Coworker insists employee knit something for her free of charge but they refuse, their boss suggests they stop knitting in the office to fend her off: ‘Stupid entitled tantrum’

Author image for Lana DeGaetano
Lana DeGaetano • "Show me to me please."
Nov 1, 2025 6:00 PM EDT

A nosy coworker has the potential to ruin everything—especially when they're not getting something they want from you.

We all have our hobbies, right? Some might dabble in woodworking, others in botany. There are a lot of craft people out there as well: Knitting, crocheting, sewing… The opportunities for creativity are endless. Some workplaces even allow us to do mindless crafting while we're on the clock, which is a lifesaver if you're trying to make the time at the office go by just a bit quicker.

But we also all have that one coworker who wants to ruin all of the fun. Their greed gets in the way of our unobstructed fun, and no matter what, we pay the price for it.

The story below focuses on an employee who takes up knitting during her free time at work. Their boss takes no issue with this, but one of their coworkers begins asking them to knit her something—free of charge. Even after the employee refuses, the coworker relentlessly asks them, and then complains to the boss when they continually refuse. What would you do in this situation?

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    woman knitting
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 02

    "My coworker wants me to knit for free, now I can't knit at work"

    I love to knit and I always have multiple projects on the go. I knit at work on all of my breaks and occasionally I'll make things for people if they pay for the supplies and I'm also interested in making what they want.
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  • 03
    I've said no a lot, like the guy who wanted custom golf club covers, or the lady who wanted a sweater that was basically all cables and colour work lol.
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  • 04
    Basically dont ask me to make anything that requires a lot of effort because I will hate it and never finish it.
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  • 05
    Anyway. Not that long ago a newer coworker came by and started asking questions about my knitting.
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  • 06
    She pulled up a pattern on her phone for a full sized blanket and asked if I could make it for her.
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  • 07
    I browsed the pattern and it was pretty simple, the only difficult thing about it was how long it would take.
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  • 08
    And that it also required ~25 balls of yarn. I figured why not because it was pretty mindless knitting I could do while watching TV without much effort at all.
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    I told her it would take around 6 months because it was so big I would only be able to work on it at home, and that all she had to do was purchase the yarn of her choice and bring it to work and I'd knit it up for her.
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  • 10
    She immediately got red faced and was like "Ummmm wouldn't that cost a lot?? And I wanted it by Christmas" I was like...
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  • 11
    yeah it would lol. And there's no way I could have it done by Christmas even if I wanted to.
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  • 12
    It would definitely take me 6 months. She goes on, "Well you're always knitting, don't you have like a huge stash of yarn at home?
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  • 13
    Can't you just use that stuff?" No I do not. I USE IT ALL lol. And I certainly don't have that many balls of yarn in the same colour, I don't live in a yarn warehouse.
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  • 14
    It was so fucking awkward I just said "If you want me to knit the blanket, I've told you how it works on my end.
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  • 15
    I'm not paying for it and I can't get it done in under 2 months." She was flustered and said "Whatever" and left the room so I thought that was over lol.
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  • 16
    Couple days later my boss swings by when I'm alone in my office and mentions that that coworker came to him saying she thinks I'm being unfair to her because I knit for other people and was "mean" to her when she asked me.
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  • 17
    I explained what happened and he just rolled his eyes and suggested I stop knitting at work if it's going to cause problems.
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  • 18
    Soooo now I've been bringing a book to read on my breaks just to avoid any drama.
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  • 19
    I think it's really stupid but I don't want to be seen as a "problem" employee over someone's stupid entitled tantrum about knitting lol.
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    Cheezburger Image 10570276864
    via Curated Lifestyle (Unsplash+)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

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terrible coworkers workplace-stories work stories toxic-workplace Professional At Work work coworkers knitting crafting workplace coworker toxic-work-environment
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