I confess, since the time I became relatively confident about my knitting abilities, I have used them on several occasions to cop out of situations where a last-minute birthday gift was needed! I’m talking about the “oh my, the party’s in three hours and I have no gift” situations. This doesn’t mean I don’t care about the person, it just means, as I noted a few days ago, that I am a master at postponing things. So how did I use knitting as a cop-out? By creating “gift-certificates” for future knitted items.
But after I did it the first time, I realized it actually made people happy (well, the right sort of people). They enjoyed telling me their yarn preferences and waiting for the item to be made especially for them. So it made me want to do this sort of gift even when I wasn’t in a time crunch. That’s what I did for Caroline’s birthday. Apart from the promise of a knitted item, she also got several other conceptual gifts, that she gets to activate when she wants. I’m at her disposition! ;)
In the meantime, however, I started the promised item two days ago.
Let’s see if this time it comes out looking a bit less like duck feet and a bit more like human socks… ;)
fridica 
Wow, for a moment I thought you were going to say you had found a gift you could KNIT in the three hours before a party. But this is much better! I really like the idea of involving the recipient in yarn choices, etc. Who knows, that way you might even recruit someone else to knitting!
What a lovely idea! I always get so anxious when I make gifts for people, incase they don’t like it! D:
I like the idea but I think I’d live in fear that the recipient was going to request black socks and I’d have to knit miles of tiny black stitches…
oh wait, what’s that you’re knitting?
You’re a very good friend! Well, a better one that I would be :)
Hahaha, noooo, I’m not that good of a friend – you know me and black! They’re green, but the picture came out so shoddy that I turned it into black&white :) When I say I let them choose yarn, I mean I give them bits of 6 or 7 yarns I have in my stash and then let them choose which one they like best. Works out great for both parties :)
This is the best idea ever. Like, ever.
You are a genius.
Thank you :)
I thought everyone did this… :)
I loooooooooove the idea of knitted gift certificates! No more wondering if it’s something the person will actually like or appreciate after you spend hours on something. Brilliant!
I love this idea. I am also a terrible procrastinator and if I try to knit something in advance I never finish in time.
That is a brilliant idea!