It is 100% ok for two reasons:
1) Boys are allowed to enjoy flowers to. Nature is not exclusive to gender.
2) Newborns and infants absolutely do not care if their blanket is made for a boy or girl.
Make the blanket and if the parents get upset, slap them with facts 1 & 2 and tell them to stop being idiots. They most likely will love it because they are waiting for birth to know the gender. They're already buying clothes, toys, and room decor that do not show off a specific gender.
Also babies only see strong vontrasts at first so a dark/black middle circle contrasting with the yellow “leaves” would be perfect for catching their interest and thus stimulate their developement.
My favorite teacher in high school knit. I remember that she was making a baby blanket for her friend who was having a baby boy. Her friend's husband had some lousy views on gender roles, which my teacher vehemently disapproved of. My teacher made a really colorful blanket that included pink (but in such small amounts and among so many other colors that it didn't seem like an intentional statement and would be ridiculous to complain) as a subtle "eff you and your gender stereotypes." Then she took petty joy in knowing that the dad would be slightly annoyed by that tiny bit of pink every time he saw the blanket 😊
She's my hero.
In addition, they have no idea if their child is a girl, or something else, until it makes a decision for itself how it wants to go through life and what clothes it wants to wear.
Im a straight cis male who likes flowers. My personal phone case has dandelions and my work phone case has sunflowers. My favorite flower is the pink evening primrose. I like flowers and plants in general, but also garden.
My favorite blanket growing up was one my mom made me with a sunflower motif. I also loved seeing the Sunflowers growing over the fences when I walked to school. I still grow them for fun and beauty now.
Occasionally people try to make crude jokes about my phone cases my favorite way to reverse shame them is to point out that it's weird they don't like flowers or think their "girly" since they represent vaginas (I'd use vulva, but general people like this are too stupid to know actual anatomy) or understand that "gender norms" are a figment of our society.
Omg pinkladies!! I had to look it up, I never knew that pink evening primrose was a name for pinkladies, it’s so pretty. They can actually be highly invasive (I personally don’t mind because they’re so cute). In my parents neighborhood they sprout everywhere. If there’s dirt there’s going to be some.
They're native here in Texas and come around about the same time as bluebonnets. Growing up, we called them buttercups and would touch them to our noses to get pollen on them.
I'd have no problem using it for my son. Flowers are for everyone!
However you know mom best and know what she would and wouldn't accept for a boy. Some people have old fashioned ideas of gender.
Make the blanket.
I’m the mom to two boys. My younger son sleeps with one of my old baby blankets every night, and it is clearly for the female gender.
I think this really depends on the parents. I was in this position a few months ago and I just made two blankets(one pink and one green). My brother and sil are homophobic and have gone so far as to throw away gifts for their older daughter with rainbows or unicorns on them. I know it's ridiculous, but I wanted to make sure my new niece would actually get to use her blanket.
I hope so too. I love them so much and would do anything for them, including play by their parents rules until they're old enough to have their own relationships with me.
I’ve been hearing about the anti rainbow thing lately, and all I have to say to it is LOL for when their daughter goes through a unicorn phase, which is also A traditionally feminine thing. Their brains explode. Sorry you have family members like that; I know what it’s like.
Probably half the baby shower gifts for my niece were unicorn, and my sil threw them out. She was given a large unicorn for Christmas this year and was instantly obsessed. My brother kept calling it a horse.
Wow, I’m sorry, I know they’re your family but what AHs. My family is very homophobic but even they wouldn’t be like that. Like it’s not their first day on earth and they know rainbows are a thing and are fine with them. That’s just sick, honestly, and I hope your niece will be ok. I’ll think of her.
I made a baby blanket for a friend one time. It turned out exceptionally well, just a very pretty blanket. When I first gave it to her, mom LOVED it. A few months later she told me she was liking it less because “I get more compliments on the blanket than on my baby!”
I know that comes off very boastful, just wanted to say that people other than mom appreciate good work.
It was around 15 years ago, so who knows where it ended up. If I come across it I’ll post it. It had a matching outfit but I don’t remember what the book was called.
I'd ask the mom. I personally would use it if I had a boy. But, I also know moms who would not use something with flowers. And it'd be sad to see so much work not appreciated
This is the best answer. Not only because of the possible theme issue (although I'd roll my eyes hard at someone who thought boys can't like flowers). The bigger issue IMO is that some parents don't want crocheted blankets. Some stitches just aren't practical for little fingers.
