Does this make me a professional?

I just accepted money for a knitted object. I don't think that makes me a real professional, since I don't plan on making a habit of it, but still, it was an interesting experience. The yarn was not expensive, and the needles, though not cheap, weren't exactly Addi Turbos. So if I had based the price solely on materials, then it would have been very low. I knew I had to charge something for my time, but I had no idea how to go about that. I didn't keep close track of how many hours I put into making these wrist warmer/gauntlet thingys for Liz--all I know is that they went really fast compared to most things I knit. Still, even if I had calculated a $5/hr wage for myself, it would have resulted in a price much higher than I felt comfortable charging. So basically, I just pulled a number range out of the air, and she opted to pay me the top end of it. The rest of the payment for me is in how happy she is with them. She may be a work friend, but she's still my friend, and I love seeing her happy, especially because of something I made. Here she is modeling them:



After I finished weaving in the ends of the wrist warmers this morning on the train, I cast on for a swatch for x-mas surprise #1. As you can see, I decided to try the blue-grey yarn first. I figure if I don't like it after the swatch, I can try with the charcoal tweed. So far, I don't mind the look:



However, I'm a little concerned that the gauge is too loose. It's not quite bulky weight and I'm using US 10's. In the past, that size needle has worked OK for me even on worsted weight (acrylic) but this isn't the type of object I'm going to want too loosely knit. I may have to see about getting my hands on some 9's just in case. I have some 8's I can try first, though.

This morning I was reading an article in this magazine about the chick lit phenomenon, and I realized that it's a genre I really haven't explored much. The cultural snob in me has perhaps shied away from it as being below-average quality. But I really can't justify that if I'm willing to read Dan Brown and Martha Grimes and Rita Mae Brown, all of whom I read voraciously. They're all good writers, too, whether they write "high literary fiction" or not. So maybe it's time for me to pick up a chick lit book or two. But since I don't know much about them, I'm afraid of getting a dud with a weak female protagonist who hates her job and is desperate to get married or something like that. Any personal recommendations?