Are you a keeper or a user?

I've been reading the Yarn Harlot's book, Stephanie Pearl McPhee Casts Off. Although the book doesn't seem to have been generally well-liked, I thought it was good.

One thing it made me think about was how we approach knitted items. Do you store them away, like an heirloom, or use them as you would anything else?

I'm most definitely a user. If I knit something for myself, you can almost bet I'll be wearing it tomorrow. To me, putting it in a drawer to "save" isn't any fun. And what am I saving it for anyway? My husband tends to be the same way. He wore his bright red and yellow knit socks to the grocery store recently -- with shorts. Can you imagine the looks he got?

When he got home, he proudly told me people were looking and admiring his socks! Heh...

My mom is just the opposite. She rarely wears what I knit her. She has a tendency to put away anything she really likes to "save" it. I have trouble understanding that; it just doesn't seem like she'd get any enjoyment out of it at all.

Anyone care to enlighten me?