With the gift splurge newly behind us I suspect lots of us have reflected on what makes the perfect gift. When you are giving something you have crafted lovingly, you want it to be cherished and appreciated of course, but rarely anyone who isn’t a yarny understands the hours taken and the love in every stitch, so do you make the effort or pop to the petrol station for a box of chocs?  I’ve made scarves, socks, mitts and hats with the best of them over the years and I‘m not always sure I’ve hit the mark.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot recently as my lovely Dad, Ken died last summer. He was impossible to buy for – he didn’t want anything EVER. He was a man who trod very lightly on the world (and was as daft as a brush as we say in Yorkshire).  So what do you do for the man who wants nothing for his Golden Wedding anniversary other than a good laugh with his family? 

Knit him a gold bow tie of course! Close inspection will show it was hastily knit and he rarely wore any kind of tie, but Ken loved it and it did give us a great laugh.  It took a couple of hours to knit without a pattern and I made it out of a half ball of sparkly Christmas yarn from the depths of the stash. Here is Ken with my Mum, Meg on the day. It’s my favourite knitted gift.

And what about me? Well no one knits for a knitter, or do they? We got married just a few years ago.  It was a relaxed, fun day, we’d been together forever after all. My lovely friend Cathy spent months making my bouquet from our own Titus yarn. She works all hours in a stressful job and in the evenings she came home and created roses, which grew into this beauty.  Perfection.  (There was no way I was throwing this over my shoulder for someone else to take away. It sits on my desk still).

I suppose my point is that the best gifts are the ones that perfectly fit the person and the occasion, the ones that give you warm fuzzies when you give or receive them.  I’m going to aim for that everytime.

Big love to you all for 2018.  Jo x