Merry Christmas! Crafty update and other news

It’s so good to be in touch with you again after my hiatus. I’m excited to share my Dad’s Christmas ornament for this year – again, he has outdone himself with his creativity and a charming motif. Every year, Dad settles on his idea after some brainstorming with my mom, and sometimes, her idea becomes reality – but not this time. This year’s concept is Dad’s alone.

The ornament is a miniature artist’s easel, with moveable parts, and included are half a dozen Christmas-themed pictures to display interchangeably. Tiny nails, wire, and chains keep it together. My photos don’t really do it justice, but you can see its size compared to a coin. The ornament is quite small, and as usual, Dad made dozens of them to give away to family and friends. I believe he has capped his production to 80, but I’d have to check to make sure I’m right.

A few years ago Dad was wavering about continuing with this tradition, now in its 43rd year. I’m glad he still has the heart to continue this tradition, because it’s a highlight of the family’s holiday season. My little Christmas tree in Korea is decorated with the most recent 20 years. You can check out last year’s ornament here!

Meanwhile, my crafting continues, even though I haven’t shared my progress with you in awhile. In all honesty, these last two months have not only been busy with my work, but I have been feeling a little under the weather, and not always up for going public with my doings. The craft blog is a joy for me, though, and I always feel great after I share, even if it’s a short check-in. Now that I have my big Winter break in front of me, I’ll be back much more often.

One of my latest makes is a wonderful wool cardigan that took me a fair amount of time to finish properly, but not due to the pattern; it was because I chose a thicker yarn than recommended, as well as added some of my own touches, so I had to recalculate the gauge. This is a lovely crochet pattern by one of my favorite designers, Vita Apala at Mon Petit Violon, who is known for designing adorable childrenswear, but she occasionally forays into ladies’ sweaters and homewares.

I used Debbie Bliss Cashmerino DK yarn, which is a merino wool with touch of cashmere. The hook size is 3.75mm, and I finished with three 1.25 inch tonal buttons and two red magnetic closures, all found during one of my button-buying excursions at Seomun Market.

The pattern changes that I made were mainly to ensure the size was correct with the yarn I used, and to reposition the front opening to overlap and button off-center. This overlap prevents air drafts from coming in; to further secure the cardigan, I added hidden magnetic closures at the neck and the bottom. It fits very long and loose. I can wear another sweater underneath, but my loosest coat is still big enough to wear over it.

I have a couple of new makes to share with you soon, as well. One of them is a toy in a style I’ve never made before, and you can see the start of my work in the photo below – but I’ll keep the goal a secret, for now. I’m using one of my all-time favorite toy making yarns, Schachenmayr Catania, in a cool shade of purple.

As my semester has wound down, the weather has descended into polar chills that seriously challenge my will to even step outdoors. But with a lively dog, and as an inveterate walker, step out, I must! The last three to four days got so cold at night that one of my pipes froze. That meant spending the better part of an afternoon thawing it.

With that chore happily done, I had the notion to revisit one of my favorite Winter (re)treats that I hadn’t enjoyed since before the pandemic, a public Korean bathhouse known as a jjimjilbang (찜질방). I will definitely write in-depth about this cultural gem in a future post, but suffice to say a hot, dry sauna was very good medicine after the cold snap. Thankfully, temperatures have risen in the past day or so, and look good for the week. That means more quality outdoor time!

One more thing to tell you, as I resurface into bloglandia – I also plan to participate again this year in the WP Bloganuary challenge, which means starting January 1st, I’ll write at length about prompts offered to me each day. Bloganuary was conceived to get people writing more, as well as reading more, which can only result in a more vibrant blogging community. Personally, it’s also a way for me to get off my keister and write about something other than my craft hobbies. To give you an idea, here’s a post I wrote in January 2023. I’ll be doing more like these.

I’m grateful for many things, not the least of which I have the time, space, and freedom to share like this.

May the spirit of the season fill your heart and home with joy! The video above captures a slice of my tiny college community and the bleak, beautiful Korean Winter on the shortest day of the year.