# UK Dopers! **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 18, 2007, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers/400620 "2007-04-18T13:56:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![badbadrubberpiggy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/57b2e6/32.png) [@badbadrubberpiggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badbadrubberpiggy)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2007, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers/400620/1 "2007-04-18T13:56:44Z")
I need some ideas. I’m doing a “swap” with some online friends, and my swap-ee is in the UK (Portsmouth, specificially). She’s a knitter, so I’m going to get her a few things related to that - probably some yarn that’s difficult or impossible to get where she is. What are some neat US items that are difficult to get in the UK? Or maybe just way more expensive in the UK than here. A few caveats - try to keep suggestions low in price (around $10), and remember that it has to be shipped overseas, so nothing that’s really heave or won’t survive the trip. I know she likes coffee & chocolate flavored things, too. ---
**Author:** ![Ellef](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8dc957/32.png) [@Ellef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellef)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2007, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers/400620/2 "2007-04-18T14:00:02Z")
Proper yarn stores are as rare as hens’ teeth over here and department stores with a yarn section are becoming increasingly rare, so any nice yarn would probably be appreciated. Otherwise, maybe a nice knitting book by a US author? I can recommend Annie Modesitt’s “Confessions of a Knitting Heretic”, which is available from her website. ---
**Author:** ![badbadrubberpiggy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/57b2e6/32.png) [@badbadrubberpiggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badbadrubberpiggy)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2007, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers/400620/3 "2007-04-18T14:02:26Z")
Thanks! I hadn’t thought books, but that’s a good idea. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2007, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers/400620/4 "2007-04-18T14:03:51Z")
[QUOTE=Ellef] Proper yarn stores are as rare as hens’ teeth over here and department stores with a yarn section are becoming increasingly rare, so any nice yarn would probably be appreciated. Otherwise, maybe a nice knitting book by a US author? I can recommend Annie Modesitt’s “Confessions of a Knitting Heretic”, which is available from her website. [/QUOTE] Huh? There’s a yarn store in Altrincham, Cheshire near to me. It’s been there for yonks and does a roaring trade ---
**Author:** ![Ellef](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8dc957/32.png) [@Ellef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellef)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2007, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers/400620/5 "2007-04-18T14:21:12Z")
[QUOTE=chowder] Huh? There’s a yarn store in Altrincham, Cheshire near to me. It’s been there for yonks and does a roaring trade [/QUOTE] Maybe it does a roaring trade because it’s the only one for miles around? I’m remembering a time in the '80s when knitting was fashionable and every town had at least one decent yarn shop. It seems to me that they’ve all disappeared. If I’m ever in Altrincham, I’ll know to seek that place out and re-constitute my stash! ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2007, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers/400620/6 "2007-04-18T14:29:37Z")
[QUOTE=Ellef] Maybe it does a roaring trade because it’s the only one for miles around? I’m remembering a time in the '80s when knitting was fashionable and every town had at least one decent yarn shop. It seems to me that they’ve all disappeared. If I’m ever in Altrincham, I’ll know to seek that place out and re-constitute my stash! [/QUOTE] If you’re ever in or near Rochdale or Oldham I think you’ll find an abundance of yarn stores in those places., for that matter any place near the Pennines should have them. They were, many moons ago, the hub of the cotton and wool industries and I believe that the tradition of yarn selling stores still thrives there. ---
**Author:** ![Ellef](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8dc957/32.png) [@Ellef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellef)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2007, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers/400620/7 "2007-04-18T14:44:55Z")
[QUOTE=chowder] If you’re ever in or near Rochdale or Oldham I think you’ll find an abundance of yarn stores in those places., for that matter any place near the Pennines should have them. They were, many moons ago, the hub of the cotton and wool industries and I believe that the tradition of yarn selling stores still thrives there. [/QUOTE] Ah, that might explain it :smack: ! ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2007, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers/400620/8 "2007-04-18T23:07:38Z")
[QUOTE=badbadrubberpiggy] I know she likes coffee & chocolate flavored things, too. [/QUOTE] What I do in this exact same situation is buy something local, not just American. Do you have a college sports team (or anything else that’s famous locally). There’s always a souvenir shop that will sell candy in the shape of a mascot or some jelly beans in a plastic jar in the shape of the State Capitol. That’s the stuff you don’t see in the UK. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Look\_Back\_in\_Anger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Don\_t\_Look\_Back\_in\_Anger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Look_Back_in_Anger)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2007, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers/400620/9 "2007-04-19T03:19:48Z")
She’s in Portsmouth and you’re in Missouri? Near to St. Louis, by any chance? I think I would send her as much Saints-related stuff as I could lay my hands on. ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2007, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers/400620/10 "2007-04-19T09:13:19Z")
