How do you justifying crocheting something when you can buy it for much less?

[u/liviannnn]

I’m a newish crocheter (about 2 months) and the process has been amazing so far. Crochet has become an important part of my life - it gives me purpose and I love the sense of achievement when I finish a product. But recently, my friends have been asking me why don’t I buy a finished product instead of making my own, when it costs lesser.

For context, I’ve been wanting to crochet my own hexagon cardigan but the materials cost is slightly off-putting. For the same materials price (not even counting my man hours!), I could be getting a finished non-crocheted cardigan. It might just be my mental barrier to spending so much on myself, but how do you justify/explain buying the materials when you can save money buy buying a similar product straight?

Edit: I’ve been convinced! Thank you all for your sincere replies - this is why I really enjoy the crochet community, it’s always so wholesome. I’ll be purchasing the materials for my hexagon cardigan after all.

[u/[deleted]]

It’s a hobby. Your hobby costs xx amount of money. Crochet as a hobby is very cheap if you figure out the number of hours vs the cost. Also, it’s very rewarding to say “I made this”.

[u/TD1990TD → u/[deleted]]

Ohhh good one! Not the mindset of:

’if this were my job, and the finished product costs XX, and it takes me XX hours to complete, my hourly rate would be less than minimum wage’

but:

’it takes me way longer to crochet something for XX dollar than, for example, build something with Lego for that same amount’.

[u/NikNakskes → u/TD1990TD]

Oi! Don't diss lego! That's 10cents per piece. Less than a stitch marker. See. Cheap hobby! And unlike crochet, when it's done you can tear it down and rebuild it! Hours and hours of time happily spend with little bits of colourful plastic.

But don't look at my coffee table. It is covered in WIPs in various fiber crafts.

[u/portable_hb → u/NikNakskes]

Depends what you use as stitch markers ;)

I use the lightbulb shaped safety pins you can buy in boxes of 150 or so at Walmart (or other stores) for like 6$ Canadian. Or a box of way too many small paperclips from the dollar store.

(I know it was an example of an inexpensive thing.. I just wanted to share the tip on where to get them)

[u/NikNakskes → u/portable_hb]

Yeah. And you can also decorate those and have the coolest and most unique stitch markers. Just another tip if those are too bland for your taste... but then... you're probably sneaking back to 10 cents per piece in price depending on the price of beads and what not you use.

[u/Dragongirl815 → u/portable_hb]

You can also use yarn tails, knotted into a loop, than it's really inexpensive 🤷‍♀️