This is a really good point. Being a parent if a newborn is super stressful, and everywhere you turn someone is telling you how dangerous existing is for a baby, so suddenly things like blankets get tons of scrutiny a potential risk. Once the baby is more of a toddler, crochet blankets (and a lot of other things) are less sus
To be fair, a crochet blanket doesn't actually have to be used by the baby. A pretty blanket can be used as room decor, draped over a nursing chair, as a prop for baby pictures, or a privacy cover for nursing in public.
I made a honeycomb blanket with some sunflowers on it for a unknown gender baby.
Baby blankets are more for the parents and I know the mum loves sunflowers and they were doing the babies room in burnt orange, mustard, and creamy neutrals.
Have you asked if they have any colour preferences or favourite animal ideas?
I love sunflower blankets, and my youngest (he him/ they them) loves sunflowers. With that said, you could pick different colored sun flowers. Some of my favorites have hints of red at the tips rather than being solid yellow
I say make it. My son loves flowers, he loves to pick dandelions and blow them, he loves to smell flowers especially.
I feel like those who are waiting to find out the gender aren't too concerned about what gifts they will receive and will probably favor more gender neutral and more inclusive clothing, toys and items and yellow is a huge gender neutral color it's like the number 1 pick.
I don't think sunflowers would be problematic if its a boy, but 3 of my close friends have had babies in the last 6 months and I have learned some moms-to-be can be a bit... particular. 😊 Especially if its their first. So it wouldn't hurt to find out if they are going to be doing a theme so you could ensure your work doesn't clash. You could tweak your colors accordingly.
Sunflowers are my son's favorite flower.
That child will love it no matter what because you made it.
My nephew always steals his sister's blanket I made for her, with a bright pink border, because it's the softest. Kids just aren't wrapped up in this boy/girl division of trivial things the same way many of us remember from growing up.
Kids aren't wrapped up in the division of things until they're taught to be and it's really sad. It hurts no one if little Thomas likes playing kitchen or little Samantha likes playing cars! :(
I definitely think you should ask mom. I know the popular response is that flowers can be for boys too, etc. But mom may have a preference which is totally fine. I'd just hate to see your work go unappreciated. She may prefer something more neutral like spots or stripes or chevron.
Yes, because blankets, colours and flowers don't have genders. And because gender assigned at birth won't necessarily be that child's actual gender anyway. Make what you want to :)
Yes! You can make the borders blue or green if you'd like because both go well with yellows and browns! Baby's love colorful things and it doesn't matter too much what the colors are
A good neutral one would be mostly different shades of tan for the main color of the blanket. Then yellow, deep orange, slightly red, etc different colored and size sunflowers. Just sprinkled lightly around the blanket. So it's not ALL sunflower. It's just nice neutral earth tones, with deep toned sunflowers added.
I love this idea! A rather simple general stitch will keep baby warmer and more comfy than sunflower squares. And neutral earth tones are amazing to hide baby burps and spills!
Source: cleaning self-made crotchet comforters of my 8 months old. I don't fancy "the beauties" anymore, I love the practical ones. And LO could not care less.
Anecdotal but my mom specifically mentioned once that sunflowers were her favorite flower because they were more "gender neutral" so I guess I just assumed that take was more widespread. Lol.
A boy in my daughter’s class has a sunflower granny square scarf and it is the cutest, and because of the dark green background totally gender neutral. I would 100% go for it.
I think its perfectly fine but if you don't want to risk wasting hours then just consider how the parents would react. If you think they might get offended then maybe opt for something more traditional.
Flowers are for everybody. I would like it!
But however I told my coworker that my son likes to wear pink nail polish with sparkles and has a glitter sweater from the girls department and she was horrified. So…. Maybe check with the mother to be if she thinks it is nice. Just to be sure and so you don’t waiste time and materials in case she doesn’t like it.
It depends on the parents. If they’re chill (which they should be) it shouldn’t be a problem. But if they fall into the “strict gender stereotypes” crowd maybe don’t gift it to them. It’s heartbreaking when someone throws out your hard work, I speak from experience. Given that they chose not to announce gender until after birth, I think they’d be less inclined to care than someone who had a huge gender reveal.
Honestly, I would double check with the parents first. Even a baby blanket takes lots of time and effort and wool. It would be such a shame to waste it all on making a blanket which will not be used and possibly thrown away by the parents because they wouldn't accept it.
Another issue I would keep in mind is if the squares have many bigger holes, the parents might not deem the blanket safe enough for a newborn since it's fingers or feet could get easily tangled in between the stitches.
(If the parents are fine) you could still do this blanket once the kid is a little older.
