After sitting down with all my sales info from last quarter, I have been both thrilled (if you have purchased a pattern or finished item from me, you have directly contributed to things like replacing the badly balding tires on my car), and dismayed (PayPal gets more money from my business than my state and federal tax collectors combined).

I have been reluctant to raise prices. However, the cold hard numbers staring back at me from my computer screen say that if I would like to be able to offer my customers more (like, say, nice professional charts with all patterns), a price increase would be a good business move.

Business: that’s the third time I’ve used that word in this post. I’m trying to use it more often, to remind myself that this isn’t a hobby for me any more. Last September, I was holding down 3 part-time jobs. In October, I found myself with just 1 job. I’m enjoying the extra time I get to spend with my family (outdoors, even), and I’d like to continue doing something that feeds my creative side and gives something back to the knit/crochet community. Fingers crossed: and price increases to go into effect January 31, 2008.