KniCroBlo Week, Day 4: Where are they now?

That's a good question, where are they now? I have no idea. Once I give my knits away, I really don't give it a second thought. I have made handmade gifts for my mother-in-law and my sister-in-law every year for the last few years and I don't think I’ve ever seen either of them wearing or using the items that I’ve made them. Ok, that’s not entirely true. My mother-in-law loves an Asian inspired quilted table runner that I made her a few years ago after they went to China. She always has it either on her dinning room table or in her family room on a side table.

But my sister-in-law, I’ve never seen her use anything I’ve made for her. Granted, we’ve never been invited to her house so I don’t know what’s going on there but I’ve knitted her scarves and shawls and never seen her using them. I guess I’m of the school of thought that I got pleasure out of making the item so if she never uses them, that’s on her. The funny thing is that last year I decided not to put so much pressure on myself and fore go the hand made Christmas gifts last year and she’s the only one that pointed out that she didn’t get anything hand made. Weird, I thought she didn’t like getting handmade.

I’ve only made one thing for Hubbs. I knit him a pair of socks over a year ago and have been told that they slide down inside his work boots so he doesn’t like to wear them. This I can understand and I don’t take offense to. Personally I love handmade socks. They fit better and wick away sweat better then any socks I can buy but I get where Hubbs is coming from.

Hand knits for my family is a totally different story. Being that my Grandmother and my mother are avid knitters themselves, they know how much work goes into a hand knit item. My older sister doesn’t knit but she does quilt by hand so she also understands what goes into a handmade item. They love wearing handmade items and my older sister always points out to me when she’s wearing a pair of socks that I’ve made for her. She’s too funny, actually they all are. If they get a compliment on an item that I’ve made, they’re sure to tell the person that I’ve made it for them. But the best compliment I’ve ever received from my grandmother was a couple of years ago, she gave all the other grandkids hand knit sweaters…except me. She told me that I knit better then her (so not true) and that she’s not knitting for me anymore since I out knit her, so I got a pattern and some yarn. Lol Best compliment ever. The woman’s been knitting for something like 50 years and there is no way that I’m a better knitter, faster maybe but not better.

As for the things that I make for myself, some are folded and put away, others are in a pile on my dresser. Right now I’m wearing my Lovely Leaf Lace Scarf. Roheline, My Girl Friday and Buttercream Jacket are the ones in the pile. Honey Cowl is hanging on the coat hook right inside my bedroom door and my sock drawer is full of nothing but hand knit socks. I love my hand knits. I feel odd getting dressed without at least one hand knit item. I love them and I love getting compliments on them. There is no sense of accomplishment that measures up to getting a compliment on a sweater that I made from nothing but a pile of string with two sticks.