2020 Fashion on the Ration Challenge

Laura_Elsewhere

@PollyWollyDoodle - sounds like an excellent investment, and a great present for them to give you too! Depending on how many of them there are (friends, not needles...), they could buy you the set of circs, and a few sets of sock-sized DPNs as well... 

PipneyJane

PollyWollyDoodle said:

Slightly off topic, I’ve been very interested in the discussion above about KnitPro needles.  I enjoy knitting, I’ve got a good selection of ordinary needles both straight and circular and I’ve also got a set of wooden DPNs which I much prefer to metal. I am struggling to think of something to ask for, for my big birthday in November.  I know,  First World problem and all that but my friends want to get me a present and I can’t think of much that I really want that isn’t too expensive (new MacBook!). We usually club together for a big birthday so I’ve got an idea of how much they will spend. It’s occurred to me that a set of Knit Pro circular needles is something I would never buy for myself, but I could ask for it as a present. Do you think it would be a good investment? Although I prefer DPNs for socks I often use circular needles for other things just because it takes the weight better. 

I think it's an excellent idea.  I love using wooden needles.  I don't know if they're doing sets now, like they were when I got mine, or whether you're just going to have to give your friends a list.  Mine cost £79 in 2008 and came with several different lengths of cable plus 9 or 10 different pairs of tips.  Each cable came with a set of ends to screw on (for those times when you want to use your tips on something else), and a widget to facilitate tightening the needle tips in place.  (FWIW, the replacement tips I purchased last week cost £5.79 from Deramores.)

As mentioned above, the 3mm tips are a little unreliable size-wise.  What I didn't mention earlier is that the really thick tips are just too short for my liking and made my hands cramp. (I have some 7mm ones.)  I didn't have that problem with the 5mm or 5.5mm and eventually resorted to a different brand's fixed circular which had longer tips.   My guess is that it was the proportion of tip to shaft to end of the needle that was causing issues - there's just not enough shaft.

Are you a MacBook lover or are you lusting after your first one?  I absolutely detest mine but love my iPad Mini, for which I bought a Bluetooth keyboard and case.  The reason I hate my Mac is Finder, because I can't find anything!  Give me Windows Explorer any day.  The Files feature in the iPad is much better thought out than Finder.

- Pip

Laura_Elsewhere

@PipneyJane - don't use Finder to find things Use 'Searchlight' - the little magnifying glass top-right brings up a search box and if you can remember any part of the filename it'll find it but even sometimes an unusual word from inside a PDF or Word doc or Powerpoint will be enough for it to find it... 

PipneyJane

Laura_Elsewhere said:

@PipneyJane - don't use Finder to find things Use 'Searchlight' - the little magnifying glass top-right brings up a search box and if you can remember any part of the filename it'll find it but even sometimes an unusual word from inside a PDF or Word doc or Powerpoint will be enough for it to find it... 

Possibly, Laura, but the real problem comes when I try to save a file to a new or different directory.  I can't navigate my way around folders in an easy or sensible fashion.  It just leaves me wanting to scream in frustration.  I have tried to learn it - I've had the Macbook 5 years - but it just doesn't come naturally to me.   I much prefer navigating the iPad or a Windows machine.

I'm seriously contemplating not replacing the Macbook when it dies.  The iPad does 99% of what 1 want and would probably do even more if I got around to pairing it with a Bluetooth mouse.  (I'm too lazy.)  If I really need a PC to do something, we've got two others in the house.  (No, I am not counting work machines.)

- Pip

PollyWollyDoodle

I find Finder works ok for me. I got my first MacBook eight years ago, and it was the first time I’d had an Apple product. I will never buy a Windows PC again! 

I did find a few difficulties, and I still don’t quite understand why you can’t move files more easily, with windows I could just say where it was going whereas with Mac I have to drag and drop it. But overall it has been so reliable, never crashes unlike my old Windows PC, and is so intuitive. And I love the way it works with my iPhone and iPad, which were purchased subsequently.  I use it for work so it will be a business expense, work has dried up suddenly (it does this sometimes) so I’m hanging on just in case things don’t pick up for a while. 

Anyway, thank you for the advice on KnitPro,  I will certainly put that on the list as a suitable present. I think you can still buy a kit for about the same price as you paid, Pip.

missychrissy

I don’t know what DPNs are. I always knit with long needles, the longer the better so that I can tuck the right hand needle under my arm. I do knit with circular needles sometimes when the patterns demand.
My mum used to knit socks with, I think, 3 or 4 needles, at a rate of knots, but I haven’t tried them. I cleared out my parents house so I can’t imagine I threw those short needles away so I need to find them. Are those DPNs?

PipneyJane

missychrissy said:

I don’t know what DPNs are. I always knit with long needles, the longer the better so that I can tuck the right hand needle under my arm. I do knit with circular needles sometimes when the patterns demand.
My mum used to knit socks with, I think, 3 or 4 needles, at a rate of knots, but I haven’t tried them. I cleared out my parents house so I can’t imagine I threw those short needles away so I need to find them. Are those DPNs?

DPN is shorthand for “double pointed needle”.  Yes, your mum’s sock needles would be DPNs.

- Pip

CraftyLittleLisa

I can't believe how long it has been since I have posted on here.  Its good in a way because it means that I haven't been spending coupons until this week.  I have been busy sewing (still) and have made myself a cowl neck top and a waterfall cardigan with some cotton jersey that I received in my monthly sewing box I subscribe to.  I worked that out to be 7.5 coupons as the material was 2.5 metres.  I also made some more cropped trousers (this time with pockets) but I used material from my stash so that is zero coupons.  I also got given a shirt by my Aunt that she doesn't want any more and it is one that is right up my street.  I now make my total coupon spend to be 50 coupons out of 85.  I think I need to really start watching my coupon spend now.

Other crafting jobs I have done this last month are making a cushion for me kitchen stool to match my newly decorated kitchen, altered an existing sundress so I could wear it more comfortably, repaired a seam in some shorts and knitted up a free gift I had in my stash to make a little coin purse for my niece.

I had a bit of a surprise the other day when I was sorting through my wool.  I found 3 balls of the same wool which I obviously bought for a project but I cannot remember what project that was.  Anyway I have enough to start knitting a lace shawl that I could use to take on holidays with me (if I do manage to get to go at some point).  I was really pleased about that as I'm challenging myself to make "full" outfits at the moment for a holiday wardrobe and I have some fabric I want to make into a dress which the wool matches so once I finish that that will be two full outfits done.

I better go and change my coupon tally before I forget  (or spend more).

Take care all.

[Deleted User]

I have sold those needles on. They didn't make what they were worth but now I can invest in 7mm and 5mm wooden ones for the cable hat I want to knit, while having minimal feelings of being wasteful.

With regards to rationing, was 50g of carded wool that a person spun themselves cost the same as already skeined yarn in terms of coupons? Actually, was there an availability of hanks etc during the rationing period? 

PipneyJane

Noaidi said:

I have sold those needles on. They didn't make what they were worth but now I can invest in 7mm and 5mm wooden ones for the cable hat I want to knit, while having minimal feelings of being wasteful.

With regards to rationing, was 50g of carded wool that a person spun themselves cost the same as already skeined yarn in terms of coupons? Actually, was there an availability of hanks etc during the rationing period? 

Well done for selling the needles @Noaidi . 

We had a discussion at the end of May regarding roving and handspun.  Here's a link to it.  I'll try to quote it below:-

PipneyJane said:

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

Does that help?

- Pip