Whether you want to teach brand-new knitters how to improve their stitches so that their rows are even or teach complicated intarsia to advanced crafters, creating lesson plans and utilizing your skills is a great way for you to earn from knitting.
What Skills Do You Need to Teach Knitting?
There are a few skills you should have if you want to teach knitting for a living. These include the following:
How Much Do Knit Teachers Earn?
The amount a knitting teacher will earn will depend on the location and the number of people in the class. If they are hired by a local yarn shop, a school, or another business, they typically earn an hourly wage.
Typically, knit teachers work for themselves and set a price for the class. At that point, they will earn that amount from each person who takes the class. For example, if your class costs $25 and 3 people sign up for it, you will make $75. If 5 people sign up for it, you will make $125. The prices for the classes will vary on the teacher unless they are working through an organization.
Do You Need a Degree or Certification to Teach Knitting?
Most of the time, you don’t need a degree or certification to teach knitting. Some organizations (such as Craft Yarn Council) do require you to be certified through them in order to teach at their events.
That being said, it doesn’t hurt to have a certification, either through Craft Yarn Council, The Knitting Guild Association (TKGA), or another program. Certification can show that you have mastered certain aspects of the craft and that you are committed to quality.
You can also detail any experience you have received from taking classes or courses yourself when marketing your own classes.
Where Can You Teach Knitting?
As knitting is so hands-on, the most successful classes are held in person. I will cover ways you can teach online as well. Here are a few places where you may be able to teach knitting.
Finding a Place to Knit
When teaching in person, you will need a location where you and your students can gather. There are pros and cons to teaching in your home vs out in the community. Teaching in your home may be easiest on your schedule but it does require you to have a good space for teaching and it could infringe on your privacy.
Finding a public venue can be more difficult, and you may need to pay fees or share a part of what you make. People are often more comfortable meeting in a public place, however, and the venue may be willing to put up a flyer about your class.
Teach Knitting Locally
Here are a few places where you may be able to teach knitting classes in your local area:
Teach Knitting Online
In addition to teaching locally, you may be able to earn some passive income by creating content online:
What to Teach at a Knitting Class
Teaching knitting classes can be a lot of fun, but you do need to be organized. It will be your responsibility to create the concept of the class and outline what it will cover. Make sure that your students know what to expect and what they need to bring to class (needles, yarn, books, etc). If you are providing materials (as part of your fee), make sure they know that as well.
Here are a few topics you can cover:
- Basics for Beginners
- Topical classes for specific techniques (such as knitting-in-the-round or adding notions at the end of a project)
- Pattern courses where you knit together over the course of 2-3 classes. You will help with the cast-on, bind off and how to block the finished product. You may need to assign homework (they will knit certain portions away from class) to ensure that the project is completed. If you have designed your own pattern for the class, this is a good way to share it.
- Design/Alter class – teach them to design or alter designs to fit their personal style