Knit, Purl, Knit, Purl...

I seem to always be drawn to knitting books during the long winters here in Minnesota. This year we have had unusually cold weather and the negative numbers day after day put me into quite a knitting mood. So when I was perusing the knitting books on Amazon, I saw this one and fell in love immediately. When it came, I loved it even more.

The first thing I made was a hat and hand warmers for our daughter. She wanted earth tones and this is what I found at my local yarn shop. She loves them and it was when I was finished with the hand warmers that I noticed that I didn't make them exactly like the directions, but she loved them anyway.

 

I'm going to make some additional hand warmers for my Korean girlfriends. Hellena and Hannah are coming in May for a visit. I can't wait!!! 

 

 



Maedeup Monday!

I finally decided to number and name my maedeup cording. It makes filling orders so much easier and honestly I should have done it years ago. The hardest part was trying to figure out exactly what some of the colors were but I tried my best.

 

Photographing each color turned out to be just as challenging and Rocketman with his magical camera ended up taking half of the pictures. My point and shoot kept turning the purples into blue among other color problems. Rocketman also had some difficulty but he pounded them out over the weekend.

Next was filling a Ziplock bag with a 5 feet hank of each color. It's kept me busy for over a week. Then I filled my Etsy store with the newly numbered stock and for the first time my Etsy store has every color.

The maedeup is kept in our guest room because frankly I don't have any room in my craft room. I sell only the 1.5mm cording in my Etsy store but also have 1mm, 2mm and more sizes of cording. I use 1.5mm mostly in my maedeup projects.

I am so happy to have finally taken the time to do this just in time for a new shipment of cording coming from South Korea. I also ordered some more hanji supplies and Hannah always adds other things. She ordered some purses from Coach so she will be getting a package too and I make sure to add some candy for her nieces and nephew.

To celebrate of excitement of accomplishing this and because each day Spring is one day closer, I am offering 20% off everything in my Etsy Shop for the week. Use the code FREEZING to get your discount. I can't believe it's 45 to 50 below zero wind chill today. They say its' been the coldest winter since 1982.  Looking forward to Spring!

Critters in the Night

I love waking up in the morning after fresh snow has fallen to see all the tracks in our backyard. We have a crabapple tree and the birds and other animals like to eat the mushy, rotten crabapples. But I  worry because we have been so very cold. They are predicting again -40 degree wind chills on Monday and Tuesday. How do the deer and bunnies keep warm? I'm sure schools will be closed again. They said we haven't had a winter this cold since 1982 and we were living here that winter. I'm really looking forward  to Spring this year:)

My Favorite - Korean Food!!!

To celebrate the Lunar New Year, the Korean Heritage House had a luncheon and of course, we would never miss an opportunity for some great homemade Korean food. It did not disappoint!

They had a great turnout.

That was last Saturday and I was still hungry for Korean food so I took out the new indoor grill I had recently bought and decided to make some galbi. I went to my butcher to get the short ribs and he cut them to my specifications. Then I used this recipe to marinate the ribs. I even found Asian pears which you need for this recipe at my local Kowalski's store. I love that store! The grill worked perfectly, and the best part, it didn't set off our smoke alarm - something I've been known to do while cooking.

            I also made a kimchi jeon using this recipe and Rocketman said it was my best to date.

But I found myself running from the kitchen table where I was cooking the galbi to the stove where I was cooking the kimchi jeon. That's when Rocketman got home from work and he jumped in and finished cooking the galbi.

I didn't have all the side dishes that a normal Korean meal would have but it was still delicious with plenty of food.

                        I would even put a piece of kimchi onto my bite and it really hit the spot.

If you've been wondering why I have been so quiet all week. First, I got my early birthday present which was an upright freezer and I spent the week filling it with homemade soups for Rocketman.

I also decided to organize my maedeup cording by numbering and naming each color. I also cut five feet hanks to package it for my Etsy store. This weekend Rocketman is helping me take pictures of each color. I couldn't believe how much time it took.

The Wisconsin Dells - 2014!

Last weekend we headed out to the Dells to spend the weekend with the grandkids at an indoor waterpark. We left on Friday and the trip started out pretty dicey with freezing rain the entire trip. I was so glad when we arrived. The kids were already there taking advantage of the huge waterpark. Noah and Ez LOVE the water and it was pretty empty Friday afternoon.

Another big hit with the boys is the hot tub in the room.

                               Noah was getting a little tired from all the fun in the waterpark.

