Back when I had healthy carpal tunnels and incredible optimism, I began a project of making a sweater for each of my cousins, and the boyfriend-I-married’s siblings, as well as my parents and then future in-laws.
My father said, “You don’t have to knit for other people, you can make a budget category for yarn, you can twist string for yourself, since it keeps you more or less sane. Women can spend money on themselves you know.”
I continued to make sweaters for other people – because it felt more virtuous. As Dad hinted, my thrifty mind loved the idea of using money for gifts to get yarn so my fingers could be happy, it seemed like a two for the price of one. But, I knit patterns I wanted to explore, with yarn from bargain baskets. I made things in the shapes the magazines said were better than the current silhouettes in fashion. I hadn’t yet heard the engineering maxim, “Good, cheap or fast, you can have any two of the three.” The guys weren’t quite sure what to do with their heavy sweaters, most of them were in overheated classrooms. The girls liked their wild one of a kinds – but had trouble finding blouses to wear under them, my parents and future in-laws politely hid them in closets or gave them away – I never did find out.
My future-Mother-in-law said, “Why don’t you knit for yourself? Then you don’t have to risk giving a wool sweater to someone who doesn’t want to shrink it.”
I finally had to give up on the project, not because people were hiding from me at Christmas (though I think they were) but because my hands gave out and I had to type papers to finish college. Yes, I cried.
As I started knitting up again after my hiatus, a very weird thing happened. My in-laws saw my Herringbone Parallelogram scarf and mentioned how pretty a red one would go with a dress coat. All those years of gift fail, and that was the project that would have been a success? That beginner’s project that I was too sophisticated to try?
Yeah, that one. They really wanted scarves.
So now, what do I say to gift crafters eager to knit or crochet something wonderful for their loved ones?
- Have a budget
- make things for yourself
- stay away from torsos
- try a scarf
- – especially with a giftalong on!
Want to read more about the giftalong? See http://www.heartstringsfiberarts.com/gal.shtm
5 Responses
Funny and touching. I loved getting anything and everything my mother made for me, sadly I don’t have a me in my life. It’s taken me years to realize that and so I sell my handmade creations and use the money to buy things, so there’s no disappointment if the gift fails. They can return/exchange it.
That’s a good solution!
It’s a beautiful story Christine. And how true that we and our families grow to eventually bond on simpler things that are first overlooked. So, did you ever make the Herringbone Parallelogram scarf in red for them?
I sure did! http://www.ravelry.com/projects/ChristineGuest/herringbone-parallelogram-scarf-3
Hi Christine,
Love the idea of this blog. Can’t wait to read more.