I like to drink.

I like beer, brown liquors, and gin.  Not so much the Vodka, but maybe that’s an acquired taste.  Also not the Aqua Vit. I like the sociability of drinking, the warmth, the laughter.

However, I can do without the tears, recrminations and remorse, so I try to avoid those as much as possible by limiting my alcohol intake…

How do I do that?

TEA!

Tea can be a welcome “Hey there!” in the morning, a mid-day work break, a meal in itself (with milk and honey) and the perfect partner for tissues and sympathy when a friend is in need of a shoulder.

Tea demands nothing from us, nothing but a bit of love in our handling – and it gives us the world.

Tea offers many of the positives of a nice beer, but with a fraction of the calories and guilt. Don’t get me wrong, a large part of what makes a beer taste good is that teensy “should you really be doing this” voice that is comfortably drowned out by the sloshing of the amber, hops-infused beverage as it passes down the throat.

One NEVER asks oneself, “Should I REALLY be drinking this cup of tea?” because tea is civilized, variable (with or without caffeine) and medicinal.  (Yes, many alcoholic beverages are “medicinal”, too, but that’s an excuse I’ve hard FAR too many times from my dad.)

Currently my favorite teas are three:  Lady Earl Grey (Twinings), Russian Earl Grey (Lipton) and Earl Grey (Second Cup, in Canada)  We also have a few local tea shops with proprietary blends of Earl Grey that I also love, but I’m only mentioning the ones that are available for general consumption here.

MUGS!

I have several mugs that make my tea experience more delightful.  I’m a mug tea drinker, not really much of a “cup sipper”.  It’s the working class background, I’m sure, plus the fact that mugs keep the tea warmer and make me feel a tiny bit like an earth mother.

My absolute FAVORITE mug was given to me by the folks at Wool & Company a few years ago.  It’s solid, lovely, and the shape keeps my tea warm all morning whilst I work at my knitting or pattern writing.  I’ve tried many mugs, but nothing suits me like this one!

Two mugs that I own and love are by Jennie The Potter.  She’s a friend here in Minnesota who makes amazing and fiber/craft related pottery.  The green mug I bought the first day I met Jennie (it’s on my ‘precious’ shelf, and doesn’t get used much), at the Yarn Over event in St. Paul in 2006.

The second I bought from her at Rhinebeck in 2009, which seem odd – both of us traveling from Minnesota to New York so I could buy a mug from her there…

This Peace Symbol mug I bought at the Great Lakes Fiber Show in 2009 at the Moorfield Pottery booth.  I don’t use it much because I don’t want to break it (it’s so lovely) but the color makes me very happy.

KNITTING & TEA!

Knitting and tea are so perfect together they’re almost a cliche.  But far be it from me to damn a cliche if it’s a good one! The yarn, so colorful and varied; the tea, so aromatic and warm.  Small joys that mean a great deal to me.

If I can have a cup of tea, a nice knit and a visit with a friend at the same time, I’m in a little bit of heaven!

Go have a cup of tea, have bit of a knit, and call a friend.  Then give some $, £ or ¥ for Doctors Without Borders so that more folks can share the small joys that make every day a bit more livable.  Life is amazing, good health and tea make it more so.

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Thank you very much Annie. You can read all sorts of interesting things on Annie’s website, including her blog.

Remember you can get all the blog-a-long updates by following p/hop on twitter and in the p/hop Ravelry group.

It’s not too late to take part in the p/hop birthday blog-a-long

Last week was such a success that we are keeping the birthday blog spot open until Saturday 5th December.

Details on how to take part are here.

Chris and I managed to tick another 4 of the list yesterday and had a very enjoyable afternoon too. We started by going to the ‘The Way of Tea’ demonstration in the Japanese Gallery at The British Museum. These are held every few weeks, are free to attend and you can find out when they are on by looking at the events diary on The British Museum website. The demonstration lasted about 30 minutes and was presented by three Japanese ladies dressed in beautiful kimonos. The first lady talked us through the ceremony while the other two played the parts of the host and the guest. Powdered matcha was passed around the audience for us to see and smell. It was a vibrant green colour and smelt similar to English tea.  I would recommend this short and accessible presentation to anyone interested in Japanese culture and traditions.

Challenge 2, 13/1000 completed

We then walked to Gordon Square which is situated just next to part of UCL. Like most of the squares in London at this time of year is was looking a little bare but it is a nice space with less people and less noise from the traffic than nearby Russell Square. Some of the houses around the Square were once occupied by members of the Bloomsbury Group and the house where John Maynard Keynes lived features a Blue Plaque.

