2020 Fashion on the Ration Challenge

Laura_Elsewhere

keepcalmandcraft said:

Lovely jumpers Pip.  I’m like you Laura, I only like knitting with thick wool and large needles so it grows quickly! 

Oh, I'm quite happy to knit socks and fingerless mitts and so on, in laceweight or 4-ply, and my crochet-lace wedding shawl in silk, that's now taking ages for each row and dozens yet to go (and then sewing all the tiny glass seed-beads on)... 

I just seem unwilling to commit myself to a jumper! 

Laura_Elsewhere

@joedenise - I'm lucky (I think!) as I actually enjoy the process of knitting and crocheting, so I happily experiment wildly and if it fails utterly, I just undo it and try something different  
I never learnt to crochet because I've yet to see anything made out of granny squares that I wanted to wear...! Just not my style at all... 

then I discovered you can make a kind of lace with crochet, and that was it... made my first Edlothia shawl (see pic) ten months after first holding a crochet hook... no fancy complicated stitches, in fact nothing you wouldn't find in a granny square! 
This is the pattern I'm making in much finer yarn, in pure silk, in colours of autumn leaves, most of it in muted copper-rose-fawn shades and towards the outer edge introducing bands of fiery orange-blackcurrant-flame-crimson silk. Then i shall sew tiny tiny glass seed-beads all over it, along the raised ridged lines, in reds and ambers... well, I shall only get married once, after all! 

PollyWollyDoodle

Interesting comments above, I love knitting because I find it soothing. I like the repetitive movements.  I enjoy sewing but it takes a lot more concentration and usually takes up more space. Knitting is something I can do in the evening while watching TV and it’s portable, I can take it away with me. 

TwibbleDee

Laura_Elsewhere said:

This is the pattern I'm making in much finer yarn, in pure silk, in colours of autumn leaves, most of it in muted copper-rose-fawn shades and towards the outer edge introducing bands of fiery orange-blackcurrant-flame-crimson silk. Then i shall sew tiny tiny glass seed-beads all over it, along the raised ridged lines, in reds and ambers... well, I shall only get married once, after all! 

That sounds absolutely gorgeous!

basketcase

Laura_Elsewhere said:

@CapricornLass - I had THE most vivid memory of a similar situation... again, luckily, under trousers but very loose-fitting trousers so the knicks were still actively rying to descend below hip-level whilst being held up in the middle - indescribably uncomfortable, trying to hoick and hang on, on both hips! 

It's obviously more common than you'd think.  I refuse to say how I know...

Cherryfudge

Oh dear I so want to see that finished shawl! Wonderful colours, exactly wrong for me but that doesn't stop me admiring!
I have a pack of socks to declare - four pairs, which I think is four points, bringing me to 15.5 out of 66.

basketcase

@Laura_Elsewhere and @PipneyJane

What amazing things you make.  I'm surrounded by incredibly talented people.  Luckily, my DD laughs at my photographic skills, so I'm safe from comparison!

PipneyJane

Laura_Elsewhere said:

@joedenise - I'm lucky (I think!) as I actually enjoy the process of knitting and crocheting, so I happily experiment wildly and if it fails utterly, I just undo it and try something different  
I never learnt to crochet because I've yet to see anything made out of granny squares that I wanted to wear...! Just not my style at all... 

then I discovered you can make a kind of lace with crochet, and that was it... made my first Edlothia shawl (see pic) ten months after first holding a crochet hook... no fancy complicated stitches, in fact nothing you wouldn't find in a granny square! 
This is the pattern I'm making in much finer yarn, in pure silk, in colours of autumn leaves, most of it in muted copper-rose-fawn shades and towards the outer edge introducing bands of fiery orange-blackcurrant-flame-crimson silk. Then i shall sew tiny tiny glass seed-beads all over it, along the raised ridged lines, in reds and ambers... well, I shall only get married once, after all! 

@Laura_Elsewhere, can’t you crochet in the beads or are the holes too small?  If you’ve never heard of the technique, you slip the bead onto the shank of a very thin crochet hook then use that to slip it over the stitch loop, then crochet (or knit) the stitch with the bead already captured on the loop.  (As an alternative to a tiny crochet hook, I use Oral-B Super Floss, which is thin and stiff and can hold multiple beads at once.)

@MrsCD, it takes me about 3 months to knit a jumper in 4-ply.  I don’t get a lot of knitting time - maybe 2 hours on a good night - so I try to utilise every available minute.  If I’m sitting, watching the TV, then I’m knitting.  If I’m a passenger in the car, then I’m (usually) knitting on the sock-de-jour.  Ditto if I’m on a train or a plane. 

- Pip

Laura_Elsewhere

@PipneyJane - I could crochet the beads on, but yes, they are far too small - I'm using tiny seed beads, roccailes - about 1.2mm diameter, so really not feasible - but also, until I've finished it, I don't know where I want amber and where I want crimson and where I want gold, whether I want them mixed up or in lines of colour, what the spacing is, etc... and finally, the yarn is cobweb-one-ply held triple, so it would be awkward getting the beads on, as it's far too thick for the holes! 

The idea is that they are barely visible but just catch the light as hundreds of tiny pinpoints of colour sparkling and flashing as the shawl moves...

In the pic, I am holding an extra-fine sewing-pin with half a dozen of the beads on...

I am just making this up as I go along, entirely  

PipneyJane

Laura_Elsewhere said:

@PipneyJane - I could crochet the beads on, but yes, they are far too small - I'm using tiny seed beads, roccailes - about 1.2mm diameter, so really not feasible - but also, until I've finished it, I don't know where I want amber and where I want crimson and where I want gold, whether I want them mixed up or in lines of colour, what the spacing is, etc... and finally, the yarn is cobweb-one-ply held triple, so it would be awkward getting the beads on, as it's far too thick for the holes! 

The idea is that they are barely visible but just catch the light as hundreds of tiny pinpoints of colour sparkling and flashing as the shawl moves...

In the pic, I am holding an extra-fine sewing-pin with half a dozen of the beads on...

I am just making this up as I go along, entirely  

Laura - you are so talented.  I have no idea how you visualised the concept behind the beads on the shawl.  I am in awe.

- Pip