2024 Fashion On The Ration Challenge

PollyWollyDoodle

Hello Pip, great to hear that you're knitting again.  Hope you are continuing to recover from the chemo.

I wouldn't feel bad about the existing stash, what's bought is bought - I wasn't aware of 'mulesing' until it was explained above, and I will be watchful for it in future.  Can I just say that you make me and probably several other people on this thread feel much less guilty about the amount of yarn hiding upstairs in the cupboard/under the bed/in plain sight!  I really must go through mine and rationalise 'will use/might use/never going to use in a month of Sundays'.  Don't forget you can sell through Ravelry as well I believe, though I have never tried it. 

Cherryfudge

It's lovely that you're able to be back to knitting @PipneyJane.

Re: the ethics of wool (and this is just my take on it) unless it's distasteful to you to actually knit with it, it's not causing distress to the animal to use something that was bought pre-awareness. The best we can do is inform our practice for the future - and perhaps use the older product anyway on the grounds that it would be doubling the effect to have wasted the wool? I'm not sure I've explained that very well: it's along the lines of 'I have clothes that may have been made in an exploitative factory, but throwing them out because of that doesn't make the working conditions of those people any better, it just negates their work'. In fact, I wonder what the stats are on animal suffering and human suffering in textile production? I suspect that most textiles are of plant or artificial origin, so it may be that more human suffering is caused by the industry, than animal suffering?

Okay, I will give the soap box back!

And about the potential to 3bay the wrong colour wool: I think a selling point might be that it's retro!

I have stuff I keep thinking of 3baying, too. I used to do quite a lot but it seems a bit of a hassle to relearn it.

Cherryfudge

And another rabbit hole to go down: we were talking about Ian Lavender, who died this week and I wondered about his surname. Textile related, to my surprise. Here's what I found online:

Recorded as Lavandar and more usually Lavender, this is an English surname, but one of early French origins. Introduced by the Normans after the famous Conquest of 1066 it is occupational. It derives from the word "lavandier", and was applied especially to a worker in the wool industry, employed to wash raw wool or rinse the cloth after fulling.

Read more: https://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Lavender#ixzz8RKRZ3FUd

PipneyJane

PollyWollyDoodle said:

Hello Pip, great to hear that you're knitting again.  Hope you are continuing to recover from the chemo.

I wouldn't feel bad about the existing stash, what's bought is bought - I wasn't aware of 'mulesing' until it was explained above, and I will be watchful for it in future.  Can I just say that you make me and probably several other people on this thread feel much less guilty about the amount of yarn hiding upstairs in the cupboard/under the bed/in plain sight!  I really must go through mine and rationalise 'will use/might use/never going to use in a month of Sundays'.  Don't forget you can sell through Ravelry as well I believe, though I have never tried it. 

I have sold the odd ball through Ravelry @PollyWollyDoodle but, in my experience, most buyers are only after a skein or two to finish their project(s).   Hence my thinking BayOfE might be a better market place.  My sales have always been when someone approached me, asking if I would sell them the leftover-from-a-project skein from my stash.

However I have changed the stash status of the pink and the blue to “Will Trade Or Sell”, since nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Cherryfudge said:

It's lovely that you're able to be back to knitting @PipneyJane.

Re: the ethics of wool (and this is just my take on it) unless it's distasteful to you to actually knit with it, it's not causing distress to the animal to use something that was bought pre-awareness. The best we can do is inform our practice for the future - and perhaps use the older product anyway on the grounds that it would be doubling the effect to have wasted the wool? I'm not sure I've explained that very well: it's along the lines of 'I have clothes that may have been made in an exploitative factory, but throwing them out because of that doesn't make the working conditions of those people any better, it just negates their work'. In fact, I wonder what the stats are on animal suffering and human suffering in textile production? I suspect that most textiles are of plant or artificial origin, so it may be that more human suffering is caused by the industry, than animal suffering?

Okay, I will give the soap box back!

And about the potential to 3bay the wrong colour wool: I think a selling point might be that it's retro!

I have stuff I keep thinking of 3baying, too. I used to do quite a lot but it seems a bit of a hassle to relearn it.

@Cherryfudge, I totally agree. You have to respect the animal who produced the fleece.  You also have to respect the worker who slaved to make the clothes, and the best way to do that is to ensure their labours weren’t in vain.

My thought is that if it doesn’t sell, then I’ll donate it to one of the charity shops.

- Pip

PipneyJane

Good morning All

For the knitters amongst you, Tin Can Knits have a BOGOF on their PDF knitting patterns running until 20th February, with the cheapest pattern(s) being the freebee.  In sweaters, sizes run from baby to 6XL.  I’ve just bought 2 of their collections:  Lazy Sunday and Handmade In the UK.  Sadly, even though they are a British company, you will be billed in USD, so I used my Chase card to get the best conversion rate (and cash back).

- Pip (enabler)




PS:  In other news, I am beginning to work out how/where my 2024 coupons will be spent.  At least 9 coupons will go on bras once my weight has stabilised.  (6 bras) My cup size has decreased significantly since I got sick, with all the weight I’ve lost; my “back size” less so.  Since I don’t throw many things out, my task for later today is to go though the bottom of my lingerie drawer to find out if any of the bras from my size 10-12 days are in there, what condition they are in and whether they still fit.

Laura_Elsewhere

@PipneyJane - is it worth experimenting with minor alterations to see if you can keep your extant bras? I had some that fitted dreadfully, quite painful and looked bad- various tweaks made them both comfortable and well-fitting. Different things worked on different bras- a few stitches centre-front between the cups was the most unexpected but successful- it leaves the band unchanged but the cups are brought together by only quarte rof an inch but ti completely alters how the cups sit! On others, I took a tiny tuck, again quarter of an inch, on the top edge of the cups, right over at the side by the strap. 

I was very surprised at how much one can 'personalise' a bra with only such tiny changes. Literally all I did in each case was to stitch 4 or 5 stitches in the same place, on top of each other, and then use the threaded needle to make a few half-hitches tying the multiple stitches together. 

flamingo747

I'm also a bra bodger, though my mods are generally tightening the band when they've stretched out! 

Bought another second hand jumper that I probably don't need! Zero official coupons (5 in my preloved track). I do have an impulsive clothes buying issue, just not brand new. I need to go gently as I really want to lose weight this year

PipneyJane

Laura_Elsewhere said:

@PipneyJane - is it worth experimenting with minor alterations to see if you can keep your extant bras? I had some that fitted dreadfully, quite painful and looked bad- various tweaks made them both comfortable and well-fitting. Different things worked on different bras- a few stitches centre-front between the cups was the most unexpected but successful- it leaves the band unchanged but the cups are brought together by only quarte rof an inch but ti completely alters how the cups sit! On others, I took a tiny tuck, again quarter of an inch, on the top edge of the cups, right over at the side by the strap. 

I was very surprised at how much one can 'personalise' a bra with only such tiny changes. Literally all I did in each case was to stitch 4 or 5 stitches in the same place, on top of each other, and then use the threaded needle to make a few half-hitches tying the multiple stitches together. 

@Laura_Elsewhere thanks for the suggestions.  It won’’t work on the earlier batch of bras (? 2017 coupons), since the only smooth, tee-shirt friendly ones I could buy then were slightly padded, but it should work on the ones purchased last year.  For now, I’m just glad the latter are comfortable and relatively supportive, despite the excess cup fabric.

If only my weight would stabilise!  My appetite is coming back; it’s maybe 2/3 of “normal” now but much better than only being able to eat a tablespoon or so of something, which is where I ended up last month.  I know, eat all the “forbidden foods” (sweets, etc, which I don’t fancy); and drink that damn Ensure, which I find too rich after 2/3 of a bottle….

- Pip (hoping the pharmacist will have my prescription processed tomorrow for a smoothly substitute to Ensure.)

Kim_13

Forgot to mention +5 for a handbag (not leather though.) In my defence, it was half price and will be taken to an upcoming wedding.

Cherryfudge

Kim_13 said:

Forgot to mention +5 for a handbag (not leather though.) In my defence, it was half price and will be taken to an upcoming wedding.

Are you counting all fashion purchases? If you aren't I think non-leather bags are coupon-free.