Reflections of a Crafty Christmas
There's always this hold-your-breath moment when giving a present to someone. It sorta hits you for a second that for all your planning, energy, time, money, thinking, effort... the person may not like it. No matter how many books you looked through, how many nights you visited Ravelry and Google to hunt down that perfect pattern, they may not enjoy it. No matter the fact you traveled to three different yarn stores to find that just-right shade of blue, then nearly wanted to pull your hair out because you've been working on this thing since last Thursday, it's the fifth time you've frogged it, and once again you've made a mistake and must start over.... there is always that small chance they will not want it.
Then again, maybe that's just me being paranoid. Even if it is, I had a few of those moments as I watched friends and family unwrap their gifts last week.
There was one person I (rightly) just knew was going to love his present; my cousin Matt. He's seven, and the idea of a hat he could turn inside out just sounded like something he would get a huge kick out of every day.
The kid loves cameras. And as I suspected, he went around the room showing everyone how his hat worked. "If I feel like wearing rainbow, I wear it like this, but I don't have to. I can be yellow too."
The rainbow yarn is Red Heart Kids in crayon. The yellow is something else; Caron's something. The second skein of Red Heart Kids that nicknits so kindly bought for me didn't arrive until a day after we left, so I didn't get the chance to use it.
The House Beanie pattern (size small) from Charmed Knits was what I used as a stepping stone. I started with a provisional cast on, then knit in straight stocknette stitch rather than using ribbing at the bottom. I had to use a smaller sized needle for the yellow side, then eyeballed the sizing as needed. Now of course his brother wants one.
My family got back home Christmas Eve, and it was then that I gave round one of gifts. Friend #1, who I made the gray ribbed scarf for, at first laughed and asked who had bought it for him. Apparently he and my sister had been talking the month before, and he mentioned how he owned no scarves. When he learned I had made it, he said he was touched. "No one's ever knit me anything. Thank you."
Friend #2, for whom I made the black ribbed scarf, wasn't as excited about his. He's not much of a scarf person, yet he did still wear it as he left. Once again, I thought that was sweet of him to do. I also learned something interesting; once upon a time, he knit a scarf. Cool, eh? He was so into knowing how I knit with dpns as I worked on a sock, it makes me wonder if I ought to offer to teach him.
The lap blanket got a good reception too. Apparently the color matches my friends' living room quite well. Rachael was very sweet, thanking me for including yarn care instructions, hugging me, and asking how long it took me to make. Ben was playing Nintendo, so only grunted a thanks. Ha.
My 'second mom' had probably the biggest reaction. She LOVED the Fetching wristwarmers, commented on how soft and warm they were, then went around the room showing them off to everyone. I was slightly embarassed by the reaction, but also flattered. While the volume of excitement could be dimmed a bit, she more than anyone seems to realize the time and effort required to make things.
Finally, Christmas morning was time to give out the immediate family's gifts. When my mom unwrapped her socks, her comment was, "Finally. I was getting jealous of you knitting everyone else things and not me." She then pulled them on right away, later commenting on how warm they were.
What of the sister, you ask? I didn't give her the facecloths, but rather bought her something. Less than a week before Christmas, as we were going through the presents to figure out where they were going, she picked up each that wasn't in a box and said, "Let me guess; something you knitted, something else you knitted..." Down the line, each time in this dry, monotone voice. I know she wasn't trying to hurt my feelings, but that was the breaking point. No more handknits unless she asks. Part of me doesn't want to give up, but to be honest I don't think she'll mind at all. Ah well.
So that was Christmas for you. Will post later today about the other happenings since.