Well I NEVER....I am APPALLED!!! PICS NOW ON POST #25

[JoBug]

So this past weekend, on my FIRST outting, in over a month, my hubby took me to all my favorite store, I scored BIG time on yarn at St Vincents store, Red Heart baby yarn, three skiens of sports weight pompador, its called Carousel print, and is a wonderful varigated yarn. I also got three skiens of Red Heart baby yarn white, with a silver thread running through it, well, my sister, works with a lady having twins tommorow,planned C-section, I THOUGHT I would use the yarn to make two baby blankets, I downloaded the Box stitch carriage robe from the project linus site, and have the first one almost complete, it is soooooo pretty, if I say so myself, well, today my sister comes over, and I tell her of my plans, you know what her response was???????????

"I already donated to her baby shower at work, you should have asked before you wasted your time on it" Oh mylanta!!!!!!! I was so mad I could see RED. Now I know everyone doesn't go goo goo gaa gaa over handmade crocheted baby blankets, but gosh already, I think this first blanket is beautiful, I will post a pic tommorow when I am done with it......well the ungrateful wretch, I will now donate it to a loving gracious person..... and the other one too....

just goes to show ya......

JoAnn

[scc51055]

some people!

[Crocus58]

Ouch.

 

A thought - Is she close to the lady at work? Maybe she doesn't want to set an expectation for any future babies, or hasn't been so generous with previous births and doesn't want to cause any hurt feelings. I still can't justify her "wasted your time" comment, but I can understand if there are politics at work that would prohibit such a lovely heartfelt gift.

[pinkroses]

to you I am sorry your sister acted this way.

I don't think I would make anything else for her

A lot of people don't think we crocheters and knitter's time in our project doesn't count for anything

'I made a full size quilt for my oldest brother and his wife

I have 3 older brothers and no sisters

I made my mom and dad and all three brothers a full size quilt

I hand quilted them myself( no one in my family quilts)

Anyways , my sister in law said

well it it too bright, I don't like the blues !!!

I was so mad ; I thought about folding up the quilt and briinging it back home

My brother said , Now her name I think it is really pretty

IF he hadn't said that , I think I would have taken it back

I haven't been to their house since !! 3 years ago. pinkroses

:hugto you again

[Ellie 13]

I say, give her the blankets anyway with a special card, in your name only. Who cares if she already "donated". I hate donating for a gift unless I know what we're getting.

Ellie 13

[purlwise]

I agree! You should still give the blankets with a note from you only! Do you know the person well enough to give it directly to her? If not, just send it in the mail to the office, your sister will be so embarrassed when everyone is ohhhing and ahhhing!

[alibra]

I would give the blankets to the woman anyway, donating money is one thing, taking the time to make something is wonderful. My daughter has an employee that is having twins, I never met the woman, but I made two box stitch blankets and had my daughter give them to her. She was so grateful she started to cry, no one had ever made anything for the babies. I say give the blankets to her!!

[ErinLindsey]

If you dont give them to the woman, you can always save the afghans for the next time you need an "emergency gift".

 

I have a couple of "emergency afghans" sitting in a Rubbermaid tote, just waiting to be given to a relative having a baby. Which is going to come in handy in July of next year. My cousin just announced a new baby...well, her four year old daughter came running up to me the other night saying that her mommy was going to have a baby girl (she hopes) in July because her baby brother "needs a little sister baby".

 

One of the "emergency afghans" is red, white, and blue (my first and so far the only ripple I've done) If the new baby is born at the beginning of July, the afghan will be perfect for him/her.

 

And, I'll be able to relax for the rest of the year and wont be rushing to finish an afghan.

[JoBug]

Well now you all have me rethinking this problem, I do NOT know this girl, I DO know she went to fertility drugs to have these special babies, I know they are not rich, down to earth. She works for a temp agency at a medical clinic in town with my sister.......thinking she had a c-section she should be in the hospital a couple days, unfortunalty I dont even know her name.....what to do, what to do......

I went looking in holiday wish lists, and DID find some one or two having or have new babies, and ths was going to ROAK them.....but I guess that would be a dead give away at this point hu? hard to figure who they came from wouldnt it be

[beth eathorne]

Dont let your sister ruin your gift giving spirit. I have 2 at work that are expecting babies and they keep looking at me as though they are hoping but dont want to ask if a baby gift is coming their way. I am so blessed by my co workers and close family that love my crocheting. Just know that where ever the blanets go someone will love them.

[darski]

Don't let your sister ruin your gift giving spirit. I have 2 at work that are expecting babies and they keep looking at me as though they are hoping but don't want to ask if a baby gift is coming their way. I am so blessed by my co workers and close family that love my crocheting. Just know that where ever the blankets go someone will love them.

 

Oh wow. You just brought a tear to my eye.

 

it would be so wonderful to have someone looking interested in getting a hand made baby gift. Wow!

 

You have given me a refreshing spirit with your words.

[Angeleyz14]

That was awful of your sister!!!:hug

Do you know her co-worker at all? If so give her the blankets with a note/card from YOU with your well wishes. That is sooo wrong of your sister to say that. For all she knows the co-worker would absolutely love and appreciate your wonderful gifts.

[texasredhead]

I think you sister was out of line! If you want to give the blankets to those new babies you should find someone that knows the lady and give them to her yourself. You don't need your sister's permission to do a nice thing for someone else.

[Real Deal]

Wow! Your sister sounds jealous. You'd think she'd be thrilled that you want to help a woman who is about to have 2 babies. I think her co-worker would probably adore having a couple of hand made blankets.

