Do You Shop on Etsy? You Must Read This!

Last week I felt the need for change stirring in my belly. I had grown weary of my skinny, size two needles and delicate sock yarn. What I yearned for was a small, yet rewarding late winter project that I could complete over the snow days looming ominously in my near future. At the same time, I wanted this project to be something fresh and new, adding a healthy amount of excitement blended with uncertainty.

I decided that this project must be a pair of boot cuffs. The more twists, cables and ribbing it had, the better. Maybe in a sharp green or aqua to contrast my pink rubber boots? Walking around in this bold color combo would be like giving the last dreary weeks of winter a huge middle finger!

A crochet version of groovy boot cuffs. 

The lovely wool/cashmere blend I chose. 

Since I’d never made a pair of boot cuffs before, I would need a pattern. Making one up wasn’t an option as I was clueless about needle size, gauge and the number of stitches to cast on. Feverishly, I commenced searching Ravelry, Pinterest and Etsy for “the” pattern. I quickly found myself in a needle/haystack situation. For something so small, the options were overwhelming. As I was giving up, what I had envisioned appeared. These cuffs had a lovely cable pattern that resembled fishtails, and funky, twisted ribbing. I was in love. It came in the form of an Etsy PDF download, and only cost $4. Sold!

I opened the PDF file, and immediately realized something was wrong. The pattern listed size 6 needles under materials, but the instructions called for size 5! I double checked the Etsy listing, and that said size 4…Needle size varies from knitter to knitter, but this was ridiculous, and smacked of someone’s carelessness. I shot a quick message to the shop owner alerting them to this issue.

Over a day later, they replied to me, saying to use size four, and promising to fix the PDF. It was already too late, as I had gotten started using size 5 because that gave me the 6 stitches to one inch gauge the project called for. That was a case of classic, tight-knit Vicki, knowing immediately to use the next needle size up.

Caution: Sarcasm 

I happily worked round after round, and I was excited when it was finally time to cable. This is where things went horribly, terribly wrong. Everything unraveled, so to speak. (haha) After two tries at the cable rounds, the shock and horror of the cut/paste/slapped together nature of this pattern settled in. Along with other problems, the 50 stitches on the needles weren’t even divisible by the 14 stitches that made up the cable pattern! At least not for the size I was making. These boot cuffs came in sizes small, medium and large, and I realized the pattern was only divisible by the large size (70 stitches!) Whoever wrote the PDF thoughtlessly subtracted 10 stitches for each size, taking no consideration for the continuity of the pattern. On top of it all, the cuffs were turning out too long and skinny for my liking. 

Exhibit A: Pattern is broken and muddled. 

I felt my cheeks flushing warm with anger, and I decided I would contact the shop owner and ask for a refund. A few hours later, I cooled off and did just that. Here is what I wrote:

As much as I regret having to ask this of you, I would like to have a refund for this pattern. So far I have found 4 errors. The first was the needle size, which was ok because that varies. The real problems are in the cable pattern. The K8 P2 rounds after the cable round break up the pattern. It came out muddled. To maintain a cable pattern, you knit the knits and purl the purls between cable rounds. When I decided to stop and make a test swatch of the pattern, I realized that what I was getting didn't look 100% like the photo. Almost, but not exactly. I think it has something to do with the K2 between the two forward/backward cables. The cable pattern is made up of sets of 14 stitches, and that is not divisible by the 50 or 60 stitches needed to make the small or medium size. In the small/medium size, the pattern gets cut off at the end of the round.

I realize the difficulty of conveying a knitting pattern in writing. I've been there myself. They must be exact and literal with absolutely no room for assumption. It's not fun to do! I have been knitting for over a decade, and cables and twists are my thing. I blog and teach knitting as well as crochet to my friends. Although I may not be an expert, it is clear this pattern needs revision. You have many lovely patterns and potential for a great business. I hope very much that we can reach an agreement.

Best,
Victoria

Guess what? This was five days ago! The shop owner still has yet to reply. It’s so quiet in my Etsy inbox that I can almost hear crickets. Once a week passes with no further contact, I will report the shop to Etsy.

It would be nice to get my $4 back, but I am not the type of person to move Heaven and Earth to do so. I could earn it back in a few minutes at work. However, I am going to do everything possible to make Etsy aware of what is going on with this particular shop.

About the shop: I will not name them here, as this matter is between me, the owner and Etsy. But what I will say about them is that they run a slick looking, modern shop made up of several vendors. They specialize in knitting and crochet patterns, but they also provide art, housewares and paper goods such as downloadable cupcake wrappers. They have immense pride in the far flung, New England state where they live. Although the shop is new, they come across as talented, fun people who know what they are doing. Of course it is possible that I bought the one dud-pattern in the entire shop, but I don’t think this is so. Upon closer inspection of the shop, I saw some other things that raised my ick-factor higher. A lot of the beanie and hat patterns for sale closely resemble other peoples’ patterns available as free downloads on Ravelry. A few of the crochet amigurumis look familiar, too... but I digress. 

While I wait for this awkward situation to resolve, I’m reminded of internet safety lessons from middle school. Or Catfish The TV Show! People may say and do whatever they want online, but that doesn’t mean it applies to the real world in any way.

Somebody call Nev and Max! 

I believe these shop owners are doing just that. They had a very good idea for an Etsy shop, but have yet to do much to expand upon it. Right now they are having fun playing shop and playing master knit-wear designers while making some extra money. All of this comes at the expense of the customer, who they least consider. In a mad rush to get all of these patterns online, they did some quick guesswork and bad math, which is the kiss of death. They appear unwilling to hire--or be-- test knitters, making me question their commitment to their business. 

As for me, I think I will go back to socks for a little while. I am putting my desire for boot cuffs on the shelf until some time passes, and they won’t immediately remind me of this icky situation. When the time comes, I think I will design my own pattern, after all. Despite it all, I now know the basics to create the gauge, size and shape I need.

All in all: A lesson in self-reliance and independence that only cost me $4!