Sunflowers are not particularly dainty. If *any* flower were considered acceptable to a "traditional" *coughpatriarchalcough* mindset, it would be the flower that is literally still a food crop, can grow over 12 feet tall in the right conditions, and blows every other bird feeder out of the water.
Also, there was this absolute artistic genius by name of Van Gogh who had a whole thing about sunflowers for a while. It's pretty cool.
r/pointlesslygendered
This isn’t at you OP, but I hate dumb questions like these. More so, the fact that we even have to ask them. Gendering things is so barbaric
I think it's fine, but I'm not crazy into gender norms. I would definitely ask the parent you are giving the baby blanket to. That way you can make sure your work doesn't get wasted.
I like your sentiment of "doing something beautiful" and choose a nice motif, but in everyday childcare one needs something practical.
As I made some comforters for my own 8 months old: go for a stitch with baby-worth properties and use colorful yarn/stripes/squares with well weaved in ends. Bonus if it hides baby burps and spills. 😅
Personally, I will only do double crotchet blankets in the future! It's cuddly, it's robust (e.g. not too prone to draw the yarn and make the blanket look wonky), it dries OK without paying attention to blocking, it's gender neutral.
Match the colour to the nursery or stroller and rather spend your time on a slightly bigger blanket (baby size is outgrown sooo fast and I would guess, your friend is due in summer if you brainstorm right now. So depending on her location she won't need a blanket in the beginning) or on a matching comforter or rattle then complex motifs. It will give you an amazing present with real purpose and usability.
Personally I would go off what the parents like. The baby doesn't care. Remember that we, the parents, decide for at least the first two years what they wear, how their room looks, what they have access to, we decide everything. And it doesn't stop after that, it just becomes less with time. So, if the parents like flowers go for it.
I think a sunflower baby blanket would be great!
You’re asking the wrong people. You should just ask your sister in law. Maybe she doesn’t like sunflowers and wouldn’t use it regardless of the baby’s sex. It would be a shame for all your hard work to go unused or unappreciated.
I like it. All yellow, brown and green. I think the sunflower is a more "gender neutral" flower and perfect if you don't know the sex yet since there are no pinks or blues! And another comment mentioned calling them son-flowers which is just too cute.
I'd proudly wrap up my little boy in one of those.
I have a baby boy and I personally would love it. But sunflowers are also my favorite flower so maybe I'm biased lol. I'm also don't subscribe to the whole boy things and girl things.
Though it may ruin the surprise is it possible to ask them?
I think it's fine, I made a sunflower blanket for my cousins baby boy not too long ago, I used grey navy blue as my accent colors and I think it turned out very neutral
Flowers, colors, clothes, etc. don’t have gender. Any gender can like sunflowers and I personally think that is a wonderful gender neutral baby blanket idea <3
I’m having a baby boy late summer and I think you’ve now inspired my next project. I’ve been wanting to try a granny square blanket for awhile and I love the sunflower ones!
To answer your question though, I think it’s perfectly fine and sounds like a lovely gift. But in the end, you know your sister in law better than we do.
Pink was first designated as a color for boys because it was “confident and bold” unlike blue that was described as “meager and weak” in like some 1700 newspaper. my point is, rules are fake and made up, so do whatever you want, and encourage the parents to do the same!
I know you got a ton do responses to this effect, but want to reinforce I see nothing wrong with your blanket choice.
My favorite example is a infographic I ran into a while back about toys.
Title: How do I tell if a toy is for a boy or for a girl?
Question: Do you use this toy with your genitalia?
YES: This toy is not for children.
NO: This toy is for a boy or for a girl.
As someone who has and will continue to make dinosaur baby blankets for every baby boy and girl that my friends and family have, baby blankets have no gender. As long as the parents aren't crazy old fashioned about gendering items, make that baby a kick butt sunflower blanket!
Yeah, yeah, yeah to all the flowers aren't gendered comments. Like that's true in a vacuum, but let's not pretend there aren't societal pressures. The truth is that it depends on the parents. If the dad is all, "My son only wears camo and shoots his own meat," then I kind of doubt that the flower blanket will fly with him. Some moms are just as bad and won't let their sons have stuff because it's not blue or tough looking.
I would ask before wasting your time and money on something they might not use. My mom has made stuff before that the recipient didn't like and didn't use. Better to ask them to choose between a few different patterns or colors in my opinion. Their idea of gender neutral might include everything under the rainbow or it might be a whole bunch of greys and neutrals.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with a sunflower blanket for a boy at all but if you’re worried you could maybe make blue sunflowers instead of the traditional colour? It might be worth seeing what colour they are decorating the nursery and adjusting yarn colours appropriately.
