Since this is a craft blog I thought I’d cross post a paragraph or two from my other blog since it’s pertains to the craftyness… ness… *ahem*
… godmother crocheted for me when they brought me home from the hospital as a newborn. In fact the requisite baby blankie every child has, and makes threadbare, is a baby blankie I now use as a throw (as in blanket, not “Here, catch this ball of cotton!”). It’s just a simple quilt blanket, the perfect size for a baby born on a little South Pacific Island, but it’s special enough that my mother put it in storage before I got so attached to it to the point where I would have made it threadbare. She knew what it would have meant for me to have it when I was older, because she knew what it meant to the person who made it, see my godmother hand stitched every single square. Something, in a society where we tend to take things like blankets for granted, most people don’t really understand what it means to make something like that by hand.
Knitters, crocheters, and sewers have a saying that “I knit/crochet/sew every single stitch with love”, as someone who does all three, and as corny as that that saying is, I understand what it means. So even though I never grew up knowing what she looked like, or knowing the sound of her voice, I still know who my godmother is. Because I have her hand stitched baby blanket she made, her hand crocheted baby clothes she made, her hand crocheted “baby’s first x-mas ornament” she made…
Going along those maudlin lines, I never really get why people would prefer store bought baby stuff (blankets, clothes, toys), or just stuff/presents in general, instead of handmade items (items not stuff, hah!). I hate the fact that people will automatically assume the handmade items (hah!) are cheaper and that store bought stuff is better because they’re expensive. Or they think the sentiment of “It’s a better presents because I made it with love” is somehow an excuse for “I’m actually a cheap bastard so I made this macaroni elephant instead, that and I have a ungodly urge to kick in your face”.
First of all, in most cases handmade items are in no way cheaper then store bought ones. Do they have any idea about how much money actually goes into buying those supposedly cheap things? Good yarn if freakin’ expensive! So is nice fabric, not to mention the patterns, and the actual thought process that goes into making a handmade quilt, sweater, bag, dress, hat, scarf, hell even doggy doodoo takes some thought to make (and a pooping dog is a perfect complement to those thought).
When someone makes something for someone else they’re usually thinking about that perfect something for that someone (… or something like that…). My point it that its something individually made just for that person (you ungrateful macaroni elephants!!!). Plus, tell me if you can find these things in a gift shop: crochet spermies with condom pocket, crochet Sandman Helms (eee do want!), knitted tangible something to worship (hint: its a monster :D), a Giant Knit Squid Hat, an awesome Nintendo NES Plushie, or um… this thing in all its freaky cuteness!
… Well maybe the Nintendo if and when they get around to it >_> I’d still prefer the handmade one (so neener neener neener).
Side Notes (Bottom Notes? So You Actually Read Everything Till The End Notes?
- I’ve been thinking I want Valerie Van Arsdale Shrader’s Sweet Nothings book, things look sweet lol
- I’m hungry for a cupcake
- I have an odd urge to make a macaroni elephant…
