Miss Violet and Intentions Yarn Club
By
Holly
I’m irked. Okay beyond irked I’m pissed. I have been knitting for almost 4 years. Just after learning to knit I started listening to the Lime And Violet Podcast. I loved the candor. Loved the humor albeit somewhat vulgar at times. And mostly I loved the knitting. Although Miss Lime has somewhat disappeared in the last year or so of episodes Miss Violet continued on. I held her in such high regard. From her podcast I knew some of her personal history and was awed by her spirit and nerve. She kept moving no matter what. Now? I have no respect for her at all.
Steve has a hard time figuring out gifts for me. I usually buy them for myself and he says thank you. Last year for my birthday/Christmas I asked him to please look into the Intention Yarns Club. He did and told me it looked good. I then purchased this yarn club. It was NOT cheap. A total of $215 for 6 shipments of yarn and goodies. My biggest reason for buying the club was because I loved the idea behind the yarn. Each colorway is named with a specific intention in mind. The idea was that as you knit with the yarn you would think about the intention. There was to be a special message board forum to work on our intentions together. There was to be a shipment every other month and with that shipment would be exclusive patterns and a charity to work with. So much for that.
I can whole heartedly understand personal matters/illness arising but communication is key. According to the site specifics:
THE SPECIFICS:
Once you sign up, a confirmation email will be in the e-mail you used within a few days, and the first shipment will be in the mailstream by the end of February, 2009.
Schedule is:
February
April
June
August
October
and
December
Should there be any delay in shipment, you’ll be notified right away. (Just thinking about the Incredible Exploding Appendix Incident of 2008, and making a few plans, just in case, see.) 
The bimonthly newsletter will be delivered to you via PDF so that you can print them if you’d like, or save a tree and read it right online. We’re trying very hard to keep this as eco-friendly as possible. (Patterns will be paper patterns in your bi-monthly box, however. We’re looking for a local green printer as we speak. We’ll keep all members posted.) Newsletters will go out roughly one week after the last box is shipped, to avoid any spoilers for those who love surprises, unless we can figure out a way to let you download it when you get the box. We’re working on that, too.
Our first shipment was to arrive in February it did not. It was late with the pattern arriving about 2 weeks after the yarn. April’s shipment arrived in late May with the pattern arriving about 4 weeks late. The June shipment arrived in September. The pattern packet? Still missing. Several of us have written emails, DMed on Twitter and sent messages on plurk to be ignored. Seriously who does this? Someone that I have held in such high regard has treated us like crap. As we were not getting any response on the private message board and often having threads deleted, one of the girls set up a Ravelry group. Now we are being called mean and horrible people because we just asked when we were going to receive what is rightfully ours. As my payment was made through Paypal I contacted them. Because of the way the service is they will not get involved. I am praying that I can get a response from our credit card company. I don’t want a full refund I want answers. Since they are not coming I am publically requesting that Miss V step up to the plate, communicate with us, send us our packet for September’s shipment, let us know where the December and remaining shipments stand or give us back our money.
Anyone that would like to help you can find Miss V (Eliza Metz) on Twitter: @missviolet Plurk: Missviolet and on ravelry
Maybe with enough people sending messages/blogging we will get a response. Although I have lost all respect for this once highly regarded member of the knitting community.
UPDATE: I have sent more messages today to be ignored. Yep its a holiday but here’s how I can prove that we are being ignored: 
You can clearly seen Miss Violet has seen our emails. I asked early this morning if one of mine would be answered. That plurk was deleted. This made me even more upset so I plurked again, to be deleted again. Plurked once more and it too was deleted. ALL within minutes of each other. So yes Miss Violet you are seeing this and you are ignoring us. That is theivery in my books.
I have also posted the following on the SpiritStitching forums:
I’m sure this post will be deleted but that’s fine. You have to at least read a little before you do delete it. I have stood by and silently watched. I have seen members be angry and upset (Rightfully so) that there is no communication with us. We faithfully sent over our money only to have you go back on your word. I am angry and hurt. We have sent emails, we have twittered, we have plurked. We’re not asking for blood. We just want some communication. I am contacting my credit card company on Friday to see about filing a charge. If they are unable to help me I will file a claim in small claims court. Luckily for me Greensboro is not that far away and I can easily make the trip to retrieve a refund of half of my payment. Or you can step up to the plate and do what is right. Talk to us, give us the patterns for September, let us know the status of December’s shipment OR refund all of us our money.
I’m sure this will be deleted too. But eventually there will be an answer.
UPDATE NUMBER 2:
After seeing Ann’s comment I went back to plurk. As there are several messages I chose to copy and paste instead of doing screen snaps:
| missviolet |
responds briefly to the off-topic one: Yes. Yes, it is. Every time I say anything, I’m blasted for it, and honestly — I’ve given up. |
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| missvioletsays |
I put a *lot* into this, even when *nobody* was responding other than to bitch about the color or the patterns or the sometimes-three-day |
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| missviolet |
delay in shipment, and honestly? Doesn’t matter what I say or do. This thing is a fiasco, and there’s no point in putting myself in the |
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| missviolet |
line of fire for those people anymore. 2009 has been an exceedingly difficult year, and things are late. I can only apologize so many |
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| missviolet |
times, and be told how fucking horrible I am for it so many times, before it just doesn’t matter anymore. |
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| missvioletsays |
You’ll get what you paid for, minus the community, because clearly, these folks aren’t interested in that *nearly* as much as they’re int |
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| missviolet |
erested in bashing the person trying to give it to them. On the plus side, they’re getting their community by all getting together to talk |
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| missviolet |
about what a shitty human being I am for not getting them their yarn on schedule, so really? Bonus for them. |
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| missvioletis |
sick and tired of the trolls and the slander and the bullshit on ravelry, and will be exceedingly happy when this is all over. I’ve met |
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| missviolet |
some really nice people through this, and THOSE are the ones I’m holding onto. People who randomly plurk about my shittiness are just the |
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| missviolet |
demotivators, and i’m trying to see them as such so I can get the rest of what I’m doing — valuable, *important* things I’m doing — done. |
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| missvioletsays |
So really? Plurk away. Tell everyone how crappy I am and how this has melodramatically *soured* you on any other yarn club EVER and how |
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| missviolet |
I should be ashamed. Then I’ll go off and work hard on enhancing the lives of people who actually appreciate it. |
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| missviolet |
waits for this to be cut and pasted to the ravelry group of evil. (Which, by the way, I’m talking to a lawyer about. It’s brand infringe- |
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| missviolet |
ment, and, in some posts, slander. Just so you know.) |
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| rennfamilysays |
at least you have said something to me. As all my other methods of contacting you have gone unanswered. I’m sorry it has come to this. |
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| rennfamilysays |
if you had just talked to us when asked it would have not been all this evilness. |
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| rennfamilysays |
and I did not cut and paste to rav but to my own blog. Where I am free to speak about this issue in hopes of getting a response from you. |
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| rennfamilysays |
my plurking was not randomness. I sent you an email regarding this over 2 weeks ago and got no response. |
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| rennfamilysays |
That is why I simply asked earlier about my email getting answered. OH yeah don’t see that plurk because you deleted it. |
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I will directyou to the statement
I put a *lot* into this, even when *nobody* was responding other than tobitch about the color or the patterns or the sometimes-three-day delay in shipment
Obviously I must have been on another planet. Because not a single shipment arrived in the month that it was supposed to. In fact we should be receiving our final shipment in just a few weeks and instead will only be receiving the fourth with two more still to come.
Related posts:
- The Miss Violet, Intention Yarns Club Saga Continues
- The Final Word on Miss Violet
- Violet Seriously?
- Knitting Goddesses
- SQUEEEEEEEE!!!!
Oh man. That sucks! You’d think she know how much people value yarn…not to dick around with them. Especially where you PAID. I hope it’s resolved soon!!
