Poppy Red Jumper in Cotton DK: superb customer service

March 30, 2015 by Elaine 2 Comments

The first sleeve is finished

In between greenhouse cleaning, onion planting, seedling care and seed sowing, I have been working on Middle Mudlets’ poppy red jumper. I finished the front section a week or so ago and cast on the first of the sleeves but was mildly concerned that with only one full ball of yarn still to be opened and only about a third of my fourth ball left, I wasn’t going to have enough yarn to finish the project, even though I had ordered the correct amount of the recommended yarn at the start.

The sleeve was a very straightforward knit and incorporating the increases into the pattern was a piece of cake but as I worked my way through the instructions, my concern over the amount of yarn needed to complete both of the sleeves and the cowl neck, not to mention the making up process, grew. I joined the last ball on about one third of the way up the sleeve and knew for certain that with the majority of the increases and length of the sleeve still to be worked, there was no way I was going to have enough left to finish the jumper.

Perplexed (I love that word), I thought I must have made an error in measuring the length of the back or front sections and so I rechecked the measurements from hem to armhole edge, and the length of the armhole itself but these were correct as per the pattern. Then I double checked my tension which was fine, so the only other options were that the pattern had stated the incorrect number of balls required for the size, or there was a problem with the actual yardage in the balls of yarn.

And the front section

I needed to find out the combined weight of the finished sections and the yarn remaining in the last ball but I couldn’t do this whilst the sleeve was still on the needles and so I continued working the sleeve and finally finished it this morning.

With the sleeve cast off, I gathered the other sections together, placed them on my digital scales and popped the remains of the last ball of yarn on top. I had bought five 100g balls and so I would expect the combined weight to be around 500g, give or take a gram or two and so I was surprised to find that my display was reading 480g! That was quite a significant difference and with each ball approximately 201m long, this equated to around 40 METERS of missing yarn, if my maths was correct!!! No wonder I was in danger of running out.

As the order had come from Deramores, I decided to give them a ring and see what they said. I have to say that their customer service was fantastic with a very helpful girl agreeing that whilst it is possible for balls to be a little under or over due to bulk weighing techniques, 20g over the five balls was a bit excessive and she immediately checked to see if they had any of the yarn left from my dye lot and on discovering that they did, told me that it would be sent out first class, as a free replacement. Obviously I am thrilled with this attitude and can cast on the second sleeve, secure in the knowledge that by the time I get to the end of the current ball of yarn, the replacement ball will have arrived.

Well done Deramores, this no quibble and fair approach to customer concerns will keep me coming back to make future purchases.

 

 

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