas!!
We are in West Texas…major hot here. I am thinking about soap sweater set with a face cloth and some nice bath products in a felt bag thingy. I am thinking about a felted easter basket with some knitted easter eggs, maybe a knitted bunny. The bath mitts for kids would be a good idea too.
Thanks a ton and keep em coming. It is geared toward the whole community and i want to keep it size specific…hats, mittens, and scarves aren’t needed a ton around here. Thanks again.
What about an openwork coverup for swimming, etc?
Knitting Pattern Central also has a cute pattern called “Rose of Sharon Lace Hat and Bag”. It would be really cute for kids, and since it’s done in cotton, would be a nice way to keep their heads protected from the sun.
A surprising number of people like discloths. The Ball Band dish cloth is easy and colorful as you use two colors. Pattern can be found in Mason Dixon Knitting or here: http://www.canadianliving.com/crafts/knitting/knit_a_ballband_dishcloth.php
Here are some Texas dish cloths: http://www.knittingknonsense.com/texascloth.html
http://knittingmemories.blogspot.com/2007/04/texas-flag-map.html
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kayleenknits/295951494/
http://anewtwistondishcloths.blogspot.com/2005/07/texas-tech-gf-dishcloth.html
These all look easy and would be quick, you could make several of them quickly. You could even get other knitters to help.
For the community at large, I would think baby items (caps, booties, and/or lightweight sweaters) are always a good bet, and they are usually quicker projects, too, plus the materials can be purchased inexpensively. When my kids were small, I had the cutest little towel with a knitted hood attached to one corner that was my absolute favorite bath accessory.
I also have seen cute knitted and/or felting patterns for accessories aimed at teens and tweens, too - I have a set of patterns in one of my beginner books for a cell phone carrycase, small drawstring purse, with matching beanie cap that are meant for tween girls and very cute. And along those same lines, I would second the notion of knitted headbands and bath accessories.
You all are awesome!!!
I love the coverup idea and the hat/bag idea. I am going to do a dishcloth, kitchen felted soap, with a beaded dishsoap holder. Thanks for the ideas…keep em coming and links to patterns are weclome too. I would love a pattern for a cover up if anyone knows a good one…I can do a coverup with fuzzy flipflops. 
Last year I made 2 purses that I donated for a silent auction at my neice’s school. The auction was in May and I used Rowan Summer Tweed which is a silk and cotton yarn (and very yummy!!). I alos had some really pretty wood handles. I used a pattern similar to this: http://www.straw.com/cpy/patterns/cameo-bag.html
Since the bags were cotton/silk they were great for the summer. I think the wooden handles I used were much nicer than the ones they used and the bags looked really classy - they both sold for over $75.00 each in the auction.
If you don’t like this bag - there are tons of bag patterns out there!
Thanks…that purse is cute! Where did you get your wood handles?
if you want to get more on the smaller items like the baby items, do them in organic cotton. everyone pays more for organic. I was approached by a woman who wanted to pay me just to make organic baby items.
I would recommend something cute and funky as well. Las Vegas (the tv show on nbc) just showed the cutest crocheted bikini. College girls would probably like the Quant in the school colors for the football games.
Rennagayle posted about this in the StashBuster Ideas thread in Pattern Central (Post #5). 
Here’s the link to the pattern.
I saw this yesterday and I thought it was the cutest idea! It seems like it would be a great way to use soap and maybe less wasteful when you get to the end of it.
Actually, there might be a lot of cute ideas that you could use in that thread – iPod/cell phone cozies and a nifty water bottle tote, to name a couple. 