Gift Knitting

Sometimes, nothing is better than knitting a special gift for someone you know will REALLY appreciate it.  Like the sweater I'm frantically knitting for my mother-in-law's 75th birthday NEXT THURSDAY [N.B.  This is relevant because I'm a notoriously slow knitter--still haven't mastered Continental yet!] because I know she will truly love, cherish and most importantly, USE the sweater vest I'm making for her.  She has a million vests and shells knitted and crocheted for her by her mother while she was still alive, that she literally wears daily--yes, year round, too!  The sad part of the whole thing is that my mother-in-law comes from a long, long line of immensely skilled knitters from Scotland and she never learned it herself.  She certainly regrets that, too.  I have a bunch of items that were handknitted by her family that I will display in the new store and they are beautiful old hats, sweaters and blankets probably from somewhere around the 1940s.   Gorgeous!! As a chemical engineer, though, my mother-in-law had different interests and domestic "fun" skills  were not necessarily in the line-up.  That being said, I am hoping and praying to get the vest done in a week, although it is rolling from the bottom up (1x1" rib at the bottom, stockinette the rest of the way up on circular needles!) in a terribly annoying way!  I am considering some preliminary blocking on the bottom part just so it will quit chasing me as I knit upward and onward.  I cannot wait to see my beloved mother-in-law wearing something I have made just for her.  The perfect gift.