Tuesday 20 February 2007

What should I do with my £13?

I have now twice written an email to hipknits asking to cancel my subscription and twice deleted it before sending. I feel like it would be a case of cuttingoffyournosetospiteyourface type thing. But really, what exactly would I be missing out on? I speak of course of the now legendary Yarn Forward magazine which has had...... one issue.... which was pretty good and came out in October last year. A second issue was promised at the beginning of Jan and subscriptions were sold. Admitedly only £13 or so for 4 issues but still, a pound's a pound. And so the saga of when-will-the-buggery-thing-arrive began. Cue excuses from hipknits. I looked on the magazine blog at the weekend and Kerry said it would be with us by the 20th. That's today! Where is my fricking magazine. I go to the magazine website and there is a message on the blog saying "there hasn't been as much progress as she hoped". Mid Jan she told me it was with the printer but she kept getting bumped down their queue. Now it seems to be back in the design stages.

All this exasperates me slightly because you contrast it with my experience with Woolly Workshop and Gill who I think must be a reincarnated buddhist reaching nirvana point. She read my woe yesterday on my blog and took the time to email me to say to give her a ring and she'd try the card again. And lo and behold it works. And lo - an Interweave Knits subscription did appear. Gill is a business woman and runs a business whereas the magazine seems to be some sort of hobby. I was reading the comments on the blog all telling Kerry not to worry about the delays and c'est la vie and all that stuff. Well I'm glad if she has supporters who are prepared to wait as long as it takes but isn't it a business she is running? For instance she has my email address from my subscription - but the only time she told me what was going on was mid Jan when I emailed her direct to ask. She hasn't even posted on UKHandKnitters about it which must contain the majority of her subscribers in one fell swoop.

Gosh, rant rant. I know this is bound to have upset some people and so can I say once again that yes, Kerry is a very nice person and I don't wish her any illwill and yes, I know she's pregnant. I wish her health, wealth and happiness but I finally sent my email. And to give her credit she's processed it while I've been dithering over publishing this. £13 should be coming back to me so peeps - what shall I do with it?

Just to bring this to conclusion on a happier note - Nickerjac has had her scan and there is a picture of the baby on her blog. I am *so* happy for her and Andy xxx

Man, can you believe I'm still humming and hawwing about publishing this post? It was about twice as long when as it is now when I first got to this point. Fecking conscience. However you spell it. I remember when I used to publish-and-be-damned when I was a fiery young twenty-something. Now I'm a jaded old twenty-something and keep giving others too much space in my head, as John put it. Must have head mange*.

OK - final attempt to end on a high. I have discovered a podcast called CraftyPod. You can subscribe through itunes and it is great. Interesting, balanced, engaging and diverse. I like the cut** of her jib.

*This needs to be read in conjunction with the previous post - I do not actually have mange although it's probably time to wash my hair.

** Cut using the correct scissors while pointing them away from your body for optimum finish.

13 comments:

Emily said...

Fair comments, I think, though I haven't been tempted to stop my subscription. I have in the past waited MONTHS for IK (having foolishly subscribed direct) and had it arrived in appalling condition made unsurprising by the crappy covering. (It seems to be better the last couple of editions).

I do, certainly have the feeling that Kerrie is someone who takes on lots and is perhaps at the more bodgey end of the business spectrum - I could never imagine managing all those businesses and I have no kids! For me, this hasn't been a dealbreaker, though I think it has sent me to Poshyarns rather than hipknits for yarn.

PURLPOWER said...

I think your post makes interesting reading, particularly the issue of business versus hobbyism. I haven't cancelled my subscription yet either, (although I totally understand your reasons for doing so) mainly because I was so impressed with how different from other UK mags the first issue was that I'm living in hope of the next three, eventually, maintaining that standard.

Ginny's last comment should maybe be seen as something of a prophecy/warning....the market of people interested in paying ten quid for fancy sock yarn is pretty small and there is a lot more choice out there than there used to be. Keeping customers on side is pretty damn crucial to survival I would have thought....

