I'm Mad As Hell & There's Nothing I Can Do About It...

 Yesterday the gentleman that commissioned me to knit this cardigan came to collect it.  When he tried it on, I was really pleased to see that it was a perfect fit and looked absolutely great on him - it was a case of real pride in my work.  He was very happy too, especially as he had had a not so pleasant experience previously trying to get this cardigan made.  We had a few email conversations over the past month while sorting out the colour scheme and yarn for this version, in which he mentioned the cardigan he had commissioned someone else to knit.

It would seem that this knitter was a complete con-artist - 'knitter' and 'con-artist' are not two words I would expect to appear in the same sentence.  The man went up to London to collect his cardigan, had a cursory look at it before paying up and going home.  Upon taking the cardigan out of the bag at home and inspecting it closer, he discovered that quite a few elements were missing....most of the aeroplanes in fact.  He brought this travesty to show me and I was shocked to see that this unscrupulous person had omitted any design whatsoever on the back of the cardigan - it's supposed to look like this:

There wasn't even a border.  The sleeves were completely bare too. No large plane, no border.  The collar was poorly knitted, loose and baggy, and there were some sad toggles with which to fasten the thing and no pockets.

The gentleman emailed the knitter straight away, but as you will not be surprised to hear, had no reply.  Someone somewhere pocketed a fee for some very shoddy workmanship.  What baffles me is how they expected to get away with it - although obviously they did!  The pattern has a chart for each piece, clearly showing the aeroplanes - they are the main feature of the garment.  The written instructions are simple and easy to follow, no excuse for anything to sag or bag.

I am surprised that the man bothered to try another knitter to be honest - but I am very glad it was me.  The cardigan I knitted has all the planes, stretch-proofed integral pockets, a zipper, roll-back cuffs and a non-saggy collar.  Which is what he should have got in the first place.

Maybe it's because I'm a Sagittarian, but I hate injustice of any kind and this one got me very cross indeed.  Not only was it a very unfair thing to do to a client, it gives the rest of us who have integrity a bad name.  I am left wondering how many other people this unscrupulous knitter has duped in the past and whether it is still going on.

It's not my place to pursue this, although I feel I would love to name and shame; I just needed to have a bit of a rant.  It's a sad old world when even a knitter will rip you off.