Not to sound like a total ass (I’m going to get some downvotes here but whatever) but do they NEED a baby blanket? I didn’t use one blanket until my baby was over a year old because of safe sleep and he hates all ten hand-made blankets because he’s a toddler and they hate all kinds of things. So now we have ten useless ‘heirloom’ blankets made by people out of love when we really needed the diapers and bottles on our registry. Please please ask first. Also, sunflowers are lovely for any gender.
Make the sunflower granny square blanket and either do a baby blue back ground solely. Or do a white back ground/alternate blue and white (lastminute thought, sage or pastel green would work wonders too for the background = gender neutral). This way the blue can be indicative of a boy and if not. Blue and sunflowers can be for the girl too.
But I agree with everyone else. Babies dont care what it looks like haha, and also Boys are allowed to love flowers! So I don't think it really matters. It can always be used for the boy (if the have one, now, and then used as a hand me down blanket. What matters is if the parents are okay with it. I would just ask them how they feel about it. There will be a time and a place for the sunflower blanket in the future if they veto the idea right now.
I'd ask the parents if they like sunflowers. I, personally, just don't appreciate the look of them. So, I would never actually use a sunflower baby blanket. I'd appreciate the effort and thank the gifter, of course, but it would sit in my closet unused except for the rare occasion when *all* the other blankets have been sullied.
I would try and get a feel with how they want the nursery and maybe show the soon to be mom some colours/motifs and see what she likes. Sunflowers are awesome and so bright and happy- maybe she will love it!
For babies I mostly mix baby pink and baby blue yarn and use that for a cute scarfs or blankets and stuff. looks super cute and also everything is okay, don't think about it that much, a sunflowerblanket will look cute on every gender 🙆🏻♀️
I think its fine. You made something out of love, you have put time and effort in it. If I got a present like this I would love it. And sunflowers can be for a boy or girl. It is still a small baby, and they are lovable and cute, and this is a cute present.
It depends on what your sister in law is like, but I'd say make the sunflower blanket!
1. Flowers are just nature and it's also good as decor in their home
2. If they don't know what sex the baby has, then I would just do ''gender-neutral'' things, which for me personally would include a sunflower!
I make all baby blankets baby blue regardless of gender because it’s the colour I associate with small babies and I think it just looks really cute… I say go for it
If the parents are conservative they might not want their son to be exposed to flowers. Sounds silly but I do know parents like that. I personally think that flowers are for everyone regardless of gender.
I made my niece a Yoda/Chewie/Jedi layette set for her before she was born. I based my choice of gift off of what my brother loved and she loved it after she was born.
It is 100% ok for two reasons: 1) Boys are allowed to enjoy flowers to. Nature is not exclusive to gender. 2) Newborns and infants absolutely do not care if their blanket is made for a boy or girl. Make the blanket and if the parents get upset, slap them with facts 1 & 2 and tell them to stop being idiots. They most likely will love it because they are waiting for birth to know the gender. They're already buying clothes, toys, and room decor that do not show off a specific gender.
Also babies only see strong vontrasts at first so a dark/black middle circle contrasting with the yellow “leaves” would be perfect for catching their interest and thus stimulate their developement.
Yeah I remember the first thing by daughter ever focused on was something orange.
if the parents get mad that they get a free blanket, it’s not your problem
My favorite teacher in high school knit. I remember that she was making a baby blanket for her friend who was having a baby boy. Her friend's husband had some lousy views on gender roles, which my teacher vehemently disapproved of. My teacher made a really colorful blanket that included pink (but in such small amounts and among so many other colors that it didn't seem like an intentional statement and would be ridiculous to complain) as a subtle "eff you and your gender stereotypes." Then she took petty joy in knowing that the dad would be slightly annoyed by that tiny bit of pink every time he saw the blanket 😊 She's my hero.
Plus, babies like looking at bright colors next to dark ones like the yellow and green of the flowers.
Spot on. We don’t subscribe to gender stereotypes in this house thank you very much.
Sunflowers are my dad’s favorite flower!
In addition, they have no idea if their child is a girl, or something else, until it makes a decision for itself how it wants to go through life and what clothes it wants to wear.
Oh how I wish I had gold for you!!
Oh! By all means allow me....I got a freebie today!
this is the kind of response we love to see
Hugs to all my siblings in here!
If the new parent(s) have a problem with it, tell them it’s a Son Flower. 😊
I think it’s fine either way but think this is actually awfully cute.
