Anyone in my husband’s family. I am SAHM by choice but it requires a financial sacrifice that I think our five kids are worth. . . . I spent a lot of time doing some very nice beaded items (seed beads, very tedious work) for my SIL’s and then one of my brother in laws got mad over something else and made a crack about how some members of our family “cheap out” and send homemade gifts and compared them to getting popcorn balls at Christmas. . . . . It was like a big slap in the face, so now that I’m knitting, I know who is on my “NOTty” list. . . . You can just tell a lot of times which people will appreciate your time and effort and THOUGHT because when you knit, you spend time thinking about the recipient of what you’re knitting, at least I do. . .
Could you please tell me where you got your pattern? I really wanted to make them for Christmas, but the pattern I found on the Lion Brand site is not working for me. I am a new knitter and it has me picking up stitches to add Fun Fur. It looks great on the site, but I have tried three so far and they are all very u-g-l-y, LOL!
my sister in law. I made her a cute handbag (wristlet) and sewed a tissue cover to go in the purse. I got a lukewarm thanks, then she proceeded to tell me how her mother (my MIL) said nasty things about both of them. (like, the tissue cover looks like its only good for sanitary products, and no one would ever use a purse like that because it only fits a credit card, cell phone and lipstick.) Why my sil felt she had to pass along those mean comments is beyond me.
No one on that side of the family gets anything hand made. I also won’t knit for one o fmy friends who is waaaaay too picky.
I have several friends who ARE knit-worthy, who appreciate the time, effort, creativity and $$ (value) of a hand made gift. they get all my projects! my mom is a knitter, so I don’t feel I can make anything knit for her. I did make a crochet pillow for her birthday.
my hubby is hot-blooded and never wears sweaters, hats, gloves or scarves, so nothing for him either! lol- but I’m sure he’d be nice about it.
as an aside- I think the thank you note (even an email) has fallen by the wayside. People seem shocked when I send a handwritten thank you note. I dunno… but I was raised to know that such things are important.
Wow…this is so sad.:sad: I can’t imagine doing this to one of my dds. 
I only knit for those who have taken an interest in what I am knitting and seem excited when I show them something I’ve finished.
The only folks I ever knit/crocheted for are family members in South Africa. Most of the women knit and crochet themselves and I know they really enjoy getting handmade gifts.
I have not and will not knit anything for anyone here in the states because, even though my friends and family are all wonderful people, they equate handmade with thrift. In that the only reason one would make something rather than buy it is to save money.
Well, we all know better than THAT don’t we!
Cyrus, my dog has gotten neck scarves though. he loves everything I do!
Generally speaking I don’t knit for others.
So for me the better way would be to say whom I do knit for.
I knit for my mother… but I think she’s got enough now!
I knit slippers for my brother and Aunt. They really, really appreciate them.
I knit socks for my husband (does 2 pairs count?).
I knit for my children but they are very included in the process.
Then I knit for myself… but so far… every single thing I’ve knitted for myself has been gifted while I’ve been out and about.
I count it as “random acts of kindness.”
I’ve gifted children on the school yard. Store clerks… Those boxes for children in other countries.
Once I gifted a boucle sweater to a woman in a mall. She was too precious about her awe and desire for my sweater… it was too much and I just had to give her the sweater… :teehee:
That’s what makes me happy.
Now… I am going to knit for my SIL for Christmas. I am doing EXACTLY what she told me to do, colours, pattern, size… and fully expect them to be rejected gifts.
But that is her… and I still love my niece and nephew. I’ll snag a photo and one day… when hopefully they come to find me… when Momma isn’t old enough to prevent them… I can show them that I wasn’t a horrid Aunt, that I loved them to pieces but that I wasn’t going to give the the Wii I was told to… because I can’t even give that to my children!
whoa- she wants you to buy them a Wii?!! that’s expensive! even for a favorite aunt! that is an unrealistic request in almost any family. my friend is buying one as the group X-mas gift for ALL 4 kids, and they aren’t getting much else.
families are such strange animals…
It amazes me the complete and utter rudeness some of these recipients have showed! 
to you all who have experienced this! I can’t even think of not thanking someone …
As far as who I won’t knit for, I can say with complete and utter confidence I will NEVER knit for my MIL. I mentioned something about knitting gifts for folks last Christmas, and she said something like “Oh please not for me! I have given so many handmade gifts myself …” She knits, but doesn’t particularily seem to enjoy it - I think it’s a carryover from making things because it was cheaper than buying -, and she crochets and quilts. We have all gotten her handmades, and appropriatelly ooohed and aahed … I don’t get it. She only knits with acrylics, so I entertained teh thought of knitting her something in something wonderful, but I wont bother now - I’d just give her the yarn. I guess I just expected her to understand the care that goes into our handknits, and that THAT is the gift, but I guess not.
