8 comments

1. Rosie / December 3, 2014 When my grandson was 14, he was living half way across the country and we would not see each other at Christmas. Along with a check, I sent a long rib-knit scarf that I modeled after one I had seen on a student at the nearby college campus. Since Pat had just started high school and was already talking colleges, I hoped he would like and wear it….but boys at 14, well, who knew? On Christmas Day, my son reported that not only did he love the scarf, he wore it constantly. He even wore it to bed! That sure made my holiday!

2. Cathy / December 1, 2014 My grandmother made me an afghan out of wool in shades of blue, purple and green. It was made using a broomstick size needle and an ordinary size one. It eventually got dirty, so I washed it in cold water. This made it get fuzzy and shrink a bit. Today I would realize that I had semi felted my afghan. A moth got at it one summer and chewed a hole in it, but since it is felted, it stays together very well, keeping me warm and cozy, anyway. My grandmother has now been dead for many years, but I still have, and cherish, her afghan. It was one of the things in my life that intrigued me enough to get me to take up knitting myself.

3. jenna / December 1, 2014 In the 80’s an aunt crocheted a long vest (knee length) of granny squares in that horrid acrylic which was what was around. But even worse, it was a color I hated then, and still don’t like much now, green. That doesn’t sound so bad, but let me tell you what shades of green: neon & avocado. Did the skeins fall off a truck? My mother made me model it (blessedly, inside the house), but she was sympathetic to how ghastly it was and let me take it off and escape out-of-doors. Hey, I don’t remember ever seeing it again. Did my mom throw it out? That makes no sense as my mother scrimped and saved and “recycled” and “upcycled” before those were even concepts, in order to feed and clothe 5 kids on a laborer’s wages. But now that I think of it, we never had “butt-ugly” stuff, because my mother made most things and wouldn’t have wasted her time and energy on making something displeasing. Huh….

4. Kathy Pearson / November 25, 2014 About 8 years ago I made my youngest brother a pair of socks. He ranted and raved about how well they fit his size 11 feet, and how he wore them every time they were clean. Then last year at Christmas he showed me a video where he had dress as PaPa Smurf for a work Halloween party, and what did he have on the feet but the blue striped socks that I had made him, still going strong. He said he bragged to all his coworkers how they were made just for him by his big sister. He is a brother that makes a knitter proud, and alway first on my gift list for a warm cap or scarf.

5. Jenna B / November 25, 2014 One year I attempted to knit my sister a scarf. Normally I crochet them and wip them up in no time flat. Well I wanted a special and differnt look for her. Everything would have been ok but I waited till the last minute to make it like the procrastinator I am. It ended up being a size meant for a child. She wore it that day to make me feel better. I told her I would add to it later. That was 5yrs ago. Still never fixed it.

6. Nina / November 25, 2014 My mother made my year-and-a-half old son a red sweater for Christmas last year. The sleeves look like they were made for my husband, who is over 6′ tall, and the body length was fine, but way too wide. She says she followed the pattern for a size 2T. We put it on my son and he cried and cried, long arms flailing the whole time. The video is hysterical, and even mom, who put all her love into making the sweater, admits it is pretty funny to watch.

7. Veronica / November 25, 2014 Last year I made my nephew a pair of socks for Christmas. He liked the design so much he asked me if I could convert them into fingerless mittens so he could show them off. I fixed them that afternoon and he still wears them regularly!

8. Bernadette / November 25, 2014 One year for Christmas my step aunt sewed all of us kids, my four brothers and me, matching vests. The fabric was a cartoon drawing of a map of America. None of us even wore vests, and I was a teenager and not really interested in matching my four brothers, especially by wearing the same cartoon vests. I hate to tease anyone who makes a handmade gift because I know the time and love involved, but my gratitude for her effort has always been at odds with the plain ol’ whackatude of the five matching Map of America vests. I don’t know where they are today, but I wish I could find them and squeeze us into them and take a picture.