All the way from VA, it's Susan Gibbs!

I wish I could tell you how long I've been following Susan Gibbs of Juniper Moon Fiber Farm.  

Susan has such an awesome story. At one point she was a network news producer in New York City. It seems like I read somewhere that it was a morning show... I'm quoting from her website, so I won't presume to elaborate, but clearly she was unhappy. She says she walked away from that in search of 'a more authentic life' and told people that. Reading the book Storey's guide to Raising Sheep inspired her to become a shepherdess. I'm like you, I wonder if there wasn't more to it than that, like 'ranching is in her family or something'. America is a big place, lots of people have done lots of things, so it's totally plausible. It's also totally plausible that a book was all it took.

I actually started following her farm when she was operating as Martha's Vineyard Farm... she moved from there to Virginia in 2009. I can imagine life is quieter there compared with Martha's Vineyard, trying to raise animals that need pastoral scenes in a tourist destination can not have been easy. The farm had a couple of unique pieces that I appreciated: 1.) Lambcam lets you view life on the farm from your desk.  The first year I listened to a lot of chickens strolling the pen... people who get to see a new lamb being born in the pasture are named Aunties and Uncles. I often have the lambcam on in the background on my computer and when the afternoon gets long, her dog will walk past the camera, BARK and wakes me up! 2.) Yarn Shares. You can actually buy an affordable share of the yarn crop each year, in either the form of YARN or the spinners share of FIBER. This is about as close to owning your own sheep without the having-to-shovel-sheep-poop part. It's funny that every yarn-crafter gets to that point where they wished they owned an animal that they could harvest their own wool, but the process of the care of the animal, sheering, cleaning, carding, spinning and dying the fiber are the unconsidered parts of 'adopting the puppy' that gets pushed aside in THAT dream ~ all done away with in this plan.

So, as you can see (I hope I've conveyed it) I have admired Susan and Juniper Moon Farm.  

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you'll remember my post about going to the Seattle Mariner's Stitch & Pitch and getting to meet Nicky Epstein. I don't think I realized at that time, how truly wonderful that experience was. I sought her out after she threw out the first pitch, and she was just waiting at a table in her assigned spot and THERE WAS NO ONE between her and I, so she could see me with my copy of her book from afar and how excited I was to get to see her. I was literally doing a little fan-girl dance and she did one, too. 

Susan threw out the first pitch at this last years game. I was there and tried to get up to the booth where Susan was greeting everyone but so was everyone else. They sold a lot of tickets to knitters and crocheters, so I have to assume all 3,000 of them were there to see her, too.

A couple of weeks ago, I started seeing posts from Susan on Facebook that she had a 'tour of the West' coming up. I watched those posts to see how close to me she would be, was it possible I could day-trip to wherever she would be? She posted a map of her route, and low and behold she was coming to MY NEIGHBORHOOD. I immediately researched all the shops in my area to see where she would be stopping for a trunk show (this is when a yarn vendor, author or designer brings their wares to show the patrons of a local yarn shop) and could not find anyone with this opportunity listed in their calendars or upcoming events. It wasn't until Susan or one of her helpful helpers posted the actual shops (I think it was in the Ravelry group for the farm) she would be stopping at, with their addresses and times that I figured out she would be at a local shop after I closed the office and made a mad dash downtown.

Susan Gibbs on the Right. I'm holding a skein
of Findley Dappled that came home with me
(it seemed to call me by name),
as well as another skein I hope to design a
brimmed summer hat with.

Naturally, I was in the office longer than most days. Naturally, I didn't give myself time to eat anything before I left the house like I should have, knowing my diabetes would try to get the best of me. Naturally, I lost my adventure buddy on the way there simply because I don't know this area still after being here 2 and half years. So, of course and NATURALLY, I looked awful. Don't look at the lady on the left very closely, if you don't wish to give yourself indigestion. But know this from my heart: When I walked up to her and put my hand out and said, Hi, Susan, my name is.... She screeched and recognized me over the sound of my own beating heart, and made my day. 

We have made plans to see each other again later this year...

