October
27, 2002
Welcome
to Wyndspirit Dreams! This weekend I finished an afghan, a gift,
and worked on a small but detailed counted cross-stitch picture, also a
gift. I have been asked how I can stand to give something away when I have
put so much time and effort into creating it. The answer is simple—I made
it for them. It would not occur to me to keep it any more than if
it were a book or an item of clothing I had borrowed from them.
But
why do I make gifts for other people in the first place? Because they are
special to me, and I want to give them something special, even if they
probably will never realize just what I am giving them. I am giving them
my thoughts. I am thinking of them as I search for just the right pattern
and colors that they will love, and I am thinking of them as I knit or
crochet or cross each stitch throughout the project. I am giving them my
time, as I spend days or weeks or months working on their gift. And I am
giving them my love. I am not good at saying things—I show my love with
gifts. When they look at my gift or put it to use, I hope they will think
of me and know that somebody loves them, and I hope it brightens their
day a little bit.
When
I was growing up, we always made each other gifts. Even when we had a little
money to spend on each other for Christmas, we kids decided to draw names
and each spend all our gift money on one person, but still make gifts for
everybody, so nobody got short-changed on the presents. The gifts varied
greatly, due to our different skill levels and interests, but nobody scorned
the simplest or most poorly made gifts from the younger kids or compared
them to the more elaborate gifts from the older ones. We knew that each
of us did what we could, and it was all done out of love. Maybe a gift
wasn’t exactly to my taste, but I knew the giver was thinking of me and
trying to give me something they thought I would really like.
If
I had my way, I would make gifts for all of the special people in my life
for every birthday or Christmas, but, unfortunately, the real world intrudes.
I have to content myself with a mental list of special things I want to
make for certain people, and just make them as I have time. I usually have
two or three gifts in the works at any given time, and I work on them as
best I can in between all the other demands of my life. I don’t have hours
to sit and do crafts, and some projects have taken years to complete, sometimes
more years than I care to admit. Other projects have remained only an idea
for years, as I search for just the right design. Some have even been completed,
only to have me decide that wasn’t the right design for that person
after all, and the search starts all over. But then I find the right
design, and I start all over again.
Granted,
crafting is in my blood. I would not spend so much time making gifts if
it wasn’t fun. And if I kept everything I made… Well, let’s just say, my
place is too crowded as it is. Besides, then I would only make stuff that
I would want to have around forever, and there are lots of projects that
are fun to do but that I wouldn’t want for myself. Also, by the time I
finish a major project, whether it’s an afghan or a counted cross-stitch
picture, I am usually so sick of looking at it that I want to give
it away! It’s the creating that I enjoy. But, when it comes down to it,
I give it away because I’m making it for somebody else…as a gift of love.
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