Enter the Lady Grey tea. This variation on the old classic was created by Twinnings in the 1990’s to appeal to a market who, like me, found bergamot to be stronger than they cared for. Like the classic Earl Grey, Lady Grey still features oil of bergamot but in lower concentrations. Plus it adds in the oil of lemon and orange.
I had gone through my own box of Lady Grey tea bags earlier this year. So when we were in Epcot and able to visit the delightful Twinnings Tea store.
The tea has an excellent strong smell. You get the distinct bergamot notes with their spicy scent plus the more familiar sharp invigorating citrus. From the smell it nearly seems that it could be overwhelming. The taste however isn’t too much at all. The bergamot, lemon and orange are certainly present but blended together with the tea it gives an overall strong pleasant taste. It’s also the type of tea that will stay with you and keep you going for a bit.
Lady Grey is a good tea. I wouldn’t go so far as to rank it among my favorites, but it does make an excellent morning cuppa.
The picture didn't capture the difference quite so well. But trust me its there.[/caption]
with planned use of the different cakes. Or the easiest method is to alternate skeins each row. But here I was now with the body haven used virtually all of the first 3 cakes. I had just a tiny bit of the third cake left, now rolled up into a little ball. As I considered my options I also realized that I had knit up three separate swatches all of the mottled yarn.
When it came time for lunch we had a plan. One of the complaints that I have heard about MDSW is the variety of food available. Most of it is typical/junky (and I mean that in a loving way, I definitely have a place for fried food in my heart and stomach) carnival type food. Plus J is a vegetarian which limits the options. Last year however we found a super excellent spot that had a few cheese vendors. One of them even had a cheese and cracker plate which we happily feasted upon. The three of us were salivating just thinking about recreating the same this year. Not to be outwitted in case things had changed I even packed my own crackers, just in case. But sure and happily enough they were there again. Some of the leftover goat cheese came home with me along with a delicious second sheepy selection.
Once back to the shopping I found all of my final purchases in the big barn. As someone who is highly appreciative of some soft fiber and constantly on the lookout for a good bargain I was super excited to find these batts of baby llama and angora. They are sure to be a dream to spin and I’m already contemplating as to what type of project I can knit that will ensure maximum enjoyment of the soft.
If nothing else they sure do look pretty. It would actually be quite fun to make a project dyed with various "shades of tea"[/caption]
So having been somewhat restrained in my purchases I decided to loop back and treat myself to some fun reasonably priced and super soft amazing fiber. This is 100% alpaca. I have a bit over 5.5 ounces and I can’t wait to spin it up but so far I have no idea how to spin up the fiber, particularly as it relates to the colors, or what my end knitted item will be. Probably a shawl its kinda my default anymore :-)
Now once we actually arrived J and I were all about the fiber sale. The fiber sale in its newly established digs of a small building all to itself was chaotic awesomeness. It had been open for about 30 minutes when we entered and according to the sign in the back 100 fleeces had already been sold. Luckily for us however there were still over 500 left. Yup, 500 raw fleeces sitting all layed/piled out across lots of tables sometimes in a slightly organized fashion. I failed at properly preparing myself for what I was looking for. But I felt, and J agrees, that I had learned from my fleece purchases last year and would be able to better choose this year. Fleece prices can range from as low as $15 to upwards of $300. So with just a budget in mind it was still a reasonable starting point.
My budget was very much on the low side of things but there were definitely still plenty of options. I happened across this beautiful looking Tunis fleece. Firstly the price caught my eye. Secondly the fact that the sheep was coated suggested that I should be looking at a rather cleaner/better fleece. The staple length was on the longer side which I prefer and the dense crimp suggests good things. I started carrying it around before anyone else could scoop it up.
Look at all the pretty colors in one fleece![/caption]
