In which She Doesn't Get It

[mousme]

So Den!Mama, who is now a supervisor, has been watching me struggle with the knitting all week, finally broke down on Friday night, the day after she'd seen me frog what had taken the better part of four days of work.

Den!Mama: "I don't understand how you can do that."

Me: *considers a tongue-in-cheek BECAUSE IT RELAXES ME! reply* "What, knitting? Well, I enjoy it, when it's going well."

Den!Mama: "But you just had to start it all over."

Me: "Yes, but I learned from my mistakes, and now it's going much more smoothly, and it looks better."

Den!Mama: "If it were me, I wouldn't bother. The baby would be getting a nice store-bought blanket. You can get really pretty ones that aren't expensive."

Me: "True, but that defeats the purpose of a hand-made gift, for me."

Den!Mama: "Yes, but then you can spend time on things you actually enjoy!"

Me: "..."

I let it drop after that. With reason, she was convinced that I somehow hate knitting (although I promise you I was good and didn't swear or curse or even yell at the knitting even when I frogged it!), or that it was too frustrating a process to be worth it. There wasn't much to say, really.

Comments

[bodhifox.livejournal.com]

I tell my nosy co-workers, Sierra Tango Foxtrot Unicorn.

[mousme.livejournal.com]

She was genuinely curious, though. I get along with her just fine. It's just... she doesn't get it, on a very fundamental level.

[thinkingoutlaw.livejournal.com]

Most people want to spend their time watching television, from as far as I can tell from conversations about everywhere I go. TV commercials generally teach us that anything that even resembles work should be avoided because it might cut in on tv time. (Considering I don't have cable tv, it makes me a social leper because I can't talk about commercials). So, in their minds, anything that looks like work is to be avoided. Yikes...

[mousme.livejournal.com]

But you can knit while watching TV! ;)

I don't get any channels on my television, so all I watch ever are DVDs. Makes for some boring water-cooler conversations, since I hate reality TV and never watch it.

Do people really talk about commercials where you are? How inane.

[thinkingoutlaw.livejournal.com]

yes, they really do... and I'm talking about teachers with at least a four year degree, many of them with a master's degree.

[heartofawarrior.livejournal.com]

I've had similar comments about my cross stitch projects - "it's so small and fiddly - how can that POSSIBLY be fun?!" or "don't you ever just sit and do nothing? if you're going to have the TV on, WATCH IT instead of sewing/playing with the laptop/whatever!" *shakes head* I entertain thoughts of someday being able to get a sewing machine, and set it up such that I can sit in front of the big TV, watch my racing coverage, and sew to my heart's content. :-)

[taxlady.livejournal.com]

I think she is the kind of person who thinks you are giving a "home made" gift because it is cheaper. Doesn't get the difference between hand made and home made.

[elanya.livejournal.com]

Tell her that it is better when you have to pull it out because then you get to do more knitting!

Alternately, tell her that it isn't a baby blanket its a mourning shawl, and you have to pull it out to keep your suitors at bay until your husband returns.

Or, also, you could tell her that you are actually taking notes in secret knitting code, but noticed a typo on an important section that had to be fixed before you could report to la resistance!

[sorceror.livejournal.com]

Alternately, tell her that it isn't a baby blanket its a mourning shawl, and you have to pull it out to keep your suitors at bay until your husband returns.

Win! I love this one. ^_^

[toughlovemuse.livejournal.com]

I'm with Taxlady on this one - I think she's equating "hand made" with "cheap" and trying to reconcile that with the time you spend, and realizing that it's not cheap ... and hasn't yet made the connection to "therefore there must be another value to hand made gifts I am missing."

[griffen.livejournal.com]

It's because she can't imagine that anyone would enjoy knitting, because she would hate it. Therefore, it can't be an enjoyable activity for anyone.

[karine.livejournal.com]

That, too. Very very likely.

[luvenditti.livejournal.com]

hunh.

[curtana.livejournal.com]

Maybe because she's old enough to have learned knitting as a chore she had to do, and thus has a hard time viewing it as something someone would take up for fun. Same way I've noticed lots of older folks have a hard time figuring out why someone would want to do extensive gardening/home cooking/preserving when they don't have to.

[wolflady26.livejournal.com]

What I feel about my cross stitch gifts is that every hour I put into them is an hour's worth of love made tangible.