A Nice Cuppa Tea

Almost equal to my love of the fiber arts is my love of tea.  Tea and fiber arts—what could be a more perfect combination? And what better topic to relax by when transitioning between Fear Factor Crafters’ Edition posts!  I have a decent-sized yarn stash (though still a “baby stash” by the standards of other fiber artists), but it pales in comparison to my collection of tea.  I have an entire shelf crowded with teas of all kinds, a collection of teapots for every occasion, and I have several books on teas and tea parties. 



The other stash in my life, plus some of my favorite brewing implements

 

Obsessed?  Maybe… 

Except for a recent surge of new-wave tea enthusiasm, the beverage and the leaf from which it comes has frequently been taken for granted here in the US.  I think that’s a shame, considering all the wonderful ways the leaf of a single plant species (Camelia sinensis) can be processed, blended, brewed, and enjoyed.  Not to mention it has a backstory worthy of its own soap opera miniseries! (that will have to wait for another post...) 

A Whirlwind Gide to Tea Types

In my pantry, I have many examples of all four of the main types of tea:  white, green, oolong, and black.   A note to any pu-erh fans who may be reading:  I consider this one an extension of black tea, and since I haven’t yet had an encounter with it, you’ll have to wait for another time.  The same goes for herbal blends, since there are too many types and combinations for one post. 

Even though they all come from the very same species of plant, each has vastly different characteristics and flavors from the other, which stem from the different types of processes, and where the plant was grown (much like coffee, wine, and chocolate—yum, yum, and yum!).  Here’s a basic look at how we get each one of these treats, and some of what to expect from a straight cup. 

·       White tea:  the least processed of all, and the lowest level of caffeine.  The leaves are simply picked, shaped, and dried, and the brew is light in color and delicate and mellow in flavor. 

Clockwise from top:  Cucumber White (Tazo), Pear Luna--discontinued, Lavender Dreams, and Youthberry (all from Teavana)

 

 

·       Green tea:  pan-fired or steamed before drying to prevent oxidation.  The heat destroys enzymes that leads to unwanted oxidation, and allows the pigments in the chlorophyll to shine through (kind of like perfectly-cooked vegetables).  Flavors range from subtle, to floral and springy, to sweet, to nutty and robust. 




A few from my stash (left to right, from top):  Decaf Lotus Blossom (Tazo), Peach Blossom (Celestial Seasonings),  Jasmine and Orange Blossom (Dean & Deluca), Trader Joe's Candy Cane, Hibiscus Honey Lemon (Hawaiian Islands Tea Co.), Trader Joe's Coconut Green Tea.  Not Pictured:  too many to list. 

·       Oolong tea:  process builds on green and white, and is partially oxidized before firing.  Can be peachy or fruity in taste, or deep and, again, nutty. 

Goddess of Mercy (Old Town Spice and Tea Merchants, Temecula), Stash Coconut Mango.  Not pictured:  S'mores oolong (Teavana)

 

Close-up of Goddess of Mercy oolong



·       Black tea:  again, the process builds on the previous three, but unlike oolong, the leaves are allowed to fully oxidize.  The resulting brew is actually the most variable, and can be light and fruity—almost like a good wine, or robust and malty or chocolatey.  Even though it has the highest level of caffeine, it only contains 35 percent of the caffeine found in regular drip coffee.  

Zhena's Chai Sampler, Mim Estate Darjeeling (Metropolitan Tea Co.), Paris: Earl Grey with Vanilla (Old Town Spice and Tea Merchants, Temecula) Grand Canyon Prickly Pear, Oatmeal Cookie (Old Town Spice and Tea Merchants, Temecula) Not pictured:  Garden Afternoon (Churchmouse Yarns and Tea, Bainbridge Island WA), Trader Joe's Cinnamon and Vanilla

Brewing the Perfect Cup

Like many things in life, a cup of tea is amazingly simple, and amazingly satisfying.  Unfortunately, I’ve had many cups that have been made bad by equally simple brewing mistakes.  While I’m not a tea snob, I am particular about proper brewing procedure.  Here are some common pitfalls and how to avoid them. 

