This Is Why I Knit

 

Pattern:  Ribbed Socks For Kids by Susan B. Anderson

Yarn:  Knitpicks Felici, Mosaic colorway

Needles:  size 2

When I came down last week to help, I was able to deliver Little Sister's new hand knit socks in person. It might have been more fun for her to get a package in the mail, but it was more fun for me to see her get them. She loved them. But this time she added, "Next time would you make the legs taller? I think I would like them better that way." A sure sign that she's growing up—she's beginning to develop her own fashion sense.

Of course, I knit things for myself, but a large portion of what I make is for someone else. Often for someone in the family. Sometimes, for strangers (to me) when the daughters ask me to make a gift for their friends or co-workers. I love seeing the happy face of a delighted recipient when I deliver a gift in person. I love seeing them wearing the item later.

Pattern:  Kid's Fruit Hat by Ann Norling (minus the "fruit part)

Yarn:  Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino, Ecru colorway

Needles:  size 6

And I love it when the parents of babies I'll likely never meet share a photo. This adorable boy is one week old. "Fresh born" as one of my friends says. Although I've made plenty of pink and blue hats and a few gray ones, I am beginning to love the white and ecru color for babies. They just might be the sweetest of all.

Handmade gifts are a sure sign of love. We treasure the name paintings from a friend that both little sisters received as babies. And Little Sister and Baby Girl still love riding the rocking horses that my daddy made years ago when my own daughters were small. We have a stash of his wooden toy cars, too. And there are crocheted blankets that have been stored in drawers for years. They were made by neighbors for our own newborns. A baby hat that belonged to Daddy-O is safely put away. Many of these handmade items have outlasted the maker and now they are a beautiful reminder the person who made the gift.

I've said before that there is love knitting into the hat or the socks or the blanket I make. But I've been rethinking that statement. I've figured out that the love is not in the yarn. Or the wood or the paint and paper. The love in in the time it took to make the gift. Love is the time.