2020 Fashion on the Ration Challenge

Laura_Elsewhere

@maddiemay, thankyou! The jumper weighs almost nothing as well, as every second round of the body is silk. And oh yes, gotta have pocketses!!

PipneyJane

Laura_Elsewhere said:

That Tiki jumper that was too hot in October is just right now!

(The green silky skirt is actually level all round and only jsut below knee-length, but there's a weird optical illusion going on... pink straps are from my trusty little backpack's drawstrings)

I love your hat!  One of your creations, I assume?

To my eyes, the skirt hem looks right.  Not wavy or contorted.   Just shot at an angle.

- Pip

Laura_Elsewhere

@PipneyJane, the hat is the Autumnoro - a friend sent me a single skein of Noro Silk Garden a few years ago, and it knitted up beautifully, self-striping perfectly with the ridges of the hat (pattern 'Can't Save Zimbabwe', free on Rav)

PipneyJane

Laura_Elsewhere said:

@PipneyJane, the hat is the Autumnoro - a friend sent me a single skein of Noro Silk Garden a few years ago, and it knitted up beautifully, self-striping perfectly with the ridges of the hat (pattern 'Can't Save Zimbabwe', free on Rav)

Thanks. I'll check the pattern out on Rav.  It's a lovely hat.

- Pip

skogar

Super hat Laura. I love the skirt - its funny how it looks so much longer in the photo. it looks almost ankle length - must be the angle.

I have ordered some wool for some new projects (including the baable hat - when I get that far). I had done quite well this year at not buying any more wool and using what I had. The only thing I had bought until now was the ball I am using for the hats but  I am going to say that I was led astray by Pip. I have some nice wool for some presenty projects so if i start in January I might get something done in time for next Chritmas.

Now 2/3 of the  way through the second hat - the colour scheme still hasn't repeated in a normal way - it makes knitting more interesting as I don't know how it will look - I think so far the colours on the 1st hat are better. Now my pom pom maker has come (I know I can do it with cardboard circles but a pompom maker is faster) I will make some pompoms for them.

Debating what to make when I have finished the 2 hats - do I go for some matching mittens (not made any before so might not be a quick option) or do I go for another  hat.

My sister had been given a lot of wool by a man who's wife was a keen knitter who had died. She had passed it on to my Mum. I had thought it would just be odd balls so had asked my Mum about it as I thought I might find something suitable for doing an odd hat or similar. My Mum showed me it when I went round. It's mostly acrylic (but reasonable quality acrylic) and almost all types have enough to knit an adult jumper. Its a big bag and there is a lot of wool there so my Mum wants to use it. There is a quite pretty brown and beige double knit which my sister had hinted she would like a jumper in but it would take too long for me or my Mum but I have taken a ball (100g) as there would still be enough for a jumper if my Mum did relent and decide to knit her one and will see if I can do her a hat for Christmas, perhaps some wrist warmers as well if I have time. Quite a bit of the wool is white which is not very practical (given that most of my Mum's knitting is for my little nephew) so I wondered if anyone had any recommendations or tips  for dying acrylic wool.  My Mum has said I am free to have a pick of anything - however I had just bought the other wool so will stick with the one ball for the moment.

Liverpool_Anne

Hi, can I just ask if anybody has used curved knitting needles?  I was listening to the local radio station this morning and the presenter was asking for knitting stories. Among all the very funny stories about knitted swim wear was a story about a group of men seen knitting with curved needles while they sat and chatted. The men were probably seafarers as I know this was a common pastime for sailors and we live in a seaport but the curved needles intrigued me.
Hope you are all well, take care.
Anne

Laura_Elsewhere

Hi @Liverpool_Anne, 

I don't use curved needles, but they are a Known Thing - here is a brilliant article by a very knowledgeable and respected knitting historian about them with some excellent photographs https://theknittinggenie.com/2015/06/11/needled/

And they are back again in modern times - these are allegedly "best" for knitting socks on, although as the Knitting Genealogist says, it very mcuh depends on the knitter - I couldn't use these bent-angled ones at all! (Scroll down to the 'hybrid' and 'flexiknit' ones) https://knittingneedleguide.com/best-knitting-needles-for-socks/

I must say, when I've knitted at the much tighter gauge used in historical items, my longer metal DPNs end up quite curved. I knit like most commercial knitters of the past did, with the back-end of the right-hand needle anchored in my midriff, and therefore my right hand moves the yarn without holding the needle, and when you're knitting much more tightly, and fast, the anchored needle ends up with a curve on it, which actually then speeds things up in plain knitting as it has a 'spring' to it that blurs you along into the next stitch very rapidly. It doesn't happen with modern, coated, short DPNs, but with my older ones that are longer, yes, they end up fairly bendy!

