What to Do with Knitted Items

(Photo credit: Hans at Pixabay. Topic credit: Sunmeilan posted www.bubblews.com/news/5175788-how-to-find-time-to-knit , to which a commenter said that the problem was finding uses for knitted products.)

There are non-knitters, in this world. There are professional knitters whose names alone are enough to sell either knitted pieces or knitting patterns. Then in between these categories are the rest of us, who enjoy knitting enough that we or our families are beginning to wonder how many chunky sweaters we can own before we start thrusting unwanted knitwear upon those around us. The question before us is how to get into the professional category without thrusting our knits upon anybody.

The answer is to value your own investment. Never give away your knitting free of charge (unless it's to a legitimate charity, like Chemo Caps). Here are some tips that may help:

1. Practice on yourself. Until you're comfortable wearing your own handiwork, don't even think about knitting anything for anyone else. When people admire things you make for yourself, they'll invite you to knit for them.

2. When people ask you to knit for them, you probably don't want to charge for your time, since (a) you enjoy knitting and (b) nobody could afford to pay for your time. You should, however, charge for the material you use.

3. If you would normally spend $20 to $200 on a present for this person and you choose to spend it on yarn to knit something for the person, that's fine, but it's a good idea to let the person know that this yarn did not just plop into your lap somehow. Tell prospective models of your work that you want to make sure it's the right material and pattern for them. Take them shopping. Have them hold the yarn against their necks to make sure they're not sensitive to it.

4. You see your Significant Other as a stunningly beautiful model. That may not be the way s/he sees himself/herself. Knitting interesting-looking sweaters for men is especially problematic since, even if a man resembles Bill Cosby and even if that's what you like about him, he may work in an office where looking like a legendary comedy star is not considered such a good thing. If you are determined to knit something for a young man, resign yourself to the fact that he probably prefers for it to look exactly like something from Wal-Mart.

5. Never tell a child when to put on a sweater or a hat. Children learn to recognize when they are chilled or tired by getting chilled and tired. If anyone else is trying to give the children you love a complex about knitwear being something bigger people force you to wear when you're already perspiring, make sure the children form that complex about nasty mass-produced machine-knitted knits, not yours.