Knitting: Making it Work

I've always told myself that I would never knit for money. Knitting is my fun, relaxing hobby, and any time I have tried to take one of my hobbies and make money with it (with the exception of dyeing wool) instead of making it a fun and enjoyable career, it sucks all enjoyment out of my hobby. It turns it into work.

Then, my goofy husband accepted an order from one of his co-workers without asking me. An order for something knitted. Le Sigh.

So far, the project has not been going badly; I'm still enjoying my knitting time. However, had I been IN ON THE DECISION, I would have A) Charged way more money and B) Insisted on selecting my own color scheme rather than a stitch-by-stitch copy of what I made for my husband. I had appropriate yarn on hand, but it could have been made much more cheaply (and sooner) had I been able to make substitutions. I would have been knitting from stash and leftovers, so it would have been pure profit instead of having to order the yarn.

Plus, there was a problem with my yarn supplier's credit card processing system that day, so I had to make TWO phone calls and it took four extra days before everything was straightened out. GAH!

Also, this is putting me behind schedual for my own personal knitting. I had planned to be done with at least ONE of my blankets by now, so I could start my special Wicked Witch Halloween socks. It's just going to be a basic pair of socks, done in orange and black stripes (much like Dorothy's witch had red and white) but I was going to start at the toes and not stop until I ran out of yarn. And believe me, I always over-buy my yarn. Now I fear I may not have time.

I had also been planning to knit the sweater coat on the cover of the Fall 2009 Interweave Knits before the mornings at the bus stop got too much colder, but I either have to save $100 up to buy Noro Kureyon, $100 to buy the suggested yarn, or spin my damn own yarn, which frankly would save me money, but certainly not time. And then I'd still have to knit the damn thing.

So all in all, I guess the moral of this story is to educate your husband to just have him give the guy your email address and have him ask you himself. :P