who i'm knitting for

I'm one of those knitters who mostly knits for other people. Last winter I made myself a scarf, a vest and a cardigan (which almost never leaves the house - it's kind of school-marmy), but that's it. I have piles of yarn waiting to be made into beautiful sweaters all for me me me, but I keep getting waylaid by gift knitting. I could say that I'm just a really generous person, or that knitting for me is all about the process instead of the product, but those claims wouldn't be entirely honest. I think I'm about average on the generosity scale, and I've knit really really boring projects in miles of stockinette stitch because I want the end product badly enough (or want to give it to someone who will like it).

The real reasons I usually knit for other people are the following:

1) I have a bit of stash guilt. I have more than I need (hence my resolution not to buy yarn for two years, and while we're being honest here I'll admit I've cheated a little, but we'll leave it at that) and more than I can use in a reasonable amount of time. Making stuff to give away alleviates that guilt a little bit.

2) I'm a little afraid of making myself a sweater. What if it looks like crap? This is a stupid fear, I know. I'm an experienced knitter and smart enough in general not to let that happen. And if it did, I could give the thing away or frog it and make another. Duh. Still, this fear is holding me back and prompting me to make many baby and child items because fit doesn't matter so much and there is no end of kiddies to knit for...

3)...which brings me to the next point: babies are everywhere. Stuart's brother and his wife are expecting a daughter this winter, and my cousin and his wife are expecting a baby as well (gender thus far unannounced). I can't NOT knit something for babies in my extended family. Plus there are other friends and neighbors whose babies I'm sorely tempted to knit for, though I don't have the time.

4) MY babies, of course. Daniel is actually at a stage where he gets excited about the things I make for him, like those orange socks and his little apron. In fact, you will probably be seeing several more FO posts of Daniel's things in the near future if I ever get my act together. Anya is too young to care one way or another whether I'm knitting for her or not, which means she's too young to object to wearing hand knits, so hand knits she shall have. Who could resist these two anyway?



(Sorry. Mother's pride got in the way there. But I don't have any other pictures to share just yet.)

I have found that it is not very useful for me to be organized about how I plan knitting projects. I erased everything in my Ravelry queue because I realized that there was no point. (I also erased all my stash pictures because I decided that my stash is my business and no one else's.) I'll have five projects planned and change my mind about all of them before the first one is done, hence all the WIPs lying about. Still, if I want to EVER get around to knitting a sweater for myself, I need a strategy, or at least a priority list:

1) My twin aunts' birthday is later this month. I want to give them each a lace project from their late cousin Ruthie's Shetland wool. I have two lace projects done, so that's good. One needs re-blocking with wires, but that will only take a few minutes to do. I intend to make something for my mother as well, of course. It would be nice to get it done by her birthday (Nov. 1, All Saints' Day) since I'm giving her sisters lace projects for their birthday...Or I could save everything for later when I have more of these done and therefore have a choice about which shawl or stole to give to whom. Christmas, maybe? Ay yi yi, it's getting complicated.

2) I'm knitting a couple more children's sweaters for the Afghans for Afghans fall campaign. The deadline is October 14. I know that charity knitting amounts to knitting for strangers, but it's important to me to contribute to this cause. More about that in a separate post when I actually have some pictures to show.

3) The afore-mentioned babies expected in my extended family this winter. I guess I don't have to have knitted sweaters and whatnot finished by the actual birth dates (they're due in December and January), but I would like to try.

Those are all the urgent projects. I have plans to make hats and sweaters for Daniel and Anya. I want to make Stuart a sweater, but his birthday's in March, so that could wait. I think I'll give Christmas knitting a skip this year, so save on the stress, even though I work better with a deadline (like a due date). Surely I can fit in a sweater for myself in there somewhere. Yes?

Comments

Anonymous said…
You sound very ambitious--trying to do more than you might have time for. My, my, who does this sound like?
I love the way Anya holds her little pinky out on that picture.

Mom

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