WIP Wednesday

Wow… It’s been so long since the last time I actually say that… WIP Wednesday. I must be really bad at doing this discipline thing. Ha!

Okay… the sleeves of the hubby’s green cardigan looks better than I thought it would be. The stripes which were originally made to save the green yarn, turned out to be quite good. The blue stripes tone down the brightness of the green, and I kind of regret that I did not think of making these stripes much earlier.

It did cross my mind to redo the front pieces so that I can make the stripes, but husband said he would rather have pockets instead. Maybe I could add blue pockets later? Hm… something to think about.

My jumper looks great, and I love knitting it a lot. In no time, I have finished the back part. Not that often I could surprise myself.

I think it knits much faster than my husband’s jumper, mainly because my size is way smaller than my husband’s. I wonder if I would have a FO anytime soon…

When these are done, I would have to start to make a hoodie pullover for my teenage nephew. Do you have any good pattern for a pullover jumper? I have several jumper and hoodie patterns, but they don’t look… right. Especially the hoodie bit.

I mean, hoodies are supposed to drape around your face instead of snugging your head like a balaclava aren’t they?

x ❤ x

What Goes Well With Tea?

Have you ever thought of that? What goes well with tea?

I started to think about that after my husband introduced me to one of the best British delicacy called Rich Tea biscuit. I mean, the name says it all, doesn’t it? Rich Tea… the biscuit that makes tea drinking experience even richer? Am I pushing it?

The traditional Cream Tea — Tea, scone, cream and jam

Then of course, along came Cream Tea. Scone is probably one of the best thing that can happen to tea. Those are new to me, because in Indonesia, and in my Chinese culture, tea is not enjoyed the way people do here in the UK. Completely different.

For example, in Indonesia we don’t need to drink tea from a cup. We enjoy it hot or cold, with or without sugar. But never… with milk or any whitener. Or lemon, as lemon is not widely accessible in Indonesia — expensive because it is an imported fruit.

Chinese Tea in a Bakutteh Restaurant in Malaysia. Definitely a must try… 

While my mum is a coffee drinker, my dad is a tea drinker. He enjoys a good tea, and only drink it black. I think I learn it from him. The difference is, while I am not too fussy with my tea, my father could be a mini pain in the neck when he started making comments about what tea should be. Come to think of it.. almost all his siblings are pretty fussy about tea.

Whenever I come back from Indonesia, I always bring some boxes of tea for me and my sister in law. Indonesian tea (especially the jasmine tea version) is generally more fragrant than tea in the UK, which was imported from India. I am not saying they’re better, but I am used to tea from the other part of the world, and processed differently too. I mean, there are hundreds or thousands of tea variety in the world, in the end it is all about your preference, isn’t it?

Right… while in that part of Asia we enjoy tea with almost everything — including savoury food, here we have a special kind of tea drinking experience called Afternoon Tea, or High Tea.

High Tea or Afternoon Tea… Three Tiered Yums

I was finally able to convince my DH to go with me to enjoy an Afternoon Tea in the city. He is a coffee drinker, so he swapped his tea with coffee — don’t mind the heathen. He thought Afternoon Tea is an overpriced cake eating experience. I beg to differ…

I believe that afternoon tea is not just about eating cake and sandwich while drinking tea. For me it is a way for us to allocate a time for just us, enjoying the finer things in life without distraction from computer games, or mobile phone apps, or tv show. It is a great way to go on a date as a couple.

Seriously.

And you know what? When we finished the afternoon tea (we were allowed to bring the leftover home, so… bonus), he admitted that he quite enjoyed the whole experience. See?

Anyway… what else goes well with tea? You guessed it…

Knitting.

x ❤ x

 

Watching Britain Knits

Do you like watching documentary programmes? In this household, we do. I am not sure where I get this penchant, because my parents would skip documentaries and watch soap instead. I am glad I don’t share telly with them anymore.

We watch documentaries of any kind. History, war history, pre-history, architecture, art, science… sometimes even nature. My husband likes nature documentary better than I do. I like it when it is related to human, and human body… not so much when they’re talking about critters. It gave me uneasy feeling.

So, I was excited when I recorded this particular documentary from BBC. Fabric Of Britain — The Golden Age of Knitting. Seriously… watching it wearing handmade knitted dress, while finishing up an FO… so much satisfaction.

However, I enjoyed it not because I am a knitter — although it did give me a smugness feeling when watching it. It was a great programme in itself. Even husband watching it with me, could not move from the sofa — partly because I was leaning on his arm too.

I think you can still access the documentary through BBC iPlayer. I am not sure if you can access it if you are not in the UK, though. Yeah… That’s the other thing that annoys me too when I am on holiday in Indonesia, and wanting to access BBC telly programme, and couldn’t.

Aanyway… back to my own golden age of knitting… This time, I did not forget to sew the buttons on. Ha!

x ❤ x

P.S.  Hubby commented during the documentary, that knitting is quintessentially British. Well… then, I am ready to take the citizenship test anytime.