Sky´s last blog ..Link ‘Em Thursday
I’d be pissed too – especially since MissV led the charge against MCY and their horrible customer service and then she pulls this crap.
Good luck to you, although it must be so frustrating to read her plurks and discover all the other things she’s doing instead of honoring her commitment to her customers. She seems to think that because she’s such a big name and has so many people that constantly kiss her ass she’s allowed to get away with treating customers like this. She has her loyal followers willing to attack anyone who dares to speak the truth and vilifies them on her blog, plurk, and Rav.
Hope you get a response and get this resolved.
How frustrating! The premise sounded really good – it’s too bad she can’t get her crap together. I hope it gets resolved for you soon!
Heather´s last blog ..Blogs Giving day three
Oh seriously, her lastest Plurks are a hoot about contacting a lawyer re: brand infringement and completely refusing to take any responsibility for her hand in all the mess and for the lack of communication.
Ann I didn’t see those. It’s just ridiculous. We’ve been so giving in all her “personal” matters but come on. Enough is Enough.
Some people just like to play the victim.
It just grates because I see this kind of crap all the time in the crafting world – popular crafter starts a business and then doesn’t follow through and then vilifies the people who want her to deliver what they paid for. It’s not her fault, you just aren’t understanding enough, you don’t know what she’s going through, you should be able to read her mind… It’s all part of the playbook.
Do I think she meant to flake on this? No – but I think she over-committed and needs to start making this right.
That is what I’ve been trying to say. I saw her plurks yes I am some random plurker that came out of nowhere. Whatever! I emailed her over 2 weeks ago about this and have received no response. I had sent a plurk asking if I would be one of the emails she was getting back to. She deleted it. That pisses me off. Just stand up and talk to us.
I’m sure she over commited herself but at the same time she knew what all was going into this project or should have been going into this project and therefore she should not have started more projects. I understand that her personal life has been in upheaval. But that is no reason to make us into the bad guys. All we want is what we paid for. And BTW I did not just pay for yarn it was all the other things to come with it Including the forums and the patterns. The third shipment is still sitting on my desk waiting for a pattern to work it up in.
I saw stuff about this a couple of months ago when she ran some poor lady off Ravelry for asking about a shipment, so I kind of knew where she would take this.
It really sucks and until more people find out the truth, you’ll just be the target of attacks. Keep up the good work and good luck to you.
It’s really sad to hear that someone is doing business like that. I really hope you can get this resolved. I tweeted for ya!
Cat´s last blog ..Diet Worthy Donuts?
Thanks Cat. I’m working hard on finding a resolution not only for myself but for the others.
Oh what a mess! What a horrible way to conduct business as well!
Kasey @ All Things Mamma´s last blog ..Famous Pumpkin Pie
I’ve been watching this whole thing for a long time, and I’m glad that someone is finally saying something publicly. There are many indie dyers out there who would kill to have her following, who would never take advantage of others the way she has, and who are going to lose business because of things like this. Please don’t lose heart regarding all indies and clubs. Seriously, there are some really awesome people out there who have their stuff together and who are extremely interested in keeping customers happy. Good luck. There are quite a few of us cheering you on silently.
I think many of us have been quiet and sat by to be supportive of her in her personal issues. However now we feel as though we have been taken advantage of. I will be posting some more of my thoughts later this afternoon as I do have a family that I must take care of.
I think that a lot of her “personal issues” have been dramatized for the sake of weaseling money out of her faithful. How many health conditions that she needs to raise money for have there been? Personal tragedies? Bank mess ups? I’d like to believe her, but given that she makes money every time life hiccups for her, it’s rather difficult to swallow all of her poor me stories. That’s not really relevant though. What is relevant is that she owes her subscribers some goods, and she needs to make good on that obligation. I run clubs too, and I’ve recently been through hell and back in my personal life, but my subscibers are unaware of my personal life, and they are still getting their product. It’s what you have to do when you run a business.
Im glad as well that someone is speaking out about her and after what she pulled taking all that money to help her ” escape” her freak husband which she never did she should surely be able to finish the club I am with you and cheering you on she should be put out of business
Anne I’m still doing some research but would love if you emailed me any details that you might know about other issues.
That is so disappointing holly. My stepmom is a knitter so i know how great it can be. Dont let this company put a damper on your holiday spirit.
trisha
momdot.com
trisha´s last blog ..Black Friday Coupon Code Three Peas
Trisha it will definitely NOT ruin my holiday. There is a reason my name is Holly. I was born 6 days before Christmas and this is my favorite time of year. We will be celebrating Thanksgiving this weekend and partying it up!
Oh gosh! I am so sorry that you are having to deal with this! I hope that you can get it all figured out soon and that this person will start owning up to this!
Shop with Me Mama (Kim)´s last blog ..Ladybugs and Lilypads Children’s Boutique!
Oh my goodness!! You paid a pretty penny for this, and after following her faithfully for so long
I can understand being a little late, but not even telling you why you haven’t recieved something? and a lot of that stuff was more than a little late. I wish you could have gotten a letter or something to prepare you for a delayed shipment!
I hope you get a refund, this is horrible
Great blog. I can truly sympathize. Sadly, this is not the first time people have been given the run-around with a yarn-of-the-month club. I think the saddest part is that indie dyers over commit themselves and can’t deliver on their promises. What do they do when people start asking questions? They either get highly defensive or fake their own death. Yes, there have been indie dyers who have faked their own deaths when the heat was on them.
The issue I have with this is that this isn’t the only problem people have with MissViolet. She has done a few things lately that have caused many people to call her integrity into question, yet she has a loyal following of groupies who are willing to blindly trust her and will defend her with claws out. They don’t seem to care they’re being ripped off as well. I guess they have more money than sense. I am also amused by the threats of legal action because of “brand infringement” and “slander”. Is she out of her tree? Slander is spoken defamation of character. Libel is printed or otherwise published defamation of character. If you’re going to threaten innocent people with legal action at least get your terminology correct. Besides that, it isn’t libel when it’s the truth. People state yarn has not been sent out on time. That is factually correct. People state that the packets that were supposed to be published on the yarn club official site are not visible to members. That is also correct. People are saying they are angry over the lack of communication. Here again, there is nothing dishonest about that. She has openly admitted that she refuses to acknowledge people sending her e-mails that fall short of singing her praises.
No one will get a refund. God only knows what she spent that money on. In one story she claims her money was stolen by her husband (the husband, by the way, she says cheated on her and she needed people to send her money so she could leave him. She then went back to him and used the money to buy a new bed) then she claimed she spent the money up front to cover base yarn and dye costs. So which is it? Either way I consider it stolen money. Too bad she was clever enough to submit it to Paypal as a service rather than product. That makes filing a dispute nearly impossible.
In summary, I hope this story has a happy ending, although I’m doubting you guys will get what you were promised, at least in a timely fashion. Please don’t let it sour your views on indie yarn clubs. There are some very nice, responsible, committed dyers out there.
You should be able to get help from your credit card company. I had a similar situation recently from a scrapbooker and they were more than happy to help. Bummer about paypal but honestly I’ve never found them very useful.
So sorry though to hear about the knitting club. It sure sounded like a wonderful thing to do. I hope you can find another one and have much better luck.
What a terribly frustrating thing to have happen with a birthday present. While I don’t pretend to understand the specifics of this situation, not being a crafter myself, Miss Violet made a promise and has an obligation to the knitters who purchased her product and she should live up to it. And instead of making it right she tells you she’s already appologized and you are harrassing her??? Just live up to your obligation and accept the fact that you disrespected and deceived these people. You won’t get this people back but atleast she could move forward. I’m so sorry this happened to you Holly.
