2021 Fashion On The Ration Challenge

PipneyJane

Liverpool_Anne said:

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 séance with your Mum, can I ask was she a nun?

No, mum trained as a dressmaker and pattern cutter.  She knew her fabrics.   

My mum also had the gift of being able to study someone's jumper or dress for a while - say, while on the train - and then go home and translate that into a workable pattern.  (Note:  when I say "workable", it made sense to my mum, not necessarily anyone else.)  She taught me to sew from an early age, as well as to crochet.  These are things I "know" without having any memory of being taught them.  Some things, I wish I understood better, e.g. sewing machine maintenance so that I'd know how to look after my current machine properly.   

- Pip

TwibbleDee

PipneyJane said:

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.

Interesting.  Our water is so hard it's ridiculous.  Even with a water softener, appliance lives are half what they should be and there's scale everywhere.  My water for drinking and cooking goes through a filtration system that's just short of sterilizing the water for hospital use.

I suppose I should start trying to play with my water and see if I can taste the difference.  Our standard procedure has been to fill the kettle up, boil as needed for several cups of tea/coffee, then refill when it was getting low.

TwibbleDee

Laura_Elsewhere said:

@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... 

It's better today than it was on Monday.  I did get tested for the current crud - negative.  I was off work Monday and Tuesday and will be going back in today...with my office closed and a plague rat sign on the door.  I won't be near as productive as usual - I'm way too distractible in the best of times, and it's definitely worse when I'm having problems with oxygen.  I haven't even been able to go outside to get some fresh air without a mask on, as the wind has been blowing too hard and my allergies go nuts!

And yes, I do wonder about being in the air conditioning too much.  If the wind would die down, I'd go sit on the front porch with my cup of coffee and enjoy the sunrise!

Laura_Elsewhere

We have very hard water - my hair hates living here and when we eventually build our own place (as planned) I intend to have rainwater-capture tanks specifically for hair-washing. I still loathe the taste of it too, and can only drink tapwater with a teaspoon of lemon juice in the pint-glass. 
My Intended grew up in very hard water, and actively dislikes the water at my old home, which is pretty much the same water as much of the bottled Scottish water that people pay lots for! I love it and always drank gallons and gallons of it. M.I. thinks the tapwater here is fine to drink, tastes normal, and his hair has no problems. That's because his hair is short and my hair is long enough to sit on and very fine... 

Baileys_Babe

The water here tastes fine, in fact, a friend used to take a large container on tapwater from home camping specifically for making tea as they didn't like tea made with water from other areas. My hair would benefit from different water as like @Laura_Elsewhere I have long fine hair and in my case lots of it.

Since both the wooland and wolfintextiles links were posted I have spent a happy hour (or 2) exploring both sites, baring in mind I neither sew nor wear dresses some would think this was a pointless exercise. I firstly fantisied about a dress or top made of the beautiful fabric @Laura_Elsewhere lead us to followed by thinking what style of dress on the wool& site would work best for my figure and lifestyle, possibly Willow, thank you @TwibbleDee. I like the idea of not needing to put to much thought into what I wear. Even if I do decide to order I will be holding off for a few months until the problems at customs have been resolved.

I wish you a speedy recovery @TwibbleDee from your respirtory problems.

TwibbleDee

@Baileys_Babe If I like this one, I plan to order some of the sleeveless ones for the summer.  I haven't been wearing dresses much lately, but mainly because none of mine fit properly anymore and I'm picky enough that I generally don't order things online (hence why I have yet to subtract the coupons in my signature).  If it does work, I'll probably pick up some leggings at some point.

skogar

Hello TwibbleDee -Wishing you a speedy recovery. It's funny when I replied to your post about the wool - it was an hour since you'd posted it but I hadn't seen Laura's response and your subsequent replies - not sure why. I was thinking when I posted "I bet Laura would know."

The 100 day dress challenge was interesting to read about.

Thriftwizard - I thought dishcloths were probably knitted from cotton. That was my Gran's standard project for a beginner. At least it was useable and didn't matter if it was a bit wonky!

CraftyLittleLisa

Rah said:

CraftyLittleLisa said:

I have a coupon spend to report this week.  I got some lovely brushed cotton in my sewing box for December last year and I decided to make some pyjamas out of them.  Unfortunately, I didn't have quite enough for top and bottoms but I have made some pyjama bottoms and I have found a vest top thing in my drawers which I can wear with it.  I used 2 metres of fabric which means 6 coupons.

No coupons if you already had the fabric I think? I thought you spent the coupons by buying fabric, not when you use it. 😊

Normally that is the case but I get a box of fabric every month (a sewing subscription) but I don't always use it for clothing.  The way I do it to limit my wardrobe is I shop fabric from my "stash" and deduct the coupons accordingly.  I hope that makes sense.

PipneyJane

Good evening Ladies

We have very hard water, but at least it doesn’t taste terrible.  (When I lived on the other side of London, the water tasted disgusting.). I have to add vinegar to the washing up water to stop glasses going milky.

I have a Finished Object to show off.  This is the Neck Gaiter I made from the final ball of the unknown 4-ply.  It’s not symmetrical because I ran out of yarn 12 rows from the end.  Also, I completely misread the pattern’s symbol key and mixed up my SSK’s and K2togs so that the decreases all slope in the wrong directions.



The pattern is Pretty Thing by Stephany Pearl McPhee (aka “The Yarn H@rlot”.

- Pip

CraftyLittleLisa

- Pip

PS:  @CraftyLittleLisa - remind me, please, what have you done to your foot?  Hope you get better soon.

I broke my little toe the day after boxing day by kicking the bed leg.  It has definitely improved but I can't put a proper shoe on my foot comfortably to go outside.