Knitting for Other People [Who May Not Like/Appreciate Knitting]

                                        
Knitting for others... what a pain in the butt!  I love to give other people gifts (even though most of the time I am not receiving any gifts from my friends, I feel bad for not showing how much their friendship means to me in physical form)!  The downside is knitting for people who are demanding me to give them a knitter object.  That is the most frustrating part.  For example, my mother.  She takes out the ruler and gives me the dimensions for a SCARF.  A scarf shouldn't have excat dimensions---after all it is going to go around your neck and sit there.  Who cares what it looks like? Well she does---and since I live with my mother I get to hear the classic---SOOOO Emily... how is my *insert project here* going? Between school and all of the other things I do, it is really hard to do anything in a quick fashion.  Thank goodness knitting for friends is usually more forgiving.  For example, my friend Nikki wanted not one but TWO scarfs, however since she gave me the yarn she hasn't asked about them, most likely because she trusts that I am getting the scarfs made.  My other buddy Corey, was a little less forgiving than Nikki, I kept hearing about how he wanted his sweater made ASAP---making a really long sweater is hard, but making it custom fit is even harder---but now that I have done it I will most likely do it again... but not for Corey;)  I had another friend, Nina who got my first felted pot.  Oh it was so awesome! I loved it a lot but I had nothing to give to her for her bday so I gave her my cherished treasure, when I was in her room a year later (for Frightfest) I found the pot in the trash in the corner of her room!  I pointed it out she looked really embarassed and she stashed it the corner again! :( I was very sad.  Stupid ass me made another pair of mittens for her and another friend, Kasey... I never saw them wear them.  That broke my heart, especially since I was really working hard on all of the projects above.  I decided only people who really appreciate knitting are going to receive my hand-made treasures.  For example, the hat to the left was a gift for my brother girlfriend's children, Daisy and Ella.  When I gave her the hat she was so appreciated.  She gave me a thank you card and said the girls wore their hats quite often.  How sweet! I know I'm not the best knitter in the world but people who don't wear my knitted objects are in an akward position: they don't like the knitted object and don't want to hurt my feelings, or the color doesn't work etc.  I know that it is hard to be nice to a friend that appreciates something that you don't...still I feel you should pretend sometimes and wear it... but that's me.  Oh well.  Thankfully there are friends that DO appreciate my knitting.  Above is a pic of me with two red mittens, I made them for my friend Julie (Corey's girlfriend and boy are they cute together!) the look on her face when she saw those mittens were made for her, it made my day!  In a way that was my gift from her!  Even my other friends were envious of those beautiful mittens.  They were a quick project but yet they were long enough to put some thought into them.  They were to her liking and I know she will be wearing them frequently.  It not only has to do with the color I choose but it also has to do with the fact she crocheted a blanket... probably one of the biggest blankets I have ever seen.  So I know she appreciates the mittens... and that makes me happy.      The moral of the story is: some friends are good people, but don't appreciate knitting.  Knit for those who appreciate hand-knitted gifts, and for those who you aren't sure, just knit a hat or a really quick scarf (like the Yo! Drop it! From the Stitch'N'Nation book) because it really does hurt when they make that face at you and then your gift gets tossed in the corner of the room!