I do knit for my mom - she doesn’t get it, but she appreciates it. I’m doing socks for her this year -the woman loves socks, and would appreciate them. My dh is huge, and if I knit for him I’d be here forever, so I stick with the kids - who appreciate it as much as 4,3, and 1.5 year olds can:teehee: .
It’s not a tragedy that some people don’t appreciate hand-made gifts - it’s their taste, but it is a tragedy that they don’t know how to gracefully accept it all the same.
I’ve been knitting about a year and as my first project I made a garter stitch scarf out of Lion Homespun (yep). That was mainly practice and there was one dropped st in it. Next I made a throw for my sis (which is one of the reasons I learned to knit) out of yarn that cost me over $100 - I just didn’t know better about substitutions at that time. It was pretty, but not very practical (lacy stitch with bulky yarn). I gave it to my sis and she was absolutely thrilled. But I know for a fact she hasn’t and won’t use it. The lace is holey and catches on toes and fingers. It’s heavy. It’s handwash. But I don’t really mind because she’s still in awe at the sentiment and effort I put in and treasures the gift. She then swiped the garter scarf and wore it everyday of winter
Since then I’ve knit her a tank and a couple of hats. She is ultra excited about everything I knit for her and tells our mom that her “little” sister is making her clothes now (my mom used to sew when we were children). I will always knit for her
It’s easy to want to have the ‘giftee’ just ooze over the hand-made things that we make them, only because each of us puts love into each item we make. Even thought knitting is a reasonably popular past-time these days, I am not sure that people who don’t … will ever, dare I say, ‘get it’ - re: the time, care and effort that goes into the items that we make.
I think I will stick to making stuff for my mom and for charity. The two places that I KNOW that will appreciate what I make.
There are several names for people like this, none of which I will list here, however, I think they get that way IN PART from
-their upbringing and lack of aesthetic education;
-their total lack of familiarity with the talent and effort involved in making something by hand, (and the price of yarn!) and
-the enormous volume of manipulative commercial advertisement which seeks to create a population of acquisitive consumers who don’t recognize the true VALUE of anything unless it involves $$$ handed over to the business establishment;
-ignorance and/or stupidity.
I have people I won’t knit/crochet for. I made my best friend a gorgeous ripple afghan. When I gave it to her, she didn’t even pull it out of the bag to see it. She just gave it to her kids (5 and 7) and continued on with telling me the dramas in her world. I’m not even sure she thanked me for it. Due to horrid circumstances, she got evicted, so that blanket is now back at my house for safe keeping. It looks well loved by the children, but I don’t think she ever really appreciated what went into it. So, I’m going to enter it into a county fair next fall.
I also won’t knit for people i’ve known for a short time, like new friends, unless they show a huge interest in something i’m wearing. I made a friend a scarf, to which she told me it was gorgeous, and would wear it every day. I never saw her wear it once.
But the people I AM knitting for this holiday would be my ex boyfriend, my little brother, my two bosses, and my mom. Thats it though.
I refuse to knit for my MIL, simply because she’s a spiteful bitch.
I don’t knit much for my sons, but that’s because they’re 8 and 6 and rough on ALL their things. I’ll knit for them more when they get older.
but I LOVE to knit for everyone else I’m fortunate to have family and friends who all appreciate and love homemade gifts. I consider myself lucky to have been raised in a family that values the time and love put into a gift above the monetary cost of the gift .
I do, however, have a favorite person to knit for. My Mom. Every thing I’ve made for her, she has been SOOOO excited to recieve. Every time I’m out with her, she’ll strike up a conversation with complete strangers and end up showing off the handknit socks, sweater or purse one of us happens to be wearing, just to brag about me. I get cals from her sisters and friends telling me how they were visiting with my mom and mom just HAD to show them a blanket or something I’d made. I love my Mom.
I also enjoy knitting for my oldest sister/her kids. She and I don’t get along very well, but she loves my knit gifts. Back when her youngest turned 2, I was planning on knitting a cardigan for my niece’s birthday. But the yarn pissed me off (and is actually still in time-out) so the cardigan didn’t get finished and I went out and bought a gift for my niece. After the Birthday party, my sister and I were chatting for a bit and I asked if the outfit I bought would fit my niece well, and my sister said “Yes, It’ll fit great, but I do have to admit something, and I hope I don’t sound like an ungrateful bitch, but when she opened her gift from you and pulled out the outfit, I was kind of dissapointed that it wasn’t something you’ve knitted.” It made me smile
I don’t like to think about those I won’t knit (or craft) anything for because it makes me sad. I’ve had good and bad experiences with handmade gifts.
