And...

I still am missing parts for the fine gauge knitting machine.

I had a bad feeling in my gut about Hong Kong Knitting Machines from the first hit. And is that feeling EVER wrong?

They sent the wrong punch card set and when I called it to their attention, I got "oops, must have sent yours to another customer. Sorry, we don't have anymore."

Shipping back to Hong Kong was not cheap so if I get the refund I am owed, I will have definitely lost money on this transaction. But I have no one to blame, I went against by better judgement.

Finding this set from anywhere else has thus far proved impossible.

The Yahoo knitting machine groups seem to think I am completely stupid and have the cards but don't know it, because they come with the machine. The fact that used machines frequently are missing items seems to have been suddenly and completely forgotten.

My other favorite response was that any Silver Reed dealer can order them for me--despite the fact that this machine has been discontinued (for decades) and the last fine gauge machine made by Silver Reed was discontinued early this year.

No dealer I have communicated with has any fine gauge machines, parts or accessories having sold out very quickly. And no, they can not order discontinued items from the Silver Reed, because there is no stock to order.

I also received several responses pointing to dealers I have already contacted and who have confirmed they do not have this punch card set for sale. Again, some of the responses implied that should have been smart enough to sort this out on my own and not bother the group.

I am so frustrated that I am ready to give up on machine knitting at this point. I was quite taken aback by the rude tone of several of the responses I received from the Yahoo groups. Why do people have to be so mean?