Challenge 576, 14/1000 completed

With the announcement that the bookshop Borders had gone into administration it felt appropriate to visit one of our many local independent bookshops. The London Review Bookshop really is a lovely place. There is a very relaxed feel about the shop and there really are books everywhere. Its the sort of bookshop that makes you want to loose and afternoon brousing and then spend lots of money.

Challenge 41, 15/1000 completed

Also in the photograph you can see the sign for the Blade Rubber Stamps shop next door. I love this shop and would recommend anyone who enjoys crafts to pop in and have a look.

Then it was time for tea and cake in the tiny cake shop that is housed within the bookshop. This was really busy at about 4.30pm when we went in but the service was good and the tea and cake were really fab. Possibly a bad place to have discovered so near to our flat – I’m sure it won’t be the last time we visit!

Challenge 849, 16/1000 completed

Although Chris would go mad if I turned our blog into a knitting one I thought that the p/hop readers would understand my pain with my latest knitting project. I started knitting a Christmas present last night but after only a few rows it some how turned into this purple mess! I know that I am going to spend the rest of the week trying to undo it!

Claire (aka yellowpurplezebra on Ravelry)

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Thank you very much Claire. You can follow Claire and Chris’s  Timout Challenge here.

Remember you can get all the blog-a-long updates by following p/hop on twitter and in the p/hop Ravelry group.

Hello!  My name’s Karen and I’m a knitter and spinner from the US.  Spinning and knitting are two of the things that bring me joy.  They’re very different, but related, activities.  In fact, one of those activities led straight into the other – but not in the order some might expect.

When I was a very little girl, about the same age my daughter is now, my mother tried to teach me to knit.  She had made lots of things for my sister and me; sweaters, hats, mittens and gloves, pretty much the usual little kid stuff back in the late ’60s.  I remember her making some valiant efforts to teach me.  No matter how hard I tried, it just never made sense.  Then I tried crochet the next year (shh…), and that was that for my fiber efforts.

Fast forward about 20 years or so.  My husband and I were traveling in the North Carolina mountains and went into a pretty large fiber arts store in our favorite mountain town.  I mentioned that I had tried spinning cotton not long before, and that it wasn’t going very well.  Could they give me some help, or at least show me what I was doing wrong?

“Oh baby, cotton’s pretty tough to learn on.  Here, try this.”  She offered me a spindle behind the counter and some medium-fine roving to try.  It was like magic.  It made huge gigantic super-duper bulky yarn, but yarn it was.  Yarn that held together too.  When we went home, with a small drop spindle and about a kilo’s worth of roving, I started making yarn.  I haven’t stopped yet. Well, maybe a couple of times here and there…

Spinning brought me back to trying knitting again.  Somewhere in those 20 years I had figured out how to make the sticks work together to create a fabric.  Real stuff, like my mother had made.  Just like the spinning, I’ve only stopped for brief periods of time.  One of the longest times was when our daughter was placed with us.  I can’t ever remember being tired like that before or since.  One day when I was whining to a friend about not realizing how much work an infant could be, she mentioned trying to spin again.  I couldn’t spin at a wheel – babies usually don’t stay still and calm long enough to use a wheel  – but drop spindling was something I could do.  So I did.  In fact, I spun enough to make myself a tank top.  Bright pink and black silk, with little angora skulls around the top.  In those very early days of being a mum, it helped me stay relatively sane.

Both knitting and spinning have done more for me than keep me sane.  They’ve helped me to make friends and given me lots of exciting experiences (like the time I helped out with a shearing day).  They have also given me many hours of pleasure.

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Thank you very much Spyderkl. You can read more from Spyderkl here.

Remember you can get all the blog-a-long updates by following p/hop on twitter and in the p/hop Ravelry group.

yarn gifted from India

When this lovely local woollen yarn arrived from a dear friend in India, I knew almost straight away what it wanted to be. Two single 50g balls in co-ordinating colours? Why, stripes of course!

Add to that my need lately of simple knitting, I set about knitting a beanie. A striped beanie. And I don’t know about you, but these colours gave me  a retro feeling.  And so, a striped beanie in garter stitch was born.

Now, my son Aran doesn’t really need any more Hats, but this one was practically begging to go on his head! With a pom-pom of course, because all good retro inspired stripey beanies need pom-poms.

Aran in his stripey beanie, front view

I chose garter stitch for this Hat because it seemed to compliment the style just so. And me being me, went for the ‘inside out’ look. The beanie is structured on multiples of 8 with a balanced 4 point crown shaping. It’s a pleasant, simple knit, and flowed perfectly on the needles… the perfect, mindless knitting pattern!

