Knitting and Gift-Giving from Cheryl at YarnBee
With apologies to Cheryl at YarnBee, I have taken one of her posts and put it here, because it pretty much sums up how I feel about knitting and crocheting.
I've been thinking a lot lately about the connection between knitting and gift giving. As far as I can tell, hand-knitting is not a get-rich-quick scheme. The cost of the yarn alone is generally more than any machine knit sweater from the store, and that certainly doesn't account for the hours of labor put into any crafted item. And you know what? I like it that way. I like that fact that when you give away something you knit, you are giving away a priceless gift of knowledge and time. And I like to think about the lifespan of the knitted gift, giving warmth and joy long after you forgotten about it and are knitting the next gift.
We live in this crazy world with apparent immediate gratification. And it is an enormous blessing and a curse. We IM, email, call on cell phones and expect speedy replies. We can purchase almost anything we want online and have it shipped to our door with rush service. And sometimes all of this availability makes me feel a bit empty and lacking in some way. The best way I know to counteract this lack is to knit - preferably a gift.
One of the joys of giving knitting as a gift is that you are giving a gift of your scarce valuable time. The time you take to consider what the giftee would like, what color, what fiber. The actual time you spend knitting (and maybe ripping and knitting), time also to think about giftee, your relationship with them, and time to wish them well. If you are knitting for a charity or a new baby you can knit your hopes and dreams for this unknown giftee right into the piece...
...I really enjoy this on line knitting/crafting community. I am incredibly inspired by the beautiful and amazing things everyone is making. There is such an endless treasure trove of creativity posted on Flickr and so many blogs. Even the act of blogging and taking the time to share what you are making is a huge gift of time and I really appreciate it. Go take some time and make a gift for someone.
Labels: cheryl, gift-giving, knitting, yarnbee
posted by Sally @ 8:37 AM
5 comments
5 Comments:
Very true, you can never put a price on one's own creativity. This is why I never understand how they can apraise an art piece. That being said, I never had any delay of gratification to begin with, still don't, must be the reason I sometimes stay up late at night to try and finish a knitted piece or that sometimes I could care less if I finish at all ;-)
Hi Sally,
I couldn't find your e-mail address. But I crocheted the cropped cardigan for the CAL, and I think you might have volunteered to test it for me. I was just checking to see if you are still interested. I completely understand if you have had other things come your way. I was hoping to write the pattern in the next week or two. Please e-mail me at monicawellebrown@comcast.net!
I have ambivalent feelings about knitting gifts. I am always one to knit something requested, but sometimes I worry that a knitted gift says more about the give-r than the give-ee. Like, "Look at this grea thing I made you! I'm so talented." Instead of, "here's this gift I thought you would love, because you are so special."
I'm probably being self-effacing, but that's why I am always careful about who receives the knits, and why I tend to give people knitted things separate from an occasion.
Unless of course it is a baby, because knitting baby shit is just too fun.
Hi Sally,
Glad that you liked that post and thanks so much for asking for permission to post it - I really appreciate that.
Happy knitting!
What cute kittens...they seem like just the things to cuddle up with with your memories.
And I painted with my feet a few times when I was in college....so watch out, she might not grow out of it ;)
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