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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

MIL knitting tons of clothes for baby in acrylic

168 replies

proseccogirl · 16/08/2010 11:49

I think you are all going to tell me that IABU and I am a snob too, but what the hell....
My MIL hasn't been back to work since she had my DH (33 years ago!), and frankly never seems to me to have enough to do! Since I have been pregnant she has been knitting tons, and tons of clothes for the baby. She is a lovely knitter, and has made things that would be beautiful, but they are all made of really nasty shiny acrylic and other man made fibres. I have asked DH to ask her very politely if she could possibly knit in cotton/wool, and I have done the same, and have even bought large amounts of cotton/bamboo and wool in suitable colours for her to knit with, as I don't want her to be out of pocket. They have far less money than we do and I know that cotton and bamboo and wool are more expensive to buy.
Despite all of this she pitches up with a new acrylic item every time we see them so has obviously decided to ignore our polite requests, and I know she will take the hump massively if I don't dress the baby in one of the every day when once the baby arrives, but I really, really don't want the baby to wear top to toe acrylic all day! All my baby books say that you should dress the baby in natural fibres so that they can keep cool and evaporate sweat effectively etc.
The background to this is that my DH's parents are very working class and I am very upper middle class so I am worried they think I am a snob as it is, and this will make that worse, but equally, I don't want my baby flickering with static electricity the whole time! Or overheating in a nylon baby grow.......!Am I just being a cow?

OP posts:

MajesticScallop · 17/08/2010 14:13

I knitted many garments for my babies. In acrylic, because I didn't know any better. And then I sewed on plastic buttons - some even shaped like teddy bears. And then I took the infants to mother-and-baby groups in North Oxford and showed them off.

There must be people on here who saw and were horrified but you never said a word so thanks for your discretion.

In my defence my dad never had a job so I am underclass so I suppose it couldn't have been avoided.

I never knew, I really never did. In fact, I'm so ill-brought-up I'm actually wearing an acrylic cardigan now.

(((abruptly catches fire and slumps into pauper's grave emoticon)))

melikalikimaka · 17/08/2010 14:27

I loved these cardis, and was very grateful and touched to receive them.

Talk about ungrateful!

WhyMeWhyNot · 17/08/2010 14:28

Mothers In Law can never do right for doing wrong can we.

You'll all be one one day and then realise how hard daughters in law are to please.

We're mostly only doing our best.

melikalikimaka · 17/08/2010 14:33

Besides when they are little, they always have babygrows on and the cardi goes over it. It literally doesn't touch the skin. I don't see the problem. They are also quicker to dry and
the colours are more vibrant.

CatIsSleepy · 17/08/2010 14:40

just accept all items with good grace
your baby won't spontaneously combust because they are wearing an acrylic cardigan

my mum knitted tons of little cardies for dd1 when she was born, they are all very cute, and made of acrylic. Good as a top layer on a cold day.

wannabesybil · 17/08/2010 14:51

I have been following the thread with interest, as an obsessive knitter that didn't knit anything for my little one.

I've had a bit of a wander round my main yarn buying online sites, and so much of the yarn branded as 'baby' is 100% man made fibre. I managed to find some baby bamboo, which I would weigh up as being naturally anti bacterial but also, washing? Will it be snuggly? Some of the most gorgeous, tactile, snuggly yarns are 100% man made (Sirdar snuggly is amazingly cuddly).

A lot of baby patterns use DK or 4ply, and you can substitute at a pinch, but I think not all knitters like to do that and most patterns have a few lines to hint that any other yarn than that suggested will not be suitable (patterns are developed to sell yarn, not the other way round).

The OP's MIL is knitting with shiny acrylic, and it is not the OP's taste and preference, which I think is fair enough. However it is quite interesting to see how many baby yarns are 100% man made, including some quite expensive and really nice ones. I shall pop into a proper shop and have a look at the labels at some point. I know that baby yarns in natural fibres exist, but they don't seem to be as common, or as inexpensive in general.

expatinscotland · 17/08/2010 14:54

I have a lovely 21-month-old son who still wears hand-knitted jumpers as an outer layer with his little bib on mostly, too.

