2021 Fashion On The Ration Challenge

TwibbleDee

thriftwizard said:

I'm pretty sure cotton yarn was available; I'm thinking dishcloth patterns & will check to see if I have any pre-war ones left. But also thinner yarns for crochet; I do have 1930s crochet patterns, one of them in French. Also, there certainly were other fibres available, though probably not as yarn to buy; if I remember correctly, Jane Eyre was married in a grey alpaca dress!

*ponders*  If I recall correctly, one of the economic factors on the US entering the war was the hardship of getting cotton to the English mills through blockades.  I wonder how much would have been actually available for purchase.

PollyWollyDoodle

Laura, I’m with you on the ‘yarn’ thing; we had a local ‘wool’ shop, and everything was called wool. I assumed it was a generic term like corn, I have had to overcome my reluctance to use the word yarn instead of wool. I too would have thought that only pure wool or cotton would have been available so your list is very interesting Pip. 

Cherryfudge

TwibbleDee said:

I've got a spend.  Here's hoping it's as fabulous as it sounds when it arrives!
https://wooland.com/products/ellie-midi-wrap-dress?variant=31691602591814
If so, it'll be 11 coupons.

That's a beautiful dress, @TwibbleDee and I have to admit to being utterly drawn into the website once I noticed the 'wear a dress for 100 days' challenge. What a fantastic idea - and it looks as though a number of people have succeeded, with style. I think you'll find you get more than your coupons' worth.

Liverpool_Anne

Laura you got me with the mention of quality linen, my fav fabric but luckily just now there seems to be a connection issue with the website so the urge to buy some even though I haven't had the sewing machine serviced yet and the house is still a semi builders yard may pass until I am in a better situation to sit down and make something with it (fingers crossed)

TwibbleDee

Please forgive my ignorance, but I was reading something, and well, it states rather definitively that one should never re-boil water for tea.  

Is this a general rule?  Does it affect the taste?  Does it matter what the kettle is made of?  Do you have smaller kettles than we do, as I'm fairly certain that mine holds 1.5L at the max line, which is only halfway up.

Many apologies if I'm starting a riot in the village hall...

PipneyJane

TwibbleDee said:

Please forgive my ignorance, but I was reading something, and well, it states rather definitively that one should never re-boil water for tea.  

Is this a general rule?  Does it affect the taste?  Does it matter what the kettle is made of?  Do you have smaller kettles than we do, as I'm fairly certain that mine holds 1.5L at the max line, which is only halfway up.

Many apologies if I'm starting a riot in the village hall...

It’s due to two things, @TwibbleDee.  Firstly, much of Britain has very hard water.  When you boil it more than once, it changes taste.  Tea was my drink of choice until I moved to live in the UK.  I could really taste the difference with the water.

Secondly, freshly boiled water has a higher oxygen content and that interacts with the tea leaves to release more flavour components (?flavonoids?).  Again, reboiling lowers the oxygen content, so less flavour is released. 

- Pip

PS:  Our kettles are the same size.

ETA:  You mentioned suffering from “respiratory crud”.  I hope you feel better soon.

dolly84

Laura - thanks for the glove suggestions, I have tried a thin pair underneath my winter cycling gloves but I found I couldn't move my hands properly to change gear and more terrifyingly to brake quickly, mittens are a no no on the bike for that reason too, I ride on roads and at fast speeds so I need to be able to react very quickly.

Liverpool_Anne

Pip it depends where in the country you live, we have soft water which comes mostly from Wales here so we don't have those issues with water. My sister lives in Dorset and uses a water filter which helps but you are right it does change the taste of tea.
You mentioned having a seance with your Mum, can I ask was she a nun?

SezzaF

Good morning all
Yes, the adventure with the train was quite exciting. The hours spent drilling the Girl Guides in the Village Hall had not gone to waste and I was very pleased to have the equivalent of a penny wrapped in a clean handkerchief in my pocket to make the emergency call!
The talk of the availability of woollen wool here and over the pond is making me smile.
My son had an American girlfriend who came to stay at the beginning of last year. She wanted to find some natural fibre "wool" and I did suggest a shop my son could take her to but communications failed and he went to the wrong shop! The relationship went rocky over the summer and I think they are no longer a couple but are now in touch but I'm just Mum and don't get told anything. If she'd been my guest, we could have had some lovely wool gathering trips!

 

Laura_Elsewhere

@TwibbleDee, whilst I do hope your 'respiratory crud' eases soon, it has certainly led o some fascinating discussions in here! Obviously, that fancy air-conditioning over on the Air Base isn't good for you all the time, so do feel free to come and sit in the village hall by the stove and relax... 

I know alpaca and others were available as fabrics, woven, but I've not come across them in knitting patterns pre-war - post-war, yes, specially alpaca I think I've seen used as a fancy edging on mittens or hats or for evening cardigans. But for 1942 I think most knitters would only have been familiar with sheep's wool of various kinds.

Crochet thread of course was cotton, but I strongly suspect that wasn't even thought of as in the same category as knitting wool. Many (most? even all?!) pre-war crochet patterns are for thread, not yarn. As I type that I'm horribly aware I've stated it as fact when it's only my vague opinion from wading through historical patterns. I'm quite ready to be corrected!  
But crochet in the inter-war years in Britain - afaik - was mostly for edgings, insertions, doilies, tray-cloths in filet, bedspreads, all the things made with thread, rather than yarn thick enough to knit with. 
And of course rayon and other art(ificial)-silks were used for many things - although I'm not sue they were widely used for knitting.