Water

It’s the universal solvent, and the number one ingredient in making tea.  Yeah, you thought it was the leaves, didn’t you?  The quality of your water source can make or break your final cup or pot of tea.  Tap water that’s been run through a good filter (like the one in your refrigerator door) is your best bet; it takes out any of the excess chemicals (such as chlorine—blech!), but still leaves the right mineral balance to get the best flavor extraction.  You could almost look at it like using a primer when you paint a house.  Bottled spring water could do in a pinch, but avoid mineral and distilled waters.  Mineral water would mask the subtle nuances in tea, and distilled water would be too chemically squeaky-clean that it can’t extract any flavor in the first place.   

Time, temperature, and amount

Now let’s say you’ve got some nice filtered water, and you’re ready to put the kettle on.  Before you turn on the heat, you’ll want to know how far to go.  Certain teas prefer certain times and temperatures, for the most part corresponding with how processed they are.  Also, you’ll want the right proportions of tea to water; for loose-leaf teas, I usually go for 1 to 1.5 teaspoons per 6 to 8 fluid ounces (177-236 mL) of water.  One average teabag should do for the same amount, depending how strong you like your tea. 

·       White and green tea:  175° F White is usually steeped for 3 minutes, green for 1 minute (sometimes even less), although flavored teas of either category are steeped for two minutes. 

·       Oolong:  180°-195° F, about 3 minutes. 

·       Black:  195°-208° F  Black tea is the most variable for time; it can be steeped as little as 2 minutes, or as long as 5 minutes. 

·       Herbal blends:  Boiling for 5 minutes

You don’t want to mess with the brewing temperature, especially for white and green teas, since water that’s too hot can extract bitter compounds, namely tannins, resulting in a very harsh brew.  Then, too cool water just won’t extract much to begin with, good or bad. 

My favorite kettle; use the controls to set the temperature, and the LED display shows the current temperature of your water...Slick!

As far as steeping times go, I suggest starting with the manufacturer’s instructions and adjusting from there based on your own tastes.  For instance, I find Tazo brand’s flavored greens stay wonderfully smooth after their suggested 3 minute steep. 

Tools of the trade

There’s not a whole lot you need for a good cup of tea; for heating the water, I use an electric kettle that has a built-in digital thermometer and temperature control, but I keep a stovetop kettle and a beverage thermometer in my kitchen just in case the power goes out.  I like using a good 8-to-12-ounce French press is my ideal for a single serving of loose tea, but whatever you end up using, just make sure your loose tea has plenty of room to expand, at least double the initial volume of the dried leaves; and make sure the leaves stay submerged—that is the point of making tea, right?  If you like bagged tea (I have plenty—no shame in that!), just plop one bag in a favorite mug and steep from there. 

Now, your tea is steeped and served…all that’s left is to find a comfy seat, maybe outside in the garden if the weather permits, pick up your latest project or a good book, and enjoy! 

Cheers!

Fear Factor: Crafters' Edition (part 1)

When crafting as a hobby, there are a ton of opportunities to make things—things that make you smile, things that make others smile, and more or less useful things.  

 

Along with all those wonderful things, there are plenty more opportunities for road blocks, which can strike fear in the hearts of otherwise intrepid crafters, and may keep some from pursuing and achieving awesomeness.  Such include new and scary-looking equipment, new and difficult techniques, mess-ups (whether or not they’ve actually happened), and the list goes on. 

This has happened to me more times than I care to count. 

That’s why I’ve decided to start a series of common crafters’ fears, starting with the crafts with which I’m most familiar—that is, knitting and crochet—and go over what the fear is, why it exists, and ways to face it to get the most awesome project ever!

Yes, even you can learn this!  But that's another post. 

 

Before I start, though, I will advise you to seek out the folks at your nearest local yarn shops for specific troubleshooting.  If there is a specific issue in your current project, they will be able to pick up your work, examine it, and diagnose.  This is also important:  these instructions are written for a right-handed knitter; if you’re a lefty, I again suggest going to your local yarn shop.  You’ll see I also knit continental, but that shouldn’t affect the instructions. 

And with that, here we go! 

For my inaugural edition I would like to start with a fear that’s relatively common for new crafters, but one that’s relatively easy once you’ve gotten a confidence boost.  This, my friends, is lace.  And lace charts. 

I really hate to dumb it down, but I say you should talk your troubles down to a level that you can manage.  Knitting patterns and designs into fabric, as you do in lace, is really just combining different stitch types and arranging them stitch by stitch and row by row. 

