A Simpler Life 2018

westcoastscot

I have a small built in wardrobe, and have the doors open with a loose broom handle over the top of them. I have this "seasons" clothes hanging on this and summer clothing within the wardrobe - I switch them over for winter and summer.

What a lovely thread!!!!
I've always lived a simple life, as spent many years living on the side of a very remote hill. I rarely throw anything away, as it is almost always useful, especially if you only purchase useful things in the first place! They key for us is to know what you have, and where to find it when you need it. I don;t grow a lot of food now I'm on the mainland, but still grow some, but I still eat seasonally, and healthily. I bake every day, it's just part of my routine. I sew and knit my clothes, and mend them as they need it. I often re-cycle clothing into something new, and unravel knitted items to re-knit. If you don't really engage with consumerism then when it crosses your path it doesn't really impact. My children are grown now, and although they live a more "mainstream" life now than they did, they still all cook, sew, garden etc on a regular basis, as do the partners they have chosen!
I've almost given up work now due to ill health, and i'm finding it interesting to adapt my lifestyle to suit my present capabilities and needs. For instance, I now have a fabby food mixer/processor/blender which allows me to continue to cook and bake -t's brilliant!
Will follow with interest! WCS

lessonlearned

Ah thanks Mary B......I think we can all learn from each other. That’s why I like this community so much.:D

Well I have just spent a happy hour tidying up my cupboards. I think that after my holiday then I shall get down to Kondo Round 3. I still have serious amounts of “stuff”.

Maybe I can raise some extra funds whilst I’m at it. That would be nice.

Shattered now so time for a cuppa and maybe a little nap before I get dinner on the go.

Sayschezza

The hardest thing for me is to keep my mouth shut over injustice. On a mundane level my OH criticises every one else on the road and I automatically spring to their defence if they haven’t done anything dire. Why I have to defend people I will never know and who I have never seen is a mystery but it’s something I must stop doing because it always ends in a row.

[Deleted User]

westcoastscot wrote: »

... I sew and knit my clothes, and mend them as they need it. I often re-cycle clothing into something new, and unravel knitted items to re-knit..

I am currently knitting a new (from old) cotton, crew neck jumper for myself.

My husband has lost weight recently and so a jumper I knitted for him is too big. So, I unraveled the yarn and I will have enough to make me a jumper instead. It is a really lovely, soft, blue cotton yarn too.

I am thinking of starting to sew my own clothes again too. As mentioned as I am tall and big nothing really ever fits me from the shops.

Well_Preserved

That raises something I've been thinking about for a while. I've seen how to take down a woollen garment, and treat the yarn so that it's suitable to knit into something new, but most of the jumpers etc in the charity shops these days aren't pure wool, even if they're hand knits. Are the synthetic yarns treated in the same way for reuse, if you get my meaning?

fuddle

WCS it's so lovely to have you back. I'm saddened to read that your health has been poor though. Hopefully being able to take it easier will help. I'm looking forward to seeing you more regularly.

LameWolf

fuddle wrote: »

Oh yes. My big aim for a simpler life is not to interpret comments as being attacking or stinging. I'm not daft, they generally are with some people, but I'm trying to not be so sensitive. In brushing things off I have worked out that I can remain calm, not experience negative emotions, not have my confidence stripped, not react and subsequently make myself look stupid.

I had twinges round my heart, tachycardia and out of the ordinary high blood pressure after a terrible episode with MiL a month or so ago. I absorbed it emotionally and saw the effect it had on my health.

Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me... I'm trying!

The problem I have in this regard is that I cannot read facial expressions. So I have absolutely no idea if the person speaking is making a joke, being deliberately unpleasant, or something else entirely. As a result, I tend to take what people say literally, which has landed me in hot water on many occasions.

GreyQueen

Well_Preserved wrote: »

That raises something I've been thinking about for a while. I've seen how to take down a woollen garment, and treat the yarn so that it's suitable to knit into something new, but most of the jumpers etc in the charity shops these days aren't pure wool, even if they're hand knits. Are the synthetic yarns treated in the same way for reuse, if you get my meaning?

