2024 Fashion On The Ration Challenge

maryb

Presumably the 2 ply wool was knitted on quite big needles so it would trap lots of air but would knit up quickly?  

PipneyJane

Cherryfudge said:

Thank you for those, @weenancyinAmerica, I haven't read any of them so I looked them up and they are cheap on Kindle!

Does anyone else look through old photos in case there's a relative there?  

I've taken crochet to a work training day, and my friend took her knitting. She was famous for all the little craft items she made to raise funds for charity, and I have a couple of beautiful sunflowers from her as a fund raiser for Ukraine.

Yes, I do.  Or rather, I look for someone who looked like my mother, since she had two female cousins in Britain during the war.  (Ironically, they weren’t related - one on each side of the family.)

It’s very sweet of your friend to knit for charity.

Sarahspangles said:

iNelliegrace said:

Knitting in shopping queues? It took a long time for the grocers to cut out all of the little coupons.
In one of the Anna Buchan books, (pseudonym O Douglas,) The House that is Our Home, 1940, one elderly lady is knitting three 2ply wool vests to fill her endless hours in the lounge of the hotel, without her large house to run. I love the little details from the period. 

2-ply wool vests must have been tedious to knit! Though lace would be nice to work, subject to the knitting spot being well lit.

I looked at my little stash at the weekend, and the finest yarn is some Black Jacob. I’d need to wrap it to check if it’s a lace weight. And then decide what would be nice to make with 100g of a very, very dark brown yarn!

Almost everything else is DK or Aran weight, mostly blue-faced Leicester in a natural colour. It is/was items like hats, cowls and leg warmers which were nice, but mostly too warm so the children didn’t get much wear from them. I think converting the yarn to 4 ply would be a relaxing project some time

I’ve always driven a car or keyboard at work, so knitting has been at home. But I don’t see why I couldn’t be knitting in social settings - all those times people are on their phones.

Re the Jacob, it’s the yardage that’s important when choosing what to knit.  How many metres do you have?  I have had the Hanna-T in my queue for a long time, to use up some laceweight.  It requires less than 1,000m of laceweight. 

- Pip

Sarahspangles

PipneyJane said:

Sarahspangles said:

I looked at my little stash at the weekend, and the finest yarn is some Black Jacob. I’d need to wrap it to check if it’s a lace weight. And then decide what would be nice to make with 100g of a very, very dark brown yarn!

Almost everything else is DK or Aran weight, mostly blue-faced Leicester in a natural colour. It is/was items like hats, cowls and leg warmers which were nice, but mostly too warm so the children didn’t get much wear from them. I think converting the yarn to 4 ply would be a relaxing project some time

I’ve always driven a car or keyboard at work, so knitting has been at home. But I don’t see why I couldn’t be knitting in social settings - all those times people are on their phones.

Re the Jacob, it’s the yardage that’s important when choosing what to knit.  How many metres do you have?  I have had the Hanna-T in my queue for a long time, to use up some laceweight.  It requires less than 1,000m of laceweight. 

- Pip

There’s no information on the ball band, just ‘Black Jacob’. It came from Wingham Woolworks who sold yarn as a sort of byproduct, their main business was fleece and wool for spinners and weavers. They also sold the wheels and looms, and ran training courses - still do actually, but they’ve moved from a collection of barns in Yorkshire to one in Gloucestershire.

That pattern is pretty! I keep looking at shawls, but I don’t wear them! I can always knit a swatch of a known length….

diminua

More coupons spent - two nightdresses this time. They are nice though, and will take up almost no space when I travel. That's takes me down to 19 coupons.  

Laura_Elsewhere

maryb said:

Presumably the 2 ply wool was knitted on quite big needles so it would trap lots of air but would knit up quickly?  

 The patterns seem to be knitted on quite fine needles, from memory an old UK 14 springs to mind- but then again a good woollen vest would last you years and years, and then almost certainly could be sold into the second-hand market. So the time was an investment. 

And the infants' vests wouldn't take anywhere near as long. 

PipneyJane

diminua said:

More coupons spent - two nightdresses this time. They are nice though, and will take up almost no space when I travel. That's takes me down to 19 coupons.  

Two important points, @diminua.  Also, nightdresses are rarely/never available secondhand, so this is a purchase worthy of your coupons.

- Pip

Sarahspangles

Laura_Elsewhere said:

maryb said:

Presumably the 2 ply wool was knitted on quite big needles so it would trap lots of air but would knit up quickly?  

 The patterns seem to be knitted on quite fine needles, from memory an old UK 14 springs to mind- but then again a good woollen vest would last you years and years, and then almost certainly could be sold into the second-hand market. So the time was an investment. 

And the infants' vests wouldn't take anywhere near as long. 

According to my gauge, a 14 is a 2mm needle. I have knitted ribbing on 2.25 but I can’t imagine knitting a whole garment!

Laura_Elsewhere

Size 14 was the normal needle size for all kinds of things- women's cardigans and so on. All of my Gran's pre-war patterns for socks and stockings use 3-ply wool (thinner than our 4-ply) and c.2mm needles. Mind you, 17th century stockings, men's and women's, were often knitted with about a 1mm needle and laceweight or thinner wool! 

Thick wool and big needles is very much a recent thing!  

Nelliegrace

@maryb 2ply would be very fine, lace weight Shetland wool, knitted on very thin needles, similar to ring shawl wool.
I think this is a 1940s pattern, shorter than 1930 vests.

Liverpool_Anne

Hi all,

@PipneyJane have you considered contacting the harris tweed shop on the isle of Harris where it's all made. If I remember correctly you can get a sample of their fabrics so you could check the colour against the jacket, just a thought
Take care everyone