Afternoon Tea

Wine Country Inn, located in Palisade, Colorado, offers tea during the Christmas Season and for Mother's Day in the spring.  This hotel is a luxurious hotel nestled among its grape vineyards and is a popular resort during all Colorado seasons.

Accomplished, elegant, savvy friend Beth invited me to attend one of the seasonal teas yesterday.  (Note I did not characterize Beth as "sweet," although she is a very sweet woman.)  We both recognized other friends there (hi, Shirley!).  There was not one space available for the 11 AM seating.  Needless to say, it is a popular Christmas venue!

We were served tea and four courses of sweets and savories, oh my!  What a lovely time!  From Wine Country Inn,

... If Anna, the 7th Duchess of Bedford, had not been a little peckish one afternoon in the 1840's we probably wouldn't celebrate a proper British Afternoon Tea.....Soon the common folk emulated the Upper Crust, and a new custom of having afternoon tea was common place.  It was an occasion to entertain friends and relatives for simple conversation, and maybe a little gossip. 

The First Course: scones, crumpets or nut/fruit breads, served with Devonshire cream, jam and Lemon Curd. Second Course: cress or cucumber finger sandwiches, chicken salad pastries and other imaginative small treats, and delicious nuts with herbs and sugar glazes.  Third Course: bite sized cookies, small cakes, and Chocolate Dipped Strawberries.

It was a sweet treat.  Thank you, Beth, for a lovely time out.

Roses with Other Names

In this case, I knit three roses using different yarns and dissimilar centers.  But they all looked pretty much like red roses, even if their names were changed to fit their purposes.

Here is the last of the four roses knit, Miss Priss.  It was knitted with 1/4 inch grosgrain ribbon.  It used about 15 yards of polyester grosgrain.  Disadvantages of grosgrain ribbon was that it was too stiff to easily handle, causing problems in pulling through loops and resulting in cramping hands, and the back was not flat.  Advice: use a lighter weight ribbon, and flatten down ribbon before sewing it to make a backing. It has a good heft to it.  A found silk covered button was sewn into its middle.

This rose I wore yesterday on a black mock turtleneck pullover, giving a bit of color to the outfit.  The name Miss Priss seems to fit this rose.

Below is another rose, we'll call her "Libby's Sunday Rose" for use on a hat brim.  Libby was the reluctant model.  It was knit from two strands of fingering weight wool yarn, without a middle button. It gives a bit of "Je suis belle et ça ne demande aucun." Translated it means "I'm beautiful and it requires no effort." And it required no effort on the part of Libby other than to hold still.

Then there is another red rose, "Two Tones Floozy" that is my favorite.  It was knit from worsted wool, with the inner petal knit in a darker, warmer reddish blue yarn.

Two Tone Floozy might get knit again in contrasting colors of yellow for a summer scarf.

Here is a blue flower with ribbon and blue acrylic yarn with a rhinestone button used for a stamin:

The pattern for the roses shown is the same pattern: Knitted Flower by Absolute Knits.