... or why I'm an idiot.
Every year this happens. I get caught by surprise that Christmas, the most stressful time in a knitters' life, is almost upon me. Around December 3rd I make up a list of people I need to give gifts to, and of course I want to knit them something, and then I sit back in a depressed stupor and wonder how I let this happen. Again.
This year's even worse, because I've got 2 new people to add to the gift list, Émilie's kindergarten teacher and bus driver. Le Sigh!
But wait, the über-intelligence of moi doesn't stop there. I don't select simple, quick knits (like say... HATS?) for my cherished woolly-love recipients. NoooOOOOOOOOoooo. I choose socks (which should TOTALLY count as TWO gifts) and lace and... wait for it... afghans! Yes folks, I am officially an idiot.
Really... Why do we do it??? I mean, it's not like our loved ones, our REAL loved-ones anyway, aren't on the receiving end of knitted items all year long, right? Looking at my list of FOs for 2009 (I'm still behind), I'd say a full THIRD of what I've managed to get on and off the needles this year wasn't even for me! (I make no apologies for that. My money + my time = my knitwear).
Phil's gotten socks, the kids have gotten hats, friends' babies have gotten cute little baby knits... They've RECEIVED the woolly-love already! So why do we feel this crazy pressure to come up with an insane amount of knitted items to give away in, say, a 22 day period?
I really believe that knitters are fairly intelligent people. While the average Muggle watches TV and sips a soda, we KNITTERS watch TV, sip a soda AND knit. We transform "down time" into "productive time". We can look at a ball of yarn and see potential for warmth and comfort and an expression of love.
I won't even ask if our efforts are worth it. We've ALL had someone smile politely and scratch their heads when we've presented them with that wedding ring lace shawl that took years off our visual acuity. Know your gift recipients, I say.
No, I'm referring to what our cherished loved ones, the ones that receive the knitwear all year long and really appreciate it, give US for Christmas. Because chances are, even though they know you LOVE to knit, that you LOVE yarn, they think you've got (wait for it...) "too much" of it, and will rack their brains to find something else to give you when the ideal gift is staring them in the face.
Tough questions, questions that need answers, I tell you!
But right now you'll have to excuse me. I've got an afghan to finish.
Happy Knitting Everyone!
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4 comments:
Gift knitting should be an Olympic sport. The amount of people I see (me included) almost killing themselves trying to get projects finished in time for Christmas is mad! Why do we do it?
Your point about gifting all through the year is spot on.
I myself am not gift knitting this year, and weirdly I feel bad about it. I'm putting guilts on myself this year instead of knitty pressure. Go figure...
Oh, and from your last post, the organic veggies look yum. Especially the zucchinis (courgettes over here). I lurves them!
Courage! Je n'ai jamais tricoté de cadeaux de Noël... De toute façon, se serait peine perdue, je suis loin d'être à ce point productive... Happy Knitting to you too!
I also finally wrote my Xmas list/Chanukah list/Every bday in my family in December list (my bday in December list is quite long! - Hubby, Sister, Step-MIL, mom, Sean). And the fact that Mack has THREE teacher, yep three. Sean has two. That's 5 teachers! AHhhh!!! LOL.
Knitters rock. We work well under pressure, don't we?
Not gunna do it this year. Even though my list is packed with knit loving peeps, I refuse to take the joy out of my knitting this year, except for the scarf that was started in June. (WHAT WAS I THINKING???! Me + Scarves= FAIL). I had started a list waaaaay back so that I had "lots of time" but I am in fact a lazy knitter and a slow knitter rather than a compulsive and speedy knitter, so I was already stressing out.
Taking this year off.
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