Sock Yarn Scarf

I came to Korea with the knowledge of how to knit my own socks along with a bunch of sock yarn.  The first couple of months I spent making socks and then making my own socks losts it's luster.  So here I was with lots of sock yarn and no idea what to do with it.

Then it hit me, scarves!!  I made up the pattern and I was so pleased at how they turned out.  I made one for Jeff but forgot to take a picture of it but here is Jennifer with her's.  They are easy to make and with all the wonderful sock yarn colors you can never grow tired.  Sock yarn is pretty much nonexistent in Korea but luckily I had a stash. 

Sock Yarn Scarf

by Becky Meverden

Copywrite 2012

Materials:

Size 2 needles

1 skein sock yarn

Instructions:

1. Cast on 76 stitches.

2. K2, P2 for 3 inches

3. Knit 1 inch

4. Repeat step 2 and 3.

I used the whole skein of yarn and that made a scarf one yard long.

Our Container Came!!

Friday morning, our container from Korea came.  I was soooo excited to finally get our stuff I couldn't wait to start unpacking.  I wasn't sure if it was the same container that was filled in Korea but Rocketman had jotted down the container number and sure enough, it was the same container.

Can you believe we recognized many of the movers from our previous move.  They were the same ones that packed us up to go to Korea in 2007, unpacked us in 2009 and then repacked us in 2010.  I bet they were wondering what was going on with us.

These were our kitchen boxes.  We did the unpacking so we could do it at our own speed. I'm not practical with my unpacking.  I unpack all the boxes and place the things all over counters and the floor.  I stayed in the kitchen a little while to put just a few things away and then I was off to the our bedroom to unpack our clothing.

About a third of our boxes had been inspected by U.S. Customs.  They did a lousy job of taping the boxes back up with many of them still open.

 This is looking into my craftroom after unpacking all my craft things.  Looks a little like a "Hoarders" episode.

This is my craft room after a day of unpacking.  I still have a lot of work to do in it.  Just about everything made without getting broken except for my large styrofoam projects.  They were packed with other things and broke.  I'm fine with that and just very thankful that all my hanji things made it intact.

Those two bookcases on the right are new and are where my maedeup cording used to hang.  I really needed more shelf space to I decided to put the cording in the basement.  Maybe someday I'll have a huge craft room but for now this will have to do.  My craft room used to be in the basement until the kids starting moving out.

I had forgotten all the things I had bought in Korea like hanji paper.  I organized it by color and I'll take a picture of it all when I get a chance.  The paper is gorgeous!!!  Better get back to work.

Bojagi (Korean Quilting)

 Remember this bag of silk scraps that I got from a hanbok shop shortly before we left South Korea?

I finally opened the bag and I was shocked at how many scraps were stuffed into the bag.  It took up half of my kingsize bed.  The best part was that is was all free!  I'm so glad that I asked KJ, my bojagi teacher, if she had ever asked hanbok shops for their scrap fabric.  She had never thought to do it but I know she will be doing it now.

I also finished a triangle bojagi I started just as we were leaving.  I can't believe how hard it was and I did a terrible job of lining up my corners.  Oh well, it wasn't too bad for a first try. 

We are still waiting on our ocean shipment.  It's been six weeks now and it should have arrived last week.  Rocketman is getting crabby because it's been in the 70's this week and all he has to wear are long-sleeved shirts.  We never thought it would be this warm so we only packed sweatshirts and sweaters.  I did finally go out today and get some short-sleeved shirts because I was roasting.

I'm really antsy too because I don't have anything I want to work on since I have so many things coming in the ocean shipment.  Most of my craft supplies are in that shipment and I don't want to go out and buy new.  I did break down and order some silk thread online so I could start another bojagi piece and JoAnn's didn't have any silk thread (at least mine didn't).  So lets hope that shipment comes soon. 

I'm Craving......................

Nolboo budae jjigae.  I took this video shortly before we came back just to remind me of what I would be missing.  I just wish the video has smellovision.  We went to Nolboo just about every Sunday for lunch and the staff knew us well.  We didn't even have to order, they would just tell us our order and we would shake our heads and confirm.  They also always brought me a fork because I would struggle with the ramyeon noodles and the metal chopsticks.  It will definitely be the first food I eat when I visit.

