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Original poster

Help! Relative has made a beautiful blanket for our firstborn and I've ruined it (I think)

76 replies

Horehound · 08/08/2019 15:49

Oh god oh god oh god. Relative on my husband's side spent months making this blanket. We got it at the weekend and when we opened the box it absolutely stunk of smoke. So I popped it in a pillow case and then washed it along with some other baby stuff. Except I just put it on a normal wash not a wool wash and now it's all kind of stuck together :s
I can't even tell if I have shrunk it yet because it's so mangled. I can peel little bits apart but I'm wondering if I stick it in the bath and soak it will this help? Or what can I do? I feel sick.

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cantfindname · 08/08/2019 17:41

That looks like the blanket pattern I made for a friend years ago. It was seriously hard work, took me hours and hours but was gorgeous.

I think you are on track to save it, really it doesn't look too bad now and will look even better when it is wrapped and draped around a tiny baby.

Lovemenorca · 08/08/2019 17:47

I’m afraid that it won’t ever be the same again

Although don’t feel least bit guilty

A smoke infested baby blanket - not exactly something I would want within ten metres of my newborn, irrespective of how long it had taken to make

popehilarious · 08/08/2019 17:52

It's gorgeous, but if it went anywhere near my DC when they were babies their little scratchy nails and scrabbly hand would've tangled it all up in no time. I guess decorative only, shame it smelled of smoke!

GeorgeTheFirst · 08/08/2019 17:54

It is beautiful though. And it will have taken AGES. I hope you can save it. It's not looking too bad now.

CraftyYankee · 08/08/2019 17:57

Can't believe someone put all that work into something and didn't either take better care of it so didn't smell of smoke and also provide washing instructions.

I hope your husband isn't upset with YOU.

Original poster
Horehound · 08/08/2019 18:02

Yes i know, i think she smokes a lot and my MIL said she wont have been smoking whilst doing it but herbhands will have been smoky. As soon as i took the lid off the box i got a waft of smoke.

Yes he is upset with me and it must be bad because he is never annoyed with me :(
I didn't mean for this to happen.
Oh dear.

And yes it did take her ages... it took her months. MIL joked that her name had been cursed and our names had been cursed multiple times when relative was making it.

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Original poster
Horehound · 08/08/2019 18:03

It definitely looks a lot better. I'll post a photo of how it looked when I first discovered it on opening the washing machine...

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Original poster
Horehound · 08/08/2019 18:04

Eek!

Help! Relative has made a beautiful blanket for our firstborn and I've ruined it (I think)
OP posts:
CookPassBabtridge · 08/08/2019 18:05

I think you've done a great job!

CraftyYankee · 08/08/2019 18:08

Tell him he is being unreasonable to be upset with you. I'm a knitter, but how were you supposed to know?

I'm disproportionately annoyed on your behalf.

Tell him if he's that upset he can buy the special soap,a blocking board, rust proof pins and spend hours fixing it, not your pregnant self. See what he says to that. 😒

Original poster
Horehound · 08/08/2019 18:11

That's the thing...he wouldn't have dealt with this. It would still be in the box in 5 years time if it was left to him. It is unfair but I guess he is hurt because it's something from his families side and within 1 week I ruined it :/

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Original poster
Horehound · 08/08/2019 18:43

Well, he has made me dinner so he does love me still after all.

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NewName54321 · 08/08/2019 18:53

You haven't ruined it. Whoever let it become smoky has, as it was unusable in that state.

MerryDeath · 08/08/2019 19:01

that's not cotton i'd say that's a lace weight animal fibre.

you can try soaking it and pinning it out flat, very gently flattening, not stretching.. search 'blocking' if you want proper tutorials or supplies.

honestly though, this relative clearly has the kindest of intentions (not to mention fantastic lace work skill and patience) but giving a non-knitter (assuming!) a baby blanket that reeks of smoke and not even specifying what it's made of/how it should be cared for is somewhat asking for it!

ThatLibraryMiss · 08/08/2019 19:01

I don't think you're at fault at all. Hardly any clothing is pure wool these days so the expectation of having to treat delicate woolies with care has been lost.

