Berry colours

All the knitting and crochet I did over the winter had piled up in a corner of the room, so I spent some time at the weekend sorting, packing and storing it.

Crafting, like baking, presents a "problem" for me: I love the process, but I don't necessarily want the result to stay. With baking I need people to eat the baked goods, as I cannot and would not want to eat them all myself and I don't have a big freezer. With crafts, there are only so many things I want to keep. I don't need 20 pairs of wrist warmers and 15 scarves.

People like cake, so I've never had to throw any away (though some of my healthier versions aren't always appreciated as much!). I also gift crafted things regularly. However, yarn being rather expensive (at least the yarn I go for), I am considering selling some of the pieces I make in order to fund this passion of mine.

The idea has been - for a long time- to sell crafts (and maybe baked goods) in the market. This hasn't happened yet, as I am waiting for my business-partner-to-be, my sister, to move here. I also still haven't applied for a licence. And on recent trips to the market I had second thoughts: Do we really want to spend hours shivering in the cold and wet, with the wind threatening to blow away the stall? I'd rather have a little shop/café/gallery (another dream of ours), but the rent for commercial spaces is way too high.

I haven't taken the plunge into setting up an online shop (researching it at the moment). I do not have a business head at all, and I don't expect to ever make money from it - considering that the wool alone for the cowl in the first picture was over ten euro per 100 grams, it doesn't seem viable. But it might be fun.

In the meantime I am tackling bigger projects - tops, dresses, skirts - and trying to improve my technique.

The cardigan with the flowers was a present from my sister - she is a late-night crafter extraordinaire.

 Sleeve detail of said cardigan and airy infinity scarf I knitted

 The throw I made for myself (I realised I never posted pictures of the finished piece - I stopped at four by four squares, so it is a mini throw covering less than a third of the bottom of my bed) and a dress that needed mending. Purple is said to be the colour of the frustrated woman, but I don't care - I have three purple dresses, and I like the colour - it corresponds to the crown chakra (and, for the record, I am not frustrated!).

Merino wool wrist warmers