Finished: Backyard Leaves Scarf

Pattern: Backyard Leaves Scarf by Annie Modesitt, from "Interweave Knit Gifts, Holiday 2006", can also be found in "Scarf Style"
Yarn: Siena Big by Wolle Rödel, 100% merino, 80 m/50 g
Color: #14241
Price: about 3 €?
Amount: 4.5
Needles: 4.5 mm, recommended were 5 - 6 mm, but somehow I prefer a tighter gauge
Gauge: not necessary, because it's a scarf - yay! :D
Dimensions: 2.30 m long (I think I will shorten it, it's just too long for me) and 12 cm wide (could probably be a bit wider, but I didn't block it very much, just lightly to preserve the 3-dimensionality of the leaves)
Modifications: 15 pattern repeats on each half instead of 11, but I think I will take out two pattern repeats, because the scarf is so long

I like the color, even though it's a very bright green, but I think with the Karabella Aurora 8 it would have been a bit nicer, because it's more fluffy and thicker. I think next time I would substitute it with Karabella Aurora Bulky, that would make the scarf wider so that you can also use it in winter, that one is a bit too skinny for me.

Although there were so many pattern repeats to knit, I was not able to remember the pattern by heart, but still had to glimpse every once in a while at my copy, because the pattern repeat is long and strangely it's not symmetrical as I would have expected. Overall I think it's a very very cute pattern and if I find a nice and suitable yarn some day I might do another again.

My model today is a very old teddy bear that my brother loved to death as a kid. Now he sits on my couch and seems to be quite happy to wear such a nice scarf. :)








Oh, and I would definitely recommend the magazine and the book. Both have a lot nice designs. I was skeptical regarding the magazine as I had assumed that it would be full of Christmas stuff like stockings and handmade ornaments for the Christmas tree, I did not even bother to check it's content on the Interweave website, but my grandma sent me a copy and it turned out to be a collection of really great and beautiful designs from old Interweave Knit issues. I'm really glad I have it now. :)

Update about the eBay seller from hell

Ugh... that eBay seller is a nightmare from hell. I'm now being accused of having copied the pattern and claiming a refund ("Iam honest, NOT STUPID") Yeah... I think it would be way easier to copy and then resell the magazine instead of going through the hassle of having to listen to her absurd accusations and paranoid reactions. The funny thing is, I didn't read the feedback she had received when I purchased the magazine, but later on I did. There was one negative feedback she had received and after reading her reply I was thinking to myself that this didn't sound good. Not so much because she had received a negative feedback, but because her reply was kind of loud and aggressive. There was no reason yet to believe that I would have problems with her, but I still had an uneasy feeling. Turns out I was right... :/

Anyway, I've filed a Buyer Protection claim now. Hopefully I will get my money back soon.

This and that and those bloody eBay sellers

I'm lying in bed at the moment, tending a cold and a nasty cough that had started weeks ago, had gone away for a couple of days and now has come back with full force with this new cold. ARGH!

I haven't blogged in the last few weeks, but knittingwise I have been really really diligent (*pats herself proudly on her shoulder* - what are you supposed to do you do if nobody else does? :D) I've finished a clapotis, a backyard leaves scarf, a capelet (which I probablyl will have to wash and block first to see where it needs further modifcations), and last, but not least, another Flower Basket Shawl. Why haven't I put up pictures yet? Weell, I'm waiting for this totally cool (everything I buy hopefully turns out to be cool or fun :D) no-rinse woolwash Kookaburra that unfortunately is taking ages to arrive here. I want to wash my knitted stuff with this woolwash, actually, this is too trivial, I intend to bathe it in this wonderful liquid, let the fibers bloom and smell like heaven when I take them out (hope my expecations are not too high... :D), but as long as it hasn't arrived I can't do it.

I'm not a really big eBay shopper, I've never seen anything I would want to buy and wear, electronics in my opinion are no such a good idea anyway (I've bought some electronic dictionaries on cd though, that was ok), so usually I stick to yarn and knitting magazines, thinking, well, people who sell this stuff are friendly people and cooperative, not creating a lot of trouble. HA, wrongo.

One seller I sent 4-5 emails in which I requested a new invoice, because I wanted a different shipping method. Not one single reply. One day I get a message from eBay that she had complained to them about the lack of payment. Oh really?! She might have sent me an email as well and ask, just like I did, but no, that would have been to normal. No, better go to eBay and file a complaint. Also, I don't understand how someone can have problems with his emails for more than two weeks?? That one was easy to resolve with, more or less.

The other one was worse and the outcome is still pending. I bought an Interweave magazine for $26, quite an insane price, but I thought I had to have the pattern for this Orenburg shawl. So, the magazine arrived and what the hell, 8 pages were missing. Half an article was missing and two sock patterns had also said good-bye. I contacted the seller and explained to her that at this price I'm not happy with the fact that the magazine was not complete. I got informed that she would have informed me if she had known about it, that she had inherited the magazine among others from her deceased aunts and she just could not imagine that her aunts would do this, she had sold 100 magazines and no one had complained as far as now.

So, I felt slightly irritated already, but decided to be nice. I replied nicely that maybe the other magazines did not contain sock patterns, which seem to be prone to being ripped out (I had once bought three magazines and all the sock patterns had been ripped out, but the seller apologized profusely and I got photocopies), that I understood her unfortunate situation and that I would be happy if she would send me the pattern or at least photocopies. I also sent her pictures of the ripped out pages as proof. Her answer was, she can't find the patterns anywhere, that's why she doesn't think her aunts did this, she can't imagine them doing such a thing, blablabla. At this point I thought, kiss my ass. Who do you think ripped out the pages??? I certainly won't pay freaking $26 for a magazine and rip out pages!

I'm then being told I can send the item back and get merchandise credit for it (what am I supposed to do with merchandise credit if she is not selling anything at the moment??? And who says I want the old stuff she might sell one day in the future?), but I have to pay for the shipping (since when do you have to pay for shipping when an article is damaged?). I guess, the only option I have now is to try it with the eBay dispute panel and if that doesn't work, let eBay decide if they will refund my money.

It simply annoys the heck out of me how much time I have spent trying to resolve these two problems, writing emails to the seller, writing emails to the eBay customer support (who is not really helpful). If you want to know the name of the eBay seller who sold me the magazine - email me! It will be a pleasure for me to warn everybody of this dubious seller.

Edit: I need to be more careful with the tenses. :o