Here is the thing. You all only know what is being shared. Not all of what is happening. Should she have communicated with you all? Yes. I agree with that complaint 100%. Even if a large number of complaints are “Wheres my stuff?! You Suck” she should respond. If you all remember this club was started when she had lots of helpers, paid and volunteer. Not too long after that she lost a lot of her help due to life happenings of the individual helpers. That left her with one person helping to get all of your stuff out. That took the club from the realm of do-able to overwhelming. Then her life happened. So. Imagine having this club that was obviously a good idea and a good thing, to having not only the club go sour, but her life go sour, and dealing with people screaming… You get the idea. I don’t know, but I think that shes at the point of overwhelm that every complaining email that she gets just digs deeper, and its easier to work on getting what she can done with this thing and not say anything to the grumpy public. Does this mean that I am making excuses and making it okay that she ignores you? No. But I just can’t sit back and read all the vile things said about her and not say anything. I get that you all feel your money is gone. I do. But I haven’t seen her completely ignore responsibility and take money and run yet, and I have known her for a long time. She is working on stuff to get this club finished.
As for the money she collected? She got the hell out of dodge didn’t she? You all saw that she moved right? Don’t you think that the fact that her and her husband got away from all the bad influences and are attempting to work on their marriage? So to the commenter complaining about her taking donations to get the hell from crazy hubby, be glad that the money was used for her intended purpose and quit complaining that she stayed with her HUSBAND.
Do I think that this post will help anyone? Probably not. But all I can do is try.
First and foremost I want to point out that I did not delete or change your message in any way. Because that is the only way to have true dialogue. As an adult, I deserve respect just as much as Miss Violet does. To that end, while there probably were people that complained and did nothing but say you suck. I was not one of them. Several of us asked if we could get an update. Several of us asked about September’s packet only to receive no word and many of those messages were deleted including a few of mine. So yes I do feel I have the right to take this public.
I could give a rat’s ass less if Miss Violet stayed with her husband, if she divorced and married some lover or if she moved to Alaska to see what living in an igloo was like. What I do care about is the fact that he was used as an excuse not to talk to us. As an adult who works and runs this site where I have to deal with companies and readers (customers) on a daily basis I will say that not a single person that reads my site or my boss for my full-time job or my teacher would be okay with me saying sorry family life started and I just couldn’t be bothered. This is the profession Miss Violet chose to be involved in and therefore she needs to treat as any of us would treat our PAYING jobs.
Here’s the other thing – all those “excuses”? Not my problem. Get it done, find a way, and communicate with your customers every step of the way in order to instill confidence.
It’s just another example of why people think women shouldn’t run businesses.
“But I just can’t sit back and read all the vile things said about her and not say anything.”
I guess I’m missing the “vile things” that are being said about her. Nothing but the truth has been spoken. I believe it was MissV and her groupies who have called the people who haven’t rolled over and let her screw them over “whiney bitches”, among other things. If anything it’s been the side that has been hung out to dry that has tried to handle things in a dignified fashion. No one has called her a bitch or an idiot or anything like that. The truth is she’s irresponsible and a very poor manager of a business.
Life didn’t get in the way of the yarn club. Funny how she couldn’t fulfill her commitments to the Intention yarn club and yet during the time she claimed “life” got in her way she was able to launch the Mountain Sole Project and a line of BPAL knock-off carnival based fragrances. I believe there were a few other business ventures in there as well. Oh, yes, the Neil Gaiman pattern thing. Funny how she’s had time to buy a new bed with money people gave her under the pretense that she was in danger and needed to get the hell away from an abusive and unfaithful husband and a horde of crazy circus folk and crazy in-laws. She’s also had time to record podcast episodes, review knitting books, make new fragrances, soaps, come up with a line of patterns and now she’s thinking about buying chickens.
I think people are just angry when they know they’re being ignored and she isn’t fulfilling her business obligations by claiming, “oh, poor me! My life sucks so much and I just don’t have time to do anything!” and yet she’s on Plurk and Ravelry talking about all of this other stuff she’s half-assed working on.
firstly i have seen all her plurks as in posting the phone number of the bellydance her freak husband was having an affair with she doesnt have time to fill these peoples orders but she has time to copy BPAL lines and try to pass it off as her own?? then she freaks over getting a letter from them ! and she has time to think of other sents and start new companys wtf you can kiss her ass all you want cause if you havent noticed she only talks to you if you are worth something to her as in $$$$$$ or giving her free crap
for your information, she was not “copying” bpal lines. her “freak” of a husband WORKS IN THE INDUSTRY, and she was basing her line on HISTORICAL FIGURES in the industry,not just made up stories. additionally, to help differentiate her line from the BPAL one,she did all the names in ITALIAN.
not to mention the fact that she did try to email Beth about the line, and was completely ignored, as has been anyone who has had anything constructive to say about the whole BPAL mess.
not even going to touch the whole yarn thing. do not speak of that which you do not know.
an insider who REALLY knows what’s going on, and not the stories you people like tomake up
Nice try groupie. You just have to head over to the BPAL boards and it’s all laid out there – and what’s over there is “the rest of the story”. She admitted herself that she didn’t email Beth ahead of time because she was “too busy”. I was inclined to believe Eliza at first, but not after I read what had been posted on that board. She ramped up the drama to skew things in her favor, just as she is doing with the IYC – that’s her MO.
Also, since Eliza won’t communicate with her customers and proceeds to treat them like crap, all people can do is speculate. If you don’t want your personal life discussed, then don’t put it out there for public consumption and don’t ask people for money to continually bail your ass out.
the industry really? well lets just hope he meets another nice bellydancer like before !
An insider, as in a close relative? Even if you have a close friendship via the internet that doesn’t mean you aren’t being deceived as well. Hell, you could be living in the same town as she is and not know the true story. My sister dated a pathological liar. They lived together and no one was the wiser that he was full of it. Everything was built on a lie. It wasn’t until my sister spoke with his father that the truth was exposed.
If her line of carnival scents hadn’t been so uncomfortably close to the BPAL line no one would have called it into question. There are tons of indie scent blenders out there. I don’t think any of them have received nasty e-mails from BPAL demanding they not come up with fragrances. The problem was that there were a couple of fragrances that originally had the same name and same label art as their BPAL counterpart.
MissV most certainly did NOT e-mail Beth from BPAL about launching this line. For starters, one of MissV’s groupies pulled a stupid and promoted MissV’s line of fragrances on the BPAL message forum. Tacky much? Once people noticed a few disconcerting similarities they alerted Beth to it and she sent MissV a kind e-mail. MissV was the one who went apeshit ballistic and claimed Beth was a bitch who didn’t want her to come up with a fragrance line and step on her toes, which is untrue.
Then she was going around bragging about how she was going to piss Beth off by either under selling or over selling all of her BPAL on eBay. How childish can you get? Really there is only a small cast of characters in all of this who are utterly clueless and lack maturity – MissV and her ever-shrinking fan base of groupies who apparently are just as void of integrity and see nothing wrong with con jobs, lying and infantile behavior.
and let’s not forget that she was running round being a busy busy bee getting this new line of scents out at the same time as she is too overwhelmed by her personal life to get on with providing the services she’s already been paid for by her existing customers. She can’t have it both ways.
Elizabeth Badurina also had some problems getting material out to paying customers. It wasn’t yarn then, but life still got in the way.
Wow, that’s horrible! While we all understand that things come up, it’s the fact that she doesn’t want to own up to not living up to her promises. That’s A LOT of money to put out without receiving product. I’d be ticked too!