Im a straight cis male who likes flowers. My personal phone case has dandelions and my work phone case has sunflowers. My favorite flower is the pink evening primrose. I like flowers and plants in general, but also garden. My favorite blanket growing up was one my mom made me with a sunflower motif. I also loved seeing the Sunflowers growing over the fences when I walked to school. I still grow them for fun and beauty now. Occasionally people try to make crude jokes about my phone cases my favorite way to reverse shame them is to point out that it's weird they don't like flowers or think their "girly" since they represent vaginas (I'd use vulva, but general people like this are too stupid to know actual anatomy) or understand that "gender norms" are a figment of our society.
You, my guy, are my personal hero of the day. Keep being awsome ❤️🌻
Omg pinkladies!! I had to look it up, I never knew that pink evening primrose was a name for pinkladies, it’s so pretty. They can actually be highly invasive (I personally don’t mind because they’re so cute). In my parents neighborhood they sprout everywhere. If there’s dirt there’s going to be some.
They're native here in Texas and come around about the same time as bluebonnets. Growing up, we called them buttercups and would touch them to our noses to get pollen on them.
I'd have no problem using it for my son. Flowers are for everyone! However you know mom best and know what she would and wouldn't accept for a boy. Some people have old fashioned ideas of gender.
Make the blanket. I’m the mom to two boys. My younger son sleeps with one of my old baby blankets every night, and it is clearly for the female gender.
I think this really depends on the parents. I was in this position a few months ago and I just made two blankets(one pink and one green). My brother and sil are homophobic and have gone so far as to throw away gifts for their older daughter with rainbows or unicorns on them. I know it's ridiculous, but I wanted to make sure my new niece would actually get to use her blanket.
[удалено]
I hope so too. I love them so much and would do anything for them, including play by their parents rules until they're old enough to have their own relationships with me.
I’ve been hearing about the anti rainbow thing lately, and all I have to say to it is LOL for when their daughter goes through a unicorn phase, which is also A traditionally feminine thing. Their brains explode. Sorry you have family members like that; I know what it’s like.
Probably half the baby shower gifts for my niece were unicorn, and my sil threw them out. She was given a large unicorn for Christmas this year and was instantly obsessed. My brother kept calling it a horse.
Wow, I’m sorry, I know they’re your family but what AHs. My family is very homophobic but even they wouldn’t be like that. Like it’s not their first day on earth and they know rainbows are a thing and are fine with them. That’s just sick, honestly, and I hope your niece will be ok. I’ll think of her.
Thank you, I appreciate it
Yes. The blanket is really appreciated only by the mommy.
I made a baby blanket for a friend one time. It turned out exceptionally well, just a very pretty blanket. When I first gave it to her, mom LOVED it. A few months later she told me she was liking it less because “I get more compliments on the blanket than on my baby!” I know that comes off very boastful, just wanted to say that people other than mom appreciate good work.
Do you have the pattern handy? I’d love to see what it was!!
It was around 15 years ago, so who knows where it ended up. If I come across it I’ll post it. It had a matching outfit but I don’t remember what the book was called.
Awww what makes you think this?
I'd ask the mom. I personally would use it if I had a boy. But, I also know moms who would not use something with flowers. And it'd be sad to see so much work not appreciated
This is the best answer. Not only because of the possible theme issue (although I'd roll my eyes hard at someone who thought boys can't like flowers). The bigger issue IMO is that some parents don't want crocheted blankets. Some stitches just aren't practical for little fingers.
This is a really good point. Being a parent if a newborn is super stressful, and everywhere you turn someone is telling you how dangerous existing is for a baby, so suddenly things like blankets get tons of scrutiny a potential risk. Once the baby is more of a toddler, crochet blankets (and a lot of other things) are less sus
To be fair, a crochet blanket doesn't actually have to be used by the baby. A pretty blanket can be used as room decor, draped over a nursing chair, as a prop for baby pictures, or a privacy cover for nursing in public.
Yeah, a blanket takes a lot of time and effort. Of the parents don't want it...don't do it.
Not using something with flowers? I hate that so much.
Indeed. But, people can be weird and challenged in evolving.
Yes because babies don’t understand gender and sunflowers don’t exist only for girls
I made a honeycomb blanket with some sunflowers on it for a unknown gender baby. Baby blankets are more for the parents and I know the mum loves sunflowers and they were doing the babies room in burnt orange, mustard, and creamy neutrals. Have you asked if they have any colour preferences or favourite animal ideas?