I should, by now, have the thought of mind to put together a little something and come back to you with an interview or something. After all this time, admiring the work of someone for long periods of time and KNOWING they don't know us as well as we think we know them, it continues to blow my mind when someone says 'I see your posts on Facebook all the time and you keep me informed about everything knitting.' It was the same at Stitches West in Santa Clara a couple of weeks ago. Maybe someday I will get over my own smallness and have something wonderful to share with you. I'm not there yet. I will continue to stretch my self so that you have something wonderful to read about all things Happy Knitting when you stop by my posts. I just want to post at this time, I got to meet her, it was wonderful, and we will be doing it again.

Thank you.

Knitted Cheerios!

There was an article in the Knitters Magazine K104 (2011) that spoke about  this little tool. It was referred to as an i-cord machine in the article (which I keep typing as cHord, you'd never know I like music at all) -- I found if you were to Google it, there's a couple of different names - I've found listings as French knitting machine or knitting mill. The brand they show is Embellish Knit by Bond. (Patent Pending and Made in China.)

http://www.knittinguniverse.com/K104/

Of course, just for fun, I ran right out and bought it. 

It is totally coincidental that it's purple. That is my story and I'm sticking to it.

It basically is a four-needle knitting machine, rather than a set of 100+ on a flat bed of a knitting machine. The needles resemble a rug hook, in that it's a hook (deeper than a crochet hook, seriously a HOOK) with a free-swinging opposable thumb. I call it free-swinging, because it is the natural way of the movement of the needles that makes the thumb do it's job, there is no mechanism that makes it close the hook, which is almost mesmerizing to watch.

The article in the magazine accompanied two sets of patterns, hat and scarf sets, and the next issue featured a couple of cowls. 

Silly me, I tried to knit with it.

                     

I got out the largest of my circulars, swatched and started a top-down raglan.  Two things made me stop. First, I was using a size 13, which was obviously still too small a needle -- it was too tight and stiff, as in could have stood itself in a closet without the hanger. Secondly, the quantity of the fiber that I was using would have accomplished a short jacket. Short stiff jackets don't particularly appeal to me.

So, it went into hibernation for a bit. 

Now let me explain about this process of making the cord. It's similar to spinning and creating a strand, but, in contrast, a spinner gets to sit. You COULD sit, but you don't have the drop from raised hands to lap to make any length. So, beginning by standing: I seem to be more comfortable standing at the end of my kitchen counter, my spool on my left, the knit-mill held in my left hand with the incoming thread held loosely in that hand. The strand goes in at the top, loosely thread and a bit of fiddling, cranking slowly to get it started with my right hand. I did see a post of someone using an electric drill to crank VERY QUICKLY... I can't see that this would work with this particular model. 

Once it's on its way, there's a weighted clip, like a heavy clothes-pin that pulls the cord through the machine which helps make a smoothly stitched cord. Cranking for 10 minutes or so (I think that's probably slower than my moderate pace) the cord will reach the floor, the whole time spinning clockwise, which is the reason I stand. If just left to sit on the floor and NOT free-swinging, it just twists up on itself. 

So, for me, it's a process of crank for a few minutes till the weight hits the floor, wind the i-cord into a ball, as near the knitting-mill as can be tolerated, fasten so it doesn't unroll (I used a large cable needle to slip under the cords in the ball), clip the weight on it which is absolutely necessary until the ball is of a weight that it will free swing with enough tension to pull the cord smooth while cranking. 

Tools I use: The Purple items came with the knitting machine
included the weighted clip and a yarn needle with the notched
end which I combined with the the gold mini crochet hook
that helps pick up the dropped stitches that are just below the
hook. Scissors, measuring tape and mini pins to hold stitches
at the end of the cord without knotting until ends can be stitched
together. Large cable needle used to keep ball from unrolling.

I do think it pretty cool that the cord ends can be kitchener'd together rather than knotted (I hate knotting anywhere, of any kind, and try to do without it as much as possible). I cannot imagine trying to weave in these ends...

After 'sitting in time-out' for a long while, OK, YEARS, I got to thinking about it and thought, is size 13 really the largest needles I own? Having recently started organizing the one end of the unused second bedroom, I remember seeing a couple of what I would have thought of in the 70's as Broomstick needles. I got them out from their separate locations ~ they recognized each other as kindred spirits immediately, and after cleaning with a soft cloth said they were ready to go!  Their little red caps at the ends announced them as size 32.

