“Knitworthy” – About You or Them?

What does it mean to be “knitworthy”?

Generally I hear this term used when someone is deciding if someone they know ‘deserves’ a hand knit item.

This is a fair consideration (I mean, there is even a reddit subthread looking to gain consensus on how to determine if someone is knitworthy!) – it takes a lot of time and materials (which can be quite expensive!) to knit something.

If we know from sad past experience that someone does not value the time and energy that goes into making a handknit gift, it can make it harder to invest that level of commitment again.

But maybe it is also about us, as the knitter.

I think it is also possible our feelings about someone being “knitworthy” shift over time – that when we are just learning, we are happy to share our skills and creations with a wider group of people than after we get a little more confident and branch into harder (bigger, longer, more expensive) projects.

Recently I made a birthday gift for my nephew.

I know the odds are good that they won’t be treated “well” in a knitworthy sense. He will likely throw them around, step on them, decide to experiment in some way that only makes sense to an eight-year-old or just lose them.

But, the smile he gave me when he opened my birthday gift to him – that was knitworthy, for sure!

That realization is what made me question if being “knitworthy” is at least as much about us as the recipient.

Years ago I made his younger brother a teddy bear that has a hooded sweatshirt sewn on with bunny ears attached to the hood. He was about 2 when I gave him that gift. Now he is nearly seven and still has and loves that stretched out, stained stuffed animal.

Also knitworthy.

So, perhaps the joy of thinking of someone while we knit for them should be weighted even higher than their response to the gift or the care with which they do or do not treat the item.

Ultimately, I don’t think there is a right or wrong answer to this question, but I do think it is fun to noodle on!

Perhaps instead of {always} asking ‘are they knitworthy?’ we can ask ourselves: Who do we want to show appreciation or give a token of our affection to?