I’m one of those knitters who knits for her family. I tend to be pretty humble about my talents, but having had a role model like my Granny Martin (who knit for her husband, daughter, son, their spouses and their children), it’s natural that I would knit for the people I care about. It started very innocently…I wanted to knit a pair of socks for my Mum. Then it sort of expanded as the other Parental Figures in the family expressed interest. It led to an interesting question.
How do you wrap something that looks squooshably soft like these? Bear in mind, these aren’t necessarily gifts for others – at least two of those pairs of socks have found their way into my own sock drawer. They’re just an example of how…”poofy”…yarn can look when it’s all knit up.
Now, I’m sure I could just use some wrapping paper just like most people, but I find that wrapping paper and knitting don’t necessarily get along well. Wrapping paper often becomes punctured and ripped when encasing squishable items. I could probably find some small gift boxes, but again, that’s a lot of effort to go to.
I found cans. The local Michael’s craft store tends to carry them around this time of year. These particular cans have been used multiple times. The deal I generally make with the family is this: If you get a can, count yourself lucky because you’ve probably earned yourself a pair of socks. If you want another pair next year, return the can to me. I have only ever had a can go walkabout once, and it came back to me in a hurry when the recipient remembered that if the can doesn’t come back, he doesn’t get more socks.
The benefit to this method is this: You know who wants and appreciates what you’re doing, you have an attractive way to display a gift, you reuse and recycle your wrapping materials, and you build a little anticipation for what’s to come. What’s not to like about all of that?
I’d love to know just what solutions other people have had for wrapping oddly shaped presents, particularly knitting. Anyone have a good solution for wrapping shawls? I can see them being particularly difficult to disguise…
Well, I’m a year late but have to say, what a great idea for handknit sock containers! I especially like the part about people returning the containers to you so you know who really appreciates the socks.
Hi Christina!
The one drawback is that with the family getting larger (more kids, etc), Christmas Day becomes a rather frantic affair, and now the cans are taking their time to get home to me – usually once I’ve already put away the Christmas Supplies. Whoops!
Otherwise, the family pretty well knows that if they want more socks, the cans come back. 😉