Let me admit, when I got that stiff jacket out and frogged it (or ripped it out) I had considered using the i-cord as arm-knitting. I tried several times over a couple of days, but either it is too fine for that, or still not the right texture, it became uncomfortable to use as it gets hot under those stitches. Also, until you bind off, you cannot put your knitting down. I tried to chase a dog-gone-psycho which was one of those failed attempts... Of course I was trying to do about three to four times the recommended number of stitches, so my being uphappy with it may have had little to do with the success others have with Arm Knitting. The size 32 needles just fell right into place, the stitches slipped on and off nicely.  By the way, I get a gauge of about 7, yep, SEVEN stitches to four inches in a row. The fabric has a lofty, feather-light and airy feel about it.

So casting on 75 stitches has created a fabric about 48 inches wide. I'm going to knit till I run out of this thread, or just before and perhaps border it with i-cord i-cord. Yes, that was redundant, but if it's an i-cord border knit of i-cord, what would you call it?

Let me say there are some drawbacks. I don't believe the construction of this little machine was meant for such big projects. Being plastic, I wore a grove in the protective cylinder where the thread goes through. It may have been designed to only create enough cord to make French closures or Frog closures.  I'm not a fan of tiny, fiddly projects so you may be able to understand why I went where I did. You may notice the clear cylinder of my machine is dusty, which is not actually dust but fiber from the thread off the cone. It has kind of a cotton feel, as if it was originally intended for weaving. I've wiped it out the best I can, but it requires a cotton swab which didn't really help much. I'm also pretty sure if I do a second project with it, I will have to figure out how to oil it without greasing whatever fiber I put through there. I would like to find perhaps a vintage knitting mill as I saw when I Googled the machine originally, perhaps that may prove a little more long lasting.

Now, I've come to the end of my post (I may come back if I can create a video of how the cording process works for me and a finished picture of the project) and you are asking 'Why call this post Knitted Cheerios?' Take a good look at the next picture.... What do those finished stitches remind you of? Do they NOT remind you of the texture of your morning cereal?

And what will become of this project once it's finished? If there is nothing more worthy of this project, I think it will make a perfect Linus Blanket. I'm not sure if they will accept it as they don't want things loopy or loosely knit. I don't think of it as loose, but they may find it so, and I may end up bringing it home again. http://projectlinus.org/

 Happy knitting!

Knitting Adventure: Stitches West 2014, Santa Clara, California

Unlike my previous knitting adventures that I've shared here, I have no pictures.

I got a new phone, of the 'Smart' variety.  I found out today, after I was home from the adventure for a day, that when we purchased it, the fellow was supposed to set it up on the internet for me, which we did not know and it did not happen.

So.... 

I can TELL you what it was like.  There was a large market place, larger than the one at Sock Summit, if you were there, I think by twice the size. I was in a booth right at the front door, which was awesome for me, because I saw a lot of people as they came in the door about to start shopping so they were plenty excited and most were adorned in a recently finished project. I saw a lot of shawls, sweaters, hats, scarves, skirts... 

I have met 5 people who were there before I went. I think I may have met a few thousand there easily. I met teachers, students, designers, yarn company reps, other market lurkers like me. I attended events: There was a fashion show, another fashion show for students, a pajama party, a podcaster meet-up, I shared adult beverages in the bar while knitting before I headed upstairs to the hotel to bed.

I realize I have a lot of work to do, now, to get better at what I want to do. I knew I would be inspired, I was HOPING for inspiration and I was not disappointed. I know now that with a little effort I can go so much further. There are lots of people paving my direction, because what I had hoped for was to encourage and motivate others toward the craft I love and because that is my priority, others are offering to show me my options, for which there are many.

And so, I've come home Grateful, Humbled, and Flying.

(If I have more to add to this, I will, but for now, this is the simple version.)

February 4th

February 4th has been my traditionally bad day of the year.

There are some good things about it. My Uncle and Aunts anniversary was February 4th. It is Sweet Malia's birthday, so that's nice.

Some young people I know lost their momma to Cancer on February 4th, one of them was only 5 1/2 months old.  That was awful.

Tuesday, February 4th, 39 years ago, was the last time I spoke with my father. I saw him once later, but we didn't speak. He never sent a letter, or a card, or his child support payment until I was old enough he didn't have to pay for me anymore. He never apologized.

He continues to do damage. My siblings don't speak to me, and treat my mother with disrespect, because all they can see is that they were separated from their 'daddy'. I still feel his shadow behind me and look over my shoulder expecting the worst.

