2020 Fashion on the Ration Challenge

PipneyJane

thriftwizard said:

OK, I've forgotten - how many coupons do I need to hand over for 2 x pairs of leggings, and 2 x roll-neck tops, to be worn as kind-of vests? I've just "killed" my last intact pair of leggings whilst constructing shelves for my new greenhouse; I'll be able to darn them & use them for pottering, but certainly couldn't wear them outside the home any longer! And I was down to just a couple of roll-neck tops, which make wearing wool jumpers possible for me, so needed a couple more. I scoured our local charity shops, but wasn't able to find any roll or polo-necks at all, never mind anything in acceptable colours! 

@thriftwizard Leggings are 2 coupons each.  “Kind of vests” fit into “other garments” description, which is 3 coupons each.  If they’re matching sets, so could be described as “combinations” that’d be 4 coupons for each set.  

Incidentally, I checked out the men’s section and they have woollen combinations listed as 8 coupons, other materials as 5, so I think we get away with it more easily.

Good luck with the sorting out, @skogar.  I need to do it too.  There’s a drawer under the bed where good clothes go to die.  It’s in the awkward spot that involves moving stuff, so that I can open it.  I’m certain a couple of good jumpers are hiding in there, that I haven’t worn in ages, which would be perfect for wearing to work from home. 

@Laura_Elsewhere, stunning colours.  Thanks for the dying advice.

You know that pair of socks I’ve been knitting since February?  Well, the second sock will actually get finished this week!  We’re off tomorrow for a holiday - spending a few days near Gloucester - and I’m not planning on taking my main knitting project with me, just my sock kit.  Yesterday, I went stash diving for another skein of sock yarn to knit and came up with a pale grey that I bought in 2015.  As I type this, I realise what was bugging me about it - I wanted something mindless for the next sock, something self-striping would be good - while the yarn selected will be perfect for something lacy but that’s not necessarily mindless...  

And my brain has just kicked into gear.  Two of the skeins I discounted yesterday as “not being big enough because they’ve been knitted from” should be about 70g each.  They’re different self-striping colour ways.  Both of them were purchased to knit socks for my “office husbands” for Christmas 2014.  I bought 2x100g balls of each colourway, so that there would be enough left over to knit myself a pair of the socks - done - and another pair as a present for someone else.  I’ll take one of them instead and make a pair for DH.  Might have to do contrast toes for his size 11 feet, but he won’t mind.  (And it’ll mean he won’t confuse them with my pair.)

- Pip

Laura_Elsewhere

First crumble of the season coming up tonight... 

Recipes all seem to be "this is a wartime dessert!" and in the same breath they use two parts flour to one part sugar and one part butter, which doesn't make any sense on rationing! 
So I hunted about and found a mention of someone's Grandad who used to make his using water to make the crumble-texture... I tried and it's lovely, nice and crisp and light! 
So now I use 150g oats, 35g butter (instead of 75g), and just 10g of sugar (instead of 75g!), and it works nicely... Nic hates oats, all oats, can' stand them at all, but I whizz them in our tiny food-mixer til they're like wholemeal flour and he's quite happy, albeit a bit surprised that they taste fine...  

TwibbleDee

I made an apple pie yesterday...by dumping a can of apple pie filling in a frozen crust and baking it.

Hubby asked if there was supposed to be evidence left today.

PipneyJane

Laura_Elsewhere said:

First crumble of the season coming up tonight... 

Recipes all seem to be "this is a wartime dessert!" and in the same breath they use two parts flour to one part sugar and one part butter, which doesn't make any sense on rationing! 
So I hunted about and found a mention of someone's Grandad who used to make his using water to make the crumble-texture... I tried and it's lovely, nice and crisp and light! 
So now I use 150g oats, 35g butter (instead of 75g), and just 10g of sugar (instead of 75g!), and it works nicely... Nic hates oats, all oats, can' stand them at all, but I whizz them in our tiny food-mixer til they're like wholemeal flour and he's quite happy, albeit a bit surprised that they taste fine...  

Sounds lovely, @Laura_Elsewhere. No flour, I gather.  Do you add any water?  I’m tempted to try it, even though DH isn’t a fan of stewed apple.  (I like crumble.)

TwibbleDee said:

I made an apple pie yesterday...by dumping a can of apple pie filling in a frozen crust and baking it.

Hubby asked if there was supposed to be evidence left today.

  
- Pip

Laura_Elsewhere

@PipneyJane - I whizz the 150g oats til it's like rough flour, hen add 35g butter and whizz til it's a claggy mess then I tip it into a bowl and add tiny amounts of water and stir with an old table-knife (NOT a spoon) until it's pebbly and crumbly. Then tip it onto the fruit (which I usually ping first, just 1-2 minutes, a couple of times with a few minutes between, jsut to start the fruit cooking in the middles), and use the knife to fill any gaps without pressing it down at all. 
then I always have to look up a couple of recipes on google to find out how to cook it   Oh and no lid!!  

