Handmade Holiday

Every year with my still shaky crochet skills I try to make gifts for people for the holidays. I have thus far made a shawl for my mom, a scarf and lap blanket for my dad. Various scarves for cold weather friends. A Christmas tree for mom and various people got cotton potholders. This year my plan includes a large scrap blanket for a friend in Salt Lake City, another bevy of scarves (including the Fibonacci scarf up top) and a few new tricks up my sleeve.

I enjoy making gifts for people, but I am always unsure if they really want to get them. It isn't like ages ago, when handmade gifts were the norm, usually due to lack of money or the industrial revolution. The happy news is handmade seems to be making a comeback. It only took the tanking of our economy to push it back to the limelight.

There is also a certain stigma attached to handmade gifts. Some people hear handmade and think of crooked, poorly glued objects or hideously crocheted toilet paper covers. There have been many rotten apples. But truth be told there is an amazing group of people out there that make beautiful things by hand.(check out etsy.com for proof) And I swear I will never made a crochet toilet paper cover with a plastic doll face.