Saturday 27 April 2013

Tea blending: Assam with T2 Spi Chai

I was poking around the T2 website in past days and found the suggestion of blending Assam with T2's Spi Chai.

Now, I happen to have been drinking more Assam of late, because over Christmas Twinings was selling 100 Assam Bold tea bags in a really nice tin, and Chez Stutters being Chez Stutters, naturally we bought it for the tin.  But I've been enjoying the tea, as well, and will probably keep getting it, perhaps in loose leaf form, once I've finished the tea bags.

Having read the suggestion of blending, however, I decided to give it a try - particularly because our Spi Chai has essentially gone unused since it got too hot for Chai.

The website says it's best without milk, but I don't believe that any tea is best without milk, not really.

That said, it's a beautiful blend, and I recently bought more Spi Chai so I could keep making my wonderful Assam/SpiChai blend.

My first finished crochet project.

It's the third project I've started but the first I've finished - a relatively simple little star for my gym bag, inspired by the TV show "Smash".


Some explanation - I recently joined a gym.  I joined at a point in time when a deal was offered with a gym bag, t-shirt, etc.  Which means that there's a lot of identical gym bags around these days.  I wanted something to distinguish mine, and given my new-found love of crochet, it seemed like the right medium for my identifying mark.

Meanwhile, I love the show "Smash".  It's almost certainly not going to get renewed for a third season, which really annoys me, as they're clearly getting things set up beautifully for said third season.  Red and gold are the obvious colours for Smash, but it's so bound up in the story of Marilyn Monroe that it clearly had to include white.  Meanwhile, my crochet mentor and general bad influence, Mel from Crochet of a Subversive Reader, mentioned beads, and I thought that beads would suit Smash perfectly.

And so here's my Smash-inspired "(Let me be your) Star".  In situ.

This particular pattern has gone onto my short list of patterns for Christmas decorations this year.  I want to put decorations in some of my cards this year.  Like this star.

Wednesday 17 April 2013

What I am up to Wednesday

In the last few weeks, I've gotten hooked (no pun intended) on crochet.  I'm using a my Ravelry account (heidisews) in its proper way now, and currently have two projects on the go.  My friend Mel of Crochet of a Subversive Reader has begun "What I am up to Wednesday", and I'm going to try to do the same.

So, current projects -


Croydon Square Baby Blanket - I've finished fourteen motifs of twenty-four.  On Monday I blocked the first three. As well as another ten motifs, I have a lot of endings to weave in.  Even so, I'll admit that this project has mostly been put down, in favour of another - a gift for a baby born before the baby for whom this project is a gift.










Rainbow Square Baby Blanket - I'm currently at round 25 of 56 (slight alterations to the pattern occurred).  As each round grows by 24 stitches, r25 is nowhere near halfway, but at this point I'm really pleased with it and in fact rather love it.  (Since the second photo was taken I've finished three and a half more rounds.)

The square is looking a little skewed when you look closely.  It will definitely need blocking when its done.