Do you happen to mean Rams? It’s St. Louis, not New Orleans. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2007, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers/400620/11 "2007-04-19T09:23:52Z")
Haha… for those watching in black and white, there is… shall we say… intense and excitable… rivalry between Portsmouth’s football team (‘Pompey’) and that of the nearby city of Southampton. Southampton’s football team is known as ‘Saints’. Therefore sending Saints memorabilia to a Pompey fan (even if the Saints in question are a different team in a different country) could provoke an amusing reaction (if by ‘amusing’, we really mean ‘hostile’). ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2007, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers/400620/12 "2007-04-19T09:27:42Z")
Recipes for local foods. Or, if you’re feeling generous, mix together the dry goods for a recipe (like biscuits or peanut butter cookies or something) in a Mason jar and send **that** over with instructions like, “Just add milk, eggs, and water and bake in the following way…” ---
**Author:** ![badbadrubberpiggy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/57b2e6/32.png) [@badbadrubberpiggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badbadrubberpiggy)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2007, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers/400620/13 "2007-04-19T13:40:39Z")
Ahh, OK! I was lost on the football thing - I’m not a big sports fan, and while I’m not sure about her, I’ve never known her to talk about sports much. Then again, most of the rest of us are American, so we might not be the group she’d talk about Portsmouth sports with. I like the local food idea. I’m hesitant to send chocolate - last time I did that, I sent someone a chocolate St. Louis Arch that melted & didn’t look like an Arch anymore when it got to it’s destination. I’m not sure how warm it is in the UK right now, but it would probably melt on it’s way out of St. Louis. The recipe + dry goods would work, though. Especially if said dry goods are regional and not something she’d be able to pick up at her local grocery store. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2007, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers/400620/14 "2007-04-19T13:55:50Z")
[QUOTE=badbadrubberpiggy] I need some ideas. I’m doing a “swap” with some online friends, and my swap-ee is in the UK (Portsmouth, specificially). She’s a knitter, so I’m going to get her a few things related to that - probably some yarn that’s difficult or impossible to get where she is. What are some neat US items that are difficult to get in the UK? Or maybe just way more expensive in the UK than here. A few caveats - try to keep suggestions low in price (around $10), and remember that it has to be shipped overseas, so nothing that’s really heave or won’t survive the trip. I know she likes coffee & chocolate flavored things, too. [/QUOTE] Well if it isn’t an imposition I’m quite willing to help you out here. F’rinstance, I could get your pal some yarn and mail it on, not chocolate because, and I’m not being snarky, our chocolate is a hell of a lot tastier than that of the USA. I know, I’ve been. Things that are very expensive in the UK comapred with the US …I can think of many but one sticks in my mind, Maple Syrup. I allus fetch some back home after a visit to America, bloody big jars of the stuff, drool It’s entirely up to you, my e-mail address is in my profile if you want to write me. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2007, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers/400620/15 "2007-04-19T14:00:49Z")
Grape jelly. Just not available in the UK, in fact, grape flavour candy and grape soda too. Purple things are blackcurrant here. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2007, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers/400620/16 "2007-04-19T14:10:43Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] Grape jelly. Just not available in the UK, in fact, grape flavour candy and grape soda too. Purple things are blackcurrant here. [/QUOTE] …and Ribena and Vimto, don’t forget the Vimto 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2007, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers/400620/17 "2007-04-19T15:16:33Z")
😕 Both those products are blackcurrant-based ---
**Author:** ![badbadrubberpiggy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/57b2e6/32.png) [@badbadrubberpiggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badbadrubberpiggy)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2007, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers/400620/18 "2007-04-19T15:28:51Z")
Thanks for the offer **chowder** , but I actually DO have yarn on hand that I want to send to her. I’d like to package everything up together anyway. I had no idea grape-flavored stuff wasn’t available in the UK. It just tastes like “purple” anyway, not really “grape”. Blackcurrent needs to be more readily available in the US, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2007, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers/400620/19 "2007-04-19T15:57:19Z")
It just occurred to me with the recipe thing that cooks measure differently in the UK —by weight, usually, where we often measure by volume. If you send a pre-measured jar full of flour, sugar, baking soda, etc., to be mixed by your friend with her milk, eggs, water, vanilla, etc., then just make marks on the jar: milk up to this line, water up to this line. Or whatever. Just makes it easier. ---
**Author:** ![zelie\_zelerton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/59ef9b/32.png) [@zelie\_zelerton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zelie_zelerton)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2007, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers/400620/20 "2007-04-19T20:59:55Z")
How about a bunch of blank postcards showing the local sights or things that you are fond of in your area? She can either send them to friends or use them as artwork at home. Echoing the ‘don’t send chocolate’ plea. Really. We are used to something \*quite \* different from that which Americans call chocolate and it can be something of a shock to the system for the unprepared. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers/400620.md?page=2)