As previously mentioned, I made this aphgan for the silent auction we had at work to benefit the Children's Hospital. I saw it in a pattern book and thought it was beautiful, and then I spent four months making it. Granted, it wasn't my priority-project for those four months, and giving it to the Children's Hospital was a later decision. For a while I didn't like how the colours were coming together, but it turned out nicely.We got a notice saying that silent auction donations could be given to one of three managers, one of whom was my direct manager. About a week before I expected the silent auction to begin, I brought my aphgan in and gave it to her. She gushed over it a bit, and then stored it in the conference room until other items were gathered... where it sat. And sat. As the silent auction began and the lunch room filled up with donations, my aphgan still sat in the conference room.
After about a week I brought it up with my manager. "If I wanted to donate something for the silent auction," I asked, "who should I give it to?" She looked really confused as she said that I could give it to her. "But what I gave you is still in the conference room. And that tells me that my donation and the work I put into it is not valued." She apologized and felt so embarrassed, and I guess she had an argument with the other manager involved in the silent auction later about it. The other manager had been responsible for putting things out, and she didn't know whether my aphgan was for the silent auction or not. She claims she asked everyone, and no one else knew either... but several significant people knew, so I don't believe she tried all that hard. And anyways, the notice said that donations could be given to my manager, but she did not make sure that they were followed through.
After this conversation, my manager immediately made sure my blanket was put out. But she described it as a "Mini Aphgan" (although it was by no means "mini") and placed the minimum bid at $10.00. This matched the description and donation set for the other two aphgans that a coworker of mine had donated - but those were baby aphgans, and my was two or three times larger. Again, I felt like my work was being devalued.
Two people bid on it. One person started it at $10.00, and then Sue raised the bidding to $15. She got it for that. She would have engaged in a bidding war with anyone else who would play along, but no one else was interested. She has an idea of the work that went into it, and I am glad that it went to a good home, but I am disappointed. It contained about $30 of yarn, as well as the hours and hours I put in. It looks like all my work just took value out of the raw materials. Sad.
On one hand, I donated it freely and perhaps should just let it go, no strings attached. It was no longer mine. On the other hand, it could have done so much better, and I feel like I gave more than the Children's Hospital received. Maybe next year I won't try so hard...
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