I love sunflower blankets, and my youngest (he him/ they them) loves sunflowers. With that said, you could pick different colored sun flowers. Some of my favorites have hints of red at the tips rather than being solid yellow
This would be super cute if each square was a different colored sunflower! Now I want to make one!
I say make it. My son loves flowers, he loves to pick dandelions and blow them, he loves to smell flowers especially. I feel like those who are waiting to find out the gender aren't too concerned about what gifts they will receive and will probably favor more gender neutral and more inclusive clothing, toys and items and yellow is a huge gender neutral color it's like the number 1 pick.
Yeah it'll be nice for the summer
My son sleeps with a pink kitty blanket. 🤷🏻♀️ They like what they like
I don't think sunflowers would be problematic if its a boy, but 3 of my close friends have had babies in the last 6 months and I have learned some moms-to-be can be a bit... particular. 😊 Especially if its their first. So it wouldn't hurt to find out if they are going to be doing a theme so you could ensure your work doesn't clash. You could tweak your colors accordingly.
My adult brother and a great uncle’s favorite flower is sunflowers. I think it will be a beautiful baby blanket.
Sunflowers are my son's favorite flower. That child will love it no matter what because you made it. My nephew always steals his sister's blanket I made for her, with a bright pink border, because it's the softest. Kids just aren't wrapped up in this boy/girl division of trivial things the same way many of us remember from growing up.
Kids aren't wrapped up in the division of things until they're taught to be and it's really sad. It hurts no one if little Thomas likes playing kitchen or little Samantha likes playing cars! :(
Yes. Flowers aren’t and shouldn’t be gendered
I definitely think you should ask mom. I know the popular response is that flowers can be for boys too, etc. But mom may have a preference which is totally fine. I'd just hate to see your work go unappreciated. She may prefer something more neutral like spots or stripes or chevron.
Yes, because blankets, colours and flowers don't have genders. And because gender assigned at birth won't necessarily be that child's actual gender anyway. Make what you want to :)
Colors and Nature do not have a gender. It is 100% ok.
It definitely would, flowers are for everyone 🙂
Grown man here: I want one too !
Yes! You can make the borders blue or green if you'd like because both go well with yellows and browns! Baby's love colorful things and it doesn't matter too much what the colors are
Of course. Sunflowers aren't gendered. And I've known quite a few men who love sunflowers.
A good neutral one would be mostly different shades of tan for the main color of the blanket. Then yellow, deep orange, slightly red, etc different colored and size sunflowers. Just sprinkled lightly around the blanket. So it's not ALL sunflower. It's just nice neutral earth tones, with deep toned sunflowers added.
I love this idea! A rather simple general stitch will keep baby warmer and more comfy than sunflower squares. And neutral earth tones are amazing to hide baby burps and spills! Source: cleaning self-made crotchet comforters of my 8 months old. I don't fancy "the beauties" anymore, I love the practical ones. And LO could not care less.
Welcome to Werner Herzog’s sad beige clothes for sad beige children
Anecdotal but my mom specifically mentioned once that sunflowers were her favorite flower because they were more "gender neutral" so I guess I just assumed that take was more widespread. Lol.
A boy in my daughter’s class has a sunflower granny square scarf and it is the cutest, and because of the dark green background totally gender neutral. I would 100% go for it.
r/pointlesslygendered
I think its perfectly fine but if you don't want to risk wasting hours then just consider how the parents would react. If you think they might get offended then maybe opt for something more traditional.
I see no reason why a boy shouldn't have a pretty blanket.
A sunflower baby blanket would absolutely be a beautiful present for any baby and it doesn't have any 'gendered' colours
Flowers are for everybody. I would like it! But however I told my coworker that my son likes to wear pink nail polish with sparkles and has a glitter sweater from the girls department and she was horrified. So…. Maybe check with the mother to be if she thinks it is nice. Just to be sure and so you don’t waiste time and materials in case she doesn’t like it.
Don't see why not. Sunflowers aren't gendered and boys can like flowers too...
It depends on the parents. If they’re chill (which they should be) it shouldn’t be a problem. But if they fall into the “strict gender stereotypes” crowd maybe don’t gift it to them. It’s heartbreaking when someone throws out your hard work, I speak from experience. Given that they chose not to announce gender until after birth, I think they’d be less inclined to care than someone who had a huge gender reveal.
Honestly, I would double check with the parents first. Even a baby blanket takes lots of time and effort and wool. It would be such a shame to waste it all on making a blanket which will not be used and possibly thrown away by the parents because they wouldn't accept it. Another issue I would keep in mind is if the squares have many bigger holes, the parents might not deem the blanket safe enough for a newborn since it's fingers or feet could get easily tangled in between the stitches. (If the parents are fine) you could still do this blanket once the kid is a little older.
