Friday, May 02, 2008

Why bother, really?

I made my mum a pair of socks for her birthday, which is today. I handed them over. She looked as though she had received a cadaver. Let's explore my knitterly feelings, shall we?









Here we have a run down of my present - I forgot to take pics yet again. Bite me.

We have beautiful yarn from Dyelicious ("Orchid" - just look at those colours!) and a fabulous pattern from Interweave Knits that I had decided on 5 months ago. I ordered the yarn in especially for this present. I even sneakily asked my mum for her opinion on this yarn, and she said how beautiful it was.


I knitted up the socks during work hours (my job has some recompense for the scratches). Let's see how many stitches per sock, shall we...

12, 114.

12, 114. That's 24, 228 for the two.

Is it me? Surely that's an achievement? On 2.5mm needles, no less.

I gave her the sock in a lovely bag, and she pulled them out and just looked at them. I told her the name of the socks and she said "Oh, thank you" in that horrible dull flat voice you use when you hate something. I had the Interweave Knits that the pattern was in (I'm knitting a lovely beret from it) so I opened it to the page (apologies to my sister Fiona who was riffling through it at the time) and said "See? Here's where I got the pattern from." Fiona commented on how different mine were from the picture (I think she was referring to the colourway). Mum looked over her shoulder from where she was putting them away and simply said "I wouldn't have been able to tell."

That's when my brain went "snap" and my heart went "crack". This is the woman who taught me to knit, who never hesitates to ask me to knit something for her friends, who was wearing a feather and fan scarf I had knitted her just today. The socks were perfect, they were hard and beautiful, and soooooo soft and she was so dismissive of them.

If I keep feeling this hurt, I don't think anyone in my family will ever receive anything knitted ever again.

Sorry guys.

5 comments:

Donna (Random Knits) said...

I have knit some socks for my mother for Mother's Day, and I have a baaad feeling that it's going to go down in a similar way.
Take the socks back, at least you'll appreciate them and buy her a stupid vase or something instead.

Donna
Random Knits

Karen said...

Oh no!!!!! Has she ever worn hand-knit socks before? Maybe she just doesn't realize how wonderful they feel? I hope she puts them on soon and comes gushing back to you about how luxurious they are. So sorry your feelings got so hurt though. :(

Bells said...

oh geez. That's harsh. I wouldn't bother. The thrill of someone loving something you made is so fantastic that you need never bother again with those who aren't into it - as long as you have someone who is appreciative - i hope you do!

I love those socks. Can we see a photo?

Anonymous said...

I’m not surprised that you feel hurt -- it’s, like, a rejection of the gift, the giving and the giver, too, because of all the work you put in. Knitting socks is probably the only way to make up for the otherwise flatness of the giving-of-socks as a gift. (Although an ex-girlfriend once gave me handkerchiefs for my birthday, in such a manner as was actually pointedly ironical and very funny... They are the only ones I use.) (And I have been praying for winter to try my scholar collar, knitted by you. Praying! *mwah*)

Thoughtlessness is just that: unintended, without thought. i.e. a mistake. I say, keep knitting for family.

she knits said...

Hugs, I know how you feel and it really hurts so just (((Hugs)))
Kindest regards, mel