2020 Fashion on the Ration Challenge

Laura_Elsewhere

Anyone adversely affected by Ravelry's re-design please note that if you go to your Profile in top-right corner, it gives an option for "Classic Ravelry" which will take it back to looking how it did. They also have a new thread daily in For The Love of Rav, for people to let them know what they think.

(the new design , by a designer brought in specially, who specialises in the "User Experience" side of web-design, has caused tens of thousands of people worldwide to have migraines, eye-pain, nausea, dizziness, vertigo, etc., etc. including many who have never had those problems before... I won't go into my opinions, but will say that I was one of the people physically unable to use the site for more than perhaps 90 seconds or so before feeling so ill I had to close it)

maryb

HMMM  I may shortly have to declare more coupons than I want to.  I ordered two pairs of shoes from Hotter so I could decide between them knowing I would be sending one back.  Now I see in the Telegraph they are on the verge of collapse.  Hope I manage to get at least one pair sent back and my money back in time

Laura_Elsewhere

Gosh, I hadn't seen that! I had assumed they would be fine, as they are mail-order based, aren't they?

We shall have more of those, I fear, before the dust settles... 

PipneyJane

@diminua, you don’t live that far from me, I think.  (We’re near Heathrow.). Sadly, there will be a lot of shops teetering on the edge.  Hope none of our favourites go bust.  How much were you charged for your mask?

Ditto, @maryb.  I don’t know Hotter personally, but it will be sad if they go under.  So many people losing their jobs.  Hope you paid by credit card.

Laura_Elsewhere said:

Anyone adversely affected by Ravelry's re-design please note that if you go to your Profile in top-right corner, it gives an option for "Classic Ravelry" which will take it back to looking how it did. They also have a new thread daily in For The Love of Rav, for people to let them know what they think.

(the new design , by a designer brought in specially, who specialises in the "User Experience" side of web-design, has caused tens of thousands of people worldwide to have migraines, eye-pain, nausea, dizziness, vertigo, etc., etc. including many who have never had those problems before... I won't go into my opinions, but will say that I was one of the people physically unable to use the site for more than perhaps 90 seconds or so before feeling so ill I had to close it)

How horrible for you, Laura.

I haven’t spent much time on Ravelry this weekend, but I didn’t like the new look.  I’ve swapped back.  They seem to have followed the trend to make it look more like a phone app, which I find annoying when browsing on a computer.  (My bank did this years ago - it takes an awful lot more screen space to see the same amount of data.)

One thing I forgot to mention earlier is that I’m still working on the “Milk Bleaching Project”.  I am kicking myself that I didn’t take a “before” photo.  About a month ago, I soaked my cream jumper in a bucket of reconstituted dried whole milk for several hours.  It made a difference to the overall colour of the jumper, returning it to a brighter shade of cream.  It had some effect on the stain, but not as much as I’d hoped.  Since then, I’ve doused the stained area several times, soaking it and working the milk in then letting it dry in.  The stain has shrunk from a block of a dozen stitches spread over 3 or 4 rows to just 3 or 4 stitches.  It is light enough that I have to look for it it — it doesn’t immediately catch the eye, like it used to. 

Thanks again, Laura, for suggesting milk.  I will continue to douse the spot, etc, every time I wash the jumper.

- Pip  (For some reason, the Forum does not want to talk to the photo library on my iPad today, or I’d post the photo I took after the first soak and one showing the current stain.)

diminua

PipneyJane said:

@diminua, you don’t live that far from me, I think.  (We’re near Heathrow.). Sadly, there will be a lot of shops teetering on the edge.  Hope none of our favourites go bust.  How much were you charged for your mask?

Hi Pip. No, I'm not far - I'm near Mitcham Common, which is about halfway between Wimbledon and Croydon. 
It's the cafes I really noticed. I went into one to get coffee and cake to have in the park - little independent Italian place that used to have a few tables for hot food as well and was always full with a queue out the door at lunchtime - and there's no-one there. On my way back to the tube I counted 7 coffee/sandwich chains and 5 independents. Which was obviously only sustainable because so many office workers commuted in each day.  I don't know what they'll do now. 
The mask was £5 - which since it's washable I'm quite happy with.  

missychrissy

I’ve not posted on here before but I often read it. I know I’m too late this year to join the challenge but I will join in next year if that ok. I just want to say I’m shocked to hear about Hotter shoes. I don’t buy from anywhere else because I have extra wide feet. That’s a disaster!

Laura_Elsewhere

missychrissy said:

I’ve not posted on here before but I often read it. I know I’m too late this year to join the challenge but I will join in next year if that ok. I just want to say I’m shocked to hear about Hotter shoes. I don’t buy from anywhere else because I have extra wide feet. That’s a disaster!

