Day 4: Whatever Happened to...?

Whatever happened to your __________?

Write about the fate of a past knitting project. Whether it be something that you crocheted or knitted for yourself or to give to another person. An item that lives with you or something which you sent off to charity.

There are a lot of different aspects to look at when looking back at a knitting project and it can make for interesting blogging, as much of the time we blog about items recently , new and freshly completed. It is not so often that we look back at what has happened to these items after they have been around for a while.

How has one of your past knits lived up to wear. Maybe an item has become lost. Maybe you spent weeks knitting your giant-footed dad a pair of socks in bright pink and green stripes which he then ‘lost’. If you have knit items to donate to a good cause, you could reflect on the ways in which you hope that item is still doing good for it’s owner or the cause it was made to support.

I've made a lot of things in my 43 years of knitting. A great deal of it was given away as gifts, or to charity. I can count on one hand the number of people who received the gifts from me that ever actually wore or used them. I occasionally have that question come to mind, "What ever did happen to...?".

In 1997 I knit beautiful cotton dishcloths for each of my inlaws for Christmas. I never saw  them being used after the brightly wrapped packages were opened. Actually, I never saw any of them ever again. One year I knit hats for all the nephews and nieces for Christmas. I never saw them again either. I don't knit gifts like that for family anymore.

The project I find myself wondering about the most lately, though, is my very first fairisle sweater. I made it in the early 80's for one of my sisters. It was from a pattern published in a womans magazine that my mother gave me. It was one of 3 or 4 sweaters that the very popular Princes Diana wore and the magazine got permission to publish the patterns for them. The sweater featured a South American theme in the design of llamas and geometrical shapes and whatnot. I don't remember it as well as I wish I could. I didn't take a picture of it when it was done either. I regret that. I remember making it in shades of blue and aqua. I remember it took many many hours to knit it. I remember it turned out very well and I was quite proud of it. I wish I knew what happened to it. I never heard. I don't even know if she ever got it. It disappeared into the ether.

I'm very picky about who I knit gifts for now. It's kind of pointless to knit something that the receiver doesn't want. It definitely is a waste of my time. I make sure the receiver of the gift is actually someone who will want what I've knitted. For instance, I knit for my son-in-law. He loves the socks I've knit for him. He wears them all the time. I've even had to mend some so he could keep wearing them. Last year I made a sweater for him. My daughter tells me he wears it. I'm so happy, and relieved, to hear it. Knitting for Frank gives me a lot of joy.

So, if you happen to be reading this, and you are one of the people I knitted a gift for, and you actually used it, please let me know.

Live long and prosper. \\//