Aside from the basic knit stitch, there are a few other stitches and techniques that you’ll need to get under your belt as a knitter: 

Purl stitch

Yarn-over

Slipping stitches

Twisting stitches

Decreases

With that, let’s tackle these one-by-one. 

 

Purling

As a knitter, I’m not just going to assume you already know how to do this one, or any of the other techniques.  However, I will say that if you do, you can skip this one, but looking at the photos won’t hurt things.

Here we go.  First, make sure your yarn is at the front of your work instead of behind.  Then take your needles and put the right needle into the next stitch (in the left hand) going from the top down, like a diver going head-first into a pool.  Make sure your needles cross over each other, with the needle in your right hand on top. 

 

 

Next, wrap your yarn up the front, over, and down the back of the needle in your right hand.  This is also called a “yarn over”, which we will discuss next.  

Up the front of the needle...
 



 

 



...And down the back. 



 

The rest is similar to the knit stitch, where you bring the needle and your yarn through the working stitch on the left needle then release. 

What this stitch ultimately does is puts the little bump on the side of the fabric facing you, and the little “v” shape on the side away from you.  For ribbing, alternate this with the knit stitch in the same row, or you can make a chart to create little pictures and texture patterns in your fabric!

 

Yarn Overs

The yarn-over is the simplest increase out there, and it creates an intentional hole in the fabric.  This one is key to lacework--you simply cannot have knit lace without it.  All you do is wrap your yarn around your working needle from front to back and that’s your stitch. 

It's just like with your other stitches--up the front, over the needle, and down the back. 

 

This stitch also adds another stitch to your needles, so unless you’re intending to increase and make the row and the rest of your project one stitch wider, you’ll need to take away some other stitches to make up for it.  We'll get into that one in a little bit. 

 

Slipping Stitches

This one is also very easy, but there are a couple ways of going about it, depending on the desired effect in the fabric.  Slipping a stitch knit-wise is like the beginning of a knit stitch, except instead of wrapping the yarn around your needle and creating a new stitch, you simply move the existing stitch from left to right.  Slipping purl-wise works on the same principle, except placing your needle in the stitch from the top down instead of from the bottom up. 

 

Twisting Stitches

When you twist a stitch, you have to think backwards a little.  Let’s take this one part at a time…

Twisting a knit stitch, a.k.a. Knitting through the back of the loop (common abbrev:  KTBL), involves inserting the needle in the back of the work from the top down (like our diver analogy), but making sure the yarn is back behind your needles. 

 

Then work your stitch as normal:  yarn over, put the needle and the new stitch through, and release the old stitch. 

To twist a purl stitch (a.k.a. purling through back of the loop, abbrev. PTBL), make sure the yarn is at the front of the work, then insert the stitch upward through the stitch, coming from behind.  Then work your stitch as normal.  The picture will be a little wonky, but hopefully it will work. 





 

Decreases

As I said before, when you yarn-over in lacework and you want to keep the number of stitches on your needles the same, you need to learn to decrease.  This involves combining two or more stitches into one.  The basic decreases go like so:  insert your needle into two (or three, or more) as if to purl or knit…

For the sake of demonstration, I'm doing the classic knit two together, or K2tog. 

 

…and work the stitches as one big stitch. 

 

With the knit stitch, that causes the decrease to lean to the right (looks like a forward slash / )

Another decrease is the slip-slip-knit (ssk). 

 

Slip one stitch knit-wise, then another, and knit the two stitches together (it should look like you’re working a KTBL on this step, but it produces different results). 

 

 

The stitch should look like a backslash ( \ ) when the rest of the row is complete.  Another way to produce the same result is to slip a stitch knit-wise, knit the next stitch, then pass the slipped stitch over (abbrev sl, k, psso). 

 

Reading Charts

Now that you finally have the basics of what stitches and stitch types are commonly used in lace knitting, it's time to look at another form of instruction. 

As intimidating as they look, charts are a knitter’s—and a pattern writer’s best friend.  They condense a pattern and make it easier to write, and they give visual learners something to go on.  But you need to know how to read a chart if you want it to work with you. 

When looking at most lace (and other) charts, the chart is going to depict where each stitch is placed in the finished fabric.  That being said, since it shows only the right side of the fabric, you need to think backwards a little when you work the rows where the wrong side of the fabric is facing you. 

In the picture below, the first chart is how most patterns depict their charts, complete with row numbers and key to symbols.  (For any experienced knitters, feel free to test this pattern.  I didn’t want to copy someone else’s design, so I made something up off the top of my head.) 

