Dislike knitted baby gifts from family member

[LoftyOliveDreamer]

A member of our family continuously knits baby gifts for our children, there is not usually much consideration for appropriate seasons regards to age/sizing and the patterns/colours are always quite garish. We feel awful because there is clearly a lot of time and effort gone into these. The person is a beautiful knitter however she will not take any suggestions on colours, or doing a more neutral/single colour piece that would mean it can be paired with other items.

We are left with sooo many items piling up unused, many are completely inappropriate sizing so they are zero use to us. However the ones that may fit are always wild patterns or very dated styles. Photo is just recent examples

We have tried to talk to this person many times but as mentioned before they do not listen. I feel pressured to quietly donate many of them because we simply do not have the space to store so many unused items, and I would hope someone else can appreciate and get some use out of them

Our last ditch attempt is suggesting a specific pattern book so hopefully this works, do you have any suggestions? Am I being unreasonable, are these examples nice?

The pink jumper with the white/cream trim - and matching hat - are perfectly lovely. These jumpers have come back in style, so I’m not sure why you think it’s dated!

I think the photos of the knitted items you've shown are fine and not wild and garish, but you obviously don't like them.

We have a relative that did amazing stylish woollen creations for ours that we loved so it can be done so good luck with the book!

She did an amazing line in booties but kept them going to cover the full leg which were perfect when babywearing as leg warmers.

Could you perhaps buy her some wool. The fair isle stuff is expensive but gorgeous. Perhaps ‘I spotted this when our’.

I would send a picture and then donate but keeping a few for dolls clothes ( once my daughter hit 5 she loved dolls clothes).

Once your kids are at nursery/childminder age you may find them a godsend.

We always kept a few we weren’t keen on from another relative in the car boot for layers if out when it was cold. Or for when kids were old enough to play in the garden after school in autumn and not dirty other clothes. It’s surprising how warm they are in winter as an extra layer or a layer under a coat.

I think they are all lovely. Not garish at all. But then I hate neutrals on babies in general. Always look a bit sad to me.

Same! I'm so tired of boring neutrals!

Debbie Bliss baby pattern books are the way to go and there are lots available secondhand online.

I used to knit with baby cashmerino it was so soft and the colours were gorgeous,

Honestly OP, I thought maybe you were being a bit ungrateful until I saw the photo. I see your problem, they look like beautifully knitted Liquorice Allsorts.

Depends who you are.... I wouldn't dress my child in them.

I love them! Would have happily put those on my kids. We had a neighbour that knitted stuff for my eldest when he was a toddler. She loved watching him walk past her house wearing the jumpers and cardi’s she’d made.

Maybe buy some wool and a pattern you like and give her those to work on.

How old are your DC, OP? If baby to toddler then these look absolutely fine to me. Perhaps even beyond. I'd pair them with some leggings in a single colour.

ETA: my DC loved this cardigan which just came from a supermarket but has similar vibes with the stripey sleeves. We never had any problems matching it with other clothes: https://share.google/images/XU4Vp3c7PbNTQMCVP

Liquorice Allsorts is what I thought too.

@LoftyOliveDreamer I had some knitted outfits for my babies in colours and patterns I wouldn't necessarily have chosen but I actually ended up using them a lot in cold weather.

I think they're lovely, what a nice change from the usual mass produced items.
They're not garish at all. I don't understand why you'd dress a baby in beige and grey.
Someone would be very, very grateful for these, so give them to a baby bank or charity shop.

I love them 😍

I’m not sure I can see what the problem is with those things. They’re certainly not garish. Why not just use them? Your baby won’t mind! Might even like to wear something that’s cheerful because if that’s considered garish I assume they’re normally dressed quite drearily.

I agree, I think the garments are lovely.

I agree they're 'fine' but the problem is when you have so many clothes already, you struggle to get through just the nice stuff before the child outgrows them. I pretty much bought nothing for my babies but they had a huge number of clothes as gifts and I had several knitters giving me things. My mother-in-law's sister would knit stuff and my MIL didn't really believe that we didn't need just one more cardigan (think sister was asking her about colour preferences or whatever) until I pointed out we had sixteen in baby's current size.

does it depend whether you consider your child to be a human who needs to be warm, or a doll who needs to be accessorised.

I used to like receiving clothes that i would never have looked at twice for my babies. Things i never would have tried otherwise

I used to get through so many clothes with mine, I would have been very grateful! The baby won't mind if it's brown and cream or pink and cream.
The pink cable sweater is gorgeous!

This ⬆️. Your first point, exactly.

Ah, I think they are lovely! Especially the pink with matching hat.

I'm a knitter/ crafter when I have time. You have to realise that the joy for the knitter is in the process of knitting. For this person I would also not think that she is that interested in the actual outcome as she doesn't care or listen to your preferences. Possibly once done it is out of mind as she is on the next project. So I'd say feel free to dispose of, but to a charity shop they are unlikely to attend.

I like the hat and the jumper. They're classic and the pink is soft. Not keen on the Bertie Bassett-core cardies. All items are obviously very well made.

I think you need to be more open with asking for styles & colours required- and be prepared to provide patterns and wool to back up your "vision". Or, persuade your relative to join a hospital / charity knitting project as a distraction. The knitter obviously has skill and a very kind heart. With the items you've already got, I honestly don't know; legitimately pass them on to charity once your children are too big, keep them for under coat/ outdoor play layers or keep some bits for teddy / doll clothes whilst donating the rest once they're outgrown. All good ideas mentioned upthread.

We get so many knitted cardigans. The ones I don't like go in the wear to nursery pile. The ones I do like we use over and over again and gush about how wonderful they are. We do ask for specific colours and sometimes we get them and sometimes not. Could you point her in the direction of knitting doll clothes if your child has a doll?

I used to put mine to bed in winter with knitted cardigans over babygrows/pyjamas. Especially useful while they were in gro bags to keep arms warm.

Some of them lasted years as were quite stretchy.

Could get some use out of it that way or as middle layers in winter.