I’ve been knitting for about 1.5 years now (thanks to the vids on this website) so I’m still in my knitfancy but I did find the courage to make scarves for my mom, brother, and SIL last year and their responses were really gratifying. They called me when they opened their gifts on Christmas and oohed and aahed, even commenting how “professional” the scarves looked. Of course, that may be because I’d prepared them ahead of time to expect the worst. I think my exact words were “you will be the recipients of my first attempts at knitting so remember that it is the thought that counts”. My momma, bless her heart 
told me she was soooo proud of me 'cause I’m always willing to try something new and I’m always successful at it. Aren’t momma’s wonderful?!! :cheering: My brother works outdoors and since I didn’t “put any of that fringy stuff on it”, he can wear it while he works and he swears he wore it every day last year. Good thing I made it machine-washable! 
I also made a scarf for my other brother and he too was gracious about it. Said it was beautiful and a couple of weeks after Christmas called and asked me if I could make one for a friend of his if he bought the yarn. Apparently he was wearing it to work and a guy there saw it and asked if I’d make one for him if he provided the yarn. Kinda made me 
.
As for those I won’t knit for…most co-workers, unless they specifically ask. I made a beautiful had crocheted layette set for a guy and his wife who were having their first baby. Let’s just say the response was underwhelming to say the least. Lesson learned…not everyone appreciates the effort and love you put into your creations.
Oh well, their loss!
This might sound self-centered, but the fact is, the person who most appreciates the things I knit is ME. I don’t knit for anyone who really knows what goes into handmade stuff.
I must say that until I started to knit, I didn’t really appreciate the time that went into a handknit gift either. The only such thing I have received before was a scarf for Xmas last year from my best friend’s Mom. It is very cute and SOFT (novelty yarn) and I wrote her a thank you note as is my custom, but I feel very guilty now that I knit and realize that many hours go into even a simple scarf.
Plus it seems kind of silly, but I spend the whole time that I am knitting a gift thinking about the recipient and how much I like them, and what our relationship means to me, which can be a LOT of time. That’s a lot of good thoughts and positive vibes!
I am a very new knitter (knitfancy :teehee: ), but I made a little washcloth set for my mom. She wasn’t as impressed as I thought she would be, and my mom is usually great about stuff like that (I’m an only child, so everything I do is pure genius, LOL). I was a little disappointed but then I made myself recall my response to the scarf. Sure I was gracious, but it means a hell of a lot more to me now that I knit. So knowing that non-knitters probably will never appreciate what a knitted gift really means, I guess I will probably still knit for those I think will appreciate it in their own way and be gracious.
Some of the stories above make me so sad. Especially the moms who were rude about gifts. I mean, come on, it’s your MOM. They are supposed to love everything you do. :mrgreen: I mean, appreciation for homemade or not, when someone gives you a gift, you should thank them, and with a card and not just an email.
The one person who I will absolutely not knit for is my SIL. She has pointed to several things that she wants made, and because she has pointed it out to me, she expects it to be done. Have told her time and again that if she wanted something made, she would need to buy the yarn and the pattern, since I could afford neither. Plus, anytime I’m knitting something for myself, or for my wife or whatever, I always hear her chime in, “Oh well my mom can do a better job than that.” I always smile back at her and say “That’s nice, perhaps you’ll have your mom make you one someday.”
I haven’t had time to read all the responses (35 at this point) but wanted to participate. I am such a new knitter I don’t really have any horror stories yet!
This is my first Christmas as a knitter, and I have knitted my mother, father, and grandmother a scarf. That probably doesn’t look like much to a non-knitter, but my mother and grandmother are crocheters and will know the effort and time you mentioned. The three scarves took me six weeks to knit. I know these gifts will be loved by their recipents, if only because I made them! :mrgreen:
It is an added bonus, however, that my mother and grandmother will understand.
On the other hand!! When I took up knitting, my MIL told me that it was a waste of time and money. I swore I’d never knit her anything. When I was more confident in my skills, I knitted her sister a pretty scarf because she’d made all our curtains for us. Nothing for my MIL. When I was knitting my cat a wool blanket she asked me if it was a lap blanket for her. I said no, it’s for my cat. :out: But recently she asked me to make her a gray, all wool, v-neck cardigan vest. I agreed and am almost finished with the left front. It’s cabled and I plan to find some fancy pewter buttons for it. I prepared myself mentally before I started that she WILL find fault with it and I decided I won’t be hurt or get mad. But I am enjoying knitting it and will be proud of it when it’s finished. I think that’s what matters.
I made a wonderful hat for my best friend. It was the Santa Cruz hat from knittingpatterncentral.com. It was just beautiful. She said she really loved it and two days later i got into her car to go out with her and lo and behold under my feet on the floor of her car was my hat.
UGGGG!!! I just wanted to take it back.
I would have taken it back just to see if she would have missed it!