Ambermoggie, a fragrant soul said...

thinking the same thing since early January and the latest info on the blog is si annoying. As you say Lixie she has our email addies why can't she let subscribers know what is going on? Trouble is the first one was ok and the other uk mags are dire to say the least. I think I'll hold on to mid march before deciding

Anonymous said...

I have had so many problems with Kerrie that I have totally given up on her. She hardly ever responds to emails and says she has posted stuff out which never arrives. She certainly could learn some lessons in business from Gill who I agree is a Saint!

Reading Kerrie's blog yesterday indicates the level of her business acumen: she is co-opting people to wind yarn for her!

Not very sound business practice.

Liz said...

Am in the same situation with Yarn Forward subscription, and similarly admiring of Gill and Woolly Workshop (And as well as being a businesswoman in the best sense of taking it seriously and giving people the best service she can, Gill's also a madly enthusiastic and knowledgeable knitter)...

Anonymous said...

I didn't subscribe to Yarn Forward as I didn't have any faith that Kerry would be able to produce it competently - she has something I knitted that she never returned despite me paying her the postage money up front, she stopped replying to emails and I gave up on her, I'm sure she's a nice person but her business practices are very poor.

Nic said...

I'm going to stop lurking on your blog and start commenting ;)
I tend to agree with you on this. I have to say that all the dealing I have had with Kerrie have been good. Once something didn't arrive so I emailed her and she got back to me and it was in the post the next day but she does seem to take on way too much and this magazine is a bit of a nightmare to say the least. If she could just email her subscribers and let them know what is going on, people would be much happier.
Having children is no excuse for not being able to be a good business-woman. For me it makes me want to make everything 110% alright for customers because they seem to think that you won't cope or aren't professional.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for saying that. It can be difficult to give constructive criticism on the knit blogosphere. I too, think Kerrie is great, but she does take things on a little too easily and I wonder if somethings are a bit "slapdash". The typography of Yarnforward was terrible - it looked like a 6th form project. A few people I spoke to about it said she'd have been better off going for a zine look.

She has had problems with her email though, etc. I feel for her. Yarn Forward is a good idea and we shouldn't expect it to be the same as we get from the publishing beomoth of IW. But we are still allowed to be annoyed!

Anonymous said...

I think you should have taken a deep breath and counted to ten before even thinking about this post. I see that Kerrie refunded you all of your subscription money so why the rant? Yes I agree that she may have taken on too much however when you consider that she has only just given up other employment a few months ago other employment to concentrate on her yarn ventures then I believe a little consideration is due. If perhaps there were the same problems with the magazine after the third or fourth issue I would have understood your concerns but to be so negative after just one issue seems to me a little petty. Have you also considered the damage your comments may have done to someone's reputation? Also comparing Kerrie's professionalism to another is not very professional in my opinion and too personal for such an open forum. Whilst I respect your right to express your own opinions on your own blog I still believe that you should consider the consequences of your actions. At the end of the day a late knitting magazine is a small issue in the grand scheme of things compared to supporting someone who is making their way in business and trying to challenge the medioracity of current UK knitting magazines.

Anonymous said...

Cut Kerrie some slack: If you don't like it, go somewhere else and don't subscribe to anything immediately without having seen a few copies first. Someone who has two kids and is heavily pregnant does not need or deserve this kind of flaming.

Anonymous said...

I think both of these last two comments are very unfair to Lixie. First of all this is her blog, not a public forum, and Kerrie is the first person to have a dig at anybody who posts on her forum who does not agree with her views!

Yes, she is pregnant, yes she does have children (both of which Lixie mentioned in her post) BUT she is supposed to be running a business and all of these facts should have been taken into consideration when she took all this new stuff on.

If this were the first complaint about her lack of communication etc, then ok, but lots and lots of people have had reason to complain about her service, quality of products and non-performance.

If we can't post our honest views about the bad (and good) service we have received we are not doing fellow knitters any favours.

Anonymous said...

Rant away girl ..if you get bad service ( or abysmal) we need to know after all we might all end up losing money.Gill is efficient , she gets yarn out to you on time and she is very hands on with one of the best sites in the U.K .

RoxyK said...

I'm glad I never subscribed though I did think about it. I'll wait till it actually appears.....