Staci A´s last blog ..Pumpkin Dip: Easiest Ever
i would be demanding my money back. I am mad for you. That is a log of money to be forking over for a project. Sorry you were treated this way.
sarah @bakenate´s last blog ..Taking Chances
that is certianly awful she has certianly messed things up. I agree you deserve your money back for sure. I hope you get this resolved maybe the more attention the better
I’m another IYSSC victim too! I have to say that I’m sorely disappointed in Eliza, Ellie, Miss V, Violet, or whatever name she is using this week! It’s absolutely pathetic to see a grown woman of her age taking ZERO responsibility for her actions. She obviously has no idea how to run a business and instead of making it right she’s pointing blame on her customers. It’s very, very sad. She took in over $20,000 in club fees from people. At the very least she owes them a simple email with an explanation. It absolutely floors me that she has let this drag on the way she has. I used to call her my friend but now I’ve lost all respect for her. I have sympathy for what she has gone through but when life throws us curveballs, we have to deal with them. Whenever you start up a company and choose to be self- employed you are taking a risk that things will come up and you’ll have to deal with it. Yes she’s had a crappy year, but she’s still running a business and she can’t just runaway from her responsibilities. She’s choosing to sweep everything negative under the rug. That’s why she deleted the first ravelry group. That’s why she deleted the negative posts on her own board. That’s why she won’t respond to any emails. And that’s why she’s been trying to get this new board on Ravelry removed. It’s all about the cover up. This is killing her that her she’s been outed. She loves her “fame” and now this latest drama is hurting her image. Everyone knows that she messed up big and she can’t hide it. So now she’ll do whatever she can to deflect blame on everyone else. It’s her M.O. and it’s sad.
Here’s more plurks you may have missed:
missvioletsays
And, of course, Rav refuses to remove the group that’s just put there to bitch about me. Nice. Of course, now that I’ve
missviolet
had to learn a little about cease and desists, one is imminent for the founder.
missviolet
can’t get anything done with the extra stress all over the place, which, of course, just makes them bitch *louder*.
missvioletsays
Yes, Painty. It is *not* a “fan group”, as they stated to the Ravheads.
missvioletsays
And when there’s an entire *message board* for those people elsewhere that NOBODY USES, and I have SPECIFICALLY removed everything about
missviolet
it OFF ravelry because it is NOT a member-only environment, to make a group just to get together and bitch is not only fucking rude, it’s
missviolet
a violation of my intellectual property rights.missviolet
doesn’t really care at this point what’s riling them up. There’s a fraction who actually signed up on the actual boards, and of
missviolet
those a tiny fraction that actually posted, and of THOSE, the largest percentage were ignoring any questions or any kind of conversation,
missviolet
and just wanted to bitch.
missvioletsays
My whole *reason* for starting the club in the first place was to create a community. A supportive, sharing community for knitters who
missviolet
wanted to bring some kind of *meaning* into what they were doing with needles and string. And seriously? Out of the numerous members who
missviolet
joined, NOBODY seems to want to participate in that part of it. Just “gimme the yarn and OMG YOU ARE SUCH BITCH FOR BEING SICK”
missvioletsays
Or, god forbid, having life issues beyond my immediate control.
missvioletsays
In the meantime, the same handful of snarky folks rile shit up at the message boards, and now I get emails from
missviolet
formerly on-board people who are all in a tizzy because X, Y, and Z said that I’m just ignoring them and, of course, am a HORRIBLE PERSON.
missvioletsays
The lack of communication they speak of is the lack of answering emails that come in that are strictly bitching about things that I *already
missviolet
explained and/or communicated about through the official means of communication, which is the mb set up for that purpose. If they choose
missviolet
to continue to bitch after that, I’m not dignifying it with a response.
missvioletsays
If they’re pissed that I’m not answering it personally…tough.
Wensleydalethinks
bitching about how you haven’t provided community really don’t understand the concept. That THEY are the community. Not you.
missviolet
tried to provide it, no less. Posted questions, tried to engage conversation — all they wanted to do was ignore it or bitch.
missviolet
gave up.
missviolet
eyerolls. Exactly. No point in reasoning with people determined to see fault.
missviolet
WHY ARE YOU PASSING OUT HUGS FOR PEOPLE WHO NEED THEM WHEN YOU HAVEN’T EMAILED MEEEEEEE ABOUT YARN THAT’S NOT LATE YET.
missvioletsays
The problem is that most of the people over there *would not*, in fact, be as patient as job, or, for that matter, as patient as your aver
missviolet
age three year old. The emails I’ve gotten (ask Minz) would curl your hair with the acid-like evil.
missvioletsays
Thus, yes — I’m leaving all communication to Minnie, and for good reason. This particular situation could have been resolved a hell
missviolet
of a lot sooner if someone (anyone) would have written to say, “hey. Got the yarn. Didn’t get the packet, and it’s not on the homepage.”
missvioletsays
Instead, the dramallamas started a ravgroup to scream, and bitch about how busy the yarn is. Lovely.
missvioletsays
There’s no point in engaging, because no matter *what* I say at this point, or what I do, on time or not, there is a contingent who will
missviolet
continue to be hateful.
missvioletis
, literally, on the floor today. But tomorrow, when and if I find out that no, in fact, the packet didn’t get posted, then I *will*
missviolet
make a short statement about it through Minz. Not that I think it’ll stop the evil.
How many of us have to complain that we can’t get to the packet before she owns that fact?
And again she takes no responsibility for her part in all of this. It’s everyone else’s fault and how dare they not just blindly trust her when she’s done nothing to earn their trust.
I do have to snort a little about her bitching about her “intellectual property rights” after the whole BPAL debacle that basically got her kicked out of that community. That was another case of not taking a couple of minutes to send an email that would have avoided the whole thing and then being overly defensive and attacking when she got caught.
The other thing that gets me is this is the same MissV that was right at the front of the MCY situation – but I guess it’s okay to call out MCY for horrifically poor customer service, but when it’s legitimately directed towards her, the customers are just whiny little babies who are just so awful and don’t they know “wah wah wah”.
You don’t call customers “evil” for actually expecting what they paid for.
People rant. It’s interesting that the rant was posted yet nothing else. She has claimed responsibility but the fact that you are so angry you do not see it. As you just ranted, so was she. The fact that it was private was to allow her to rant to people she trusted and not allow the general public to see it. You can’t tell me you haven’t ranted about others while you were in the wrong, everyone has. Does that mean shes not going to live up to her side? Nope. That just means that she needed to get stuff off her chest to others who would understand. She has since calmed down. All the above post is doing is creating more drama. The shipments are coming. She changed the schedule and is missing the latest packet. Like I said are there things she could have handled differently? You bet! Do I think she should be slammed around by someone who claims to have been her friend? No. Hate her. Sell the rest of your club membership to someone else and enjoy what yarn you do have and the rest of your money. There are options. Why sit on this when you are going to hate what you get from here on out? There are people out there who will take over your spot. Let them have it and be done.
Again note that I’m not deleting your post. As for my rant was posted and nothing else I beg to differ. I spent all day Thursday updating this post as well as reply to others. Yes I did not post yesterday. Any ideas why? I have a life beyond this site. I work a full time job, go to school full time, take care of a house, husband and two small kids. However you can rest assured that I will be posting some more before the end of the day. Probably when my little one takes a nap.
I have heard several people say oh she’s just missing the September packet. She moved in a hurry. She got away from the bad influences. That was October. I hate to point it out to you but 3 more days it will be DECEMBER. Repeatedly members on the private message board asked about the September packet. Their posts were deleted. They were not mean “You suck.” posts. They were Hey does anyone else see the packet.
As for selling my membership I would be happy to. I have already posted that on the Ravelry boards. Please if you know someone that is willing to take the risk send them my way. There are also 4 or 5 other people there looking to sell as well. I cannot speak for them but for myself I have received not a single PM or reply asking about it.
Nothing wrong her ranting, by all means, let her rant away. But she still needs some actions to go along with it. She hasn’t communicated DIRECTLY with her paying customers in over two months! No emails, no message board posts, nothing! She deleted their posts but didn’t even respond to any of their questions. Their posts weren’t even negative. People were just asking questions, that’s it! If you’d bother to read people’s complaints you’d see this isn’t about yarn. People are complaining about the fact that Eliza chooses to ignore her customers and not care to communicate with them one bit. She’s sat around and bitched for the past few weeks about how awful people are treating her and the how bitchy her customers are. But, um, hello…they’re right! Where’s this infamous packet at? She said it was posted but no one but her seems to see it? Um, yeah right! That’s crap! She had the nerve to say that no one emailed her about the missing packet. That’s crap too! What do you think all those posts she deleted said? They were asking for the packet. Same with all the emails she’s ignored for the last two months. Please, this woman is so full of crap it’s unbelievable. Let her little groupies keep drinking that kool-aid, keep cheering her on, keep buying her magic potions, join her yarn club, whatever. When the kool-aid wears off and you see clearly, you’ll be sorry and you’ll see what the rest of us are seeing now.
