My bag for my Bag-a-holic exchange is nearly done - felted and embellished yesterday, now onto the drying and lining and filling with goodies (my partner is in New York, so I'm going to go Australian-goodies!)! I'm always amazed at how a big, baggy blob of knitting can magically become a fancy-pants handbag after a go in the washing machine...gets me every time! I think that maybe the nervous pacing in the laundry must help.....
Jules' socks are nearly done, too - halfway through the foot on the second one. She saw the finished one yesterday at lunch, and tried it on - much to my happiness, she loves it! Went out for lunch with the girls yesterday - Princess Fiona comes down every month and we go for a good laugh at one of our favourite places by the beach in Rockingham. Fee is a mad crafter, she makes the most brilliant hats and toys:
Hat for Melbourne Cup Day - of course she won the BEST HAT prize!!! (this year at Rottnest, we decided that we'd have a dress-up day, and Fee went as an aquarium - I've never laughed so much - or been dazzled by such cleverness with a needle and a sewing machine - her imagination is awesome, and I love that she's able to make it concrete!)
Sewn toys for the assorted nieces and nephews (Fiona is multi-skilled, she sews, knits, crochets, makes stickers, looms - you name it, she'll do it!!!) Started a Christmas present yesterday for my SIL - making a pair of house-sock-slippers, with some ghastly teal/sparkly yarn. I say ghastly, but it's actually knitting up quite nicely, it's very soft. I've lost the label, but I'm guessing it's acrylic, so it'll wear well. I'm knitting the soles with a double strand, after I saw a pattern in an Interweave Knits magazine, hopefully they'll be nice and springy.... Just basic sock-construction, top-down, bit of ribbing, then an eyelet pattern on the leg and on the top of the foot....we'll see! Was knitting on them at the doctor's yesterday, and a lovely little lady commented that it was nice to see someone knitting, especially with dpn's! Then a little old man wondered why I didn't just go and buy some socks, it'd be cheaper - so I told him it was because it's hard to find sparkly socks these days....
Speaking of Christmas presents, I have made an enormous decision. Every year, I go to great lengths to make/buy presents for my extended family that they will like (fingers crossed!). Last year, for example, I made the girlfriends/wives of my cousins all a summer-shawl, you know, handy to chuck on at a cool summer bbq. Before I made them, I asked them about the colours/styles that they would like. Presented them, and ........... nothing. They didn't even try their shawls on. One of them, we shall call her M, actually does love hers, and has worn it a lot since then (and she does always buy me a gift - it's always a tea-light holder or hand cream, but that's not the point - oh boy, I sound so very childish, I hope you know what I'm trying to say...) - do I sound churlish and petty?? I hope not, I was just so disappointed (money is a huge thing for them, they've got a lot, but in all the years that they have interacted with my family, they have never thought it necessary to return the favour and perhaps give a small gift...)....maybe I'm just needy.... Anyway, back to the point! This year, they're all getting a handknit cotton face washer, and a bar of soap from Nutrimetics, and then I haven't wasted my time and emotion, and I haven't turned up empty-handed (which is what I really want to do, but never could!). That does sound petty. Easter was the same - I knit and felted a tiny handbag for them all, and filled them with fancy little solid/cream eggs. Nothing. Oh, except for a completely melted chocolate in a cellophane bag from one of them (she had left them in the car, and they all melted. Dad and I joked all day that we'd gotten rabbit-poo in a bag for Easter). AND I WAS WORRIED THAT MY (token) GIFTS WOULD LOOK SKIMPY, SO I WENT AND SPENT $50 ON MORE CHOCOLATES THE DAY BEFORE!!!!!! Not again. Never again. Ever. I think I should maybe just worry about and focus on my immediate family, the ones I see more than on holidays and special occasions, the ones who obviously love me and value me.
Fullstop.
Easter chicky - light relief....
(disclaimer: I love my family. I love my cousins - they're all boys, so are inherently selfish and oblivious - but I'm struggling to love their partners. I'm tired of trying.... I sometimes feel as though I'm incredibly immature for a 39-year old woman....!)
What else, what else.... OH!! I've learned myself how to do entrelac (now I just need to work on grammar)!! It's been one of those things that I just assumed would be too hard for me, but the other night, I found a pattern (men's scarf) and the explanation was so clear that I was able to adapt it (making a bag for Mum, using Jo Sharp and Silk Garden, and will felt it) and before I knew it I'd done 3 tiers!!! I'm SO proud of myself (photos on camera, waiting to be transferred to the lappy-top...), it's working out beautifully!! I'm so inspired, that I'm going to make Lady Eleanor next! Got some Silk Garden....
Spent about twenty-ten hours on Ravelry last night, browsing the forums, adding to my queue, getting side-tracked reading everyone's blogs....I fear I'm becoming an internet whore....
Okay then, I've had a rant, and I feel a bit better.
Kisses
Me
xxx
hahahaha - surely you didn't think I'd post WITHOUT a picture of my sweetyheart-good-boy??? This is what I see when I wake up, he sleeps in my room.... he's all lovely and clean now, he had a bath with Jules' dogs yesterday (Samantha Joanna Banana and Dexter) - he's recently discovered the joys of digging and laying in a hole in the black sand....
3 comments:
Ohhhhhhhh I know exactly what you mean. It takes all the fun out of giving and preparing gifts when it isn't appreciated.
I say keep the hand made gifts for those that appreciate and value the gifts nd even more importantly, value you.
Thanks Jessica, thanks for not making me feel like a selfish fool!!! I agree with you, keep the personal stuff to those I feel personal about!
xxx
Non-knitters do not understand that a hand-knitted item is a gift of love, effort and thought. They think you are too poor or stingey (sp?) to BUY something for them (poor? - have they bought any yarn lately? Ever?!?)
Me, I would appreciate the effort gone into a shawl, but as a non-shawl wearer, I wouldn't wear it, no matter how nice it was (sorry)
I used to go to a lot of trouble thinking of just the "right" gift for each person, but mostly they weren't apprecaited either.
Now, I just do a book lucky dip. It works.
Forget about knitting for ingrates, and just give them token gifts. Save all that knittery energy for yourself or those you know who truly appreciate it.
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