2020 Fashion on the Ration Challenge

CAFCGirl

PipneyJane said:

CAFCGirl said:

A coupon spend to report!
9 coupons spent on yarn. They'll be used for making a plant, yoga socks, leg warmers and whatever the excess ends can be put into - make fingerless mittens or a hat etc

A plant?  Please explain.
- Pip

I have managed to create a pattern for a succulent/Christmas cactus looking thing, which looks (if I do say so myself) adorable in a terracotta plant pot on my desk. I will endeavour to get a photo of it shared.....

PollyWollyDoodle

Wow, that’s fabulous!  You are clever - I don’t think I’ll ever reach the point of creating patterns. 

Laura_Elsewhere

PollyWollyDoodle said:

I don’t think I’ll ever reach the point of creating patterns. 

Just experiment! I wasted ten years laboriously and confusedly following published knitting patterns and then chucked caution to the winds and just sat down and experimented - the pattern says to do this and this to have a right-twisting cable in knitting, so can i figure out how to do a left-twisting one without being told? Yes, i do that and that... ooh, wonder if I can put them together to make a sort of plait... er, oh, no, that wasn't what I wanted... tink, tink, tink... perhaps if I try that and this and that - yes, that's done it!

It's how we learn language and walking and using a knife and fork and doing make-up and so many other things - but for some reason with needlework, we have this barrier that says we must ONLY do what we are told we are allowed to do by a published pattern... 

Be human - experiment!  

PipneyJane

That is stunning @CAFCGirl !!

@PollyWollyDoodle, If you want to create or modify knitting patterns, three things are your friends:  1) your tension square; 2) your measurements; and 3) having some good reference patterns.  A lot of people swear by Ann Budd's Handy Book of Sweaters to use as a starting point. If I'm making up something "vintage" in 4-ply, I'll often study the patterns in Susan Crawford's A Stitch In Time, to see how she shaped the neck or armhole.  (I've knitted a few of Susan's patterns, so know how they fit on my body.)

Actually, there is a fourth thing:  graph paper.  Nothing beats charting out a lace or cabled pattern, so that you can visualise how it looks "in the wool".   A chart is much easier to follow than a written pattern, since you can compare it to your work and see where you are, at any point in your knitting.

- Pip

borscht

Am I too late to join?
This year, I've bought one sports bra (just before the lockdown, thank goodness) and one pair of tracksuit bottoms. So I think that's 1.5 for the bra and 6 for the trackies = 7.5 so far.
If socks take 100g yarn to knit, that makes them more expensive (2) than bought socks (1). Is that right?
What do I do about fabric stash, should I assume that's free because I've already got it? Ditto yarn, actually. 
Are zips and buttons free, like thread?

PipneyJane

borscht said:

Am I too late to join?
This year, I've bought one sports bra (just before the lockdown, thank goodness) and one pair of tracksuit bottoms. So I think that's 1.5 for the bra and 6 for the trackies = 7.5 so far.
If socks take 100g yarn to knit, that makes them more expensive (2) than bought socks (1). Is that right?
What do I do about fabric stash, should I assume that's free because I've already got it? Ditto yarn, actually. 
Are zips and buttons free, like thread?

Hello @borscht.  Another dressmaker!  Welcome to the Challenge.  No, you aren’t too late to join.  Please position a chair at a socially distant space and join our crafting circle.  How do you like your tea?  I’ll put the kettle on.

Yes, you have calculated things correctly.  A ball of 4-ply sock yarn is usually 100g and costs 2 coupons but I can knit a pair of mid-calf socks to fit my size 5 feet in 63g; less if I make them shorter.  I often buy 2 balls of the same sock yarn at a time and will make three pairs: a  pair for me, one for my DH and one to give away to friends/family.  (I’ll put a round of blue yarn in the toes of DH’s socks, so we can tell they’re his.)

Pre-existing items in your yarn and fabric stash are coupon free.  Are you a knitter or a crocheter?  Any stash enhancement will cost you coupons.  Zips and buttons are coupon free, as is biased binding and ribbon.


- Pip

borscht

PipneyJane said:

borscht said:

Am I too late to join?
This year, I've bought one sports bra (just before the lockdown, thank goodness) and one pair of tracksuit bottoms. So I think that's 1.5 for the bra and 6 for the trackies = 7.5 so far.
If socks take 100g yarn to knit, that makes them more expensive (2) than bought socks (1). Is that right?
What do I do about fabric stash, should I assume that's free because I've already got it? Ditto yarn, actually. 
Are zips and buttons free, like thread?

