The Land of Wool and Honey

Next!

The spotty teapot showed up in today's mail and right after a photo shoot,

I cast on for a new tea cozy.

Spot of Tea

Confession:  I don't drink coffee.  I quit about a year ago and I don't even miss it.  Really.

Gradually, over the past 18 months or so, coffee has somehow lost its luster.  Which is crazy--sacrilegious, even--because for more years than I can remember, coffee has been one of the shiniest stars in my life.  Morning, noon and late, late night, I couldn't get enough.  Americanos, lattes, mochas, black coffee, coffee ice cream, even.   Espresso, straight up?  I could dig it.  I was even happy to drink the dregs from a forgotten mug left in the microwave overnight.  (Is that wrong?)  New studies (like this one from National Geographic) would be published about the amazing effects of caffeine--most specifically derived from coffee--and as a former roaster myself, intimate with coffee's alchemy, my chest would puff up with pride.  Of course it's amazing.  It's a gol dang Miracle.  There was nothing you could say about that beautiful, brown elixir that would deter me from partaking every chance I got.  Coffee was the only missing link to my otherwise perfect body chemistry.  The cherry on top.  The peanut butter to my jelly. 

These days, it's more like the eggplant to my ketchup.  Gross and gross.

Thankfully, it's not just me.  A few months ago, my best friend Allie and I were discussing our favorite vehicle for caffeination and were both shocked (and secretly thrilled!) to discover neither of us were really jonesing for joe anymore.  Too harsh on the stomach, too dehydrating, too high a high followed by such a low low.  Tweaky, hungry, cranky?  That was me about 12 months ago.

No, thanks.  I can do b@#%h all on my own.

Sure, I'll have a latte every few months or so (usually when simultaneously indulging in the best breakfast around), and really, on a lazy, rainy day, there's nothing better than a steaming hot cup of Blend Six.  But sadly, Coffee?  This is where we say goodbye.

*****

Insert new object of affection here.  Tea.

Glorious, fortifying, cleansing, caffeinating tea.  Green, black, herbal, tisane, hot, iced, yerba mate--you name it, I'll drink it.  The new Life in my Blood. 

And what goes hand-in-hand with tea?  Knitting!  A knitted tea cozy, to be more precise. 

Pattern:  Autumn Tea Cozy by aemmeleia.

Started: Thursday, June 17th, 2010.

Finished: Friday, June 18th, 2010.

Yarn:  Noro Kureyon--exactly one skein.  (I had about five inches leftover.)

Needles:  US 7 Addi Turbos--16" circular & Brittany dpns in US 7.

Size:  One.  Shop sample for Wool & Honey.

Modifications:   Not a one.

This cozy will look perfect on the polka-dotted teapot I just ordered.  From England.

I'm nothing if I'm not fanatical.