2026 Fashion On The Ration Challenge

Greying_Pilgrim

I was going to ask you @PipneyJane if you were going to take any knitting for on the plane? I was reading (on rav**ry), someone had made some socks and used bamboo circulars, because of the airline requirements, and they'd been pleasantly surprised - I'm not sure which brand/which brand they used normally.

@MrsCD I applaud your blanket making efforts - my crochet, much like my knitting - is currently stalled on Attic24's woodland blanket. I've made her Coast ripple - I've made 2 versions one baby/buggy sized, and one single bed size, but I can't get my mojo to bring the woodland into being - despite it being a gorgeous blanket, and I have all the SSDK for it ☹️

Greying X

PipneyJane

@Greying_Pilgrim I routinely use 6-inch wooden DPN’s to knit socks. I’ve knitted on a lot of flights, both domestic and international, and the only time I’ve ever had a problem was when my “Swiss Army Widget” got confiscated while transiting through Bali in 2018. They didn’t care about the knitting needles, but they took this:

The knife blade is 4cm long, while the scissors’ blades are 1cm each.

The first few times that I flew after 9/11, I asked when checking in my luggage whether it was ok to take my knitting on board. Never had a problem with it, although sometimes they ask me what I’m knitting and admire the yarn. As a knitter, I’ve flown to or through Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Oman, Miami, Raleigh-Durham, Heathrow, Glasgow, Sydney, Melbourne, Schiphol, Paris and Auckland.

• Pip

MrsCD

@Greying_Pilgrim thanks for the vote of confidence! I have made the Yuletide/Christmas and the Meadow blankets from Attic24, but I just want an easy-ish pattern that I don't need to think about too much 😏 so I will probably go for the ripple pattern. I also have two kits sitting waiting....hmmmm.

@PipneyJane I hope you have a fantastic time away and catch up with everyone. 😊 enjoy the knitting time on the plane.

Cherryfudge

I once got stopped at an airport because there was a (totally forgotten) sewing needle in my purse. Once they found what set the scanner off, they weren't bothered about it.

I took bamboo needles on our Aussie holiday (pre-pandemic) but had to take them to be approved at the other end as Australia's biological control is, understandably, strict. They were nodded through. I don't think there was any issue with natural fabrics, I assume the processes to make the fabric mean it's safe to bring in.

I have a question for you, @PipneyJane, if you please? When you buy summer clothes in Australia, do you find you are adjusting for differences in light intensity? I bought a couple of lovely scarves on the above-mentioned trip, but they just look 'wrong in most UK sunshine. I am sure the colour norms in different parts of the globe must be affected by the amount of light available.

PipneyJane

Ooohhh…. Interesting question @Cherryfudge. I don't adjust for light intensity, because I tend to stick to a fairly stable colour palate. (Had my colours done years ago, when that was a thing.) However, I have noticed the differences in light - in the UK, you rarely get the golden evening sunlight, which you see in more Mediterranean climates and where I grew up in Australia. The light here is more blue, which is fine for me because blue is one of my colours.

(Does that make sense?)

• Pip

Cherryfudge

I hadn't seen it that way, but it does make sense. I was very aware of the difference in intensity of light between here and Australia, and the scarves I mentioned have some bright pinks and reds which just look too much here - perhaps because the background light colour doesn't work with them.

PipneyJane

It's not something I realised, either, @Cherryfudge until an odd day in September a few years ago, when I was on the M2 and noticed how yellow the light was. It was an hour or so before sunset, maybe half an hour before dusk. It's the kind of light you get in Melbourne every late afternoon in March but, until that point, I'd never registered seeing it here.

• Pip

dND

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82158879#Comment_82158879

I sort of noticed it when in the 80's looking at houses that had been painted to resemble those of southern Spain etc - packages holidays had become common by then. The never looked quite right. Similar colours are still available but somehow they look slightly more toned down these days; or maybe I'm more used to them.

That said, in the grey skies of South Wales I'm still planning on painting the woodwork of my house a sort of lime green. 😁 Dxx