YKP = Young Knitting Professional

Daniel's Breipod (he came up with that name, Brei-means knit in Dutch...)

picture by himself

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I've heard that the comments section of my blog didn't work... Please try again, it should now... if you see a weird comment in Dutch, it's Boyfriend Dear own charming way of double checking it.

I have a confession for you...

I've been missing the feedback.
Turns out that I've grown attached to you people and I've been missing the comments more than I think I would. Can you imagine what the Yarn Harlot must have felt like, during the days her whole blog was offline (SHOCK &HORROR!). She gets about 200 comments a post, and I'm not exaggerating when I say this... She could have her whole self image ánd esteem based on her readers comments. She wouldn't need anything else.
Me, I'm over the moon if I get 12 comments, my personal record, and I'm not sure what that says about me. I just get the feeling I used when somebody sent me snail mail way back in the early nineties. I feel appreciated and - not like Oprah- I love surprises!
So po-lea-se, keep 'em comin'!

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Kim's Bulky Bones Scarf, I can't show it completely yet,

I've sent it in and am hoping it will get published.

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On knitting:
Lately I've been working on a couple of orders. Yes, orders... that's what it's called when you work for money, right? I'm a professional knitter now... hehehe! Kim wanted a scarf and Daniel and i-pod-nano-cover. "No problemo, can do", I said. Who knew you can get hunted by orders. At least I did. I felt guilty for not finishing it fast enough, I felt guilty for that one stitch that was off, I felt bad about the fact that I used my money to buy Cd's and ran out of it when I finally found the right yarn and to top it off, after all the work and emotions, I felt guilty about asking a certain amount of money for it. Not that my designs aren't worth it, with the material costs, the hours of work and the fact that they are my original designs. It just felt weird getting paid for work. (Did I just say this...? Me who always asks for a raise whenever I feel it's appropriate. Me who feels deprived when over hours have to be compensated by days off...)

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Tempting II in the making, k1p1k1p1k1p1k1p1, need I say more...?

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So I've figured something out. I'm not going to be a knitting entrepreneur any time soon. It just takes to much out of me. And what else... it's eating up my self-knitting-time, my-designs-in-the-making-time and my knit-for-presents-time. I hardly read books anymore since I've become an obsessive knitter but when the knitting gets in the way of the knitting, well... than you should just really stop, drop, roll over and think about what you're doing.

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The Tweed Beret from this winter's issue of Interweave Knits for my grandmother, using Drea Renee's New Zealand Hummingbird 100% wool in great purple shades.

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And, let me just be honest here, even though I really like a buck or two on my bank account, I'm not seduced by the dough. I ám seduced by all the possibilities of what I can knit and design in the fore coming future. I ám seduced by all the happy faces when presented with a hand knit item just because I love the recipient. Makes me wonder, does this mean good knitting karma that translates into knitting flows and creativity splashes.... Sorry, wandering off...

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my second pair of socks ever (these were the first) and my first own design, knitting cables to make it look like diagonal knitting on the sides. (not sure if it will be a huge success, but no risks no glory right?!)

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I'm torn now because I have about 7 assignments in back order. But it's hard to determine if they're real. Let me explain this to you. I've heard quite a lot of "Oh my gosh, that's so cute, I want that too, make me one, MAKE ME ONE PLEASE"-es the last couple of months. These exclamations might be just that, but they might be serious too. There's the guy that collects hats. He has about every sort of hat you can imagine but he'd love some (!) hand knitted ones. He has some pretty fixed ideas about what they should look like too. And then there's the guy that would love some mittens, preferably the ones where the tops flip of, but his face dropped when I gave him a slight idea of what it might cost him. There's the best friend that does an exclamation like the above about every time I show her a FO. And there are the soft and sneaky hints: "Gosh, wouldn't it be nice to have such a hat/ scarf/ sweater."

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The WIP I've been working on the longest without ever frogging it out of frustration. You can tell how long it's been in the making, things grow on it...it's this scarf by the way, great starter project for lace knitting.

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There's no way that I can determine who really expects a hand knitted item presented within a certain amount of time and is willing to pay for it, which people really want it, but only when the price tag looks similar to the ones at Hennes & Mauritz, what employer was just really commenting and complimenting and doesn't expect anything, who's questions are merely just a hint and are hoping for a gift. So as flattered as I am by all these things, because all of them are really just great big huge compliments, next time I will tell them flat out: "Thank you so much, I'd love to make this thing for you, but it will take me X time and it will probably cost you about X euros. Or maybe, just maybe, you will be surprised on your birthday or at Christmas..." I will give them my biggest smile and continue knitting...

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One YUP and one YKP working on a regular Saturday.

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