Aran in his stripey beanie, rear view

And why am I telling you all this? Because I have donated this pattern to P/hop so that you can enjoy it too! There are a good range of sizes included (the garter stitch is super stretchy, so this one will see Aran well for a few years yet), with notes about how to knit it ‘right-side out’ and even how it can be converted to knitting on straight needles (this one is knitted in the round) You can vary the width of the stripes or even knit it plain should you prefer. It’s ideal for all ages and is pretty much gender neutral.

I’m pretty sure my friend who gifted me the yarn would approve of this Hat and it’s pattern for P/hop – a generous gift that can live on and benefit others.

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Thank you very much Woollywormhead. You can read more from Woolywormhead here.

Remember you can get all the blog-a-long updates by following p/hop on twitter and in the p/hop Ravelry group.

Hello friends!

I love to make things, but I’ve realised I find the process of making them quite anxious. I get so much pleasure from giving someone a homemade gift, or from using a bag or a scarf that I made for myself. I like to embellish and decorate things that I own as it feels like then they really belong to me and I am really getting good use of them. However, most of the time when I am crafting a thing, the very act of making it means sitting down, focussing and getting something done. I’m not proud of myself but most of the time I hate concentrating. Once something feels like an obligation, if I’m not in the mood, I’m like a cat being given a worming tablet. I will resist in any way I can. It’s ridiculous. Just trying to type this I have made cups of tea for everyone around me, checked twitter 15 times and reorganised my rucksack.

And that is a problem with knitting because knitting takes ages. And attention! When I worked at a call centre, it was great (the call centre was not ever great. On a scale of 1-5 where 1 is gloomy and 5 is hiding in the toilets to weep, i would put myself at about a 4 most days) because I had so much time where I was stuck on the phone and knitting was a therapeutic escape. I made so much stuff and was so much cooler with all of my accoutrements and accessories. I made everyone I loved mittens (with proper colour work!). But now I feel like a faker, not having the time or the good habits to focus and get anything made.

P-Hop’s birthday feels like the best time to stop my nonsense and start something new. I reckon I’ve got just about enough time to make some good quality Christmas presents, and raise some money for MSF, which is a lovely thing to get to do as well. This is a video of me starting a new top-secret p-hop pattern..

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Thank you Josie. As well as seeing Josie on TV you can follow her adventures at www.josielong.com If you’re intrigued about what she’s knitting, all will be revealed tomorrow.

Remember you can get all the blog-a-long updates by following p/hop on twitter and in the p/hop Ravelry group.

I’m blogging here today to let you know about a pattern that is new to p/hop.

This pattern was in Inside Loop, which is, alas, no longer with us.

But I wanted people to enjoy this pattern and raise money at the same time.

That’s when I thought of p/hop.

Do give generously as the work that Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) do is invaluable.

And if you don’t knit, well give anyway.

And because we are talking about harvest, here has to be one of the worlds best harvesters……….

Enjoy knitting.

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Thank you very much Susan. You can read more from Susan here.

Remember you can get all the blog-a-long updates by following p/hop on twitter and in the p/hop Ravelry group.

The cake is going down but the donations are going up!

Yesterday the total went over £7000 (US$ 11500) which is fantastic.

Thank you very much to everyone who has made a donation.

It would be brilliant if we could reach the £10000 target by Christmas.

Please remember to leave your email address when you make a donation so you can be entered into the WIN A YEAR OF YARN competition.

We promise we won’t add you to a mailing list or pass your details on, it’s so we can contact you if you are the lucky winner.

It’s not too late to take part in the birthday blog-a-long, please get in touch if you’d like to join in. Everyone is welcome.

I haven’t blogged for a few days, but this morning the walk to work was so lovely I had to take more images of autumn. With the Sun low in the sky the colours were wonderful.

I work in a University (you may recognise the campus) and as I walked across the campus, I reflected on how fortunate we are to live in this country – free health care, free education and the opportunities that can lead to. Compare that to the life of Francoise, who is being cared for by MSF. Listen to her story before you read more here.

This week knitters of the world are uniting in their support of MSF.

The wonderful Natalie has donated a year’s supply of yarn. If you don’t knit, you could win it for someone who does.

There are new knitting patterns to p/hop, pattern books have been offered and collected, it really is magic.

Please donate and help us get closer to our target of £10,000 by the end of the year. You know it makes sense.

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Thank you Beanz52. You can read more from Beanz52 here.

Remember you can get all the blog-a-long updates by following p/hop on twitter and in the p/hop Ravelry group.

You may have missed it last night but a new pattern slithered onto the p/hop website.

Katie Weston aka Hilltopkatie designed and donated this snakey sock pattern so be sure to adder it to your knitting queue.

The Serpentine Valentine Sock pattern can be found here, as always for a donation to p/hop.