Felicitations and limitations

Happy New Year to one and all. May 2009 bring us all peace, health and prosperity.

The turkey has all been eaten (or frozen), the decorations have come down and tomorrow I'm back at work, so normal life is being resumed but with the hope and optimism that only comes on 1st January.

It was quiet new year in the Lah Lah household (apart from my snoring, that is). As time wore on and the heating switched itself off, I pulled out an old granny square blanket that I made many years ago.

Most of the yarn for the blanket came from my paternal grandmother. I remember she offered me the contents of her yarn stash. My Nan used to make a lot of toys and novelties for church sales and village fetes. The yarns in the bag were all tangled with each other, and I remember spending an afternoon with my Grandad. He was watching television while I untangled these balls and made myself a collection. Nan and Grandad are both long dead now, but as I sat there under the blanket last night, a thought occurred to me - all her stash in a bin bag? Amateur.

I'm not one for new year's resolutions - life's depressing enough without promising yourself something that you're bound to fail. However, I am planning to leave my job this year, so I've decided that the money I would spend on yarn will go onto my "escape fund", thus building up the kitty and reducing my stash. We have now gone beyond the scope of the cupboard. Enough is enough.

Knitting for cash.

I've decided to try my hand at being a pattern writer. I'm beginning to regret the decision. The stitch pattern I'm being asked to work out has some origins in brioche stitch and on attempt no 7 or 8 I'm very nearly there. I've got one more thing to try, but if I don't improve the version I've got, I'll simply email them a picture and ask them if they want their stuff back. I realise that sounds defeatist, and I don't like to be beaten, but I also don't like to waste my time, and I've spent a lot of hours on this already. Not that it's necessarily worth it. Is it a good hourly rate? No, not at the speed I knit. Does it devalue the craft? Possibly. Will it be money to go straight into the escape fund? You betcha.

Writing.

Oh yeah, that's really funny. But hope springs eternal.