Although I do quite enjoy kool aid I am looking at this situation completely drug free thanks. Although I think that maybe you, miss She Knits seem bent on stirring up the fight. If you will actually read the posts I have made you will see that I agree that Miss V needs to be more forthcoming with information for you all. And I offered my thoughts on the whole thing. But all I see is people all angry about the fact that she was asking for donations for a legitimate problem. Honestly the person that suggested that she may not even have a husband? Really? I thank Miss Holly for allowing my posts for discussion. It is obvious that everyone wants to be angry and make really crazy statements. If you don’t like that she is asking for help, and/or don’t believe it, don’t help. Once your packets are all complete, chalk it up to bad experience and go find another place to play.
Only she didn’t need the money, clearly, as it didn’t go to getting a divorce. It went to purchasing a new bed because she couldn’t bear to sleep in the one her husband slept with the other woman in. Now, I can understand that, but I don’t understand taking money sent with the intention (no pun intended) of helping her escape what was described as a “toxic marriage” and then go back to that relationship.
If you sent money to someone who claimed they had a terminal illness and couldn’t afford their hospital bills, would you not be a little upset if the money went to, say, taking their dog to the groomers and a new handbag for the person soliciting donations? That’s the point. It wasn’t bad that she needed money and it isn’t bad she is trying to make things work with her husband. It’s the principle behind taking money from genuinely concerned people and using it for something it wasn’t intended for.
People wouldn’t be bringing Eliza’s personal life into it if she hadn’t used it as an excuse for not delivering what she was legally obligated to provide.
Remember this? I foolishly donated to help the cause.
http://craftygirly.com/2009/09/23/help-miss-violet-escape/
And that was after having donated for the boob rock, and the burst appendix.
I find it interesting that this marriage thing was only recent, but the IYSSC has been behind practically since it started. It might explain October and November, but not the nine months before.
The shipments aren’t coming. The people who buy new memberships (if they actually do) will be more than understanding to anything that happens as an excuse to why the membership isn’t fulfilled. A year from now they will have not gotten anything new, but will be offered soap or oils in place of the original membership goods. Setting up a messageboard and passing around some patterns isn’t worth even $20 per person.
Exactly – this thing has been behind since the beginning and the marriage excuse doesn’t wash when the September shipment was for JUNE.
MissV just bites off more than she can chew and expects everyone else to pick up the pieces when she screws up. It started with the “boob rock” that had the whole community pitching in to help her and then at the same time that she’s crying POOR MEEEEEEEE with her health insurance, she’s talking about all the yarn, roving, and sniffies she’s buying. That did it for me right then. I knew she was irresponsible with money and that’s fine, but not when you are asking other people to donate because you made some very poor life decisions.
She has the nerve to call her customers “drama llamas”? That’s rich. I’ve never seen such a drama queen in all my life like Violet. The sad thing is that people buy into it time and time again and enable her to act like a toddler.
And it keeps getting even more childish! Why on earth would anyone want to do business with this woman at all? How on earth does she stand to look at herself in the mirror? Sick! Sick! Sick!
I don’t know who’s dumber, her or the stupid people that would actually want to join this yarn club at this point? It’s like they’re bending over and saying screw me!
mizzadamz
anytime
lots of folks now want to sell/transfere memberships if anyone here is interested.
AlliCat236
I’m interested but before I head over there, does anyone know a ballpark $ for the remaining shipments?
mizzadamz
some are asking between $100 and full membership (though they say they will send the past shipments)
mizzadamz
http://www.ravelry.com/discuss/knitting-wi...
mizzadamz
be warned they are not very diplomatic but I’m working on the theory less bad blood int he club the better for missv
AlliCat236
Thanks, mizzadamz! I’ll put on my big girl pants and wade in there.
Alynxiasays
OMG Thank You to mizzadamz for that linky…
mizzadamz
spinningheartsays
I’ve been outta the loop for a while, sounds like a missed a hole bunch a crap. Hugs V! I am sure everyone is going to love it.
ArtemisOrange
Wow now they’re fairly throwing their memberships at people lol
missvioletsays
Hey — good riddance to bad blood. If the dozen or so screamers are gone, we may even be able to ressurrect the message boards.
missvioletis
kind of excited by that prospect. Bringing it back from the whining death would put it back in line with what I *wanted* for the thing
missviolet
to begin with.
missvioletsays
PS don’t pay for past shipments. I’ll send you the packets for free, and I still have yrn if you want it.
missvioletsays
Get the best deal you can!
ArtemisOrangehas
a thing she’s waiting for, but if it doesn’t work out, will probably buy someone out JUST to get rid of the whinerbabies. (LOL)
Wensleydaleis
never surprised by the amount of vitriol some people will stoop to. Especially when semi-anonymous on the internet.
Wednesdaysays
Yeah, I want to play, I want to play a *lot* now that my hands work again… I just don’t want to play with *them*, you know?
Wednesdaysays
It’s difficult for an introvert to find real community with a non-denom spiritual dimension, so it’s sad to see these zombies chomp on
Wednesdaysays
brains.
Wednesdaysays
Way sad.
Wednesdaysays
(Not that I’m in the club, but… you know. I was going to be.)
ArtemisOrange
True, but at least it appears that many of the acid-tongues are being bought out so hopefully the nasty will be diluted.
Holy crap – I can’t believe that she’s actually offering to send people the old packages for free if they get rid of those horrible “whiner” customers – you know, because everyone should feel sorry for MEEEEEEEEEEE because I make so many bad choices and whenever I need money I can just call out to my fanbase and they foolishly give me money whenever I need it.
She is absolutely disgraceful and should be ashamed of herself, but I don’t think someone like her even knows the meaning of the word. Shame on her and her little groupies for what they are doing.
If she were anyone else but the famous “Violet”, the knitting community would have run her out on a rail.
Please remove my name from any posts, screen caps or messages as you have no direct contact with me nor do you have my permission to use my name alias or identity in this manner.
what theory of law do you base your request on? how does she even know you’re you. I might be you.
common human decency was the angle I was applying for. I thought that the original poster would be kind enough to block out the names of people who aren’t the ones she has issue with.
by posting my name unfortunatly the owner has now become, by proxy, evidence in a legal case in regards to using my alias and some matters of legal conflict.
I am currently trying to remove her from the list of potential subpoena’d individuals and my note was trying to help her as I am sure she doesn’t want to have to rush over the the UK to give evidence in the High Court.
At the very least I am sure she doesn’t want to have to pay for a laywer to write a statement for her.
I would also ask that no one else please use my alias, as this is unfortunatly a dreadful buisness.
I have no issue with the blog itself, just using my alias.
Okay, this is one of the funniest things I’ve read all morning.
could you give us the name and/or court number of this ground-breaking litigation, I would like to follow it the law reports.
Unfortunately dear, this is the internet and you were posting in a forum that is public. Anything you write there including your name can be used.
acutally, the posts I made were in a locked post, made private not public.
the arguments of everything on the internet is public can be debated until sunset on Pluto, the fact of the matter is expose what I say yes, please do no use my name for the matters put forth above.
You should read the TOS of the website. You have no rights to that information being kept private.
Watch out – she’s on the victim trail once again and bashing everyone in sight.
It’s so hilarious how closely this follows her behavior during the BPAL incident and is scrambling to keep her followers in check.
I am not a lawyer, but what I do know about the law is that unless a person is being misrepresented then using their name does not qualify for protection under the law.
