BLOCKED issue 6

LOOKING A
By Uknitted Kingdom
GIFT HORSE
IN THE MOUTH
After the Great Ravelry Purge of 2019, when innocent
people were smeared and labelled ‘racists’ and ‘white supremacists’,
many of us struggled to find a place in the
knitting world that hadn’t been occupied or infiltrated by
Trump Derangement Syndrome, identity politics, and ‘social
justice’.
This was especially true for those of us in the UK
where Brexit had cleaved a divide that is unlikely ever to
heal.
The fibre communities in the UK are riddled with
woke cancer. Knit nights and yarn stores have become
safe spaces for everyone EXCEPT Brexiteers, (c)onservatives,
(C)onservatives, and anyone that isn’t following
and supporting the Social(ist) Justice agenda.
Overnight access to hand-dyed yarn had, effectively,
been cut off. All trust was destroyed. I had already been
blocked by some after openly opposing the ‘Pussy Hat’
nonsense. Regularly appearing on a small conservative
Youtube channel had brought me to the attention of
those who hated the channel’s owner. I couldn’t risk ordering
from dyers not knowing if they would accept my
order or share my personal details on the blacklist circulating
amongst anti-conservatives.
The blacklist contained the names of businesses and
well-known individuals who supported Ravelry’s smear
statement, and more importantly, those who didn’t. In
the USA, especially, there were brave businesses standing
up and opposing the nonsense, or at least declaring
neutrality.
For a long time I stopped ordering hand-dyed yarn.
Choosing, instead, to purchase big brand yarns and knitting
from stash.
Eventually the yearning for hand-dyed yarn returned.
I had remembered a couple of those brave USA dyers
and began intermittently ordering from them.
For quite some time the packages arrived from the
USA without any problems. Then, without warning, I received
a notification through the post demanding a payment
of £12 (≈$15) Customs and Duties VAT charges
plus £8 (≈$10) handling fees for a package. The package
contained yarn I had purchased for £60 (≈$71) including
postage and packaging. I vaguely remember each skein
being worth approximately $25 and the P&P to the UK
was around $20. So in total, after paying the UK Government
her taxes, I paid £80 (≈$95) for 2 skeins of yarn!
Things to consider if you are sending goods into the
UK or receiving goods from overseas into the UK:
Purchasing products online from overseas (UK)
ALL mail-order products bought overseas are subject
to 20% VAT. This isn’t just 20% of the product’s sale value.
20% VAT is also added to the P&P charges. On top of this
a handling fee of at least £8 (rising incrementally based
upon weight and size of the parcel) is charged by the
courier that delivers the package once the fees have
been paid.
For example, a UK resident orders one skein of yarn
from overseas for $25 plus P&P of between $10 and $80
(dependent on courier charges). At minimum, the resident
will be charged an extra $7 VAT plus $10 handling
fees. For one skein the grand total would be $52.
At the higher end the resident could be charged an
extra $21 VAT plus $10 handling fees. For one skein the
grand total could be up to $136.
Gift Horse Continued on next page
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