2024 Fashion On The Ration Challenge

PipneyJane

Cherryfudge said:

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.

Hmm… That “leather” vs “non-leather” handbag issue is probably my snobbery, more than anything else.  I assumed that pre-war the only handbags available commercially were leather.  Ditto wallets/purses.  If the consensus is for me to amend the front page, I am happy to do so.

FYI I have always counted the coupons for both, regardless of the fabric, given the labour involved.

- Pip

PollyWollyDoodle

I hadn't considered leather v non-leather, but I'm with @PipneyJane. The man or woman making that handbag could have been sewing parachutes, y'know! 😊  I don't know much about the history of handbags but I'd also assumed they would be leather before the 1950s.  

I'm very fussy about handbags and will only buy leather although I never pay much for them. They're often available in as-new condition on resale sites.  I tend to use the same one all the time, so I only have a couple.  

PipneyJane

I have finally finished some knitting! 



This was my handbag knitting from October 2023  to February 2024 and were made, partially, in an attempt to use up stash (the yarn has been lurking since 2009).   You may recall the episode of “RSI” I had at the start of November, which turned out to be the lymphoma making its presence felt in my right shoulder?  At that point, I’d just finished the heel of the first sock.

Before 17th January 2024, when I was admitted to hospital, I’d managed to knit to within 5 rows of the end of the toe.  A week and a half later, 5 days after my first chemo, I picked up the needles and struggled to finish it.  (I was really sick.)  Actions which had been automatic, now had to be consciously done.  You can see from this picture of the first toe, that I struggled to remember the rhythm for grafting and got it wrong at least half the time.

Second sock was started in the hospital but knitted primarily after I got discharged on 5th February.  No issues with “muscle memory” but I had to build up my knitting stamina.

 Ravelry details are here;  https://www.ravelry.com/projects/PipneyJane/socks-for-peggy

Today, DH will deliver these to one my neighbours, an 86 year old who has been a great emotional support during this time.  Sadly, she’s picked up the latest cold-bug, but hopefully these will make her feel better.

- Pip

Gem-gem

Good afternoon everyone. 

Pip, those socks look fab. I wish that I could knit thick woolly socks. 

I also tend to buy leather bags. My latest I've had for years. I did look in the shop for a crossbody bag but didn't see one that I liked.

A spend to report. DH and I have joined a local gym - no contract and at less than £1 a day. My two gym tops are nearly 20 years old and I only have one pair of yoga tracksuit bottoms.

I went for the first time to SB.
I bought:
1 x pair 7/8 yoga leggings  2 coupons
1 x t-shirt (is this a sports shirt? 5 coupons 
1 x sweatshirt/hoodie - 5 coupons (same as a jumper)

Also one second hand tracksuit bottoms - 0 coupons. 

12 coupons plus 5 already spent 
17/66 coupons

Laura_Elsewhere

@Gem-gem, 'tis the season for it, obviously! 

I had my first session at the gym yesterday, and my old linen shorts (M&S, eBay a couple of years back), plimsoles (bought 3 years ago), thin wool ankle-socks (knitted over a decade ago), and light t-shirt (er, years old) all worked well! I plan to wear a black linen camisole when I can find it (currently behind all the stacked boxes in the sitting-room as we try to fill the new furniture and get rid of other stuff!)- it will help keep me cooler and less sweaty when I am using the weights. 

I think linen camisole and linen top will be my usual gym outfit. My friend wore leggings, and three lycra sports-tops layered, special sports-socks and trainers, but so far as I can tell she gained no advantage from it all And all the men just seemed to be wearing shorts and loose vests, so...  

Gem-gem

@Laura_Elsewhere, I am not brave enough to wear shorts. Everything must stay well hidden at the moment.
My two old t-shirts and yoga tracksuit bottoms are ideal for the gym but the new yoga leggings / outfit is for yoga. Since Covid I have been doing yoga online in my pj bottoms! I don't think I could /want to get away with that in the gym. 

I always wear a vest top under my t-shirts just in case they ride up. My socks are my thin base layer walking socks. 

This morning's yoga class was called a 'power' yoga. It was full on! Nothing like my usual online yoga sessions - which are more of a gentle stretch. I have signed back up for next week. 

We were away last weekend and we used their gym facilities there. So in the last eight days I have done; four gym sessions (cardio and weights), two yoga sessions plus two outdoor walks.  

Hopefully, I can get out in the garden tomorrow - do a little weeding - another form of exercise. 

I wonder when gyms started to open? Possibly when cleaning homes and working on the land / garden was not so labour intensive??

alicef

yes... leggings and old T-shirt for me in the gym. 