Thanks for speaking out about this. I’m not surprised that Violet (or, as someone else said, whatever she’s calling herself this week) is going nutso on all of this. Oh noes! She’s going to sue me for libel and slander! I’m going to hide in my lawyer-proof bunker to save myself!
I’ve known of her since she was going by the name Elizabeth Badurina, and she was big in the online journaling community in the late 1990s. She’s always been quite the drama llama–she documented her first (?) husband leaving her for some random woman who used to be her friend in an online journal called Atropine. The writing was beautiful, but at this point, I wonder how much of it was real.
She re-surfaced in the artist card scene, then moved on to knitting. I stumbled across her again during the early days of Lime and Violet, saw the moderngypsy domain name, remembered it from Scrawls/Atropine, and was happy that she seemed to have gotten her shit together, because she portrayed herself as quite a mess when her husband left her.
Fast-forward to about a year ago. A friend of mine mentioned the Intention Yarns club, I thought it looked fun, and figured that since she had such a huge following with her podcast, she wouldn’t flake on her commitment, even though I had a sense that maybe she was the type of person who might do such a thing. I signed up because I liked the idea of the community behind it, and because I really liked some of the things she had done in the past.
When the first shipment was late, I was okay with it. Things don’t always go the way they should, and I can be understanding about that. When the second shipment was really late, I was annoyed, and I started feeling skeptical about whether she was going to follow through. I found it difficult to believe that someone who had such a following of people who appreciated and supported her would completely bail on a major commitment.
Then the lies started. Oh, the lies. Insinuating that she had over 1000 skeins of yarn to dye for the club. The stories about her personal dramas–remember, I read her online journal in the late 1990s. Some of them sounded awfully familiar. The freakouts whenever someone would (not angrily) ask when the next shipment would be coming out. One very nice woman dared to ask on the Ravelry group when the next shipment would arrive. She was treated to a spate of nasty DMs from Violet, and was eventually booted from the group for violating the spirit of community or some such bullshit. (She did get a full refund.)
The straw that broke the camel’s back for me was when the club shipment was several MONTHS behind, Violet was full of excuses, and she dyed a bunch of yarn to sell through the Loopy Ewe. At that point, I knew that she had blown all of the club members’ money on whatever else her drama-llama self wanted at the time, and was selling yarn to make enough money to buy yarn base for the club.
I understand that life can be shitty and that terrible things happen that derail peoples’ plans. I understand biting off more than you can chew. Jeebus knows I have done so myself–but I have never, ever done it when it involves other peoples’ money. When she came out with the line of b.s. about how her husband (if he exists, because I’m not sure what all of her twisty personal narrative I can/should believe) stole all of the yarn club money, I thought to myself, “what the hell kind of intelligent businesswoman doesn’t have a separate account for her business if she’s raking in the kind of money that Violet supposedly is making?”
It’s a swindle.
I’m fortunate in that I’m well-off enough that losing a couple of hundred dollars is annoying and it pisses me off, but it’s not the difference between paying my bills and not paying my bills. She STOLE money from people. Plain and simple. People put their trust in her to deliver a product, and she has failed them. Communicating openly and honestly might have saved her six months ago, but it’s over at this point. She has violated club members’ trust and is no better than a thief. Meanwhile, she’s moved on to her next project, which, if anyone has noticed, is already well behind schedule. Surprise!
Maybe her next intention (if she ever gets around to it) should be “follow-through.” Or, perhaps, “honesty.”
Yep, the Gaimian project is behind, as is the Mountain Sole project. I’m glad she is creative and has so many ideas, but there comes a time where you actually have to sit down and follow through.
And the Mountain Sole project had so much promise. I was sad to see that one get left behind. I also wonder what happened with all the L&V patterns and books that never came out, and what happened to the people who got ripped off after paying for subscriptions to her zines. And wasn’t there a big problem with the cupcake perfume club? I’m not a stalker. It’s just some communities are rather small, or overlap quite a bit. When she does work it’s all beautiful and great. It makes it that much more awful when things fall apart.
Oh yeah, I remember the book project a few years ago. Didn’t that one get derailed with the “appendix” or something else that happened to her in Ohio?
I don’t know anything about the cupcake perfume club, but why am I not shocked that yet another venture went down the tubes?
(the book)supposedly it got ate by a computer and lost…
Is that the new version of “my dog ate my homework”?
“what the hell kind of intelligent businesswoman doesn’t have a separate account for her business if she’s raking in the kind of money that Violet supposedly is making?”
Quite frankly, the same kind of business woman who starts multiple projects at a time in which she claims she can’t even find time to sleep, eat or breathe. The same type of business woman who fails to understand when you open up sales for your products you may get nasty e-mails and phone calls from people because they don’t like what they received or when you fail to meet their expectations. It doesn’t mean you can ignore them or publicly talk shit about them.
I owned a company a few years ago. Over the years I’ve been cussed out and screamed at by clients. Sometimes it was an error on our behalf. Sometimes it was just because they were picky or something was billed to them and they would dispute the invoice. I would never even fathom just saying, “gee, I think I’ll just ignore these customers because they don’t adore me.” I learned you have to smile and take the crap. That’s a little thing called “customer service” and in any business is it just as crucial as having your finances in order. Apparently MissViolet doesn’t know about either of these key elements.
I’m not part of this club, but I have friends who are, and I’ve been waiting for this for quite some time. I have never seen so many shameless excuses to get people to give someone money in my life.
I think what I find more disturbing than her being more or less a grifter are the people who blindly support and defend her all over the internet, not to mention freely handing over money for whatever calamity has befallen her that week.
Even if just half of the nonsense she spews was true, that is not an excuse to leave PAYING customers high and dry, with no customer service whatsoever. Maybe if she spent a little time communicating with her customers instead of making excuses on plurk and bragging about all the other things she’s doing (none of which seem to ever be giving people what they pay for), she might not be in this situation. Instead she’s taken this opportunity to call her customers names and belittling their (legitimate) claims that they’ve not received what they paid for, nor any communication from her.
It was only a matter of time before something like this was going to happen, and frankly, I’m glad.
There were, I was told, just over 1000 paid members. That’s over $200k. If money gone, how can she even pay postage for remaining shipments. If she still has the yarn… She plurks about being broke.
Having been a member, I’ve been concerned like everyone.
I just have to say that there has never been that many people active on the original Ravelry group, in the Intentions group, or in the new Ravelry group – so I don’t think that 1000 memberships could have possibly been sold. I think maybe 100 is a better number or maybe even less.
Little Miss Violet is so transparent! So after her attempt at playing the victim didn’t work to make this whole thing go away. Now she’s got a new ploy. She’s on Plurk now bragging about how her sales have gone up 114% and that she’s gone seven new retailers wanting to carry her Intentions Yarn.
Is that bullshit I smell???
Could she be any more obvious? She just wants to make this whole nightmare go away and rather than do the right thing by fessing up to her mistake. She just figures that if she makes it look like this drama is a good thing for her than all her “evil haters” will make it all stop.
Come on now! We may have been foolish enough to spend $200 on your club but we’re not idiots.
The only yarn related sales she’s got going on right now are from IYSSC members trying to bail out and sell their memberships to some kool-aid drinking sucker stupid enough to buy a ticket on this trainwreck.
And I seriously doubt that any new retailers are going to want anything associated with her and her yarns. Look at only online store that carries it and you’ll see a metric ton of her yarn still in stock. Then take a look on Ravelery and see all the skeins in people’s stashes that are for sale.
At this point the only way she’s going to sell any more of her yarn is to give them a big swig of her kool-aid first.
But then again, who knows? Maybe she’ll get her freakboy husband, her puppet adminnie and set up a sideshow act on a streetcorner and try to sell her yarn? Maybe she can even use that teeny tiny violin she’s been playing for the last week too? Free kool-aid anyone????
Is that like when the BPAL mess went down and she said that Coney Island and some other store were going to carry her sideshow line?
