A selfish knitter.

Is exactly how I describe myself! It doesn't sound good at all, does it?

I was chatting with some very good friends of ours on the weekend about starting small businesses, particularly online businesses. I have harboured a long-term goal for myself that eventually I would be well-practiced enough to be able to spin and dye yarns that are appropriate to be sold. The fact that I have one small child and one on the way hasn't interrupted this idea too much, it's mostly a thought that I will spend the best part of the next five to ten years building my skills and buying better equipment so that I will be able to devote enough time to this harebrained scheme and have it pay off as a legitimate career venture.

I've always felt very strongly that if you do something that you love as a career, you will never view it as 'work', or as something that you 'have to do'. However, this idea had a bit of a shake up on the weekend when Pete suggested that I could knit and sell the knitted items, particularly babies and children's clothes.

I thought about that and found that I just had to respond, saying "No, I don't think I could at this stage". I don't knit super-fast right now, and don't have huge, huge tracts of knit-time and so as I said to Pete, "When would I knit for me?" ('me' meaning me, my family and close friends - I'm not that selfish!).

And so, as much as I'm really looking forward to unleashing my peculiar talents on the world (and expecting them to pay, of course!)... for now, I'm incredibly grateful for any time I get to craft for me and my loved ones. Every stitch is an effort, a step towards a completed project (whether a jumper or a washcloth) that says "I made this for you".

Even if that 'you' is really 'me'.