Lovely socks @PipneyJane!  I hope all is progressing well with you.
I have never attempted knitting socks but perhaps this is year. I'm tempted to start off by trying to knit slippers.

On a positive frugal note, I didn't need to buy anymore sheets. When I checked my linens I had enough - in fact one sheet was still in packaging!

I have my dressing gown pattern and a vintage brushed cotton sheet, (I've pre-washed), so I'll do a rough pin out on the sheet to gauge how much is needed for the dressing gown - cut across and dye it, (the sheet is a cream colour).  The sheet has a lovely blanket stitch edge which I may not be able to retain, so I'm thinking that I'll blanket stitch the edges of my dressing gown in a contrasting colour, which will use up some of my embroidery silks.

PipneyJane

Well done on the gym going,  @Gem-gem and @Laura_Elsewhere.       

alicef said:

yes... leggings and old T-shirt for me in the gym. 

Lovely socks @PipneyJane!  I hope all is progressing well with you.
I have never attempted knitting socks but perhaps this is year. I'm tempted to start off by trying to knit slippers.

On a positive frugal note, I didn't need to buy anymore sheets. When I checked my linens I had enough - in fact one sheet was still in packaging!

I have my dressing gown pattern and a vintage brushed cotton sheet, (I've pre-washed), so I'll do a rough pin out on the sheet to gauge how much is needed for the dressing gown - cut across and dye it, (the sheet is a cream colour).  The sheet has a lovely blanket stitch edge which I may not be able to retain, so I'm thinking that I'll blanket stitch the edges of my dressing gown in a contrasting colour, which will use up some of my embroidery silks.

Your sewing sounds inspired, @alicef.  Could you appliqué the blanket stitch edge on afterwards?  Say to edge the front opening of the dressing gown?

Socks are more straightforward than they look.  Mainly plain knitting, round and round in a circle. If using double pointed needles (DPN’s), you only use two at a time (the others are just holding stitches); if using a circular, then you either have to do magic loop or have two small circulars, one for each “side” of the sock.  

- Pip

Laura_Elsewhere

Gem-gem said:

I wonder when gyms started to open? Possibly when cleaning homes and working on the land / garden was not so labour intensive??

I'm lucky in not caring what others think, much of the time anyway. I'm a size 24, and over 17 stone, but my impression is that everyone at the gym was just pleased to see me working on it, although most I think simply didn't pay any attention  
They're not short-shorts, just mid-thigh and quite loose. Also, I added a wide crocheted lace edging to them, in navy-blue cotton to go with the navy blue linen  

Gyms were around in the late 19th century in large towns and cities in Britain, but as a part of some other thing, ie for people training as boxers, or training as athletes; there wasn't much of an idea of training for no reason, although there always were "strong men".
Exercises with bar-bells, Indian clubs, medicine balls and so on emerge in the first decades of the 20th century- I have a splendid late 1920s or early 1930s book- "The Modern Woman: Beauty, Physical Culture, Hygiene" - which has exercise routines for schoolgirls, young women, middle-aged women and older women, iirc... it was the era of the Women's League of Health & Beauty, and lots of men's clubs also emphasised developing one's "physique". 
I started going to gyms in 1984 and there were very, very, very, very few women. Usually I was the only female there, and I never had any hassle at all- they were usually a bit taken aback if they hadn't seen me before, but mostly they just encouraged me... 
I don't think I've been in a gym since the 1990s, though!   

I think the idea of people going to a gym as a normal part of keep-fit is from the 1990s onwards, and very very much pushed by advertising. Medically, walking is the very best way for people to get fitter and lose weight and improve aerobic capacity, with minimal risk of injury and requiring minimal equipment.... but it doesn't make anyone lots of money so instead, people are encouraged and encouraged to pay money to use a treadmill instead... umm....  
(Obviously, I only mean the people who pay to go to the gym but only use the treadmills and exercise bikes- it's different if you're doing the weights side of things because it is a lot safer to use a proper gym, with stable, properly-designed gym-benches, etc.,  than to try and do stuff on your own at home. 

thriftwizard

Now try fig. 24 with a glittery stick, wearing a galabeya edged with sequins and hopping a lot... it's a LOT more fun when you're dancing! Totally up for walking, gardening & dancing here, but staying away from gyms... however I asked for, and was given by DS2, a set of resistance bands for Christmas, and that's a form of exercise I'm very happy to do daily.

@PipneyJane, I've messaged you on Ravelry re the pink - DD2's very favourite colour. Knitting is most definitely her happy place.