PipneyJane

Thanks @Laura_Elsewhere.  I may attempt it at some point, if I score a load of berries.

I completely forgot to tell you about my shopping trip yesterday.  Rather than do our usual walk, we walked into Uxbridge to buy the Sunday paper from there and I had a quick mooch around some of the shops.    In the Thames Hospice charity shop, I scored a “Next Tailoring” tweed jacket for £7.    The weave is closest to Harris Tweed but the colours are blue, grey and black.  Tiny squares.  It’s 54% wool.  It looks great over jeans and I reckon it’ll look good with the Celtic Sheepskin kilt I purchased last month.  I checked it for wear and it looks as if it has never been worn. 

Incidentally, DH got his iPhone fixed at one of the repair shops on the high street.  It’s 4 years old and had a dodgy battery connector so was a pain to charge.  £34 to fix it and he’ll probably get another year out of the phone before Apple stop refreshing the operating system for that model.

- Pip

CraftyLittleLisa

No new spends to report as yet but I have been crafting still.  I finished making for my friend's pamper hamper.  I did the bedsocks and have since made a scarf, reusable make up remover pads and a lavender pillow all from my stash.  I also made a scarf for myself from my stash so nil coupons.  I have also used my stash to make some curtains for my dolls house that I have been upcycling.  I want to do some embroidery on them so they aren't completely finished but they are in the house.

I went through my project drawer and cleared out the little jobs.  I washed some fabric today to make a top for Christmas.  I'm looking forward to making something for myself next.

skogar

Well sorted out the clothes drawers. Not looking too bad now a bit low on socks, pants and t-shirts but good on everything else. mind you, I have known I was short of these things for ages but haven't bought any replacements so no surprises there. Looking at my ancient 100% cotton polo shirts - I wonder how I will get ones that hardwearing - they came from Edinburgh Woollen Mill when I was a student so at least 20 years old and they have been worn a lot.

Pip - it's funny you should say about hidden drawers. I remembered that my scarves are in the top drawer of a small chest of drawers in a small room we use as a computer room. I couldn't remember what was in the other drawers. I found a missing pair of pyjamas that I've been wondering where they had gone and 4 pairs of thick black tights (2 normal, 2 woolly ones) and the same in navy. Navy ones still in the packet. A good find. I've pretty much switched over to leggings rather than tights but good to know I have some warm tights if needed.  I've also found enough wintery tops suitable for wearing with trousers and skirts which had sunk without trace....

CapricornLass

Afternoon everyone!  Hope you are all ok, and not getting too wet in this rain!
I've got a spend to declare: pair of walking trousers and a belt - one of those webbing ones rather than leather.  I can't find any mention of points for belts, but its 6 points for the trousers, giving me a total spend of 32 points so far out of 85.  

PipneyJane

CapricornLass said:

Afternoon everyone!  Hope you are all ok, and not getting too wet in this rain!
I've got a spend to declare: pair of walking trousers and a belt - one of those webbing ones rather than leather.  I can't find any mention of points for belts, but its 6 points for the trousers, giving me a total spend of 32 points so far out of 85.  

I’m pretty sure fabric belts were free.

Afternoon everyone.  Tonight is our last night near Gloucester and we spent most of today in Cheltenham.  I think I visited every charity shop.  Didn’t find anything, clothes-wise.  There was a pair of shoes that took my fancy but, when I had a good look at them, I was put off by the wear.

I do have some coupon spends to declare.  There’s a lovely yarn shop next to Gloucester cathedral, Miju Wools in College Street.  Very friendly and they stock a range of German sock yarns,  Gruendl*, which I’ve never seen before.  It’s in a 50g “put up” and cost £2.75 per ball.  On Wednesday, I left with 4 balls in a washed-denim blue, thinking I could make 3 pairs of socks.  Yesterday, I went back and bought 2 more, having decided to make a jumper instead.  (What’s that I heard?  Who said “yarn diet?”.  Was it you, behind the hatch in the kitchen?) 

I had another reason for returning to Miju Wools.  Do you remember the black socks that I was knitting our of (long discontinued) Regia Angora Merino sock yarn?  Well, 35 rounds down the foot of the second sock, I lost at yarn chicken.    Since I only bought my sock kit with me on holiday, I needed to finish these socks before I could start on a pair for DH.  The only black, 4-ply sock yarn they had was Cygnet Truly Wool Rich but I’d already decided that any black sock yarn would do, so purchased a skein of that.  (NB:  I’ve tried previously to buy some out of people’s stashes on Ravelry.  It’s all been used up.).  

7 coupons spent.

To review the Cygnet yarn, it’s not bad.  Very reasonably priced  £2.75 per 50g ball. Tightly spun and doesn’t split.  The only grumble I have is that it felt a little rough to my hands.  I’d swear I can feel the nylon.  (I had a similar experience, years ago, with King Cole ZigZag sock yarn.)  Anyway, the socks are finished and I can’t see the difference.  I’ll take a photo tomorrow, in the daylight, and share it with you once we get home.

- Pip



*Spelt G R U-with an umlaut  D L.