You could always join in as of June 30th with half the year's points, ie six months and 33 points!  

I did dreadfully the first year I tried, and was buying on the black market from spivs like Mr Asda and Mr Primark by November because I'd run out of points completely... the second year I ended with a handful of points which felt amazing, and this year has gone even better although I am about to spend lots soon... but I only get married once, so...  

maddiemay

My LYS has just re-opened, the owner is going to have one of her knitters make me another sweater/tunic in Rowan Felted Tweed DK, it is a birthday/shielding present to myself.  After texting her the sort of colour I wanted she called by and stood outside my house showing me 4 balls of yarn she had selected, I want a blue/grey to wear with navy, denim and grey clothes. I think the one I have chosen may be called Seasalter, annoyingly they only show the colour number not the shade name on the lables.
7 points used, leaving me with 48, no other spends planned ATM, but might buy some new knickers.  I need a couple of bras, but have to wait until I can get fitted, whenever that might be.

missychrissy

Ok thanks, I’ll join on June 30th. The only clothes I’ve bought this year are 2 T shirts, one pair of jeans and a pack of 4 knickers so I’m not the biggest spender on clothes. I’m retired and my usual ‘uniform’ consists of jeans or jeggings, T shirts and fleeces or cardigans. 

My wardrobes are full of size 8/10 clothes but since retirement have piled on quite a bit of weight. This might just be the prod I need to lose a bit.

I’m a knitter but I’ve never made a pair of socks so that’s now on my to do list. I can’t remember learning to knit so I must have been quite young. I can remember knitting classes at junior school (1950s) and finding them a bit easy. i remember the headmaster making me stand in front of the whole school showing them the jumper I had made and was wearing aged 10.

I’m looking forward to joining you.

PipneyJane

diminua said:

PipneyJane said:

@diminua, you don’t live that far from me, I think.  (We’re near Heathrow.). Sadly, there will be a lot of shops teetering on the edge.  Hope none of our favourites go bust.  How much were you charged for your mask?

Hi Pip. No, I'm not far - I'm near Mitcham Common, which is about halfway between Wimbledon and Croydon. 
It's the cafes I really noticed. I went into one to get coffee and cake to have in the park - little independent Italian place that used to have a few tables for hot food as well and was always full with a queue out the door at lunchtime - and there's no-one there. On my way back to the tube I counted 7 coffee/sandwich chains and 5 independents. Which was obviously only sustainable because so many office workers commuted in each day.  I don't know what they'll do now. 
The mask was £5 - which since it's washable I'm quite happy with.  

I know the place, @diminua.  I’ve eaten there on multiple occasions with my godson and his dad.  They do great icecream.  

missychrissy said:

Ok thanks, I’ll join on June 30th. The only clothes I’ve bought this year are 2 T shirts, one pair of jeans and a pack of 4 knickers so I’m not the biggest spender on clothes. I’m retired and my usual ‘uniform’ consists of jeans or jeggings, T shirts and fleeces or cardigans. 

My wardrobes are full of size 8/10 clothes but since retirement have piled on quite a bit of weight. This might just be the prod I need to lose a bit.

I’m a knitter but I’ve never made a pair of socks so that’s now on my to do list. I can’t remember learning to knit so I must have been quite young. I can remember knitting classes at junior school (1950s) and finding them a bit easy. i remember the headmaster making me stand in front of the whole school showing them the jumper I had made and was wearing aged 10.

I’m looking forward to joining you.

Welcome to the Challenge @missychrissy. As @Laura_Elsewhere said, you have a choice: you can either start with half a year’s coupons on 1st July (33 coupons) or go back to the start of the year, claim your 66 coupons and count your spend to date as part of it.  By my reckoning, you’ve only spent 24 coupons so far this year (8 for the knickers, 6 for the jeans and 10 for the tee shirts).  That would mean you have 42 coupons left for the year.  The choice is yours.

Socks are easy to knit.  Just remember that you only knit with 2 needles at a time; the others just sit there holding stitches.   I use 6 inch, 2.5mm DPNs.  Somewhere on last year’s thread are my sock recipe and Laura’s sock recipe.  They’re pretty straightforward.  (I have a vague memory of linking to them earlier this year, on this thread.)

I’m lucky.  I’m actually getting more exercise during Lockdown than previously due to our daily walks, so have lost weight.  Not a huge amount (half a stone), but enough to make some things fit better.  I am also working on building muscle, since I know I’ve got weaker in the last couple of years.

- Pip