Next year, February 4th will be 40 years since the last time we spoke as I handed him his lunch that my mother made and he drove away to work. But it won't be Tuesday.

About Wendy Bernard, for Marly Bird

I've been helping Marly Bird with her Facebook/Twitter and Ravelry pages for a few weeks now. One of the things she's gearing up to do is a Crochet & Knit -a-long (yes, Knitters and Crocheters can participate) with another talented designer.  Marly asked me to write a blog post about her friend and I'm duplicating it here as well. Find Marly at www.marlybird.com

Hello, crafty folk!  It's Tammy, Marly's social media helper. I'm excited, as I'm sure you are, about the first Yarn Thing with Marly Bird's FIRST Crochet and Knit -a-long. It was revealed in the first newsletter, Marly Bird, A Little 'Bird' Told Me, that her partner is this adventure will be the lovely

Wendy Bernard, of Knit and Tonic ( www.knitandtonic.net ) 

As you can see from our posts on Facebook, Twitter and Ravelry, Marly is a little swamped so she asked if I could put together some information about Wendy.

First, I listened to Marly's interview of Wendy from January, almost two years ago.  You may want to catch that if you didn't hear it the first time, or if you heard it and after two years, a refresher is a good thing ... http://www.blogtalkradio.com/yarnthing/2012/01/31/custom-knits-2-wendy-bernard

Then, assuming that Wendy is busy too, I sent her an e-mail with a few questions we would like to know.  I appreciated her responses so much that, rather than edit what she said, I will just let you read it as I received it.

Tammy: Do you prefer Knit or Crochet? It sounds like a stupid question, and I'm assuming Knit because your designs are all knitting but do you ever crochet? You mentioned you were doing some sewing at that time when you were on Yarn Thing, how is that going?

Wendy:  I do prefer to knit although I do crochet for fun sometimes. I also sew and embroider like crazy. Crochet, sewing, embroidery, Temari are all relaxing activities for me. Unless I'm knitting something like socks or a cap (which I feel can be relaxing), I don't knit for relaxation, probably because I consider knitting and designing knitting patterns is what I do for a living.

(Note: I didn't know what Temari was so I've had to look it up. Here is the wikipedia page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temari_(toy)) but basically it is an oriental ball that is wrapped in silk trimmings or embroidered -- and they are beautiful!)

Tammy: You mentioned that your grandmother taught you. Did you have any other training or work in fashion? You mentioned you have a publishing background and also that you started designing because you were altering other patterns. What gave you the thought of altering a pattern before you started researching those methods? Was it simply knitting for your child that pushed you over this designing edge?

Wendy: My grandmother did teach me to knit around age 10, I think. I didn't knit again except maybe a scarf for a boyfriend in high school (it rolled!). When I was pregnant, I picked up knitting again and my first project was one of those little hats that looks like a strawberry. I did start out in publishing and was a marketing executive for many years and had no background at all in fashion or design--although I had always sewed my own clothes. Since my daughter was so premature, I decided to quit my job to be at home with her. I started a blog and talked about what I was knitting. I would alter patterns for the usual reasons: shortening sleeves, changing the shape, etc., and my readers would encourage me to make up my own patterns. So, I did. One day, I received an email from a literary agent, who asked me if I wanted to write a book, and I said "why not?"

Tammy: I personally love a couple of your designs, one is 'Jordan' which is a beautiful lace tunic, and the other is 'Hana Hou'. I'm sure you've been asked a million times about your inspiration, but between this FEMININE tunic and a FUN felted Ukulele bag, I've got know. What makes you get stoked about a design? Do you wait to be excited about a yarn you're asked to design with, or is it a theme? You've mentioned that Elizabeth Zimmerman inspires you, as she does us all. Is there other designers' works that get your creative juices flowing? 

Wendy: This is the hardest question for me to answer. Basically, I knit things that I would want to wear or use. It's as simple as that. If I see something on the street that inspires me, I'll go home and sketch. After that, I'll find the appropriate materials. It's harder for me when someone sends me yarn and says "design something." I prefer to want to make a particular looking item and after that find the yarn. Does that make sense? As far as other designers' work that inspires me, there are quite a handful, but not necessarily knitwear designers. I like to look at magazines like Vogue (not the knitting one) and InStyle and I like going to Malibu or to Los Angeles and people watch. It's fun to see what the younger set is wearing on the streets. Because of the climate, it's a little harder for me to focus on items that are meant to keep one warm!