I don't tend to keep him around things that go on fire.

BongoWinslow · 17/08/2010 15:04

BootyMum - agreed. I'm not English and I too find it bizarre that people care so much about class here.

Belgrano · 17/08/2010 15:12

wow some of you are so awful.

I am sure people come onto MN simply to hunt for victims to discharge venom onto. You must have frustrations from RL that you can't deal with as nobody would be as rude as they have been to OP in real life. Or would you?

OP - baby will be fine. Mine wore acrylic and was fine. Definitely won't get too hot and if they do you can take it off! And the washing thing is important since they puke within seconds of getting dressed so you need millions and they need to wash/sponge well.

Ignore everyone nasty.

knitpicker · 17/08/2010 15:47

This thread has given me flashbacks to sitting in my friends living room, my ds was about six months old and DH reached into filthy, disgusting baby bag (we weren't coping well) and pulled out lovingly hand-knitted in complicated stripy pattern cardigan now disintegrated into dirty, unravelling travesty in front of friend's girlfriend who had spent months knitting same. I will never forget her hurt face even now, twelve years later. On the plus side, some of MIL's acrylic knits of the same vintage are still doing the rounds of my sister's babies.

ReshapeWhileDamp · 17/08/2010 15:49

onetoomanycornettos - really? You've hardly ever seen babies clad in handknits? I think that's really sad. Or maybe, you are in fact surrounded by babies in very professionally executed handknits and haven't noticed!

DS has never had a non-hand knitted jumper or cardigan. Or pram blanket, come to think of it. I love seeing him surrounded by the artistry and love of his two grandmothers (and I have never yet succeeded in completing anything for him, apart from a crochetted pram blanket and a pair of socks for his wellies! .

Not sure why anyone would describe handknits as 'the twilight zone of baby wear' . Handknits are as diverse as you could possibly imagine. They can be funky, trendy, classic, or just naff. I don't really understand the negativity though. They're certainly not all hideous mauve bobbly constructions!

Jamieandhismagictorch · 17/08/2010 16:03

The only problem with knitted things (of any class) is that newborns little fingers get caught in it.

I don't like wool, it's itchy

My nan knitted the most beautiful baby clothes with little duck-shaped buttons and pearly ones. When I reminisced about this to my own mum (nan had died by then), my mum taught herself to knit, and presented me with half a dozen little cardis 9no idea what yarn).

Yes, they weren't v practical, but they weremade with love

OP - I am sure you are a lovely person, but anything other than graciously accepting these items is rude and not very classy, IMO

Jamieandhismagictorch · 17/08/2010 16:06

... should clarify that the cardis were for my firstborn

I also got a handknitted blanket from an elderly patient of my mum - never met her.

I was very touched that someone I didn't even know would invest time and energy for my baby. It would never occur to me to think she had "too much time on her hands"

I think this post is a wind-up. But just in case, that was my tuppence-worth

clouddragon · 17/08/2010 16:10

What a lot of vitriol to the op... (too much time on her hands what about us lot on the internet in the middle of the day hey.

I hate wearing anything in acrilic, (and I'm not posh) -

MIL always knits in it. But her mother knitted DSS everything in real wool which was lovely (and she was as working class as they come)

Jamieandhismagictorch · 17/08/2010 16:16

sorry, the phrase I should have quoted (from the OP) was "never seems to have enough to do"

expatinscotland · 17/08/2010 16:59

I don't see where this makes one a snob, only very odd and very English and a bit silly, tbh.

I don't like some garments I see or try on because I don't like the look of them, regardless of the fabric.

The English never cease to make me laugh.

expatinscotland · 17/08/2010 17:01

I do think, however, that this is a wind-up. There's no such thing as 'too hot' and 'all sweaty' in this part of Scotland, moreover.

There are, however, plenty of sheep :o.

Dylan44 · 18/08/2010 16:05

I feel terrible now that I have inflicted acrylic and acrylic mix handknitted cardigans and blankets on my friends and family. I thought it was a good idea to knit in a yarn that can be bunged in the washing machine/dryer. In future I will only knit in pure wool and cotton as I am sure new mums have lots of time to hand wash!

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