It's too hot to knit...

* ...she says to me. I'm sitting in the shade, but it's above eighty degrees, and my lap is sweating from the slight weight of the wool table doily- number nine in a set of twelve I must complete for a Labor Day wedding. My first commission!
* Bride-to-be has asked me to make her a shawl to wear at the reception. "Two weeks? I think I can." If I want to do this for a living, I should be able to make a shawl in two weeks, but knitting without a pattern requires hours for trial and error. Each piece is a new creation; formed in my mind, shaped by the whim of my customer.
* I try to knit in public, outside whenever I can. Art needs to be where people can see it. My friends have art carts. They set up their displays, sell cards, prints, sometimes originals right off the easel. I have something less tangible to sell. The sweater that you've never found outside your imagination. A hand made birthday gift for that far away loved one.
* I am a locally-minded, eco-conscious, back-to-roots girl. I want to knit with local, natural fibers; I want to make a minimal impact with my practices.
* It is too hot for knitting, I think later. I'm at home and all I can think of is the fifth book in the Dune Series. I've been rewarding myself chapters, one for each small goal I achieve in my project. "Just get x more rounds, or to this point in the increasing pattern, and you can have another chapter."
* Reading is the onion in the ointment of my just budding knitting career. When I have access to big hardcover books, I can read while I'm knitting. Paperbacks are the real problem; they won't stay open. It's always one or the other with paperbacks - my passions are vying for my attention. The difference is that people are paying me to knit.
* So there I was, sitting on my porch, avoiding my knitting, devouring another tasty tidbit from sci-fi genius, Frank Herbert, and what shows up? My interchangeable knitting needle set! I was forced to look beyond my usual local circumference and search the world wide web for the interchangeable needle system that would change my life - make me organized, neat, professional, and all-around on top of things. Thanks Knitpicks!
* Here they are, 9 needles, 4 cords, and handy case for all, including removable pockets for needles and more storage for other knitterly devices. My drive to knit has been restored! The needles are so shiny and slippery; the cords so bendy and flexible. I have found the will to keep knitting for three more hours. Another doily almost done.