Tammy: With Marly Bird you are doing a Crochet and Knit -a-Long. There haven't been any details yet even as far as what type of project are we knitting, as in Clothing item or Accessory. Besides getting to work together with Marly (smile) is there something about this particular project that tickles you? 

Wendy: What tickles me is that I never did entrelac before! (Folks -- I think that was a BIG CLUE about what we will be creating in the C/KAL!) I didn't even WANT to do entrelac as I didn't like the idea of turning my work every row or round. Also, I hadn't really ever seen an entrelac item that "spoke" to me enough to make me want to learn the technique. But when Marly brought up the subject of doing a K/CAL, I thought "why not?" I had this great ombre lace on hand and, well, why not? I took a craftsy class and figured out how to do some basic entrelac and knit backwards and now I'm addicted to entrelac! It is so much fun!

Tammy: Do you teach? Are you going to STITCHES West or any other events coming up?

Wendy: I do teach locally, but that's about it right now. I don't travel that much because I have a young daughter and my husband often works weekends. I also have no local family to help out. Once my daughter gets a little older I might consider traveling more often, but for now, I do teach locally and go to TNNA for book signings when new books come out.

Wendy Bernard currently has 141 designs listed in Ravelry, so after you check out her website www.knitandtonic.net I would head over there to her designer page (http://www.ravelry.com/designers/wendy-bernard).  I'm sure there are lots more goodies to come while we work on our Crochet or Knit -a-Long together.

Knit vs Crochet (first post in 2014)

You know, I wish there wasn't this bitterness between crafters who knit and those who crochet. I seriously don't think personal preferences should make the conflicts that it does. There's nothing wrong with either, both have advantages.

I might have learned to crochet as a child, there was so much else going on, that I really can't remember.  My mom crocheted and I have proof ~ it has lain on my bed every night for the last 40+ years. My mom was the (mostly single-) parent to 5 children with only 6 years age difference from oldest to youngest. I believe she crocheted because if a disaster happened to her project while she wasn't working on it, it couldn't be completely ruined and require ripping it out entirely. There is a picture of my brother in a knitted argyle sweater taken when we would have been preschoolers, I don't remember her making it, and I know there were knitting needles in her stash (more about that later) but I don't recall ever seeing her knit.

We spent summers very actively. My mother didn't drive but we didn't stay home much. We walked everywhere. Looking back, that was probably smart on her part, a way to wear us out so she had quiet time to crochet at night! One of the walks we did about once a week was to a thrift store, I believe it was a Salvation Army. My mom would find bags of yarn, unfinished projects or otherwise unloved knitted objects. We would cart home these bags, either carrying them or piling them in the red wagon and cushion the baby brother and sister for the ride home. Once home, we would unravel all this stuff. We became great problem/puzzle solvers. One year, she divided all of this into 5 laundry baskets of theme colors and each of us got an afghan in our color. That's where that afghan I mentioned earlier came from ~ those of you that know me can already guess it's purple. 

I don't remember her teaching me, but my brother made a granny square that just kept growing and growing, until it probably could cover a full- to queen-sized bed, and finally he complained to our mom in a panic 'I can't make it stop!'

I've said it before, when I was in junior high school, I stole the green plastic knitting needles from her stash with some yarn and a how to book and learned to knit.

Here's the thing: That book didn't say how to hold the yarn, it only said how to make the stitches. How to cast-on, how to put the point in the center of the stitch and pull a new loop through and pull the old one off, but I must have held the yarn with my left hand because when she made all those afghans, my mother held the yarn in her left hand. 

I prefer crochet for lots of things. An afghan has real warmth if it's crocheted, you can feel it's warmth when you need it. It does many things in a wonderful way.  There is another picture of me in my mother's photo collection ~ I'm sitting cross-legged on the floor of my room (and it was clean! which is probably why she was taking the picture) next to the stereo with an 8-track player, crocheting an elephant. What else do you do with a little grey yarn at 14-years-old? In a few years, when friends and family were having babies, I crocheted lots of afghans. I hand-sewed dresses and things, too, but usually new babies got afghans from something very soft that I found at whatever local store I could get to by walking, biking or taking the bus.