I''ve done the dismantling on many occasions, was taught by my mother, so can put my two'pennorth into the issue.

Handknit jumpers etc are fully-fashioned, by which is meant that each section (back, front, sleeves) is knitted as a separate piece and sewn together afterwards. So, you can separate the pieces, and unravel each section, skein and wash the yarn and re-knit.

Shop-bought knitwear is mostly cut-and-sew. This means that a section of knit fabric is created in much the same way as a length of cloth. This length is cut into pattern pieces, assembled and overlocked.

What that means from the pov of the would-be dismantler, is that every length of the yarn is severed at each end, so your unravelling gets you a lot of very short ends, probably no more than 2 ft long at the best, and mostly shorter. Obviously, if you were in a place with no material to work with whatsoever, it might be worth your time to gain lots of short lengths and splice/ knot them together, but mostly it isn't worth doing.

Although we tend to use the word 'wool' generically for all things knitable, most yarns are not wool at all. Unless something is specifically wool or cotton, most yarns are petroleum by-products. When you knit an acrylic yarn, it kinks where the stitches shape it. The longer its knitted up, the kinkier it it.

You can skein and hand-wash an acrylic yarn and the kinks will 'relax' slightly but they will still be kinky. This doesn't mean they're unknitable, but it does mean that the result is less comely than if a wool is treated the same way.

I once dismantled a very very old wool bed-jacket and skeined and washed it. I can still recall my astonishment at how this wool, which was very kinky and had been a garment for about 40-odd years, relaxed completely within seconds of hitting the water. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. It came up and re-knitted most beautifully.

The reason wool 'recovers' so wonderfully is that the fibre is hollow. This is also the reason for many of its fine properties of warmth even when wet etc etc.

Of course, there are plenty of blended yarns out there, and they will tend to lean towards the qualities of whichever fibre is dominant in the blend.

If you have some yarn and you don't know what you've got, there are a few really easy things you can do. Such as winding a length between your hands and tugging. If it breaks easily it's likely to be wool. If it breaks with difficulty, it's probably a blend. If it refuses to break and leaves red weals in your fingers, dollars to doughnuts, it's a pure synthetic.:rotfl:

You can also take a small bit of it and hold a match to the end - do this over a saucer or something. A natural fibre will burn and produce a grey ash. A pure synthetic will produce a black oily residue. A blend will be partway between the two.

If you're ever tempted to unravel mohair or other shaggy novelty yarns, just do into your room and hit yourself repeatedly on the head with a hammer (the level of pain and unproductiveness will be about on par with the unravelling you've attempted).

I also make hooked rugs and have made several wholly or majorly from unravelled garments. It's great to make something lovely and useful from spare materials, the technique is so easy a child can do it (I made my first full-sized rug aged 9 and had assisted on many others beforehand) and they last for decades.

[Deleted User]

GreyQueen wrote: »

...
Although we tend to use the word 'wool' generically for all things knitable, most yarns are not wool at all. Unless something is specifically wool or cotton, most yarns are petroleum by-products. When you knit an acrylic yarn, it kinks where the stitches shape it. The longer its knitted up, the kinkier it it...

For this reason I would re-knit such yarn with a pattern for the new garment. Not a 'fancy' pattern, but one that would hide the wibbly wool, such as seed stitch).

GreyQueen

Excellent choice, bramble stitch is also pretty good for this purpose. Always worth remembering that there will be some losses when pulling out garments, some bits you snip when you don't mean to, and some very worn bits like elbows, cuffs etc which may need to be discarded.

Righty, am off to forage in the fridge, penultimate meal before going away, so need to see what needs eating up and make arrangements. I have a few carrots, one HG leek, a pkt of YS stir fry, a small steak and four wombled pears and some yoghurt. Some will be eaten and some prepped for the freezer. Onwards in simplicity and beyoooooooooooond!