When I've given lace shawls I've told the recipients that they need special cleaning and blocking and I'm happy to do it for them. And that was to adults who knew to take care of woolen garments, not to new mums who are more interested in getting more that two hours sleep in one go than in handwashing delicates.

Teddybear45 · 08/08/2019 19:07

If you’re making a baby’s shawl, the first thing any wool supplier will do is direct you to the appropriate ‘machine washable’ yarn. The person who knit this for you wasn’t being thoughtful or considerate at all - an experienced knitter would have used the appropriate yarn and would not have allowed it to stink of smoke in the first place.

ThatLibraryMiss · 08/08/2019 19:14

It's Sharon Miller's Cameron shawl. Almost 1900m of cobweb. Beautiful, and should never have been given without an explanation of how to care for it.

Cohle · 08/08/2019 19:14

I can understand why your husband is annoyed to be honest. Chucking a beautiful handmade woollen shawl in the washing machine is a bit thoughtless. Did it not occur to you to hand wash it?

Original poster
Horehound · 08/08/2019 19:19

@Cohle when we spoke about it smelling of smoke MIL said it would be fine in a pillow case in the wash.
So that's what I did and as I was washing baby sheets etx I just put it on a standard wash although as a time saver so thought it would be a quick-ish wash and it was on 40deg. I honestly don't know about tempts for washing wool stuff!
Anyway even when I said to my mum I put it in the wash she said I should only ever hand wash it.

Well, I know now. I mean, to be fair it's not like it is an everyday blanket is it? I deffo don't have time to be handwashing stuff!

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TonTonMacoute · 08/08/2019 19:21

Wool really hates sudden changes in temperature, but you can wash it in the machine two ways.

  1. if you have a cold water option use that. It will wash and rinse in cold water.

  2. if you don't, then use the pause option. This way it will wash in warm water and then will stop. You wait until the water gets cold, then start the machine again for the cold water rinse.

And always use a soap to wash, pure liquid soap, or something like Stergene.

kulaexchange · 08/08/2019 19:28

Well done op!! You've done a great job. It's a beautiful blanket.

Cohle · 08/08/2019 19:34

I deffo don't have time to be handwashing stuff!

It would have been a lot quicker to handwash it than has been to try and de-felt it in the bath...

I'm not sure why you took your MiL's advice as gospel truth when she didn't make the shawl.

Usingmyindoorvoice · 08/08/2019 19:57

You have done such a great job, and it is so beautiful. Now you next big decision is if you use it ‘all the time’ and it becomes a treasured, ropey stinky, irreplaceable, comfort blanket or you save it for a special occasion, coming home from hospital and christening/naming day, and hand its delicate nature onto a future daughter or son.
I think I’d choose the ........

RevealTheLegend · 08/08/2019 20:08

Cohle nuts to that...

She’s pregnant and knackered

And if someone who’s knowledge you respect says something then you’d be inclined to follow the advice.

I don’t do craft, but if I’d spent months making something I’d make damn sure to pass on the care instructions, especially for something like a baby blanket that WILL be puked on.

OP this was so very nearly me when I was pregnant . A relative gave me a beautiful hand knit shawl very delicate that stank of smoke. My mum quietly confiscated it whilst I was distracted and washed it for me. I’d have done exactly what you did, Bung it on 40 degrees in a pillowcase. She hand washed it in cold water. I never actually used it for anything with the baby but a photoshoot as it was just too damn delicate. Now dd is a teen I’ve given it back to her, and she uses it as a delicate throw, artfully arranged.

AnotherEmma · 08/08/2019 20:17

"A smoke infested baby blanket - not exactly something I would want within ten metres of my newborn, irrespective of how long it had taken to make"

This

Read up on SIDS and on the effects of smoking (even when it's "just" smoke on clothes etc)

Obviously it was never going to survive a normal wash but I doubt that a gentle hand wash would have got all the smoke out of it.

Weird to spend all those hours making it only to ruin it with smoke smell, but I guess smokers don't notice (or don't care) Sad

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