Emotional gamble of a hand-knitted gift
But the challenge is part of why Alvarez, 29, likes to knit presents. Since 2020, she has knitted about a dozen gifts for her family each year for the holidays. This year, she made five pairs of mittens, four hats, a stuffed fox wearing a reindeer-patterned dress, and a sweater for her father's large French bulldog. «I'm a little nervous it won't fit him,» she said of the dog sweater, her first. «But I'm hoping for the best.»
The coronavirus pandemic fueled a knitting boom, with people craving new hobbies or looking to quell their nerves during lockdown. And at this time of year, knitting lends itself well to gift-giving. After all, there are only so many beanies one can make for a personal collection. But when it comes to hand-knitted presents, some New Yorkers are dealing with all kinds of anxieties and expectations over each item's fit, style, pattern and color choice. Will the recipient appreciate the time and thought that went into the project? Or simply stuff the new scarf or cowl in a drawer and never pull it out? For many knitters, deciding who receives a present hinges on these questions.
Robinson, a knitwear teacher and designer in Ridgewood, Queens, typically knits other people small accessories that can be finished quickly. She has knitted only one sweater, for her mother, when she was in high school in the early 2000s.
«She never wore that sweater,» Robinson said.
Lynda Villa-Fournier, 54, a health care worker and longtime knitter in the Bronx, recalled a gift she made for a friend.
«I knit something for her baby, and I never got a picture of the baby wearing it. Nothing,» she said. «So, I never knit anything for her baby again.»
Austin