Seriously, MissV – it’s time to get a new script.
FYI, husband does exist. Actually met him. I’ve actually helped dye Intentions Yarn, (which is a whole other story). Yes I was one of her “minions”.
My advice, form your own club. Really does it matter what yarn you’re using? Get together, pick out a KAL and concentrate on a particular intention. It’s the positive energy that matters most. It seems to me that the common thread among members is that this is what they liked the most.
Although you might be sued for copyright infringement for having “good intentions.”
I think there are probably a lot of people who realized that due to MissV’s lack of business ethic what was supposed to be a positive experience has gone sour. I have a few skeins of Intentions yarns I purchased from The Loopy Ewe. I didn’t join the club because I’d heard some information about one of her other “of-the-month” clubs being a total bust and a lot of people were hung out to dry. I trust the Loopy Ewe as a reputable vendor. Dealing with MissV directly – eh, not so much. It’s a shame, because the yarn is beautiful and I fully intend to knit with it and try and overlook this whole scandal.
People are angry over the character assassination and dishonesty. Someone mentioned in the group on Ravelry that MissV “responded to e-mails, just not the negative ones”. Um, hello? That’s called business. You can’t start a business and just say a big ‘ol “f&*^ you!” to people who are displeased with how you’re running the show. Those people gave just as much money to participate in the group as her little groupies who think lack of business ethic and being an infantile, raging ass to anyone who doesn’t bow at the waist and fawn all over you is something to be applauded. They paid for a product and service they have not received and that should piss anyone off.
I wonder if MissV has ever heard the phrase, “don’t bite the hand that feeds you”.
You can’t say something like that and just leave it? I’m not asking simply to be malicious to Miss V. But was your experience helping her….less than pleasant? What’s she like in real life?
I hope people will remember this ordeal the next time they go and shop for yarn. Even if you’re buying Intentions Yarn at a local yarn shop or at an online shop, you’re still supporting her and her behavior. Don’t put your money to support someone who obviously doesn’t care for her customers and has very questionable ethics when it comes to business. Remember that there are hundreds and hundreds of honest and hardworking indie dyers out there that would appreciate your business and do not treat their customers with this kind of disrespect. Let your store owners know that you want to support the indie dyers that respect their customers and fellow knitters. In this fragile economy we need to let our money do the talking. With so many other hardworking and honest dyers out there, we need to make sure we’re supporting them and not companies like Intentions Yarn.
Agree, completely. I purchased the Intentions from TLE prior to this whole fiasco, but I will not contribute another red cent to Miss Violet’s shady business ventures. I’m curious as to how we could make reputable vendors aware that they are in a joint business venture with someone like this? Both Lisa Souza and The Loopy Ewe sell yarns that somehow benefit Miss Violet. I don’t know who else. Does Sonny & Shear sell Miss Violet’s yarn?
It’s also pretty damn sad how a few indie dyers with big heads and entitlement issues can cast such a bad light on the rest of the indie dyer community. Need we remind everyone of the Danielle of MCY and MommaMonkey scandals?
It’s kind of funny you say this because there is only one skein of sock yarn I regret buying and it’s my skein of L&V yarn. I bought it like 3 years ago and it looked so good on the website, but like complete ass when it showed up on my doorstep and even worse when I started knitting with it.
The base yarn is good, but the color sense leaves something to be desired. I think I’m going to try to overdye it because seriously, it can’t look much worse.
I picked up a skein of her roving at Sock Summit and then put it back down (even though it was lovely) for just this reason. I really don’t want my money going to support her.
I finally unfriended her on plurk because reading her drama was making me so bitchy and snarky. It killed me every time she posted terrible things (die of crotch rot?? really?) about people who just wanted a little communication.
Idea people should not get into business without the help of someone grounded with actual business sense to keep then on track. If she could just pick one idea and stick with it she’d be in fine shape. It’s so sad.
I think that’s common when an idea person tries to run a business. Sort of a left brain vs. right brain.
Before Miss Violet (Elizabeth Badurina now Metz) was Miss Violet and went all batshit over yarn and fiber like the rest of us, she was totally into mixed media and art journals, which is something that I was doing at the time. (Like 5-6 years ago.)
Anyway, I placed a $50 order from her, and it never came. Oh, she got the money, gave me the run-around via email, and then never sent me my order, and never issued a refund. That’s why I’ve never jumped onto the Lime and Violet bandwagon.
I’m sorry, but not surprised, to hear that other are dealing with the same B.S..
Holly, I’ve uncovered quite a bit of info and if you’d like any of it, just let me know.
There is A LOT of history hanging around on the internet, even as she creates 404 pages left and right.
What kind of information are you talking about?
I missed the “Holly” before I replied. Sorry.
I left any affiliation with L&V after I worked so hard to help Violet (asked to do it by Lime) with her breast cancer scare. I raised the entire amount required for her and she took money from many many many more people and wanted me to give her any surplus for HER to deliver to her “local charity”. I declined. I still sell the colorways because I invented them and people still like them. I do not in any way give money to Violet/Eliza any more. Sketchy is as sketchy does.
Lisa, I almost purchased some of that colorway, but didn’t because I thought the money was still going toward her.
um. I did. But it was about a year or two after the scare. I bought it because I like the colorway. And because Lisa Souza rocks.
BerlinBetty´s last blog ..Take Me As I Am
Same here. I thought the money was still going to Violet.
Thanks for clearing that up Lisa, and it was a very generous thing to do.
I bought a skein of the L&V sock yarn, but not because the $$ went to Violet, but because Lisa Souza is a fabulous dyer and I liked the colorway to make a pair of socks for my mother.
I’m kind of a cynical person and have never trusted anyone with their hand out for personal reasons. Terrible things do happen to people, but honestly and sadly I feel more so people take advantage of others good will. Shame on anyone who takes advantage of any group of people….but especially generous knitters!! (my peeps!!)
Just remember…….Karma is a beautiful thing……..
Lisa, thank you for shedding light on all of this. I highly respect you as an indie dyer and have purchased yarn from you before (one of them, ironically, being Miss Violet’s Pink Ribbon). It’s a shame when people do things with a good heart and end up being exploited.
Yes, thank you for speaking out. I know I have stayed away from those colorways because I thought you were still affiliated with her.
You all should file complaints here:
http://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx
If you all go to the site and start filling out the forms the FBI will forward the information to her local police. She is committing a crime here, not just jerking you folks around. You can also file claims with US Postal inspector – this is also mail fraud.
I’m sorry to hear you are going through this. If I were you, I would stop fighting with her and just go file with the authorites.
Good luck.
I was thinking everyone should get together and file a class action or something, but this website looks even more promising……let the USPS and local law enforcement take care of her shenanigans.
I think so too. Fraud over the internet is a serious crime, and this one crosses state and even international borders. Call a cop.
Good advice. Thanks for the link.
I posted this on the other post, but I meant to post it here. Contact the Better Business Bureau. I don’t know if she’s a part of it. But if enough people file complaints she will never be able to. Getting denied from the BBB is bad news.
BerlinBetty´s last blog ..Take Me As I Am
Aha…someone’s filed something with Rip Off Report.com:
http://www.ripoffreport.com/bait-and-switch/intention-yarns/intention-yarns-lime-and-viole-8a92c.htm
I’m so surprised that PayPal can’t do anything for you. I ordered a diaper cake from an Ebay seller for a friends baby shower and 2 months went by with no response and no diaper cake showing up at my door. I put an electronic complaint through the paypal site and they answered right away. The refunded my money the very next day. What was their reasoning for not helping you? maybe you could contact the BBB and find out if this person even has a license or whatever paperwork/requirements are needed to operate a business and accept customers money.
Unfortunately it’s because of the length of time that has passed since we paid for our memberships. It’s been over a year for the majority of club members and Paypal has time limitations on when you can file a complaint.