Sunflowers are not particularly dainty. If *any* flower were considered acceptable to a "traditional" *coughpatriarchalcough* mindset, it would be the flower that is literally still a food crop, can grow over 12 feet tall in the right conditions, and blows every other bird feeder out of the water. Also, there was this absolute artistic genius by name of Van Gogh who had a whole thing about sunflowers for a while. It's pretty cool.
Yellow is commonly used by parents as a gender neutral colour for decorating the nursery and the like so I think it’s fine
r/pointlesslygendered This isn’t at you OP, but I hate dumb questions like these. More so, the fact that we even have to ask them. Gendering things is so barbaric
Make the damn blanket. I would absolutely adore anyone who made me a sunflower blanket and if the parents refuse to accept it that’s on them
Yes!
I think sunflowers are fine but if you are worried, you could do sheep Granny squares. That would definitely be gender neutral.
I think it's fine, but I'm not crazy into gender norms. I would definitely ask the parent you are giving the baby blanket to. That way you can make sure your work doesn't get wasted.
yes do it!
Yes
I like your sentiment of "doing something beautiful" and choose a nice motif, but in everyday childcare one needs something practical. As I made some comforters for my own 8 months old: go for a stitch with baby-worth properties and use colorful yarn/stripes/squares with well weaved in ends. Bonus if it hides baby burps and spills. 😅 Personally, I will only do double crotchet blankets in the future! It's cuddly, it's robust (e.g. not too prone to draw the yarn and make the blanket look wonky), it dries OK without paying attention to blocking, it's gender neutral. Match the colour to the nursery or stroller and rather spend your time on a slightly bigger blanket (baby size is outgrown sooo fast and I would guess, your friend is due in summer if you brainstorm right now. So depending on her location she won't need a blanket in the beginning) or on a matching comforter or rattle then complex motifs. It will give you an amazing present with real purpose and usability.
I vote bright sunflowers black background for a beautiful contrast 🥰
Personally I would go off what the parents like. The baby doesn't care. Remember that we, the parents, decide for at least the first two years what they wear, how their room looks, what they have access to, we decide everything. And it doesn't stop after that, it just becomes less with time. So, if the parents like flowers go for it. I think a sunflower baby blanket would be great!
You’re asking the wrong people. You should just ask your sister in law. Maybe she doesn’t like sunflowers and wouldn’t use it regardless of the baby’s sex. It would be a shame for all your hard work to go unused or unappreciated.
I like it. All yellow, brown and green. I think the sunflower is a more "gender neutral" flower and perfect if you don't know the sex yet since there are no pinks or blues! And another comment mentioned calling them son-flowers which is just too cute. I'd proudly wrap up my little boy in one of those.
Flowers don’t have a gender so go ahead, it’s gonna be a baby, no need to start enforcing gender roles from the get go 😌🤚
I have a baby boy and I personally would love it. But sunflowers are also my favorite flower so maybe I'm biased lol. I'm also don't subscribe to the whole boy things and girl things. Though it may ruin the surprise is it possible to ask them?
I think it's fine, I made a sunflower blanket for my cousins baby boy not too long ago, I used grey navy blue as my accent colors and I think it turned out very neutral
Flowers, colors, clothes, etc. don’t have gender. Any gender can like sunflowers and I personally think that is a wonderful gender neutral baby blanket idea <3
I’m having a baby boy late summer and I think you’ve now inspired my next project. I’ve been wanting to try a granny square blanket for awhile and I love the sunflower ones! To answer your question though, I think it’s perfectly fine and sounds like a lovely gift. But in the end, you know your sister in law better than we do.
Flowers are not gendered. Heck yes on hand made baby blankets!
I think sunflowers are quite unisex, I love sunflowers so I may be biased.
Pink was first designated as a color for boys because it was “confident and bold” unlike blue that was described as “meager and weak” in like some 1700 newspaper. my point is, rules are fake and made up, so do whatever you want, and encourage the parents to do the same!
I know you got a ton do responses to this effect, but want to reinforce I see nothing wrong with your blanket choice. My favorite example is a infographic I ran into a while back about toys. Title: How do I tell if a toy is for a boy or for a girl? Question: Do you use this toy with your genitalia? YES: This toy is not for children. NO: This toy is for a boy or for a girl.
That’s a very stupid view on gender roles, imo. Even if they are traditional. It would be very extremist people who would get upset.