 

The young woman I recently made the baby blanket for hasn't stopped thanking me yet! She thanked me profusely at the baby shower, plus sent a hand written thank you note. Since then, every time I stop at my Dad's (she lives next door) she runs over to visit for a few minutes and thanks me again. She said no one ever made her anything before, and she couldn't believe someone would put so much time into a hand made item, just to give it away. So it goes to show you that some people really do love our crocheted items.

 

If I was having 2 babies, with winter upon us, I'd be thrilled to have a gift of 2 crocheted blankets.

[eurolyons]

One thing I would do is sit your sister down and tell her nicely, but firmly that you didn't appreciate the "waste your time" comment. It was hurtful to you, tell her that. To you, this project wasn't a waste of time...you did it with the best of intentions and because you like to crochet...tell your sister that. She needs to hear that.

 

Now then, you have a lot of choices with the afghans...you can still give them to your sister's coworker (personally I wouldn't have backed down from that...I would have said, "That's nice that you donated, but you know, she's having twins, she could always use more afghans...if you don't want to take these in for me, can you give me her name and I'll take them to her..." If you're uncomfortable with that, then sure, emergancy gifts, or send them to Project Linus, or whatever...

 

But the most important thing I see here is that your sister said something to you that upset you and I feel you need to calmly bring that to your sister's attention.

 

I have sisters that don't get the whole handcraft thing...they either don't feel they are good at it, it's not a priority to them and while for the most part they think what I do is fine, with one, she's so not interested...and to her, although she understands it's a part of me, it's a waste of time to her...she tries not to say such to me anymore and I don't try to persuade her to crochet...works out fine.

[paperflowers]

That stinks. If you really want to, go ahead and make the afghan and send directly to your sister's co-worker. People do appreciate handmade gifts. The only time I've ever had someone ask me not to make something was when my cousin had a baby. She knits and her mom quilts so they were pretty well set.

 

(I'd love to see a picture, btw.)

[catheryn]

Oh, JoAnn, your sister sounds kinda, sorta, maybe like one of mine!!!!:lol:lol

I finally learned to live with it and laugh it off!!! (Only took 53 years!)

[DesertCrocheter]

A gift from the heart is never a waste. And I love that blanket pattern; I've made it myself and it looks spectacular. Sisters can sometimes be a pain, no matter how much we love them, and sometimes just don't get it. Patty

[stitchgirl]

Not to be a kill joy here, but wouldn't giving her the blankets anyway be awkward for you? Getting a gift like that from a stranger I would think would seem odd and surely she would want to know the connection. I just think it could end up causing a riff between you and your sister. Her comment about you "wasting your time" was kind of nasty, but all of us know people, probably in our own families that just don't get it. You know, anything from calling crochet "knitting", to turned up noses, to viewing it as a waste of time. In my experience I find it to be just useless to try to convince those people to appreciate what we love to do. I agree with an earlier post, I would keep them for the next time you need one as a gift.

[Poochie]

Not to be a kill joy here, but wouldn't giving her the blankets anyway be awkward for you? Getting a gift like that from a stranger I would think would seem odd and surely she would want to know the connection. I just think it could end up causing a riff between you and your sister. Her comment about you "wasting your time" was kind of nasty, but all of us know people, probably in our own families that just don't get it. You know, anything from calling crochet "knitting", to turned up noses, to viewing it as a waste of time. In my experience I find it to be just useless to try to convince those people to appreciate what we love to do. I agree with an earlier post, I would keep them for the next time you need one as a gift.

 

I agree....and I've come to learn that just because I love to crochet items, not many people enjoy receiving them....totally out of the blue...kwim? I mean if my sister asked me to make her a specific afghan or scarf...I'd do it...and of course, she would love it. But for me to just make something out of the blue for someone else because I love it.....nope. I don't do it. I did that once...for my daughter's dance school Christmas party...for the raffle table. I crocheted two scarfs.....and they were the very LAST two items to go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was so embarrased!!! I crochet for me and me only. Sounds bad...I know....but hey...at least I know I'm going to LOVE what I made!!

[JennyBunny]

I've been on both sides of this issue... well, there are more than two so let me explain:

 

I've given my husband crocheted baby blankets for co-workers or co worker's wives, (whom I don't know) and they have generally been well recieved, and touched that a "total stranger would want to give away a gift of time and effort" as one recipient put it.

 

I've also been given a blanket back as they were worried about fingers getting caught in the little holes in the blanket (from a DC stitch blanket). I donated that blanket to a Women's shelter in the woman's name.

 

One thing I have done for the last few years is crochet a tiny pair of booties in thread, embroider the year on the sole of one, and link them with a chain... and present them as a "Baby's First Christmas" momento.

[stitchgirl]

 

One thing I have done for the last few years is crochet a tiny pair of booties in thread, embroider the year on the sole of one, and link them with a chain... and present them as a "Baby's First Christmas" momento.

 

 

 

That's a really cute idea!

[Trinket]

Mmm... sticky situation there. I guess that if it were me, I probably would save the blankets for another occasion. I tend to only give crocheted gifts to people I know fairly well, because some of the people I haven't known too well haven't been all that grateful to get them...

 

Whatever you decide to do, I hope things will work out for the best!

[kelly g]

People where I work have also donated money to a baby shower but I always make a blanket or booties. This past baby shower I crocheted two blankets for an employee and she wept when she saw them. She loved them! That is what really counts. Im sorry for the negative comments you recieved, it was not necessary.

[JoBug]

For those of you who wanted to see pics, here they are.

I have decided NOT to give them to the girl that works with my sister, in a way I feel it would be going behind my sisters back, and I want to be assured the recipient likes them, thus, I will be donating the blankets....

images are clickable...ya ya I know Christmas table cloth and placemats already..lol..I took pics on my table..