Gift Knitting

The sock, the sock, the sock. It must sound like that's all I do but it's not true. I'm working on lot's of other stuff. I've even completed one or 2 things but I can't shown them to you because they're gifts and the people they're intended for may peek. This picture may be ok if I don't tell you what the items are. It's pretty nondescript. I can say this though, one of these items is actually an FO at this point.

I know that a lot of you don't do gift knitting. I get it. Knitting for others does entail a bit of stress especially as the deadlines get close. I still do it though for a lot of reasons.

The most compelling reason is that I love seeing my knits on others. It's beyond sappy (ick) but I just love the idea that someone I love might pull on a hat or socks or a scarf and remember that I love them. Awwww. It doesn't get much sappier than that does it. I've gotta shake off that sap super fast.

Another thing I love about gift knitting is hat it gives me an excuse to do stuff that I wouldn't do otherwise. I'm a creature of habit. I wear the same gloves, hat, sweaters etc without a huge degree of variation. Sometimes it just seems that way because I have countless black sweaters, black pants, dark gloves and so on. I may be attracted to bright colors or nifty patterns but I usually tend to shy away from actually wearing them myself. Knitting gifts is the perfect way to enjoy the colors and the patterns while ensuring that the finished object will get used. That's kind of a selfish reason I suppose.

As if these first two aren't enough of an excuse, there are requests too. How do you resist a nephew's admiration of your handknit socks? You don't. How do you ignore the request from a child or other near relative for a warmer hat, the perfect scarf or gloves? You don't.

I composed my list for this year over a week ago. I really didn't realize that the holidays were quite as close as they are. Thankfully most of the items on it are small - most of them are hats. As much as I love the gift knitting - knitting quick gifts is the best of all.