2024 Fashion On The Ration Challenge

thriftwizard

Never mind the biscuits, @PipneyJane, @Nelliegrace's grandmother's Bara Brith will blow your hand-knitted socks off! So delicious that OH felt the need to eat a second slice, to check that he hadn't just got a particularly good slice. I did double-up on the spice, having a consignment that fell off the back of a lorry during a bombing raid, and some of the milk was whey from an almost-empty pot of Greek yogurt, but otherwise followed the recipe exactly.

PipneyJane

thriftwizard said:

Never mind the biscuits, @PipneyJane, @Nelliegrace's grandmother's Bara Brith will blow your hand-knitted socks off! So delicious that OH felt the need to eat a second slice, to check that he hadn't just got a particularly good slice. I did double-up on the spice, having a consignment that fell off the back of a lorry during a bombing raid, and some of the milk was whey from an almost-empty pot of Greek yogurt, but otherwise followed the recipe exactly.

Thanks for the recommendation @thriftwizard.  I’ve added a link to it to the first post.

Somewhere on the internet, I learned of a site run by the Internet Archive people, The Magazine Rack, which is free to use and includes an archive of thousands of digitised knitting magazines.  The Brooklyn Refinery explain it better than I can.  Sadly, the website is down at the moment (Some b@st@rd hacked it - the whole archive was down for a while), or I’d link directly to it.

- Pip

Wraithlady

The recipe looks quite similar to one I have for 'Irish Brack' from the 1970's - only without the milk. I really must make that again ( I would say it keeps for ages but it's never really had a chance to!)

florianatwobob

Thinking about older people one of the ladies I used to volunteer with about 30 years ago was a young woman during WWII. She never used to talk about her war work citing the official secrets act.  , She did mention she was fluent in French. She also never
mentioned why she was awarded an OBE (of which she was very proud). I’ve subsequently wondered if she was either linked to Bletchley Park or SOE. 

She was what my dad would’ve described as ‘a game old girl’ though. 

CoffeeSonata

Sorry for disappearing for a long time. Life happened, and everything was just overwhelming and crazy. (Isn't that much better, just new crazy-overwhelm). 
I have spent coupons, sadly more than I wanted, but not really added up yet. 
Meanwhile, I am knitting/crocheting to outrun the crazy and maintain a semblance of sanity. 
It has been forever since I knitted socks. 
I'd like to knit myself a pair of socks for indoor probably with DK wool as I have plenty of that. 
Does anyone have any resonable tried and loved patterns for socks? Ideally ones that stay up,but slouchy style is fine, idea is to wear on sofa or with slippers. I am fed up of starting sock patterns and giving up because the pattern is wrong, or finding they are just HUGE on the ankle. Any style of knitting or pattern is ok, more hoping for tried and loved /accurate pattern recommendations for DK that suit people who have thin ankles! I'm a size 5-6 if that helps! 

Nelliegrace

Thank you @thriftwizard, I bung whatever I have in a bara brith. I use white sugar with a teaspoon of treacle, grate in a carrot or the zest of an orange, add the rinsings from the bottom of a jar of marmalade, mincemeat or jam, a bit of grated apple, dried cranberries, or a few chopped nuts. 

PipneyJane

florianatwobob said:

Thinking about older people one of the ladies I used to volunteer with about 30 years ago was a young woman during WWII. She never used to talk about her war work citing the official secrets act.  , She did mention she was fluent in French. She also never
mentioned why she was awarded an OBE (of which she was very proud). I’ve subsequently wondered if she was either linked to Bletchley Park or SOE. 

She was what my dad would’ve described as ‘a game old girl’ though. 

Not sure about who has the SOE’s records @florianatwobob but, if you remember her name, it might be worth contacting Bletchley Park.

CoffeeSonata said:

Sorry for disappearing for a long time. Life happened, and everything was just overwhelming and crazy. (Isn't that much better, just new crazy-overwhelm). 
I have spent coupons, sadly more than I wanted, but not really added up yet. 
Meanwhile, I am knitting/crocheting to outrun the crazy and maintain a semblance of sanity. 
It has been forever since I knitted socks. 
I'd like to knit myself a pair of socks for indoor probably with DK wool as I have plenty of that. 
Does anyone have any resonable tried and loved patterns for socks? Ideally ones that stay up,but slouchy style is fine, idea is to wear on sofa or with slippers. I am fed up of starting sock patterns and giving up because the pattern is wrong, or finding they are just HUGE on the ankle. Any style of knitting or pattern is ok, more hoping for tried and loved /accurate pattern recommendations for DK that suit people who have thin ankles! I'm a size 5-6 if that helps! 

Welcome back @CoffeeSonata.  Your feet sound similar to mine. For thicker socks, I use a pattern from Regia which was designed for their 6-faedig sock yarn.  These are my crib-sheet notes:

Use 3mm needles
Cast on 48 st
Work 10 rnds K1P1 rib
Rnds 11-50 knit
Heel work over 24 st
Gusset pick up 16 st
Foot 30 rnds
Toe work down to 8st on each side
Each sock weighs 39g

If the fabric is too dense with your DK yarn, try using 3.25mm needles or 3.5mm and going down to 44 st.  (Virtually all sock patterns are worked over multiples of 4.). 

Nelliegrace said:

Thank you @thriftwizard, I bung whatever I have in a bara brith. I use white sugar with a teaspoon of treacle, grate in a carrot or the zest of an orange, add the rinsings from the bottom of a jar of marmalade, mincemeat or jam, a bit of grated apple, dried cranberries, or a few chopped nuts. 

I will definitely give this a try @Nelliegrace.  I’ve added a link to your recipe to the first page of the Challenge.  Thank you for sharing it.

- Pip

PollyWollyDoodle

Sorry Pip, I’ve just tried to access the Bara Brith recipe from page one and the link isn’t working. I was thinking it would be great for a WI coffee morning next week!  

Of course it’s only a couple of pages back at the moment, but you know how fast things travel on this thread. 

PipneyJane

PollyWollyDoodle said:

Sorry Pip, I’ve just tried to access the Bara Brith recipe from page one and the link isn’t working. I was thinking it would be great for a WI coffee morning next week!  

Of course it’s only a couple of pages back at the moment, but you know how fast things travel on this thread. 

Thanks for the heads-up @PollyWoollyDoodle .   I don’t know what went wrong, so I’ve copied and pasted it in again.  It should work now.  (It worked for me a moment ago.)

- Pip

potplant

Well, reporting back;  I did buy my new jeans, as planned - good organic cotton, good fit, well made.   Much as I like altering/mending things,  it has  reminded me how nice it is to have the occasional brand new bit of clothing! So now I have 10 coupons remaining for the year, perhaps I'll find a use for them (but must NOT, absolutely NOT, use them to add to my fabric stash!)