My Gift-Giving Challenge

One of the great side benefits of my knitting hobby is the joy of giving lovingly handmade items to others. (Now, I'll admit that not everyone appreciates a hand-knit gift, but most people I've given items to have at least pretended to like them.) Some knitters find the most satisfaction in the process of knitting. I, however, knit because I love the product of knitting and what it represents--a unique, hand-crafted manifestation of my love for another person.

I have realized that this is the reason why much of the yarn that remains in my stash was purchased to make sweaters for myself. It's not quite as much fun to knit for me as it is to create gifts for others, so these projects often get sidelined or even forgotten. As I work toward my goal of working through my yarn stash, however, I will be revisiting these projects and giving some "gifts" to myself as well.

I have decided to set some actual goals for gift-giving (to myself and others) in order to help me along in my "Yarn Out" Challenge. Here they are:

• Knit or crochet a gift for each baby born in my ward (local church group) during 2011.
• Knit at least one new sweater for my husband and each of my children this year.
• Knit at least three new items for myself this year.
• Knit or crochet at least three "random" gifts for others during 2011.

Again, I reserve the right to re-evaluate my goals throughout the year, but I feel like this is a good place to start!