Hello @borscht.  Another dressmaker!  Welcome to the Challenge.  No, you aren’t too late to join.  Please position a chair at a socially distant space and join our crafting circle.  How do you like your tea?  I’ll put the kettle on.

Yes, you have calculated things correctly.  A ball of 4-ply sock yarn is usually 100g and costs 2 coupons but I can knit a pair of mid-calf socks to fit my size 5 feet in 63g; less if I make them shorter.  I often buy 2 balls of the same sock yarn at a time and will make three pairs: a  pair for me, one for my DH and one to give away to friends/family.  (I’ll put a round of blue yarn in the toes of DH’s socks, so we can tell they’re his.)

Pre-existing items in your yarn and fabric stash are coupon free.  Are you a knitter or a crocheter?  Any stash enhancement will cost you coupons.  Zips and buttons are coupon free, as is biased binding and ribbon.


- Pip

Tea: very weak (appropriate for stretching the ration that bit further).
Good news about the fabric and yarn stash, thank you. I sew, knit and spin. 
Where does handspun yarn fall, do you think, if made from roving (prepared wool fleece)? Does roving have points?

CAFCGirl

you spin?!
What a fantastic skill to have learned!
@Laura_Elsewhere I got a soulful hug and love from your post - 'be human - experiment'
What a gloriously beautiful sentiment. I may jot that down for my craft space wall

PipneyJane

borscht said:

PipneyJane said:

borscht said:

Am I too late to join?
This year, I've bought one sports bra (just before the lockdown, thank goodness) and one pair of tracksuit bottoms. So I think that's 1.5 for the bra and 6 for the trackies = 7.5 so far.
If socks take 100g yarn to knit, that makes them more expensive (2) than bought socks (1). Is that right?
What do I do about fabric stash, should I assume that's free because I've already got it? Ditto yarn, actually. 
Are zips and buttons free, like thread?

Hello @borscht.  Another dressmaker!  Welcome to the Challenge.  No, you aren’t too late to join.  Please position a chair at a socially distant space and join our crafting circle.  How do you like your tea?  I’ll put the kettle on.

Yes, you have calculated things correctly.  A ball of 4-ply sock yarn is usually 100g and costs 2 coupons but I can knit a pair of mid-calf socks to fit my size 5 feet in 63g; less if I make them shorter.  I often buy 2 balls of the same sock yarn at a time and will make three pairs: a  pair for me, one for my DH and one to give away to friends/family.  (I’ll put a round of blue yarn in the toes of DH’s socks, so we can tell they’re his.)

Pre-existing items in your yarn and fabric stash are coupon free.  Are you a knitter or a crocheter?  Any stash enhancement will cost you coupons.  Zips and buttons are coupon free, as is biased binding and ribbon.


- Pip

Tea: very weak (appropriate for stretching the ration that bit further).
Good news about the fabric and yarn stash, thank you. I sew, knit and spin. 
Where does handspun yarn fall, do you think, if made from roving (prepared wool fleece)? Does roving have points?

Hmmm.... Fleece, if you could get hold of it, didn’t cost points.   It was just very difficult to get if you didn’t live on a sheep farm or weren’t personal friends with the farmer’s wife.  There are stories about women going “wool gathering”, picking bits of wool out of hedgerows, but that was highly unpredictable.  If you think you have a problem with roving, treat it as if it was yarn and cost the same points.  (By “problem” I mean, if you can’t resist buying it and have quite a stash already.). Whatever you spin, doesn’t cost any additional coupons.

- Pip

keepcalmandcraft

I watched The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society film on catch-up last night (it’s available for another 3 days on iPlayer).  I loved it and was checking out all the costumes, I especially liked the gold dress. 

I love the cactus CAFCgirl, I may have to have a go at that for my daughter who loves cacti. 

I’ve been trying to use up my fabric stash (it will take years and years) and made a dress from some teal stretchy lace with sequins.  I didn’t have enough of the right colour lining so I made it without lining and will wear it with a black camisole and underskirt.  It fits beautifully and I’m so pleased with it. (Photo hopefully attached). Just need somewhere to go to wear it now!