What about me?
Why don't I knit for myself?
Technically I do, since the knitting I do is therapy/meditation for me. It's my downtime. The items, I knit, however, are not for me. It's not that I don't want knitted items. I do. On the needles I have this perfectly gorgeous green wool begging to be made into a sweater for me. I want the sweater. I really, really want the sweater. I made myself finish Christmas gifts before starting the sweater so that I would have time to devote to the sweater. It's begun... And stalled on the back section.
What am I working on instead? A hat for my good pal in California who is frrrrreeezing! I made two chemo caps for his sister in law a while back. During this recent cold spell, I asked how his head with no hair was faring out in L.A. "BRRRRRRRR!" was the reply. Laughing at the thought of him wearing Fun Fur like his sister in law, I showed him knitty.com's Halfdome. "I would wear that!" he exclaimed. And so I began. I expect to finish it tonight while watching Grey's Anatomy.
Will I go back to the yummy green raglan sweater, or lay it aside to make a gift for someone else yet again? It's finally cold enough to wear a wool sweater, especially in my drafty office at school. (My building was built in 1934.) The long range forecast, for the next two weeks, shows no day over thirty degrees, and nights down into the teens. Perfect wool sweater weather - for knitting and wearing.
But I'm back to the original question. Why don't I knit for myself? Seriously?
posted by Karen at 9:54 AM
2 Comments:
I wonder if a lot of knitters are the same way. For me, the satisfaction is in the making and the giving; however, if that's true, can it really be all that selfless?
I want to knit things for myself. They just haven't come to the top of the priority list very often.
This is a really difficult question. I'm tempted to blog about it tonight, but I don't know if I'll be able to write anything.
Because it's more fun. When you knit for yourself, there's no element of surprise; no exclamation point of "wow! this is awesome! did you make this?" at the end of the experience. Just the quiet satisfaction of a job well done, and the ownership of a hand-knit garment.
I've found sometimes that I start out knitting something for myself, and partway though decide it's perfect for so-and-so, and so I give it to them. For me, it really is all about the process (it helps that some of the more frequent recipients live with me so I get to see my creations on a regular basis).
My other problem is that I know all the flaws in the object -- when I wear it, I am aware of the one or two things that I really ought to go back and fix. It sometimes feels unfinished. But I don't have the stomach for revisiting the item and doing parts over again. Giving it away obviates that problem entirely.
Just my $.02
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