tales from the white coated and safety goggled world of tea cosy knitting...and some other stuff

as some of you may know my day job involves working in a male dominated industry in an office full of men...now one of these men values the restorative qualities of a nice cup of tea (as I do myself) and along with certain other redeeming features of his this shared passion for tea (well, for time away from our desks making sure the kettle has boiled, at least) has ensured that we have become good friends over the past 8 or so years since we met...Anyway, Nich turned 40 this year. When I enquired what he would like as a gift he asked for a tea cosy, as he'd been given a shiny new tea pot for Christmas...

...(exhibit A)...
(note the attractive fossil)

I jokingly told him he would need to furnish me with dimensions if he wanted a snug fit in his custom built cosy and he duly turned in these...

...(exhibit B)...
(note the attention to detail - though I did have to work out the circumference myself, can you believe that?!)

He is now convinced that the knitting practice is one so scientific that it involves not only the most precise measurements but also the wearing of safety goggles and a white coat (although I think he may be secretly hankering back to his previous existence as a research chemist). Which makes me laugh...very few things could possibly be less scientific than my bus knitting...

anyway, the cosy has been cast on and will be unveiled at the weekend...watch this space...

I am again overwhelmed by the number of comments to the last post...it was great to read about everyone's favourite seaside treats and I am now more determined than ever to get myself to Portugal to check out the wonderful clams, squid and other seafood mentioned, along with the chilled white wine...now that sounds like my kind of place (not until I've shaken the half stone or so I put on over my four days in France though...unbelievable! never knew one moule could have such an impact!!!). The British contingent do love their fish and chips and sandwiches it seems, while seafood also figures large for the North Americans. To be honest it ALL sounded delicious to me.

My new friend the random number generator tells me the winner is no 16, which appears to be Varenia (whose stitching looks a lot more professional than mine - oh dear...). So Varenia, drop me an email with your address and I will pop the lavender sachet in the post to you in sunny Southern California.

It was, as always, lovely to discover new blogs out there and I'll be popping by them all to say hello as soon as I can...

I'll leave you with a sneak peek of something I've been playing with recently...just to add a bit of colour...


ps time for a tea tasting update...I invested in some Russian Caravan tea today (the kids were intrigued by the name) as suggested by a number of people previously - mmm, I quite like it. The smokiness isn't as pronounced as in Lapsang Souchong (obviously as it is a mix) but adds a lot to the flavour...I could quite like this one...might try with just a dot of honey, if that isn't against the tea drinkers code of course