PipneyJane

HI @Liverpool_Anne.  < waves >

skogar said:

Super hat Laura. I love the skirt - its funny how it looks so much longer in the photo. it looks almost ankle length - must be the angle.

I have ordered some wool for some new projects (including the baable hat - when I get that far). I had done quite well this year at not buying any more wool and using what I had. The only thing I had bought until now was the ball I am using for the hats but  I am going to say that I was led astray by Pip. I have some nice wool for some presenty projects so if i start in January I might get something done in time for next Chritmas.

Now 2/3 of the  way through the second hat - the colour scheme still hasn't repeated in a normal way - it makes knitting more interesting as I don't know how it will look - I think so far the colours on the 1st hat are better. Now my pom pom maker has come (I know I can do it with cardboard circles but a pompom maker is faster) I will make some pompoms for them.

Debating what to make when I have finished the 2 hats - do I go for some matching mittens (not made any before so might not be a quick option) or do I go for another  hat.

My work here is done.

My sister had been given a lot of wool by a man who's wife was a keen knitter who had died. She had passed it on to my Mum. I had thought it would just be odd balls so had asked my Mum about it as I thought I might find something suitable for doing an odd hat or similar. My Mum showed me it when I went round. It's mostly acrylic (but reasonable quality acrylic) and almost all types have enough to knit an adult jumper. Its a big bag and there is a lot of wool there so my Mum wants to use it. There is a quite pretty brown and beige double knit which my sister had hinted she would like a jumper in but it would take too long for me or my Mum but I have taken a ball (100g) as there would still be enough for a jumper if my Mum did relent and decide to knit her one and will see if I can do her a hat for Christmas, perhaps some wrist warmers as well if I have time. Quite a bit of the wool is white which is not very practical (given that most of my Mum's knitting is for my little nephew) so I wondered if anyone had any recommendations or tips  for dying acrylic wool.  My Mum has said I am free to have a pick of anything - however I had just bought the other wool so will stick with the one ball for the moment.

If you can knit a hat, you can knit a jumper.  To get an idea of how long it'd take, the amount of stitches in a hat corresponds to the back of a man's sweater, up to where you divide for the sleeves.  If there was sufficient yarn, you could always double up the DK and knit something that was graded for "chunky" or "bulky" weight, so making the knitting faster.

I know nothing about dying acrylic.  @Laura_Elsewhere?  Do you have any advice?

- Pip

Laura_Elsewhere

Dyeing acrylic yarn? Don't. 

It melts when heated, for one thing, so you can't use the methods reliant on heat. 
It disintegrates when soaked for a long time in acid, so you can't use those methods either... 

tbh, acrylic yarn is available so cheaply I would simply buy the colours... I have half a dozen balls of coloured acrylic I use for baby-stuff, and they all seem to be lasting approximately forever, as small sizes use very little yardage! 

Re white acrylic knitting for babies - the stuff is pretty stain-resistant and very machine-washable, so it's actually fairly useful for babies. You could always add a pattern in either the texture (by using decorative stitches in an all-white thing) or add other colours in stripes to distract the eye from any splodges that do occur. 

I made these in March in acrylic for one of My Intended's workmate's new infants. The stripes are cheerful, and distract from any stains! 



One other thing to think about - we know now that acrylic yarns (which are literally plastic string) give off millions and millions of tiny plastic fibres in the wash which are too small to be caught by the standard filters in the domestic systems, so end up in the oceans, in wildlife, in our drinking-water and so on, and all plastic ever made still exists, jsut in tinier and tinier particles, being found now in the brains of newborn babies, in the ice of the North Pole, at the top of the Himalayas, etc., but...
... you can buy laundry-bags that have a finer mesh to catch many of those particles and stop them going down the drain, so it would be a lovely idea to give the baby-clothes *with* a microplastic-catching laundry-bag. After all, who wants to give a baby a gift of pollution, when you could give it a gift of cosy new hat and mitts *and* a way to make their world a better place than we've managed?!  

PipneyJane

Thanks @Laura_Elsewhere.  I knew you’d know whether they could be dyed.  Very sensible points concerning acrylic yarns and micro plastic pollution..  I particularly like your suggestion re the laundry bag.   It hadn’t occurred to me.

I have a knitting update to report, but not photos, sorry.  18 days after I started knitting my Lady’s Lacy Jumper in the round, I’ve divided for the armholes.    After the struggles with the last jumper - still waiting for its arm seams to be sewn up - this one feels like flying.  I am NOT knitting every spare minute of the day. 

How are all your crafty endeavours doing?

- Pip