I feel so accomplished, as I have been able to keep up with the Stashdown, even if my stash hasn't exactly been going down...
This week's prompt from Marie:
How do you identify the right gift for the right person? Do you spy on your giftees year round? Ask them what they want? Take requests? What tips do you have for making the right choices with handmade holiday gifts?
I think I'll answer them one at a time, then explain.
1) Right gift for Right person: I ask people. Honestly. "Mom, what do you want for your birthday?" "T, do you think you would wear this scarf?"
2) Spying on giftees: not really. see #1
3) Ask them: yes, always. or nearly always.
4) Requests: sometimes. It depends on how close I am to the person.
5) Tips for making good choices: don't overwhelm yourself with big projects. and don't make big things unless you know they will be appreciated.
In regards to my little sister- she hints all year round, most frequently in the weeks after Christmas. "Mary, you can make me one of these..." So basically I have to have a good memory with her. But her tastes are similar to mine, even though she is terrible at explaining what she actually wants. Last week, when my KnitPicks order came in, I showed her the yarn I bought to make her gift- she liked it! So that's score one point for Mary :) Hopefully the pattern I picked will go well with the yarn.
Anyway. T is only one example of how I decide on gifts. Sometimes I just try to be observant. K mentioned that she LOVES scarves- guess what I have planned for her gift? And sometimes, I just want to try out a new yarn -like the Felici I bought last week- and in this case, I have been meaning to try a fingerless glove pattern that could be adjusted for that yarn.
No rhyme or reason to some of my weird ideas.
It's great that you have so many people in your life that appreciate handmade gifts! I totally agree about the large projects - there's nothing worse than spending a lot of time (and money) on a project and then learning it wasn't appreciated.
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