Christopher Hitchens died on Friday of cancer at the age of 62. What a brilliant thinker, debater and writer; and no matter if one agreed with him or not, he was always inspiring and made me think. Over the weekend, while reading some of Hitchens’ essays, I came across one of his articles from a year ago: “How to make a decent cup of tea“:
“It is already virtually impossible in the United States, unless you undertake the job yourself, to get a cup or pot of tea that tastes remotely as it ought to. It’s quite common to be served a cup or a pot of water, well off the boil, with the tea bags lying on an adjacent cold plate. Then comes the ridiculous business of pouring the tepid water, dunking the bag until some change in color occurs…. The drink itself is then best thrown away, though if swallowed, it will have about the same effect on morale as a reading of the memoirs of President James Earl Carter.”
I’m a coffee drinker, but when I think of tea at this time of year, images of rustic cabins, warm woolen blankets, mittens and hats come to my mind. This image is spurred on by my daughter reading Laura Ingall Wilder’s “The Long Winter” out loud to us. As you can see, we have quite diverse literary tastes in our house.
After reading Hitchen’s essay, I’m ready to make a proper cup of tea. Maybe my coffee habit needs to be re-examined.
I’m still on the road and it’s cold. Very very cold. Luckily, there’s a large art studio downstairs, offering an enormous quantity of vintage wool. Not being much of a crocheter or knitter, I usually don’t have a lot of wool lying around to experiment with. But over the weekend, I grabbed a hook and experimented. As usual I don’t like to count stitches more than once, so the project had to be simple.
I’m actually quite happy with the outcome. If you have a rudimentary knowledge of how to crochet, you can certainly make one of these cowls yourself. The above picture is my daughter modeling (reluctantly). It’s a bit big on her, but it’s flexible and can be worn in many different ways. I’m working on a how-to.
I’ll be making a cup of tea right now, and starting a new cowl. Because now I’m hooked.
Since I really love your blog and the things you do, I just nominated you for the “Versatile Blog Award”.
take a look:
http://kh-handcrafts.blogspot.com/2011/12/i-was-happy-to-discover-that-ive-been.html
Merry christmas from cold and snowy Iceland!
i can’t wait for the tutorial…and while you’re at it, how about a tea tutorial…maybe i’m missing something, but i am an iced tea gal….the tepid cup of which he speaks doesn’t do it for me!
Oh no Sharon, quite the opposite. Hitchens actually writes that it is common in the US to serve tepid cups of tea and he doesn’t like it one little bit! Tutorial will come shortly. Haven’t quite the time to make decent pictures, but I will.
Hooked…for life! I’m also hooked on coffee…I consume too much, but nothing better in the winter than a bag full of yarn, needles and a Starbucks gift card. December is usually my least favorite month as shopping cuts into my knitting/crochet time and January my favorite as I have at least two Starbucks cards, new yarn and some down time. If you like crochet, you should learn to knit too! Wish we were “real-life friends” I’d make you meet me at Starbucks and I’d teach you!!! Your daughter is precious and I love how the cowl becomes a hat when cinched…no littles to copy that for, but I’m off to knit my son a bowtie! xov (kisshugstitch)
I can totally relate to Hutchins “Cup of tea” blurb! The first time I went to the States and ordered ‘hot tea’, I was appalled! I’m drinking a huge cup of Irish Breakfast tea done the right way…brewed with the bag in the pot for a good while.
I read The Long Winter in the fall after reading the book, The Childrens Blizzard.
Now I’m about to read Dylan Thomas’ A Childs Christmas in Wales….love the little bags.
Happy Holidays.
Crochet is like that! Once you start there is no turning back! I hope you enjoy the tea, I love tea and have about six cups a day, (eeeek!) but recently I have started trying different herbal teas, which are all quite nice. i love the blackcurrant and ginger one.
Tolle Idee mit dem Banddurchzug. Zuerst dachte ich ja, du hättest Teabags gehäkelt…
I love it and want to make one (or more)…but need a knitting pattern…Do you have one or know where I could get one???
Check out my post … I wrote about you! I hope it gives you pleasure.
Anna Bello
http://annabello.blogspot.com/2012/02/elogio-al-te.html