Gift Knitting for Treasured People

Normally, I'm not a big gift knitter (except maybe for DH). Gift knitting can entail a lot of stress, heartache, and general unhappiness for a lot of knitters. However, on the flip side, gift knitting can also bring a lot of joy to both the knitter & recipient, *but* it can also cause a lot more heartache when the recipient doesn't enjoy the product (i.e. the boyfriend-sweater syndrome, or having to wear Aunt Martha's itchy sweater whenever she visited).

But, recently, I was at the receiving end of people who absolutely *loved* what I made them.

over Christmas (2009), my Eldest Niece took absolute delight in a pair of my hand-make socks that had shrunk/felted in the wash. When she wore them out (2 days later as they were knit with handpainted yarn), I decided to knit her a pair, which I cast on shortly after discovering the very large heel holes in those aforementioned socks!

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Unblocked Socks for a 7-year-old. Size US 2 (7.5")
Knit Picks: Stroll (Clematis Heather) & Kettle Dyed (Eggplant)
Toe-up: Ran out of Stroll just as a I got to the heel turn.

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I planned on finishing them in time for her birthday (which I did finish exactly on her birthday, so mailed them off a little bit belated). And with two different colors because I ran out of one yarn and had to finish with another. Her mother tells me she absolutely adores them, and was heartbroken when her mother wouldn't let her wear them to school (considering what she did to the last pair...). However, I did let her mother know that I used a much sturdier wool for her socks and reinforced the heel (unlike the last pair).

Also, I had made the Trilobyte hat for my BIL (father to Eldest Niece), as he is a geologist. His wife (the mother) also let me know that BIL has been wearing his hat *everywhere* as it gets cold in the morning. She tells me that he loves it as it is his most comfortable hat AND that if I wish to knit him more hats, he wouldn't complain! LOL

So, I can definitely understand that warm euphoric feeling of giving a gift that is loved and treasured. I will still be very picky for whom I knit gifts, but I probably will be knitting gifts again.