Poor Kathy!

#1

OK, I don’t know who Kathy is, but someone donated her hand knit fair isle sweater to Goodwill. Yesterday my dd and I were at the thrift store and we were looking through sweaters and found a beautiful gray and cream and rose all wool sweater. And there in the neck was a delicate little tag that read, “Hand knit especially for you by Kathy.” This is why I am so hesitant to knit large projects for other people. That fear that one day I will be at Goodwill and find one of my sweaters hanging there. :frowning: I wish that the sweater would have fit because I would have bought it just to rescue it from its abandonment, but unfortunately it was too small for me or my dd. (Although dd did find a lovely angora sweater for only $3!)

So Kathy, whoever you are wherever you are, I’m sorry!

#2

How sad. :frowning: Hoepfully, someone else will find and appreciate that sweater!

#3

That is too bad but there could be lots of reasons it ended up there. I like to think on the brighter side. :wink:

#4

You should have bought it and repurposed the yarn into something. That way it could live on!

#5

[color=blue]I’m a sucker for rescuing well done handmades at the thrift shops,
especially when the price is right. [/color]

#6

Fair isle? :roflhard: I’d go mad trying to seperate all the colors out (and I’m anal enough that I would have to seperate all the colors out!)! I did think about it for one small minute and then remembered why I look for cabled “boyfriend sweaters” instead. Much easier to reclaim!

#7

The poor sweater!! :frowning:

#8

:frowning:
I’m pretty sure that my DSis appreciates the stuff I’ve made for her girls enough to hang onto it for when they have kids… well, most of it, anyway, some of the first things I made were pretty atrocious :blush:

#9

You have a point there!

#10

I have to admit that I have passed on handmade items to other people or to charity. Some are things that I made myself, others were hand-me-downs, or given to me. If an item has sentimental value, of course I hold on to it, but many things do not. For example, the knitted layette my best friend made for my youngest has been kept since I know that nearly every stitch must have killed her shoulder. The other knitted and crocheted sweaters were passed on. I won’t be having any more children, and am hoping I’m at least 5 {preferably 10!} years away from being a grandmother. I will make my grandkids things when the time comes, and really do not have the room to store all of these things anyway. While these things were in my possession, they were treated with the respect that they deserved {realistically}. A baby blanket made from a durable yarn is MEANT to be loved to death… that’s why you make them. You make a sweater for a 1 year old expecting it not to fit for long, and don’t make it as fancy as one for a 10 {or 20!} year old, so that it can be passed on without guilt. You put a lot of love into a little sweater knitted in fingering weight, so it is worn for going out, then put away when it’s outgrown.

I also make items for charity from time to time, and basically give them away with the expectation that they WON’T be as loved and appreciated as they deserve. When it comes to giving away to people that I know… I have an extremely short list of people that I will make something more than “simply basic” for… because I won’t put blood sweat and tears into something that they refuse to have any real appreciation for. I will make a large doily out of size 40 thread for my best freind anytime. I’ll make a bed-sized afghan for my DH out of 2" squares. I’ll make anything and everything that DHs Nana asks me to. Most of my other relatives would be lucky to get more than a dishcloth out of me.

Just my 2¢ {CAN}

</soapbox>

#11

:thumbsup:
What an excellent way to put it!