Gifts of the past

Christmas has come and nearly gone. I got about what I expected to get, with the one surprise being an old Star Wars cup from my childhood--I was obsessed like any other kid my age--and a mug from Hawaii with my name on it.

When I was little--pre-kindergarten, I think--my dad earned a trip to Hawaii because he sold so much seed in a year. (At least I think that's what the story was.) The mug, with my name in English and Hawaiian, was a souvenir from that trip. It and the Star Wars cup were mom's way of unloading some stuff from their house, but it was nice to get them all the same.

I know I've mentioned it before, but it bears repeating. Since I became a knitter, Christmas means anticipating the giving of gifts more than the receiving of them. Certainly I enjoy getting presents, but there is a little thrill in waiting to see the reactions of friends and family discovering what you've made for them. This year I planned to cut back on what I made, at least in terms of bigger projects, but I ended up making something for almost everyone in my immediate family anyway.

Now, one family trait is being non-committal on practically anything imaginable, meaning that everything is "fine/OK". Determining where on the like/dislike continuum such answers fall can be tricky, although it's probably safe to bet on the middle. (This kind of passive-aggressiveness can be maddening at times, and it makes me wonder if my critic side is a way of compensating for a familial resistance to quantifying likes and dislikes.) My gifts were received happily enough, although most of that came from my mother. My brothers were non-committal as usual.

Then I observed a funny thing. While two of them were outside, I noticed that they were wearing the hats I made them last year. (The scarves from my initial knitting year were not in sight, but they'd be the type to not wear them because they're trying to tough it out.) They've never said anything about the hats, and I didn't know if they'd used them in the past year. Seeing them wearing the hats said a lot, and I know it wasn't for my benefit. Obviously the hats have been useful to them, so I'll take what I saw as a big endorsement.

I hope you've had a fun and enjoyable holiday. I know I've had a good one.