Knit 1 Tea 2 Color Swap Questionnaire

**Folks, I will post about my vacation and the awesome swap packages I had waiting on me when I got home yesterday, but first, I need to be a good hostess...**

Knit 1 Tea 2 Color Swap Questionnaire

Do you like loose tea or bags, or both – something you want to try?

I am a tea snob, which means I buy loose tea, but bags certainly have their uses! I use bags in my Mr. Coffee Iced Tea Pot, and they travel nicely. There are premium bagged teas, and I must confess, they rival my beloved loose tea!

What is your favorite kind of tea (Brand, flavor, variety, etc)?

Harney and Sons is my favorite brand, but I've been introduced to some good ones recently. Green tea is my favorite in general, but I also like black tea in the morning, and white tea in the evenings. And there's nothing like a good, BIG cup of Chai, especially on a lazy Saturday morning. (Just no red tea. I can't seem to find one I care to drink.)

Favorite color in regards to tea or one you would like to try? (black, green, red, and white) (keeping in mind that this is how this swap is set up).

Can't you take a hint? (grins) GREEN!!

Would you say you were a tea pot kind of person or just a hot water heater kind?

Depends. I mean, am I at work? Is it a Saturday morning? Summer? Winter? I love my big ol' teapot, but the truth is, I generally use my fancy electric kettle, set to heat the water to just shy of a rolling boil (ideal for brewing the perfect cup of green tea), and a great big mug.

What tea accessories would you like but have never purchases for yourself?

You're kidding, right? I guess the only things I don't have that I might want is a little 2-4 cup teapot, or one of those glass infusers. (Lia gave me my first ornamental tea, so I REALLY want to see the flower "bloom" properly!)

How do you prefer to be pampered? (examples: mani/pedi, bubble bath, yummy treat, etc).

There's nothing in the world like a pedicure, except dark, DARK chocolate. However, it's too hot here right now for most chocolate to survive in transit...

If you were a kind of yarn what would you be and why?

(I've had longer than most of you to ponder this question, so you'd think I'd have a great answer. Nope, but I'm definitely looking forward to reading your answers!)

As much as I'd like to type something chic and neat here, I'd most likely be a hand-dyed superwash merino. I'm rather classic (boring) and utilitarian by nature, but I like the finer things in life. I'm definitely wash and wear, although I do have quite a collection of formal wear.

If you had to knit/crochet baby booties, a fun fur scarf, or a fair isle sweater, which would you choose and why?

Baby booties, because I want to make a pair for a special newborn about to arrive, and because they are the closest things to socks on that list.

What other event would make you skip a tea party? (A garden party? A book club meeting? A yoga class? Opening night for a new action thriller? etc?)

I can't see skipping a tea party, unless it was an important event for someone else close to me, like a family dinner, or something of the sort. As much as I love tea, there are precious few tea parties in my life.

What treat would you consider essential at your tea party? (Sweet? Salty? Scones? Those petite pastry trays with a couple of all sorts of things? Little crust less sandwiches?)

Picture an at least three-tiered tray thingee with dozens of little treats. Maybe fruit and cheese on one level, petite scones on another, and sweets on the top.

When buying yarn for a project how do you choose - do you buy the one called for or do you substitute?

I substitute, because the yarn shop I'm in at that moment never has the yarn recommended in the pattern.

What do you carry your knitting/crocheting in when on the go?

I think I'd like to evoke some sort of executive privilege here and not answer this one. I took my Wick yarn that is on its way to being a yoga sock to Chicago in a Ziploc bag, in my Healthy Back Bag. I look my Sockza socks in progress to Myrtle Beach in a retired tote style handbag. I've carried other socks in those plastic bags from the grocery store. However, I've recently received some exceptionally lovely bags that will be called into service immediately. (Stay tuned...) My days of being a tacky knitting bag lady are over!

Favorite movie to watch while knitting/crocheting?

Well, after watching Homeward Bound last weekend, I can tell you that anything that makes me mist up isn't ideal for while-knitting viewing. Honestly, I watch whatever Mark has on, or whatever Netflix has sent most recently.

Are you a traditional tea cup kind of person or a mug type of person? Do you care if they match?

Again, my ideals and my life conflict. (Anyone else a student of classical philosophy? Ideals vs. ideas?) I love the idea of mismatched china cups and sterling silver, but my rustic life finds me grabbing a big ol' mug and a stainless spoon, to be sipped by the computer in the study and/or on the sofa with Mugsy.

Favorite childhood birthday party?

Hands down, my eighth, which was my first sleep-over party, with eight of my best friends on our big porch, with the bloomed yucca plant being mistaken for a ghost in the garden by a gal my hubby still buys my jewelry from...

Favorite type of scone and jam?

One of my girlfriends gave me a recipe (which is filed away somewhere so safe I can't find it right now) for pumpkin scones and pumpkin butter. Now *THAT* is good stuff, but in a pinch, any ol' scone with some clotted cream and real strawberry jam will do.

If you use candles, what is your favorite scent?

I hope you weren't looking for short answers, because you won't find them here. Mark is the candle person in our house, and he likes baked scents - sugar cookie, apple pie, etc. I like the smell of soft florals.

If you could choose 3 people to have 'tea' with, who would they be and why? (famous or not, living or dead).

My two grandmothers, and my Nana, who was actually my great-aunt. I don't recall ever having tea with Ru-Ru, my father's mother, but she died when I was four. I have my Nannie's tea service, which was given to her as a retirement gift after a lifetime in nursing, and I'd love to serve her a cup of Earl Grey in my best china cup. I did have tea with Nana, so I would love to have the three of them at one table, with all of us in ostentatious hats and pearls.

You've been invited to a tea party, what 'props' will you wear (formal or casual)?

Formal: A "Derby" hat, made by my exceptionally crafty stepmom, and my pearls.

Casual: For me, casual tea means I still need to wear my Sunday best, but I can skip the frilly, silly hat. So, the pearls are still on!

Any allergies/preferences you have or are willing to admit to?

Not that pertain to tea.

Anything we missed that you want your pal to know?

The more I learn about tea, the more I realize I don't know about tea. I still want to attend a tea ceremony...