Here’s my advice to anyone thinking of joining a yarn club:
1. Look for references. Ask your friends, check on message boards, search on Ravelry and find out what the yarn club owner’s track record is.
Some questions to ask:
Have there been any late shipments? If so, how many were late? (We all know that life happens and a shipment or two may be late. But if the majority of shipments have been late that’s a warning sign.)
How well does the yarn club owner communicate with his/her customers? If there were delays were customers notified before or after the expected shipping date? How quickly are emails typically responded to? Is there a forum for the club? If so, how active is the owner on the forum? (Good communication is a key part of good customer service. If an owner isn’t responsive to her customer’s concerns that’s a big red light.)
2. Search Google, Twitter, Facebook, Plurk, etc… and see what people are saying about the club. With the intentions club, club members were frustrated and upset for months before this all became “public”. Many club members had voiced their frustrations on Twitter, Plurk, blogs, etc… long before going to Ravelry.
3. Avoid pre-paying too far in advance. I understand that yarn club owners have expenses ahead of time and they need to have the funds ahead of time for getting yarn, dye, shipping, etc… I can see paying 1-3 months in advance but I would be very hesitant to pay for a year’s worth of yarn in advance. For one, there is no recourse with paypal. Should something go wrong 6 months down the line, you’ll be left with nothing. Secondly, in this fragile economy it’s risky to prepay so far in advance for anything. I think yarn club owners need to recognize the risk their customers are taking and should set up payment plans. Don’t make your customers assume all the risk. As with any business there are start-up costs and up front costs involved so don’t expect your customers to front it all. If it’s a one year membership, then maybe bill your customers for one quarter at a time or charge them for two shipments at a time a couple of months in advance. Unless a yarn club has a proven track record of stability and service do NOT prepay for a year in advance. If you’re a brand new yarn club owner, consider how much money you’re asking your customers to pay in advance. Without a proven track record yet, taking a big financial risk might be a turn-off to many customers.
4. Research the yarn club’s history. How long have they been in business? If it’s a new yarn club do they have an online store as well? Find out the track record of the business and the owner. Has the owner been involved in other businesses? Have their been any problems with customer service with those businesses?
I really hope this situation will be a wake up call to ALL people involved in the yarn industry. Customer service is key. In this economy especially, you need to make sure you’re doing whatever you can to keep your customer satisfied. I’m not saying the customer is always right but when you have several unhappy customers it’s time to step back and look at what you’re doing wrong. Remember when you accept money for merchandise or a service you are making a promise to your customer to fulfill an obligation. If you can’t fulfill the obligation EXACTLY as promised, be prepared to offer a refund.
For all the knitters out there let this be a wake up call to you that regardless of a persons presence on the internet you don’t actually “know” them. Don’t be too trusting with your money. Take the time to do some research and make an educated choice. There are A LOT of good yarn clubs out there. Don’t let this situation turn you off from them. Yarn clubs can be a wonderful thing as long as you find a good one. So spread the word and share these tips and make sure we all look out for each other. If you find yourself in a situation like Intentions Club, please speak out and warn others. Let’s send a message that the knitting community won’t tolerate bad service and disrespect.
You forgot the #1 – Do not pass go – do not collect $200 question. “Is Miss Violet in any way, shape, or form, associated with this club?”
I agree with your advice, and I wish i knew when I signed up for the club all that I know now. But, I really thought I had done an educated decicion. I hadn´t read anything bad about Miss Violets endavours, and I read alot on the web. I still cannot find any info on this cupcake club, does anyone know what happened?
Of course none of us “know” Miss Violet, but after all this I feel I know her bad side enough.
I am right there with you. But looking back I now know never to prepay for a whole year’s worth of a club in advance, especially when it’s a brand new club. That’s so risky! I’d also be concerned about someone who seems to have their hands in too many cookie jars. If someone is running multiple businesses with very little help, that’s another warning sign. Whenever a person spreads themselves too thin, that’s just asking for trouble. I’ll admit I was a little concerned about this when I signed up. I worried if she’d be able to actually accomplish all she had promised but I didn’t expect or think she would actually turn her back on her customers and ignore them for months. That one, I didn’t see coming.
I, too, thought I had made an educated choice when I signed up. I thought there would be no way that Eliza would flake given the fact that she is so well known in the knitting community. It’s stupid really! I don’t know what she was thinking. What I realize now is that her public persona is of her own creating. She has people believing what she wants them to believe. She does this by only tell *her* version of the truth and will censor/delete any other person who contradicts her lies. That’s why she’ll only speak publicly on forums that she moderates or on plurk, twitter, facebook, etc… where she can delete people’s comments. If someone dare call her out she’ll immediately point blame on to them and flip things around to make herself look like she’s a victim and has been wronged. Or she’ll deflect attention by bringing up some awful drama she has to deal with, like an illness or whatever. This way she gets even more sympathy because these people (haters) who are calling her out on her lies are now these evil lynch mobsters attacking a poor sick victim. It’s pure manipulation of the the truth and the facts on her part. Con artistry at its finest!
The best thing we can do is not to let this thing go! That’s what Eliza wants. She’s already been bragging to her friends and followers that she’s won. She thinks that everyone has forgotten about this because everyone has quieted down. Don’t let her win. Keep spreading the word. As I type this she’s already working on new businesses and if we don’t continue to educate potential victims they’ll lose money to her as well. Keep tweeting, plurking, posting on Ravelery, spread the word on Facebook, email your friends, etc…. Don’t let anyone else get taken advantage of!
*Another* new business? Aren’t they 6 or 7 of them already?
And don’t forget to leave some feedback on iTunes as well.
So she thinks she’s “won”? Fat chance. She’ll screw up again and the whole thing will start all over again. There’s no way she won’t mess up – because she fails time and time again to address the underlying problem… her massive ego and her inability to follow through on ANYTHING.
Hey Eliza – we’re not quieting down, we’re reloading.
I agree on the reload. I am going to pay close attention to whatever happens in her next ventures. I have also read her statements that she “won”. Well, she didn´t. But she did very effectivly delete everything bad. Good thing that this blog and also the Ravelrygroup exist as a proof that everything didn´t go as smoothly as she would lead people to believe. The great thing about the Ravelrygroup is that several of her “followers” went to read it and posted that they were grateful to read the other side of this story, and that the other side wasn´t at all “haters”. That group isn´t full of haters, but full of people who demanded communication. Which they only got because of that group.
I’m so glad that she didn’t succeed in getting that Rav group deleted. The members aren’t haters. The only haters are from Miss V’s posse go over to the group and harass the ladies there for telling the truth. I think we all need to help make sure that Ravelry group stays active. Eliza would love nothing more than to see it all die out and for the conversation to stop. She wants nothing more than for all this to go away. We can’t let that happen.
I too am following Eliza and all her many endeavors & presences on the internet (y’all know she changed the name of her blog recently, right?) in the hopes of educating any future victims.
Those that have been loyal to Elizabeth Metz are slowly peeling away (outside of Adminnie of course . . . birds of a feather, apparently) and are either stopping their public support or even being slightly bold in their back-turning.
When someone as well-known & respected as Lisa Souza discounts you, people take heed, thankfully!
Keep the spotlight shining on this particularly shady spot, folks! Future almost-victims need the information.
I had to add, that when I saw sign-ups for this club I was in no way interested. Why? because another yarn club she had before her move to NC also had very late problems and she not responding. I was afraid it would happen to this one.
Don’t let this sour you on other clubs as I belong to many that are just wonderful.
I am sorry you all are going through this.
I wonder if all those people who told me I was wrong regarding the late shipments still think I am wrong.
Was wondering what happened to Lime & Violet. I too knew of Eliza from her Scrawls/Atropine days, but never got sucked into the Lime & Violet yarn-mania because of all the other drama she herself seemed to get sucked into. Such a talented woman, but yipes, lots o’ drama. Seems when things get sticky, she disappears, leaving people in the lurch and then reinvents herself again and again.