I finished her! Now should I start charging?

This is truly a momentous occasion for me and my crafting: I have just completed not only my first Waldorf-style doll, but also my first complex set of patterns (because in truth, the doll and her clothes are multiple patterns, not just one giant one - thankfully!)

I find that my pattern-generation is pretty much all trial-and-error. I start out with an idea of what I think I want the end result to look like, and then I just jump ahead and start. Which means that for each article of clothing (I am not even going to talk about the doll Herself!) I probably started and restarted at least 4 or 5 times, if not more.

I even completely changed the original colours I was going to use, there was a beautiful goldenrod yellow I wanted, but in the end it just looked too bright and garish against the rest of the darker tones. So I think I'll save that colour for when I make her "summer" outfit (because yes, she is going to have a different outfit for each season - it's easier than making four different dolls! And that's not too bad, I was originally thinking of making one outfit for each Sabbat, which would have been a total of eight!), and made her shawl out of that beautiful garnet heather.

All the yarns used are natural fibres, most came from knitpicks, with the undyed wool from a large stash my grandmother gave me. I could be their spokes-woman. Which leads to a dilemmah I've been facing lately. When I created my first pattern (the mesh produce bag), I had the intention that all the patterns would be available free, for anyone who wanted to use them. It was a no-brainer decision, as I myself scour the internet for free patterns. Unless they're in a book or bought in a physical store, I almost never purchase patterns. So I wanted to give back to the community in any way I could.

Eventually my dream is to write a book on an entirely knitted nature corner through the seasons; but I will create most of those patterns with the purpose that they'll be in the book. So in the meantime any pattern I create will be offered free of charge.

But now I am at a crossroads. I was reading into the Indipendant Designer Program offered through knitpicks, and it got me thinking. Certainly not this doll (I'm saving her!), but my bag patterns may have a good chance of being selected. And if I could actually make money at doing this, perhaps it could become just one of the avenues I could take to support me staying home with the boys (that is, assuming there would be an interest in my patterns - I am taking a lot here for granted!). And the great thing about the IDP is that it is not exclusive, I could also sell my patterns on Ravelry or on the blog, too.

I've been told that the best way to be happy when it comes to careers is to find something you love, and then find a way to have it pay you. I think I may have, but my human side keeps winning over my business side. And I am constantly reminded of a message I received when I put my first pattern up on Ravelry; "thanks so much for making this available for free!"  So here is my choice: continue to provide my patterns for free (I really have to go back now and finish writing the others I have) and contribute to the community; or begin researching the possibility of making an income off of them (at best I'll probably just cover the cost of my yarn, but hey, it's a start!). What do I do?!?!?