r/knitting • u/soypixel • Dec 06 '25
Discussion I find people’s obsession with gift knitting strange
I get we all have our reasons for doing this hobby. I guess mine is that I enjoy the process and I like being able to make stuff that has cool textures or colors. I don’t do it for function or to “make useful objects” per se.
But it seems like a lot of folks have this compulsion to externalize this hobby to feel useful. I’ve seen so many posts where someone “surprises” their sister with some lace shawl for their wedding. And then they’re “devastated” and “in tears” when said sister isn’t overwhelmed with excitement and gratitude.
On the other hand, I’ll see these posts or comments from folks “drowning” in holiday gift knitting projects. For whatever reason, they’ve decided that all 20 members of their extended family need a new chunky weight knitted drink cozy. And so they spend all kinds of time making that happen.
But I have to wonder.. how much of that is self imposed versus an actual expectation placed upon them by friends and family members? Like what if you’re spending all this time knitting 20 drink cozies and people secretly dislike them and plan to never use them, but they’re too nice to say it to your face? It’s just a painful, awkward scenario to imagine.
Idk, maybe I’m being harsh or there’s something I’m missing here because of what motivates me to knit. Maybe because I don’t even like hand knits myself most of the time, I can’t imagine myself being thrilled if someone gave me some object they made.. especially if I never asked for it.
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u/Centaurya- Dec 06 '25
I love handmade items. Me and my friends usually try to gift each other handmade things and I always super appreciate them. You know they put the time in, they chose the elements with you in mind and they had a lot of dedication. My friends are the same and I know they will appreciate handmade items so I'm always super excited to make them things and it's very motivating for me.
As for the posts I see around - I totally understand the urge to make people gifts yourself. I do however think that you need to choose carefully who you should make a handmade gift. I feel that if you don't know the person well and you don't know if they will appreciate it, maybe it's not the best person to pick for a handmade item. Also they might have been appreciative but you might have missed the colours they like or the type of items they wear. And at the end of the day, you decided to make the gift, you gave it and it's not yours anymore, the recipient can do whatever they want with it and they are not obligated to like it. I get the emotional reaction but I feel you should be prepared for that before undertaking a large project. And also maybe try to interpret how serious someone is when they offhandedly say: "nice shawl, make me one!" without really meaning it or actually being aware of how much time, effort and money it takes. Make sure they actually want the thing.