For your convenience, all the techniques I covered, and nothing too foreign.

The same chart is copied on the bottom, but this time I put little red arrows that wind their way through the rows; this is how you would read a chart pattern, from right to left on the right side rows, then left to right on a wrong-side row. 

 



Don't get dizzy...



 I hope this cleared up some of the mystery of laces and charts!  Next time on Fear Factor:  Crafter’s edition, I’ll demystify the art of…

CABLES!  (cue dramatic chord of music)

 

I’ve got a sort of mental list of topics that I hope to cover, but if there’s something you are just itching to know or really want me to do a post about, please message me in the comments below! 

 
Until then, see ya! 

"You woke me up for this?"

 

Playin' Catch-Up

Hello, everybody! 

Again, it has been a while since my last post.  Possibly a full month?  I really need to get a grip on this whole blogging thing. 

Pretty true in this case...



The good news is, since so much time has passed, I've got some cool stuff to report!  Here it is, list-by-list, as mentioned on the last edition of Knitting Safari. 

 My First Fiber Festival

First off, at the beginning of the last month, I got to attend the Vista Fiber Arts Fiesta. 

Since it was my first fiber festival, I wasn't sure what to expect, but I did have a handy list of vendors that were going to attend.  But let's just say I was very happy with what I had seen and experienced!  There was a live band...

...plenty of vendors selling their wares--raw fiber, yarn, and related accoutrements...

...and baby alpacas!!!   

Seriously--how cute are these little guys?!

My first booth, and possibly the one at which I spent the most time, was at Brookmoore Cotton.  There, Jill and Lita introduced me to their easy-to-spin cotton, and believe me, "easy" is an understatement.  Once they showed me the proper drafting technique,  that cotton was as smooth as butter in my hands.  I left their booth with 4 ounces of their natural green cotton silver, the spindle on which I learned to spin the fiber, and a big ol' smile!  You can visit them at brookmoorecreations.com, and see some of their pictures from the fiesta here. 

From there I wandered around and absorbed the sights and sounds of the place; I really wish I didn't have to work later that afternoon, because it was a little overwhelming trying to figure out which booths I wanted to see, what else I wanted to buy, and keeping track of time so I could come back home and get changed and eat before work.  In a nutshell, along with the spindle and the cotton from Brookmoore, I purchased a lotion bar from Inner Yarn Zen (links to Etsy page), and wool-and-glitz roving from The Fiber Ranch (link goes to their website), which I promptly spun into this loveliness in the course of one week: 

 

I might re-spin it and even out some of the bigger slubs--I was trying for an art-yarn look, but even then I might have gone a little overboard. 

 

Now that I know somewhat what to expect, I can't wait until next year; maybe this will be a catalyst for attending other festivals elsewhere. 

 

The Grand Canyon

I also mentioned last year that I was planning a trip to The Grand Canyon.  Now that I'm back in town, I feel I can freely express the details of the trip. 

 

My parents and I left the Thursday before Halloween, and drove 8 hours from our home in San Diego County to Flagstaff, AZ.  This was the first time I had driven over state lines, and my first visit to Arizona, so I had no idea what to expect.  We drove parallel to Route 66, through low desert, high desert, and mountains.  We motored through stretches of highway where there was literally no other sign of human activity aside from other vehicles and the roads on which we drove.  This was particularly surreal, and here's a screen capture from my phone to illustrate this...

 

You know you're in the middle of nowhere when your phone's GPS won't display a name for the "local" weather.

 

One of my favorite moments of our drive to Flagstaff was this:  by now we were already in Arizona, driving through high desert territory.  In the distance, we could see where the clouds were becoming too heavy to support themselves and the streaks of rain spilling down from the billows.  As we drove on, the stormy clouds got closer and closer.  I really wish I had taken some kind of footage (be it video or still photography) because it was actually really cool and pretty funny to boot, but it went something like this: 

 

Nothing. 

 

Nothing. 

 

Nothing. 

 

POURING! 

 

Nothing. 

 

Nothing. 

 

Nothing...

There was no inkling that we were going to be rained on--no little sprinkles to build upon, no clouds piling up on each other; it was just there.   It was almost like driving under a giant showerhead set on full blast.  And the storm ended just as suddenly as it had begun. 