45 Record Napkin Holder

While waiting for our ocean shipment, I decided it was a great time to look in our crawl space which housed the things I didn't really need but couldn't part with.  Time makes that a lot easier and frankly some of the plastic tubs had been undisturbed for 10-20 years.  Knowing that 63 boxes are arriving sometime next week gave me the push to crawl up into the unknown and see what's in there.

I found a bunch of 45 RPM records, both mine and Rocketman's.  How did I know which was which?  Rocketman's were still in their original sleeves and looked really good considering they were from the 1960's.  Mine were thrown in there haphazzardly with scratches galore.

I went on Ebay to see if any were of value and found that a few of Rocketman's were and they quickly sold once I listed them.  Now what to do with the rest.  That's when I came up with the idea of making a napkin holder.  It took help from Rocketman to see it  to fruition but I was so excited at how it turned out. 

45 Record Napkin Holder by Becky Meverden

 Copywrite 2012 Becky Meverden

Materials:

2 45 records

3 1/2" long x 2" wide x 3/4" thick plywood(I bought this in a scrap bin at Menard's. Roceketman cut the piece to size) 

4 #6 x 1/2" screws

Black paint

Foam paint brushes or regular brushes

Sandpaper

Varnish

Outdoor carpet tape ( or another strong, sticky tape)

Originally, I made tried to make the napkin holder with just the screws but we found out quickly that we needed something to secure the record to the wood.  I dug in our tape drawer and found this carpet tape.  Let me tell you this really is strong tape and works really well for this purpose.

Sand the rough edges of the wood then paint black and varnish.  Let dry. Press a record to the side with the side you want facing out, center it and decide where you want the two screws.  Remember to make sure the record is flush with the bottom of the wood.  Do the same with the other side.

                   Cut a 1 1/4" piece of carpet tape and then cut this piec of tape in two.

Center and press one piece of tape on the side of the wood. 

Drill the holes for the screws.

                                 Press the 45 to the wood and drill the holes through the wood.

                               Screw the screws in.  Do the same on the other side.

                                       Paint the screws black.  Here is is finished.

I hope you liked this project and it's a great way to display those old 45s.

More Jewelry Designing to Share

I'm finally getting around to adding to my Etsy store.  I wanted to incorporate the Korean hangeul characters for love into a heart and Metal Guy came through.

We found out our ocean shipment should arrive March 11th.  If so, they are looking at a delivery of March 13,14 or 15th.  Oh boy, where will I put 60+ boxes of stuff.  It's definitely time to declutter.

I Miss...

I miss the Korean show "I Am A Singer."  You would find Rocketman and me glued to the television every Sunday night at 6:00pm to see the latest episode.  Seven talented well established singers would compete against each other in a singing contest with the audience both live and at home voting for their favorites.  These singers take it very seriously and it blows me away to watch them singing their hearts out week after week.  Every three weeks a singer is voted off and replaced the next week with someone new.  It is a genius idea and I found it amazing that the egos were left at the door. 

I've heard that a U.S. version is being considered.  Can you imagine a sing off with American singers from all types of music and from all decades too?  How about a line up of:  Pat Benatar, Joan Baez, James Taylor, Toby Keith...  It's fun just to think of the lineup.

My friend, Hannah, sends me the latest shows so I can keep caught up. Here is one of my favorite performances.  This particular week, it was duets with singers who had been voted off.  This performance still gives me chills when I listen to it:

Korean Crochet Ajumma

I miss watching the Korean progam that shows Koreans doing their best.  I've seen all kinds of things on this program.  I saw an ajosshi in a wallpaper manufacturer detect the tiniest defects as the wallpaper spun by only using his eyes.  I also saw an ajosshi throw noodles with the accuracy of a skilled marksman.  The show always puts up a challenge for the participant to test their skills in a new way.  Then the look of pride when they take that challenge and win.

Here is an amazing ajumma and her passion for everything crocheted: