Mother’s Day is coming…and sooner than you think

Somehow, despite my best efforts, I am usually late with my Mother’s Day gifts. Often it is because my mother loves hand knit socks and while I can make a pair of plain socks in a few days if I put my mind to it, I am easily distracted when it comes to knitting (my internal dialog goes something like this - ohhh…I like that cardigan, I need to cast on. But wait, what about that cute top you have been looking at for months? Now is a good time to start working on that. Socks, you need to work on those socks. But I really do need a new afghan. This probably sounds familiar to many of you). I may have given her a sock with the needles still in it one year for Christmas and as soon as she opened the box, I asked for the sock back so I could finish it (full disclosure, it was only the second sock that wasn't done. And I was staying with her the days leading up to the holiday, so I felt I couldn't work on them in front of her).

But this year if different! Not only was I on time for Mom’s Day…my mother has already received her gift!

A few weeks ago I was on the phone with my mother. She said she wanted a new knitting project. My mom is the knitter who will make a scarf and then put down her needles for months on end (this is so not the type of knitter I am. I can't go a day without knitting.) She also likes small quick projects. I began asking her what it is she wanted to knit.

Me: A scarf?
Mom:  No.
Me: How about a hat?
Mom: Ummmm no.
Me: How about a bag?
Mom: No…not really my style.

I could see this was going to be a challenge.

The next day at the lunch table I was telling one of my co-workers about my quandary. I wanted to help find my mom something to knit. But she had shot down all of my immediate ideas. We came up with the idea of her making dishcloths  My mother is no stranger to making dishcloths  In fact when she taught me to knit when I was a kid, she taught me to make the garter stitch dishcloth that is a square, knit on the diagonal starting with 3 stitches. This is still her go-to pattern. She has made it so many times, she has it memorized (it’s a really easy pattern…you can find several versions on Ravelry).

I decided to give her some Seedling for making the dish clothes. I chose 3 different colors that I knew would go with her kitchen and pulled 2 skeins of each of the colors. My colleague suggested that I find some free dishcloth patterns on Ravelry and print them out. I downloaded a bunch of patterns and put them in a folder for her. I found a cute little knitting bag to put everything in, so she could keep it all nice and tidy.

The other day I received a phone call from my mom. She had received her package in the mail and was so excited. It was a win-win for her. Not only did she get her Mother’s Day gift early…she now had something to knit. She said she really liked the idea of getting a project to do. She loved the yarn that I picked for her, only said she was afraid it might be too nice for her kitchen - and I have to say that I agree with her. So instead she is going to use the yarn to make wash cloths for her bathroom. Luckily she used the same colors in her bathroom as she did in the kitchen.

I can't wait to see her FOs.I told her she had to take some pictures and I will share them with you when she does.

This year Mother's day in the United States is on May 12th. Are you giving your mom (or grandmother, aunt or other mother type figures) yarn for Mother’s Day? How about knitting her (or him) something special to show you care? Time is running low, but if you set your mind to it (and don't get distracted like I do), you can do it!