Tea Time

Minjing Township, Taiwan

We just received two new delicious teas:

Formosa Honey Flavored Black

• fully fermented
• Chin Shin Gan Tze variety (whatever that means)
  
• Grown in San-Xia Township, Taipei County, Taiwan
  

"Rich, mellow flavor with a hint of honey and medium dark brown color." I like this one iced because the honey flavor gives it a little sweetness without being too cloying.


Ever-Spring Green Tea

• Lightly roasted (gives it a bit of a nutty flavor)
• Ever-Spring tea variety (which means it can be harvested year-round, unlike most tea)
• Grown in Mingjing Township, Nantou County, Taiwan

"Medium bodied tea with a hint of flowers and nuts." (If you drop the word "tea" and read this sentence just right, it describes a guy I dated in college.)

Baby Bamboo

The new Sirdar Snuggly BabyBamboo just might be 104 yards of the softest darn yarn on the planet!! It's DK, machine washable, 80% Bamboo, 20% Wool, and comes in several oh-so-yummy colors. There's a nice book, too! Who could ask for more!

How about some more Noro....ooooohhhhhhh



aaaahhhhhhhhhhh

Death by Noro

Deb finally succame to her Noro addiction and was found on the floor of the shop surrounded by empty bags of Silk Garden Light. Before she left us she could be heard singing this song:

(sung to the tune of "Ring of Fire")
I fell in to a burning ring of Noro;
I knit, knit, knit but the flames kept getting higher;
It burns, burns, burns, this ring of Noro
The ring of Noro

May she purl in peace.

Sugar 'n Cream and Stitch-n-Pitch

(I wanted to title this entry "The Ns" but I thought it would be too vague...)



I know, I know....Sugar'n Cream would not be considered by many to be blog-worthy but I think the new Twist version is cute. The literature (okay, "literature" might be too strong a word) that came with it shows some things made up with it and I think it looks nice - kind of tweedy and natural. I've also decided to remake my market bag out of the regular Sugar'n Cream in some summery colors (they don't make the yarn I originally used anymore). I should have made the base out of the yellow and the body out of the variegated but I'm too lazy to rip it out. Next time. I'm also going to make one with the organic cotton and the hemp, just for variety. I can usually crank a bag out in a few hours - I'm a fast crocheter. BTW, I'll be teaching two separate classes in how to make crochet market bags. Check the website for dates and times.



Onto another topic entirely, Stich-n-Pitch tickets are here! Get them while they're hot. The game is Thursday, July 26th, 2007 - 7:05 p.m. We close early that day so we can get down there and get set up. I can't remember how early they open up so you can shop before the game but I think it's around 5ish. I'm also not sure if you pick up your free gift here or at the game this time. It's a needlecase this year! Even if you don't care for baseball, this is a fun event. There are lots of vendors from all over the area - it's kind of like a reverse LYS tour! There's a lot to do during the game if you get bored; lots of food, lots of giveaways....just lots of stuff.

UPDATE: Here is a little washrag I made from the pattern on the label of the Twist:

Kayaking

This weekend was my one-year anniversary of NMC - no more chemo! So, to celebrate, I took myself on little kayaking trip off Bellingham. I'm not an experienced kayaker, yet, so I went with a guide and my friend Rachel. I used one of those disposable waterproof cameras so I don't have any of my own photos to post yet but this shot is from the Moondance Kayak website. (Picture that view with a gray haze.) I thought I would be really sore today but surprisingly, I'm not.

Not to get all mushy and sentimental but this trip was very metaphorical. How's that, you say? Well, like with my cancer, I was in uncharted waters and needed guidance; I had to have help from my friend to paddle through the rough water; and when it was over, I felt great and stronger than ever!

Our guide, Sharmon, was wonderful and I'm really looking forward to taking another, longer trip with her. Talk about a cool job. This is her 12th season on the water and she loves every trip. Even though the weather was a little gray, it was great being out on the water. It's so beautiful up there. What I really want to do is take the trip up to Barkley Sound, Vancouver Island, B.C. It's a gorgeous area and the water is calm. Anyone want to come with? There's room for knitting in the cargo hold!

Suri Blue is here!

The new shipment of Fleece Artist Suri Blue has arrived! Many of you will recognize it as the yarn we used in our Touring Wrap for the LYS Tour and then promptly RAN OUT of it the first day! It is yummy.

I haven't talked tea for a while, I just realized. I am currently working with a group of other local tea nerds who want to plan something special for next year because it is the 400th anniversary of tea coming to Europe, or something like that. It should be fun. I wish we had room for even more tea flavors because I keep trying all these new ones that I think everyone would love! If I get new flavors, I have to phase out some flavors and people don't like it when you get rid of their favorites. I understand that completely. I need more room so, you all need to come in and drink more tea!

Deb

Church of the Holy Stitch

I have written about the Thursday morning group lots of times and commented just the other day about how I wish these groups had names! So, the group finally decided to label themselves "The Church of the Holy Stitch." Our youngest member is 6-months-old. They even have their own Vicar! One of the wayward members came to visit all the way from Idaho this morning. The CHS group is great - it absorbs members and makes them feel welcome right away. Come on by!

I start out every Thursday morning baking a fresh batch of scones. This morning it was cinnamon chip and some samples of a new flavor: lemon ginger. Yummmmmm. (Can you smell them?) Then I line up a bunch of tea pots to get ready for the CHS tea orders. This morning they just happened to line up in rainbow order. Ain't they purdy!