Hope Macauley Cardigan

[amibeingaknob]

Ive been cooing over these cardigans for years, and I just saw it on Traitors and as Ive done quite well with work recently Im seriously considering buying one as a well done to myself. Am I mad? I want the colourful one, but its over £400!!!! Ive never spent that on anything before. I do know I would wear it to death, and it would make me crazy happy. I have a ratty old brown cardigan that I wear constantly. So should I go for it, or is that totally bonkers? Anyone got one? The fact you cant wash them might be an issue cos I know I would wear it constantly and Im a glumsy git.

Thoughts?

Oh and here is the beauty. I mean its a work of art and so cheery. The Colourful Colossal Knit Cardigan | Hope Macaulay

I also love the browner colours which would go with more Bruna Colossal Knit Cardigan | Hope Macaulay

I also wouldn't know what size to get. Im a size 10/12 tall with big boobs. I really want that oversize look so Im guessing M/L. Id want it a bigger fit than on the model. They are made to order so don't want to fuck it up.

Social media is for appearances and sales. They might be having poor reviews deleted. They might be offering refunds to take poor reviews down. Customers might just be wearing them as an occasional show piece because they're so fragile.

But people who work with fiber like knitters and spinners and weavers know a cardigan made with unspun roving is going to pill and pull apart in places and felt. It's not going to make an everyday workhorse piece of clothing.

That refund policy is batshit. Return unworn and unused or no refund when the garment is fragile enough it can't stand up to a few days of wear is ridiculous.

And yes, people might be embarrassed to admit they spent that much on an item that is not really wearable and they've been refused a return.

Have you actually started the process with your bank to do a chargeback? If so then no need to email them again as it will be between them and the bank. It's not for them to agree a chargeback it's for your bank to do so. If your bank agrees then they just take the money back off them and refund it to you. By saying bank I assume you paid with a debit card?

Yes debit card. They can dispute it though can't they? which then leads to delays. Or they can just agree right?

Yes they can dispute it and have up to I think 45 days to do so. If you've already started the chargeback process then don't email them again. Just stand by for your bank to ask you for evidence. Please update us with the outcome.

Ok will do.

Im probably being silly but this whole thing has me incensed with rage at the unfairness of it all. I just worry others will just accept it (like I was going to).

Maybe people are so excited when it arrives that they post a glowing review and don’t t go back to correct that later. And they do look fabulous when brand new.

I just don’t understand why the company uses roving.

I'm gutted now I've seen your pics. She's had lots of publicity as an entrepreneur, for social enterprise, etc and I expected it to look amazing for ever.

I want to find some similar wool and knit one.

Can you post a picture of you wearing it? Tbh, I don't think it looks that bad.

you dont think it looks that bad? really? is that what others think? Am i overreacting? to me it looks completely unwearable and scruffy as shit. I am completely open to being told im wrong. Id love to be wrong - id be embarrassed to wear it out now. My boyfriend actually said it looked quite scruffy as our recent lunch date and he is no fashionista.

I don't know if you're overreacting but I'd trim the bits that have come lose and see how it looks. Is it mostly where the colours join that it's starting to look a little messy?

From the photos you posted I think you are overreacting. It's difficult to tell without seeing the whole cardigan.

You are absolutely not overreacting and I would be suspicious of anyone who said you were. The company has most likely found this thread by now and I wouldn't be surprised if they were doing damage control.

If that's meant for me, I have nothing to do with the company. The pictures posted don't look that bad. I would have expected pilling and some loose threads from the nature of the garment.

I have bought jumpers that pilled a bit after washing but never any that had loads of fluff and loose bits hanging off them like that and it hasn't even been washed. I don't even see jumpers in that bad a state in charity shops (sorry, OP).

I think it looks absolutely awful and I would be horrified even if I'd only paid £50 for it.
Different situation if you'd had it for years and washed it a few times.

I’d be horrified if I had a normal cardigan that looked like that after a few wears, let alone one at that price.

I came to say the same thing.I only became aware of the cardi because of Jade and loved it on her. It's worrying that it doesn't look good on the models on the site.
Also looks hard to style irl.

Just saw the updated messages :( really poor of the company.I would have expected that at such a high end price point, the quality would be perfect.I hope you get a good resolution OP.

Just saw this thread and read the OP messages, so sad for you that it’s ended up like this. I do hope you get a decent resolution.

But it has a halo effect and the different thread colours are merging and theres felting. How can I trim the halo fluff? id be going over the entire cardigan. And it sheds. Like a LOT.

Anyway its interesting that a couple of people think Im overreacting. I put the pics into chatgpt and they said it shows evidence of 'extreme shedding, felting and has a 'halo' effect from the fibres, and the fibres are merging colours making it appear dirty'. It went on about this being normal for roving, but unwearable and unfit for purpose. It also said Hope Macauley have form for this.

Watch this space...

@amibeingaknob said:
"Can experienced knitters tell me - why on trustpilot have they got such good reviews? Why aren't I seeing endless complaints like mine if this is inevitable for roving yarn like you all warned me about? I dont get it."

I think that's a q better posed to fashionistas and influencers than knitters, who either wouldn't buy it or would in the full knowledge of what was going to happen to it once worn.
I could never understand why they weren't being badly reviewed either though, I can only assume, as others have said: reviews entered immediately on receipt when it is lovely, embarrassment, emperor's new clothes...

If anyone wants to attempt knitting a version, look at stylecraft special xl super chunky, it has a good range of colours and should stand up to wear a bit better :D
Oh and don't be told yours doesn't look too bad, cos it's only going to get worse!

ETA to add quote, cos I forgot on first posting!

I have one of those combs they're trying to flog you, OP. Mine is from White Company but same thing. They're fine for removing a few bobbles from a cashmere jumper but I can't see them being much use on roving like this.

Put reviews and pictures all over social media. Keep at them until they give in.

It’s always great to see someone start a small, ethically minded business and go from strength to strength. I watched the True North documentary about Hope Macauley on BBC iPlayer as, like her, I’m from NI and I also love knitting. The cardigans are very simple, but beautiful and unique. But honestly, sometimes you have to wonder what goes through people’s heads in their quest for recognition. The fact that the cardigans are made with roving seems like an absolute gimmick, just to set her product apart. It’s almost whimsical. Catch that sheep and I’ll rustle up THE most close to nature cardigan imaginable. I don’t even need knitting needles, I can use my hands!! Well ok, maybe I’m stretching the point here as there aren’t too many lime green and bright pink sheep wandering about🤣

I was talking about it with DP and he made the point that many of the rich Americans (for example) buying her knitwear don’t care if it only lasts one or two wears because £400/£500 is just pennies to them. HM doesn’t seem to be aiming her designs at ‘ordinary’ people - not with that price point and the almost disposable nature of the cardigan. It’s a shame that the cardigans can’t be both beautiful AND durable.

I mean, the roving will be so much softer than "normal" yarn which has been spun. And it does look lovely and squishy and soft initially.

But then you have the downsides experienced by @amibeingaknob . The company know this, they are not stupid and know the implications of using roving.