I know there's lots of other really great things to crochet. At that time, 'other things' were decorative, and I personally wasn't a 'decorative' crafter. My concern was warmth. It was a personal mission to comfort with my crafting.

Later, when I was married and my daughter was small, I was still crocheting blankets. In her cousins' new house, they had bedrooms in the basement built by their father. I made these really heavy afghans one each for them, double-stranded with worsted weight acrylic yarn. They worked up quick because I was stuck at home with pneumonia the whole winter. Started with those three cousins and, not to leave anyone out, made for the last two and for my daughter to match.

I made sweaters, too. Knitted for newborns and usually a second sweater for when they started kindergarten. I always found patterns at the library, because I rarely could afford to buy books or magazines on top of purchasing yarn, or enough to complete a project. After a few years of these kinds of projects, I found that what I was gifting (and I never kept anything I made, it was ALWAYS for someone else) was not being appreciated and store-bought was preferred. So I began to study the books and magazines I brought home from the library for instructions on better assembly, cast-ons and bind-offs that resembled store-bought. I began to have preferred methods for different types of projects. I rarely used anything but acrylic yarn so I became very choosy in what I was churning out. Never would I consider a pull-over made of acrylic yarn unless it's for a teddy bear or a doll. 

During that time, I sewed, also, all my daughters clothes, dresses and t-shirts for myself, a coat for her dad of crushed corduroy, fully lined and custom shoulder pads (lots of hand sewing) that made him look taller and thinner, was entered in the state fair. I recycled lots of clothes as well. If I cut off jeans to make shorts for myself, I could make jeans for my daughter with the cut off legs.

It wasn't until recent years, that I was given wool yarns: my first cashmere came in a swap, I've knit with alpaca and merino/silk blends because I was asked to design with it, but I couldn't have purchased it, generally. I typically knit with it and my designs are knit. For me, it goes a little further, crochet fabric is 2 to 3 times denser than knitted.  I'm not opposed to it, I just haven't acclimated to using it that way, I'm still trying to get more yardage from the gift I've received of getting to use some of this nicer stuff. When it's gone, I will have to go burn through the acrylic in my stash that's waiting for me. I will probably crochet with it if there's a lot of something.  

Lots of charity crafting asks for acrylic. The Linus Blanket project (in my area it is mostly quilts that are created and donated) asks for acrylic afghans as it donates to children in hospitals for long-term stays. Some provide blankets, quilts and afghans to foster kids, still as far as afghans it asks for acrylic because it is easier to clean. Humane animal shelters ask for donations of blankets and sweaters of acrylic for the same reasons, so much easier for them to keep a chilled lap-pup or kitty clean in a blanket that doesn't require special care. 

Acrylic has it's place and is highly desired for certain projects. Wool is great as well, since it keeps a body warm even when it's been wet by rain (or worse) and Hoo-Ray if you are not in a third-world country and have access to it if you can afford it. Crochet is awesome for blankets or lace projects, I admit to crocheting curtains or lace-edgings often enough.  Knitting is precise and comfortable on a foot in a sock, or in a sweater on a body, in wool it's breathable.  

I've said this before, too. I find knitting easier.  It's one stitch, you learn it frontwards (knit) and backwards (purl), you change colors, you change the order of the stitches, you change the directions but it's still one stitch.  Crocheting stitches include the chain, single crochet, double, half-double, triple, treble, around the post in front, in back, through both loops, through the front loop, through the back.... get it?  It offers a great variety, which is awesome but I gotta say, I'm a little surprised charts aren't more popular.  Seriously, charts have been reserved like the answer key at the back of the teachers' textbook that the student never sees.

It all works, somehow, with some thought.  There is no 'right' fiber, there is no 'right' craft anymore than there is a wrong one. If you can't find the pattern to do what you want to do, with how you want to do it, I have a recommendation for you: Obviously, you have found a need and you are probably also smart enough. I suggest you get busy and design it.

Just keep at it. Keep making for comfort, warmth, sentiment, decoration.... what ever makes you or your receiver happy and JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN!

Heartfelt (Knitting and) Gifting

A woman in one of my online knitting groups complains 'I made an afghan for someone and have yet to receive a thank you. Should I worry?'

