Damyang Bamboo Garden

Korea is such a small place and Koreans were unable to travel for so long that it has a very well developed infrastructure of fun day trips. Today I went to the town of Damyang which is known throughout Korea as the bamboo capital of the peninsula. Most of Korea is too cold to have the larger varieties of bamboo and almost all of the arable land here is used for agriculture so despite the cultural connections they have with bamboo there are very few bamboo forests here tough patches are fairly common.It was an extremely beautiful and vertical place. I was especially interested in the roots which snake through the ground. Some of the bamboo in the grove were thirty years old; which is amazing for a grass.

Michael's Mittens

Finished Michaels mittens. 64 stitch cast on increasing to 80 stitches on #2 needles using just over 2 skeins of Elsabet Lavold Silky Wool. A simple pattern but a pain to knit because half the front consists of solid rows of colour which involves carrying the yarn behind and twisting every three or 4 stitches. I'll mail them out Saturday after they are washed and blocked.

Eli served as the backdrop. Thanks Eli. Now m mans hands will be nice and warm this winter.

Craft

Anyone who has known me for awhile knows that I love craft.

craft

O.E. cræft "power, strength, might," from P.Gmc. *krab-/*kraf-. Sense shifted to "skill, art" (via a notion of "mental power"), which led to the n. meaning of "trade."

I have always loved craft. One of the hallmarks of my childhood was my inability to sit in one place for very long unless I was making something. This was not very different from most children in kind but by degree it was magnitudes greater. So I went through a succession of activities, braiding, a hand loom, wood working, carving, origami, and God only knows what else. All of these were supported by my family because my parents loved craft as well. My father could assemble anything from parts imaginable and made etchings and sand carvings in glass of ridiculously dorky things like the the Enterprise. My mother crocheted and painted ceramics and was fairly good at both.

There is something wonderfully universal about craftsmanship. It is the exercise of knowledge over a situation. Not just any application will do. The craftsman is aware of all the pieces he is working with, she knows where all the pieces can fit, and if blessed with some artistry how they "should" fit. How wood grains meet, how fibers wear, what people think, whether two words flow seamlessly, all of these are knowledge of a thing applied with subtlety or in the old use of the word they are crafty.

All the people I most admire and the men I have loved have been mighty in their respective crafts. I find power extraordinarily sexy and I adore the immediate. A well placed word, touch, or note have each at some point in my life been the closest to paradise I've ever been. There is an art to love and there is a craft to it; I have been loved by men who are both artist and craftsman. I doubt that I could love a man who wasn't both.

For me craft is an ordering of passion. Whether that passion is for man, or God , or objects makes little difference. Craft is stepping back and observing a situation and then applying the sum of your knowledge to the observation and acting in a way that creates greater beauty. Craft frames what is inherently beautiful in any given thing and adores it in the process.

I love craft.

Harvest time soon

The rice is ripening and looks rather lovely.



The peaches are peaching

Korean Bacon Restaraunt

Boy but they love fatty meat here in Korea. It's more than a little frightning but oh so very tasty. Here are some pictures of the korean bacon restaurant I went to w/ Dean and Jen.
There is a lot of kitchen shear action at Korean restaraunts. We must have had two slabs of bacon but fortunately the waitress cuts up everything at the beginning of the meal.

All we hungry diners needed to do was toss some veggies on the grill and wait for the meat to cook. the technique for eating this and duck involve grabbing a lettuce leaf or sesame leaf and making a small foliage taco stuffed with bacon, kimchi, and rice. You then shove that entire package into your mouth. It is amazing.


Plus you need to eat quickly to get any meat for yourself and to keep from tasting the soju . Which is mind numbingly awful.

Shawl for Niko's Mum

A shawl for Niko's mother in Silky Wool on size 10 needles.
The pattern is a conglomeration of old Shetland lace including cat's paw and waves. It was a relief to knit on such large needles.

Myeong dong in Seoul.

This weekend I am in Seoul with old friends from college, Jen and dean.

Elias loves peanut butter

To bribe him into not barking when I leave Eli get a spoonful of peanut butter in his kong every day. Once a week or so the glorious occasion arises when he gets to lick the insides of the jar clean. If he had opposable thumbs we'd all be doomed. Or subjected to ceaseless licking.

New Bike

Behold my one speed old korean lady bike. The two kind people in awe of her are Rob and Jeane two of my fellow expats here in G u r y e.

She comes with slogans and apparently prefers Sunday