What's in a name?

Last week I queried the title of this blog, which was established yonks ago when I thought I would link it with my website www.justknitting.co.uk.
I had also started writing under the title Whitstable Natives about the Kent coastal town where I live AND launched a column called Middle Aged Dread. However, with everything else I do plus general indolence I'm wondering if this is unrealistic and that I should perhaps focus on just one outlet for writing, so there might be some chance of keeping it up.
The issue then, of course, is what to call a blog which encompasses thoughts about my home town, my handicraft business, and also the fascinating and dynamic status of middle age.
I had one of those moments lying in the dark one night when all sorts of weird visions and odd phrases waft across the mind, and out of the surreal murkiness came a flash of what MIGHT be inspiration:

Purls of Wisdom

This I think evokes the iconic Whitstable oyster (called a Native, hence my earlier title) WITH the knitting theme.... I think?? And perhaps includes an ironic nod to the flawed idea of wise old heads?

I'll give it a go - if it's possible to change the name of a blog easily. If not I'm doomed forever to be 'Just a Knitter' and I hope you'll bear with me if I go off topic sometimes.

NOT JUST A KNITTER

Really, this whole blog should be called 'NOT just a knitter' because that's not the only thing I do by a long chalk. Don't you also get irritated when you are pigeon-holed by just one aspect of your life, which actually may be quite a small thing to you?
I'm fascinated by the complexity of human beings, how we can be both shy and assertive in different circumstances, and our beliefs and feelings are mixed so that an otherwise left-wing champion of social equality can nevertheless when the chips are down send their children to private school (guilty as charged...)
To many people in my town I am 'the lady who does the children's knits', but to others I'm a local journalist, to many I'm 'Matthew's wife' and for a lot of years I was 'Owen's mum'.
I hold my hand up here and confess that being known as a knitter does kind of fill me with horror. It may be quite cool in your 20s and 30s at the moment, but beyond that it has an unfortunate association with pom-pom slippers and People's Friend magazine. I've never been a girly girl, so it's a bit out of character for me to do something which is still very largely a female activity.
Then why do it? I've wondered that a lot myself and have come up with two reasons: firstly I'm a bit restless and can't sit watching TV or listening to music without doing something with my hands. Secondly, I come from a fairly creative family and can't draw or sing in tune like some of the others (though I am belatedly having piano lessons). I do enjoy making something attractive and useful from what essentially amounts to a couple of sticks and a bit of string. I've also long had a bit of an urge to run a business so, like my niece who has turned her hand to making truly fantastic cakes - puff for Kathy here - I decided to exploit what few skills I have and see if other people liked what I made.

Guess what? They did! After selling online first, I fared better by selling my stuff face-to-face where people can feel and see the goods. Although I'm not a bad knitter, my chief skill is in choosing yarns, colours and designs so I look for outlets which can best show this off.
Craft fairs are a bit hit and miss. You can never tell what other stalls are going to be there, and it's quite difficult to gauge the likely clientele. I have to charge a realistic price for my goods which are made with high-quality materials, so to be in the same room as someone offering cheap and cheerful knitted items can be tricky. I ought to do more to emphasise my unique selling points but I'm not one to grab customers - I rely on the goods rather than me to attract attention.
Independent shops are good because you don't have to give up loads of time to babysit the products. However, the commission retailers  charge varies a lot and you have to take the risk of 'locking in' your goods to a shop which may not be doing a good job to promote them. You cannot, for example, offer the same item online while it is in a shop, as you run the risk of selling it twice!
I'm now in the process of reviewing things so watch this space...
PS I also run a couple of websites including one for knitters: www.justknitting.co.uk