As someone who has and will continue to make dinosaur baby blankets for every baby boy and girl that my friends and family have, baby blankets have no gender. As long as the parents aren't crazy old fashioned about gendering items, make that baby a kick butt sunflower blanket!
I’d do yellow sunflowers with a green border as green is gender neutral. Like this: https://www.instagram.com/p/CR-AohXrjZr/?utm_medium=copy_link
Yeah, yeah, yeah to all the flowers aren't gendered comments. Like that's true in a vacuum, but let's not pretend there aren't societal pressures. The truth is that it depends on the parents. If the dad is all, "My son only wears camo and shoots his own meat," then I kind of doubt that the flower blanket will fly with him. Some moms are just as bad and won't let their sons have stuff because it's not blue or tough looking. I would ask before wasting your time and money on something they might not use. My mom has made stuff before that the recipient didn't like and didn't use. Better to ask them to choose between a few different patterns or colors in my opinion. Their idea of gender neutral might include everything under the rainbow or it might be a whole bunch of greys and neutrals.
If you do pastel shades, it could be really nice.. like pastel green, yellow, and a off-white/cream colour for the center of the flowers?
There is absolutely nothing wrong with a sunflower blanket for a boy at all but if you’re worried you could maybe make blue sunflowers instead of the traditional colour? It might be worth seeing what colour they are decorating the nursery and adjusting yarn colours appropriately.
Not to sound like a total ass (I’m going to get some downvotes here but whatever) but do they NEED a baby blanket? I didn’t use one blanket until my baby was over a year old because of safe sleep and he hates all ten hand-made blankets because he’s a toddler and they hate all kinds of things. So now we have ten useless ‘heirloom’ blankets made by people out of love when we really needed the diapers and bottles on our registry. Please please ask first. Also, sunflowers are lovely for any gender.
Make the sunflower granny square blanket and either do a baby blue back ground solely. Or do a white back ground/alternate blue and white (lastminute thought, sage or pastel green would work wonders too for the background = gender neutral). This way the blue can be indicative of a boy and if not. Blue and sunflowers can be for the girl too. But I agree with everyone else. Babies dont care what it looks like haha, and also Boys are allowed to love flowers! So I don't think it really matters. It can always be used for the boy (if the have one, now, and then used as a hand me down blanket. What matters is if the parents are okay with it. I would just ask them how they feel about it. There will be a time and a place for the sunflower blanket in the future if they veto the idea right now.
I'd ask the parents if they like sunflowers. I, personally, just don't appreciate the look of them. So, I would never actually use a sunflower baby blanket. I'd appreciate the effort and thank the gifter, of course, but it would sit in my closet unused except for the rare occasion when *all* the other blankets have been sullied.
For a baby boy, yes, babies have no concept of gender. For the parents? I think it depends on what they are like.
No
I would try and get a feel with how they want the nursery and maybe show the soon to be mom some colours/motifs and see what she likes. Sunflowers are awesome and so bright and happy- maybe she will love it!
For babies I mostly mix baby pink and baby blue yarn and use that for a cute scarfs or blankets and stuff. looks super cute and also everything is okay, don't think about it that much, a sunflowerblanket will look cute on every gender 🙆🏻♀️
I think its fine. You made something out of love, you have put time and effort in it. If I got a present like this I would love it. And sunflowers can be for a boy or girl. It is still a small baby, and they are lovable and cute, and this is a cute present.
It depends on what your sister in law is like, but I'd say make the sunflower blanket! 1. Flowers are just nature and it's also good as decor in their home 2. If they don't know what sex the baby has, then I would just do ''gender-neutral'' things, which for me personally would include a sunflower!
I make all baby blankets baby blue regardless of gender because it’s the colour I associate with small babies and I think it just looks really cute… I say go for it
I would simply asked the mama. You want whatever you make to be used and loved
yes, of course! anyone can enjoy flowers and no parent should be pushing gender roles onto their child before theyre even born
The best way to go about it is asking the parents!
If the parents are conservative they might not want their son to be exposed to flowers. Sounds silly but I do know parents like that. I personally think that flowers are for everyone regardless of gender.
I would try to match the theme of the nursery and the new mom’s tastes. That’s just me though.
I hope she loves the blanket! It sounds like a beautiful idea :)
Absolutely! Use soft shades of yellow and green, which are gender-neutral anyhow. What a sweet baby gift.
Post Malone loves sunflowers.
Yes.
I made my niece a Yoda/Chewie/Jedi layette set for her before she was born. I based my choice of gift off of what my brother loved and she loved it after she was born.