MIL Issues “Knitting Challenge” But Gets Yarn Instead
The Original Post
I am a knitter and enjoy making all kinds of things, but for the most part, I knit things for me or my husband. I donāt have the heart to buy nice yarn, a pattern, and put hours into making something for someone just to watch it be treated like crap. I have no say over what others do with the things I give them so I just donāt.
My MIL said āI have a challenge for you, IF youāre up to it.ā She pointed at a picture on her phone and said that the challenge was for me to make her a Sophie scarf that would match a dress.
I asked her, why is she framing it as a challenge when itās just her asking me to knit something for her? She didnāt have an answer and just said if Iām up to the challenge I can give it a try.
I asked my husband what I should do. He said to just flat out tell her no. But I figured it would be nice to at least meet her halfway. I asked her to send me a picture of the dress and went to my yarn store to get yarn in a color I thought would be good and a pair of needles from my own stash. I got her a ālearn to knitā book.
The next time I saw her I gave it all to her and said that here is all the stuff she would need to make her Sophie scarf, except the pattern sheād need to buy herself. She looked at it like what the heck and said in this pity voice āOh you couldnāt figure it out?ā
I said nope Iāve made myself a few. But I thought it would be better for her to learn how to knit and she would be able to challenge herself. She frowned at it but didnāt say anything else to me and just set the yarn aside.
She did however go to my husband and tell him that all she had done was give me a challenge but I hadnāt even tried. He heard her out but told her it was ultimately up to me. I have unfortunately seen her posting on her FB about how she doesnāt get my generation and why we have to make everything so difficult. I thought this would be an interesting question to pose to you all, so AITA?
What Reddit Said
Reddit was divided on this passive-aggressive knitting drama. The top comment called OP the asshole for making things unnecessarily difficult. They pointed out that OP could have simply said no instead of going along with the request only to flip it back on MIL.
However, many users felt everyone sucked here (ESH). They found MIL’s “challenge” framing weird and manipulative. Meanwhile, they criticized OP’s passive-aggressive response as equally problematic. Most agreed the whole interaction was unnecessarily dramatic.
The Verdict
The consensus leaned toward YTA/ESH rather than supporting OP. This mother in law knitting challenge became a perfect example of how poor communication escalates family tensions. Instead of direct conversation, both parties chose indirect approaches that created more drama. This belongs in family drama where simple requests become complicated power struggles.
Original post from r/AmItheAsshole (1,832 upvotes, 396 comments)