                                           But he just wasn't quite ready to get out.

                                          Ezra could have stayed in the hot tub all night.

But he too zonked out from all the fun. Laura's birthday was the following Tuesday so we surprised her with a pregnancy massage offered through the resort. She loved it!

 Saturday night after dinner we took the kids to the arcade also located conveniently in the resort. The kids had a blast and the rides were really reasonable at $.50 to $1.00 per ride.

 I wanted to play this game so badly but alas it was out of order. Sunday came too quickly and we left while the kids spend the morning swimming before checking out. Rocketman and I were so exhausted but we had a blast.

Maedeup Monday!

I swear I think up my best ideas while trying to fall to sleep and there are some nights when I lay there for hours and hours waiting for sleep to come. This was one of those nights when this idea came to me to combine the garakji maedeup with spools covered with maedeup cording.

                                                             I love how it turned out.

If you are interested in purchasing, it's available in my Etsy site.

We spent the weekend in the Wisconsin Dells with the grandkids. I'm still trying to get the chlorine smell out of my pores:)  After chasing two kids around for a weekend, Rocketman and I feel like we've run a marathon.  We had a blast and I'll share some photos tomorrow.

Bojagi Coasters

I took a little break from all the knitting I had been doing and used some satin scraps to make a bunch of bojagi coasters.  I'm thinking of offering a class on it sometime. I had stitched the four squares together but then cheated and used my sewing machine to sew both sides together. Don't tell my bojagi teacher:)

It took awhile to cut, mark and pin everything together. Then the hand stitching began. I had forgotten how time consuming it is. One thing I have learned through the years is that bojagi cannot be rushed and you can't be impatient with it.

                              They really turned out beautifully and Rocketman also loved them.

Another thing I love about bojagi is that you can use even the tiniest scrap so very little is thrown away.

Well, we are into our 12th night of below zero temperatures and it has been below 0 most days except yesterday it did get up to a balmy 3 degrees. Stay warm my friends!

Maedeup Monday!

What to do when the temperature is -25 and the windchill is -45?  Maedeup flowers!!!! These were so much fun to make and brightened this frigid day. I used a small spool, glued the body with scrapbook paper. I made a saengjjok maedeup which happens to look like a flower, glued a bead into the center and then glued it into the hole of the spool.

If you are interested in purchasing any of them, I'm selling them for $3.95 each plus $2.00 shipping in the U.S.  Email beckymeverden at gmail dot com.

                                      Louie is keeping warm but hanging out near the kitchen vent.

Last night while watching the new season of Downton Abbey, I started to unravel a hank of yarn. What should have taken a half hour or less took all two hours of Downton Abbey and two hours this morning. You will never guess who held the hank during those two hours of Downton, ROCKETMAN!  He couldn't believe what a mess it was. I've never spent so much time on a ball of yarn but it sure felt great to have Rocketman right by my side.  Stay warm everyone!!!

Hello 2014!

This is how Louie has been spending the New Year. I'm not quite sure what he is doing here because this is one place he never plops himself but to each his own.

I spent New Year's Eve and all the days since Christmas burning this cool candle I got from my sister, Wendy.  Have you heard of Diamond Candles?  Buried inside each candle is a ring worth $10 - $5000. How cool is that? I couldn't wait to see what I got. Luckily, the ring wasn't too far from the surface and I really loved the scent of the candle.

Finally, nirvana!!!!

My ring was the $10 variety and I could tell by the metal used. I have seen other customers that have taken their rings to a jewelry and ended up with the upper end of the $5000. It's a pretty ring and in my favorite color so I'm happy. It was so much fun to do. The candles sell for $24.95. The website is here. You need to check it often because I see candles one minute and they are gone the next. If you are interested in a 20% discount, see my Facebook page. It's only through 1/3/14.

Last night, through Korean Kakao talk I wished my friends in Korea a "Happy New Year." I woke this morning to exciting news that two of my girls are coming for a visit in May!!! 

Hellena and Hannah are coming to Minnesota!!!!!

                                               I also heard from Jeff and his lovely wife.

I was a little bummed when I went to bed New Year's Eve. I received over 120 photos from my chilbo (Korean enameling) teacher, Nan Young, with what she had been up to. It gave me an overwhelming case of homesickness. I truly wanted to jump on the next plane to Incheon. I'm thinking we'll head over in the Fall. Summer is brutal for these two Minnesotans but with a month of below 0 temperatures I may be tempted:)  Happy 2014 y'all!!