Whatever happened to your __________?
Write about the fate of a past knitting project. Whether it be something that you crocheted or knitted for yourself or to give to another person. An item that lives with you or something which you sent off to charity.
There are a lot of different aspects to look at when looking back at a knitting project and it can make for interesting blogging, as much of the time we blog about items recently completed, new and freshly completed. It is not so often that we look back at what has happened to these items after they have been around for a while.
How has one of your past knits lived up to wear. Maybe an item has become lost. Maybe you spent weeks knitting your giant-footed dad a pair of socks in bright pink and green stripes which the then ‘lost’. If you have knit items to donate to a good cause, you could reflect on the was in which you hope that item is still doing good for it’s owner or the cause it was made to support.
Tips: This topic is similar to one we used for the first Knitting and Crochet blog week. This is purposeful and is intended to help the blogger to reflect on past items and refer back to previous posts and projects once in a while.
I’ve been thinking about this prompt and wish I had a funny or memorable story to tell about one of my knits. And I do, but it’s a bit private and close to the heart. I personally don’t feel like crying while I write this or making some certain people cry when they read it so I think the best plan is to keep that story to myself. But I realized that I have learned a lesson when I think about where some of my knits have ended up.
In the past year, year and a half, or so, I’ve knit for six different babies. One of whom was my best friends girl and one was for someone who I’ve known a long time. All the rest were for, well, Army Wives. I’ve lived here in Germany for almost two years now and it is my first duty station. When I moved the first thing I did was make friends, or try at least. And when you are, well, desperate you pretty much make friends with anyone and everyone you meet. I learned 2 lessons from this experience. One: Do not make friends too easily, because you don’t really know people the first few times you meet them. Two: Do not knit baby items for everyone you know having a baby. I don’t know who reads this blog so I won’t get too into detail here but out of these four items one of the recipients actually uses the item! One is still sitting in a drawer in my house because I never went to the baby shower, and when the date was changed no one decided to tell me. One is still in a drawer at the recipient’s house ( I know because I’m there almost every day). And the other one? Well I don’t actually know anything about that item because the Mother and I no longer talk.
I don’t mind this as much as I thought I would because I really am a process knitter and I enjoyed knitting every single item. I learned new skills and expanded my knitting knowledge. But it still sucks sometimes. I know not everyone has the same personal taste I do, and some people don’t have the appreciation you would expect for hand-made items. But couldn’t these people at least take a picture with their kid in or with the item once, just for my personal gratification. I mean, if I got a present I didn’t like, that’s what I would do just to make the gifter feel good. You know?
So I’ve pretty much learned to be more frugal with my knitting. And to be more selfish really. I also need to stop being so generous when I feel like I don’t really know someone and be more choosy with my friends when I first get to a new duty station. So live and learn I guess. I’ll make sure I remember this when I leave Germany! Here’s one of the baby knits I made that has actually gotten it’s proper use!
