Make me this! Make me that!

This is a recent development. I'm completely at a loss for how to handle these situations because... it just has never happened to me before.

And, don't get me wrong! I love it when I receive compliments about my projects, whether it's artwork or knit/crochet items. Compliments help boost my self esteem, which motivates me to work on more.

Recently one of my coworkers has been quite demanding about having me make a hat for her. Granted, this would be a very simple project. In fact, this is the hat in question:


As you can see, it's just a simple beanie style cap. Nothing at all special about it. But somehow, my coworker was very taken with it.

4 days prior to Christmas, she called out to me, "Make me a hat like that for Christmas!" I thought she was kidding until she started naming off the colors she wanted it to be. I said nothing. I was taken by surprise by the demand and couldn't think of what I should say. I thought she was joking, as a matter of fact. But then she demanded yet again on Christmas Eve. And then I posted a photo of a tam hat I had finished to my Facebook and she once again demanded I make her a hat.

She's not the only one to do this. Just the most persistent.

I've had SO many coworkers make requests for things from me. One girl saw a photo of Beyonce in a magazine wearing a beret. She asked me if I could make a hat like that, and I said I could because I CAN. She then told me she wanted me to make her one. I informed her that the yarn alone would cost about $12 for something like that if she wanted quality materials, plus I'd need some payment for my time. I never heard anything more from her about it. Yet another cowork offered me a whopping sum of $5 for a scarf. That would barely pay for cheap acrylic yarn for such a thing...

This goes beyond my coworkers, though I get most of this from them. The worst of this comes from my very own mother!

My mom used to know how to crochet. She hasn't done it because she complains of pain in her shoulders for several years now, so I don't know that she'd remember how anymore. She's straight up said I'm going to make pairs of socks for her, or sweater coats, or whatever. She never asks me. She just points at it and tells me she wants it. I'm not a Sears catalog! I don't make custom clothing items magically appear!

I don't understand why people do this. And I do understand I'm not the only one. I've heard many, many stories to this effect. That doesn't make it any less frustrating...