This kind of knitting and gifting insecurity is common.  If you're the kind of knitter that hears about someone with a special event coming up that needs a gift, and think it would be special to receive something crafted by hand and immediately start making plans, cast-on and knit frantically until it's done, you know the anxiety this woman is describing.  Every knit/crochet/craft blogger will discuss it. There's just as many conversations about crafting for the worthy, knitting for the knitworthy.

Here's what I know.

I know what knitting does for me.  I know that when my hands are busy, I'm trying to do something heroic one stitch at a time.  I'm trying to keep the receiver warm, I'm trying to tell them they are beautiful, I'm trying to tell them they are loved.  Is it unreasonable to expect that from every stitch?  I don't think so.  I've knit that stitch based on the thoughtful planning I gave for that person before I ever cast the first stitch.  I've considered carefully the colors they look good in, especially the ones they seem to be wearing when they are their happiest, if they've not told me directly their favorites.  I've given a lot of thought to their body shape and what they wear and how it fits. I've looked through the patterns I have in my possession, spent hours online, looked at my stash of yarn usually determining it's inadequacy, and then spent further hours online determining the availability of the materials I need do I need to order or can I stop in a local store and if there room on my credit card.

With every stitch, I recount all of our happy memories, I see their smiles and think of what they've meant to me. I think of what they will be doing when they wear or use my knitting gift, their pride when they show it off to their family, friends, co-workers, their world.  With baby gifts, if it's before the baby is born, I will imagine them doing all the things I did with my daughter as a baby and other babies in our family that are cherished memories.

And then you present them with the gift. If I can give it to them in person, I can tell them why it's that color, what it's made of, why I thought they could use this personally, unique-crafted thing. Then watch their eyes.  You can tell if it was too much or if it's just right.  

As a crafter gets older, you're better able to determine the heart of a person and how they will receive something. This summer I made a scarf/shawl for a friend of ours. It was for someone who was going through some medical issues on top of some really personal dramas, too. We were impressed with how she coped with this stuff which was always with laughter. Together, my husband and I looked for yarns that reminded us of her.  When it was handed to her, at that moment, she was having an especially bad day. When I was able to let her know what this was and why, she melted.  I couldn't take a picture of her during her awful day, but asked that she take one when it got cold enough to need to use it, which she did. At the time I gave it to her and when she sent the picture, she described what she loved about it and how it made her feel.

Knitting for kids is a pretty awesome experience.  A baby afghan for a newborn, becomes a nap blankie for a toddler and an adventure tent in play.  Sometimes garments are saved as mementos or passed down to younger siblings. One of my favorite garments to make a child is for starting school.  If you make it in their favorite color and with special details like pockets (POCKETS!) they are ready to do school, like Superman donning his red cape.

But here's where knitting for someone else is like paving a path through a blissful garden. Halos of Hope was founded by Pam Haschke after she fought cancer and beat it.  During that awful time she was given a hat.  When she'd lost her hair, this hat gave her a joy she hadn't expected.  (I haven't met Pam yet, I've heard her tell the story, but I imagine it gave her a lot more than that.) I've heard her say, time and again, she started this charity because she wanted to share the comfort of a soft hat with others still battling.  If you go to the website www.halosofhope.org and look at the notes under Stories of Hope, there are stories of gifts well received. The notes are mostly from the cancer centers where the hats were sent and it's because the writers of the notes were there when a hat was given and received, because the experience is so beautiful the note writing must be done. These people can't take credit, but pass the messages of thanks back to where it belongs, to the ones that thought they would like to, took the time and made the effort to make a soft hat, organized donation efforts and sent the hats out.  

Sometimes when you make something for someone else, you don't get the thanks you needed to hear. You can't let it stop your generosity because you didn't get a thank you card. You have to remember the joy you had in making it, just know that there is more good in the universe because you did and then do it again.
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If you are interested in creating hats for Halos of Hope, there is a big effort to achieve a high number of hats by the Stitches West event at Santa Clara, California in February. Several of the podcasters I mentioned a couple of weeks back are participating in a Podcasters Throwdown (challenge amongst themselves). You'll find at the website above the requirements are pretty relaxed, it has to be a new hat, of soft yarn, for a child or adult, male or female. There's even some great patterns that have been donated. Hats take no time to make, unlike a sweater or an afghan. When you're done with one, you won't believe that one hat can make a difference. 

“Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.” ― Mother Teresa