Being crafty

University is once again in session, and my tea drinking has been reduced to dunking a teabag into a small teapot, letting it steep for a variable time and then drinking the resulting brew with copious amounts of honey. Some of the teas simply can’t be drunk without honey; some of them can’t be drunk at all.

The tea selection has consisted of Lipton’s Green Tea Intense Mint, and Twinings’ Classics Collection (5 different flavours) and Flavoured Black Tea Collection (again, 5 different flavours). The mint green tea is surprisingly good, and I’ve found that the teas in the Flavoured Black Tea Collection (Four Red Fruits; Lemon; Blackcurrant; Vanilla; and Apple, Cinnamon & Raisin) are universally drinkable, with Apple, Cinnamon & Raisin being my favourite. It’s very Christmassy, though.

The Classics Collection is more hit-and-miss. I’m not especially fond of Earl Grey in general, but this one is somewhat drinkable with the aforementioned honey. Lady Grey I usually like, so it was no surprise that I found that okay here as well. The same goes for Prince of Wales. English Breakfast was horrible, and the jury is out for Traditional Afternoon Tea.

So what have I been doing if not making tea? Well, panicking about my studies, mostly. I’ve forgotten most of my German and Japanese, and I’ve got tons of reading for my English Philology courses. I’ve also found knitting.

I’ve never been an arts & crafts kind of person. I did well enough at school in crafts lessons, but due to various reasons, I never did anything after I left school. I was reading Robyn Griggs Lawrence’s book The Wabi Sabi House: The Japanese Art of Imperfect Beauty, and she mentioned making something with your own hands. I got inspired, bought some yarn and needles, and realised that hey, this is fun! I’m hooked.

It’s satisfying doing something creative, even if it’s just knitting and purling and nothing more complicated. Knitting forces one to concentrate on that alone, especially if one is a beginner and prone to mistakes. It’s a little bit like meditation, repeating knit two, purl two, knit two, purl two in one’s head. A mantra, if you like. It’s also a good opportunity to listen to music. I put on some Bach or some Dowland and concentrate.

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