Time, talent, treasure

Time, talent, and treasure: your hours, your skills, and your financial resources. I hadn't heard this phrase, but a minister I know once rolled it off his tongue like it was common knowledge. Apparently it's a formula for members' participation in a religious or other organization. You might be asked to give any one of those things to that institution. Your time on a committee, your skills as a leader, organizer, singer, or your financial pennies, however (in)substantial they may be.

As a graduate student, I think a lot about the pennies. Especially when it comes to yarn. Yarn forms the bare bones, the basic materials, without which a knitter's time and talent would be without purpose. Before the yarn swap last week, I had only a few paris' worth of sock yarn, and after, I gained this - fun colors, ones I might not have picked out in the store, but ones that will, no doubt, be fun to knit with.



Then there's the yarn that requires a real expenditure of treasure. Last week, I heard that Knit Happens was having a big sale online, including some hand-painted yarns, so I splurged and jumped at the chance to get something I normally wouldn't, and ended up with this beautiful skein:



That's Fleece Artist sock yarn in the Autumn colorway. Just the thing as September approaches, I thought. Putting my feet in socks made from that yarn will be like walking through a path covered by autumn leaves. It arrived on my doorstep yesterday and I've already rolled it into two equal balls with the help of a kitchen scale.



Even if I had the treasure to expand my stash, would I really do it? I wouldn't have the time to justify it, would I? Time spent knitting sparkles. Lack of time keeps the lack of treasure in check.

Talent does its share as well. I enjoy knitting and have become relatively good at it (not great, of course, but that's OK). I like the movement of my fingers. I like the feel of the yarn, the colors, the finished garment, the enjoyment that I or someone else might get out of wearing it. I have fun, and that, as Coffeeboy reminds me when I drop a stitch, is all that really matters.

Where is the balance in knitting one's time, talent, and treasure? For me, I think the emphasis comes down to talent, to what's become a love of knitting. I make time for it; I set aside treasure for it. And overall, I'm the happier for it. Now to give my time to learning toe-up socks,* my treasure to this gorgeous skein, and my talent to what I hope will be an enjoyable learning experience!

*There's so much lore out there about toe-up socks and how to start them that I'm feeling a bit intimidated. Any favorite methods?