 

We spent the night in Flagstaff, then continued on to Grand Canyon National Park.  The drive was absolutely splendid!  It had been raining in Flagstaff the night before, and there was actually snow on the ground and among the forests surrounding us as we climbed in elevation. 

 

Beautiful...



...Absolutely beautiful.

 

 

 The snow disappeared, though, as we inched closer to National Park territory and further onto the mesa.  But just because the snow goes away doesn't mean the chill doesn't.  I would estimate the high temperature was, eh, about 50-ish Fahrenheit. 

 

The visitor's center was quite lovely--very spacious, and the structures complimented the natural surroundings, just as it should.  After watching a film about the history of the Grand Canyon and its discovery, we hiked out to see the main event.  Of course one would expect the Grand Canyon to be just that:  grand.  But until you see it for yourself, neither words nor photographs can express how beautiful it is, and how dwarfed and insignificant you feel in its presence.  But here's a sample, anyway...

 

 

Needless to say, as with any other natural wonder (or even some manmade ones, for that matter), there is a lot of room for stupid people to do some stupid things. 

In Yosemite, it was people climbing Half Dome in flip-flops and wading knee-deep in the raging Merced River, blatantly ignoring signs that warned against even sticking a toe in. 

In the case of the Grand Canyon, our stomachs turned and churned as we watched reckless folks venture out far beyond the safety of the railings, risking life and limb and a drop thousands and thousands of feet down all for the sake of the "perfect" selfie. 

Just imagine people standing on that ledge while getting their picture taken.  And they're jumping. 
Yikes.  (No people were photographed to protect the identities of the foolish.)

Obviously they've never seen the book in the gift shops entitled Over The Edge:  Death in the Grand Canyon by Michael P. Ghiglieri and Thomas M. Myers (they have collaborated on similar books revolving around other US National Parks); it's a spine-chilling documentary of all the people who have died from falling down the Grand Canyon, whether it was murder, suicide, or a needless and preventable tragedy. 

But let's not dwell on that. 

 

The days we were there, we had incredible views and we were able to see the canyon from all different angles and in all different lighting types. from late morning to midday, to dusk. 

 

Note the contrast in color and clarity from the previous...That's the beauty of nature--it's always changing and evolving in big ways and in small, taking just moments or entire centuries.

 

 

 Our last night there, we were walking back to our hotel from dinner, and I looked out over the horizon to see a beautiful skyline of stars, including the famed Big Dipper and a faint tracing of the Milky Way Galaxy.  It was definitely inspiring, and would have been wonderful material for a stylized landscape painting. 

A note on the hotel:  We did stay at El Tovar, which is one of the National Park Grand Lodges.  It was completed in 1905, but has been constantly renovated to suit the changing times.  I'm not going to say much other than that after staying at the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite, our expectations were set a little high.  But our Zane Grey suite that we stayed in was pretty cool; there was a framed biography on the famed author, posters from films based on his books, as well as a library of his novels. 

 

Overall, it was a beautiful experience, and I can't wait to venture on to my next National Park destination! 

 

Blog Building, Projects, and Jobs (oh, my!) 

Well, that's actually where things kind of slump.  For now, I only have one other blog listed on my "Favorite Blogs" list, and there are so many more that I would love to look at and add!  That's where any readers can come in:  PLEASE comment, tell me about yourselves, other blogs you like--or your blog(s) for that matter, what you like about this one, and even what you would like to see here.  

Seriously, this is cool!  I know my blog actually has an audience!  Ah, the power of the World Wide Web...

 

I think I also need to include more pictures.  I'll work on that, too.  Here's another one, just for kicks. 

 

The calm before the storm; somewhere in the high deserts of Arizona, en route to Flagstaff on the first leg of our adventure. 

 

 

As for other post ideas, I'm working on one that I hope will be a series on another favorite subject of mine that doesn't  involve knitting, yarn, and the like.  What is it?  I'm not going to say...yet! 

 

On the job-sphere, I have applied to several companies, and so far it's looking good in terms of interviews. 

 

In regards to current crafting projects, I have postponed working on the Shore Thing tank, and other projects, to start Christmas gifts.  I won't disclose what I'm making or for whom, but I'll happily share after I have given to the respective recipients.  After all, there's no sense in spoiling anything! 

 

That's all I've got for now, but hopefully it won't be so long between visits. 

 

Take care!